CREMATION
To Burn or Not To Burn

More folks are concerned about the temporary burning of their body
than they are of their eternal burning of their soul!


But whatever the case, let's look at cremation today - the burning of the body after death.

Facts of Cremation:
    1400-2100 degrees in the 'burner'
    The direct flame reduces one's body to 3-9 pounds, approximately 5% of the original body mass – now there is a diet program for ya!
    "Cremation is merely a 'hastening' of the natural decaying process," according to cremationites (crematorium workers)
    The body is reduced to its basic elements - not ashes but bone fragments.
    After the initial burning, the remains are run through a mechanical grinder to reduce the bones to dust, thus the bone dust, not ashes.
    There is always a residue left on the grinder, thus resulting in other people's dust being mixed in with your own.

    In 1963, the Pope lifted the ban of cremation for Catholics.  I guess for awhile they truly thought that burning / disposing of the bones would destroy the soul!  Ever read what the Catholics did with John Wycliff?  They dug up his body 44 years after he died, burned his bones and scattered the dust into the river. Nice folks!   I guess to the Pope, cremation was ok for some, but not for others?

In 1966, the Pope finally allowed priests to officiate at cremation ceremonies.  1966?  They had been doing cremation ceremonies for hundreds of years already!

I don't want to be cremated; I would rather be buried with a web cam
so folks could watch me lose the weight they criticized me for having!
Mine would be the only grave site with an antenna coming out of the ground instead of a tombstone!


Let's consider the traditional reasons that some folks say
that Christians should NOT be cremated!

One would wonder if Cremation is the #2 unpardonable sin!

(The following comments against cremation are mostly from David Cloud's encyclopedia, so I must mention that this sermon is not intended to attack David Cloud.  This appears to be how most folks think if they are against cremation, so we will be examining this for the organized aspect of the teachings, not the person who wrote it).

(the general teaching "quoted" and in black)
(My comments are in blue!)


"1.  CREMATION HAS A HEATHEN ORIGIN AND PURPOSE - Prepare for reincarnation!
Why do the Hindus and those of other heathen religions cremate? They do it in the belief that the dead are not raised again, whereas the Bible says there is a resurrection of the just and the unjust. The heathen practice cremation in the belief that the dead will be reincarnated; to destroy the body is sometimes considered a way of releasing the spirit of the deceased. Many practice cremation with the heathen idea that by destroying the body of the deceased the fear of that individual staying in the vicinity and haunting the loved ones is diminished."
But we Bible Believers know differently; not just 'believe,' we KNOW!  The same goes for the heathen origins and purpose of Christmas, Easter, Sunday or Saturday worship, etc., but we know we don't have to give in to those, nor do we have to concern ourselves with heathen origin and purpose.  Hey, even the names of days of the week and months have heathen origin, etc.

While this heathen origin and purpose may be a good idea to consider sometimes, for this one, it is not a forced issue.  Romans 14 & Colossians 2:16 attest to that!


"2.  THERE IS NOTHING CHRISTIAN ABOUT CREMATION!
God's people have always practiced burial. Abraham (Genesis 25:8-10), Sarah (Genesis 23:1-4), Rachel (Genesis 35:19-20), Isaac (Genesis 35:29), Jacob (Genesis 49:33; 50:1-13), Joseph (Genesis 50:26), Joshua (Joshua 24:29-30), Eleazar (Joshua 24:33), Samuel (I Samuel 25:1), David (I Kings 2:10), John the Baptist (Matthew 14:10-12), Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:5-10), Stephen (Acts 8:2).  In Romans 15:4 and I Corinthians 10:11, God tells us that we are to follow the Bible's examples as well as its direct instructions."
Come on, we don't follow them in the walk today!  Theirs was the physical kingdom, we live in the days of a spiritual kingdom concerns.

But for the record, let's see if we can follow their example:
        Abraham - buried in a cave
        Jacob - not buried for at least 70 days
        Joseph - not buried for over 400 years  - Genesis 50:24-25; Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32.
        Samuel - buried in his house
        John the Baptist - buried without his head
        Stephen - they made great lamentation over him, and we are not to sorrow like them that have no hope (I Thessalonians 4:13)

Those folks did a lot more than just stay away from cremation!  We have to be careful when we say we must follow someone's example.


3.  WOULDN'T DO IT THE EASY WAY' but was it any different than a modern cremation?
"Even in difficult circumstances God's people in olden days practiced burial. For example, again mentioning about Joseph's body being kept for over 400 years in Egypt and then being carried through the 40 years of wilderness wanderings before being buried in the Promised Land, we read of this in Genesis 50:24-25; Exodus 13:19 and Joshua 24:32. How much simpler it would have been for the Israelites to have cremated Joseph, then carried his ashes with them in a tiny container! This they refused to do. Joseph, a follower of the one true God, a man who looked forward to the bodily resurrection, was given an honorable burial."
Well, that is true, however, let's look a little closer at those verses!
Genesis 50:24-26 - And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.  And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.  Notice that what Joseph promised was to visit them in was his bones!  Cremation just hastens the process, but it is still bones that are left in the bag!  No difference! Sure, he was embalmed and put into a coffin, but HE was just bones, and that is just what he told them it would be - His BONES will visit them!

Exodus 13:19  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.  Bones - see - that is the same as what a cremation produces!

Joshua 24:32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. - note that they buried his bones in a specific place, as do folks with the cremated remains of their loved one!

"From this important example, we learn that even if cremation is less expensive or easier than burial, it is still to be rejected, as the Israelites rejected the economical and simpler way to transport Joseph's body."
Well, sorry, but we DON'T see that as our example.  We actually see the same example for cremation - spreading the bones of our loved ones in a place special to us!


4.  BURIAL LOOKS FORWARD TO THE RESURRECTION
The reason God's people have always been careful to practice burial is not difficult to understand. We believe in a bodily resurrection (Romans 8:22-23; I Corinthians 15:20-23; II Corinthians 5:1; I Corinthians 15:51-57). Yes, the buried body will decompose in time. Yes, there are occasions in which Christians die in ways which render burial impossible -- in the sinking of ships, in fires, etc. But when at all possible we bury. Why the trouble? Because it is our certain hope that the same individual will be raised in the same body,  only changed.
Now, the debunking of that reason was included in their rebuttal of cremation.  Figure that one out.  And if anyone needs help on this one, just remember the hundreds and thousands of Christians who were burnt at the stake for their witness of Jesus Christ AND for the written word of God!  The martyrs are actually given some great reward, not some punishment!  II Timothy 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

If the statement that "...it is our certain hope that the same individual will be raised in the same body, only changed,"  is true, that is majorly disappointing.  I don't want this body unless it be totally glorified and I know that this body now has not ONE smidgen of similarity to a glorified body.  I will take the new glorified one, fine and thank you!


5.  THE DEAD BODY IS A TYPE OF SEED!
The physical body is called the seed for the resurrection body. When planted, a seed decomposes, and the new plant comes forth. The Bible uses this to illustrate resurrection. In I Corinthians 15:35-44 the Apostle answers those who would ask how it is possible for God to raise again a decomposed body. The terminology used by the Holy Spirit in this passage is that of husbandry - -planting seed. The farmer does not destroy his seed; he plants it, then from the decaying seed comes forth the new life. Such is burial and the resurrection. When we bury a Christian loved one, we are planting the seed for the resurrection body! Now, this is a good reason to go with the burial funeral - for a good object lesson to preach!  It is a powerful testimony of our unwavering faith in God's Word regarding the promise of bodily resurrection. Contrast heathenism. They have no such knowledge or hope. The Hindus and Buddhists, for example, believe in reincarnation. Though they believe in a human soul which is distinct from the body, they do not believe that soul, once departed from the body at death, will be resurrected in any relation whatsoever to the first body. Rather they believe the soul will be reincarnated in another entirely unrelated body, or into a non-physical sphere of existence.
This is a good type for preaching, but it is being wrongly applied!  My body is a physically dead body, and the only thing growing from it would be physically hungry worms and maggots, etc.  But a preacher could use the fires of the cremation to preach about hell, too! Either way, a good testimony can be made, whether cremated or buried, whether Heaven or Hell!

6.  GOD'S PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS BURIED THEIR DEAD WITH THIS MAGNIFICENT HOPE BURNING IN THEIR HEARTS!
"We will see that brother or sister again in that same body, only changed, glorified!" Hallelujah! Only through the death and shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can we have this certain hope. He has taken upon Himself on the cross the punishment for our sins, carried our sins into the grave, and risen again in eternal triumph three days later. When an individual thoroughly acknowledges his sinfulness before God, repents of his sin, and receives Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior, the sin debt is paid, and eternal life and glory is promised from God the Father. Part of this heritage in Christ is the glorified resurrection body.
Right, and when the body is resurrected from the dirt, ashes, maggot pile, sharks stomach, forest fire dirt, even from space dust, THEN and ONLY THEN we will be complete!!!

7.  GOD PRACTICES BURIAL IN DEUTERONOMY 34:5,6!
Sure, in this case!  God wasn't even done with the bodies that Moses and Elijah were in.  Why else would He have wrestled for the body of Moses, if that were to be the reason, etc.  As it was, God wouldn't give up those two bodies.   Jude 9 & II Kings 2:11 and then see Revelation 11.  Again, we see a 'nice try' to get folks to not cremate, but it still carries no scriptural forbiddenness!

8.  CREMATION IS A SIGN OF GOD'S CURSE!
Throughout the Bible the destruction of a human body or of an object by fire is used as a sign of divine wrath (Exodus 32:20; Leviticus 10:1-2; Deuteronomy 7:25; Numbers 16:35; II Kings 10:26; I Chronicles 14:12; Acts 19:18-19; Revelation 20:15).
And in the days of martyrdom, it was considered an honor to go down in the flames!  They were tried, many in a furnace of fire as were the words of God.  They were given a crown of life! Revelation 2:10

9.  FOR A PERSON NOT TO HAVE A PROPER BURIAL WAS CONSIDERED A DISHONOUR!
(I Kings 21:23-24).
Physical kingdom then versus the spiritual kingdom today!  This argument  about a 'proper burial' carries no weight today!

10.  THE CHRISTIAN'S BODY BELONGS TO GOD!
The body is not ours to destroy by fire or by any other means (Romans 14:8; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
There is no doubt that our body belongs to God while we are in our body, because to be absent from the Lord is to be at home in the body (II Corinthians 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:)

However, God thinks so much of our flesh that when we are saved, our soul is cut away from it in order for him to make His abode in us. When we are then absent from the body at death, we are present with Him!  II Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Our body is NOT the temple of God after we die!  It belongs to the earth - to the bugs, to the maggots, to the shark, carp and catfish, etc.


11.  GOD HAS PLAINLY CALLED CREMATION WICKEDNESS!
(Amos 2:1).  And a Christian has had all wickedness taken care of!

12.  THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS BURIED AND HE IS OUR GREAT EXAMPLE!
(John 19:38-42). Just as the Lord Jesus Christ was buried in certainty that He would rise again on the third day according to the Scriptures, even so is the Christian said to rest at death. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, as the Apostle Paul testified (II Corinthians 5:9 and Philippians 1:21-23). The body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26). The dead body sleeps in the grave while the redeemed soul waits in glory for the great resurrection day.
No problem as that is all true, but are to imitate Him or follow Him.  Do we get baptized because He did?  Are we to suffer a physical crucifixion?  If we are to imitate Him, then I suggest you go join a catholic church and try to punish yourself enough to satisfy your sins.  But if we are to follow Him, then we look to Paul and Paul says nothing about being cremated being a sin!

If we believed in soul sleep, then yes, no doubt - cremation would be a bad thing!  But another reason to disprove soul sleep is the use of cremation!

Of course we cannot force people either to bury or not to bury. We know that the manner of one's burial does not affect one's salvation or resurrection, but we do believe these things are important, and we are convinced that Christians should take their stand upon the examples of the Word of God.

Conclusion/Invitation
My comments, back to black color!

That's right, we can't  force people to bury or not to bury...
...because there is no Scriptural demand of a doctrine that prohibits cremation!

However - I would rather give the preacher a chance to preach about the resurrection by having my body in a coffin in front of the gang, etc.  I would like to lay in my coffin with a glass of water in one hand so I could offer my daughter (kiddo) one last glass of water.  I would like to have my King James Bible in my other hand to show to my son that this is what the 'fight' is all about as a Christian pastor.  I would like to allow my mother-in-law to come and get the gospel preached to her as she would never hear it from me, nor would she even come to visit.  Sure, I would like pictures up of my past in all the churches and schools, etc.  I would like to have some of my favorite things of memorabilia around the room - I would like my favorite music to be played and my favorite verses read.  Hey, I wouldn't even mind my longest sermon being preached from a tape!!!  Now THAT would bring the tears, amen!!!

But all that is not necessary.  Not at all. After my death, I will be at my judgment seat of Christ, and folks back here may as well be getting on with earthly life and setting their affection more on things above - because one of them will be next!

Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

In other words, you may as well burn my body - it is certainly a lot cheaper...
...and it isn't a sin!

It may not even be the best "type" to visually present to your family,
but a good preacher could still give the right message!


Let's begin to finish this up with a few more applicable verses to consider.
Allow God to speak to you through these Scriptures!

Genesis 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.  All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.  Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

and then to finish up, let's look at a few New Testament verses.

John 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Romans 7:18-20  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.   For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Romans 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
I Corinthians 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
Ephesians 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
I Peter 1:23-25   Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Let them burn your body, but the real question is:
"What about your soul?"

Matthew 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Revelation 10:11-15  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.


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