I SAW THE WICKED BURIED

Scripture Reading: Eccl. 8:10-13

Text: Eccl. 8:10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone
from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where
they had so done: this is also vanity.

Introduction: My two least favorite pastoral activities: marrying people and burying people. Most folks are not prepared for either event.

Funerals of the unsaved are especially tough.

Many people who die are LOST. They die in their sins. I want us to think about this passage in Ecclesiastes and what it says about the wicked who die.

I. THE WICKED HAD RELIGIOUS HABITS
Ecclesiastes 8:10 And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone
from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where
they had so done: this is also vanity.

Matthew 23:14-15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye
shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

A. They professed to be religious people
B. They prayed in religious places
C. They put on religious apparel
D. They painted a religious picture
They died ... RELIGIOUS ... but LOST!

II. THE WICKED HAD REBELLIOUS HEARTS
Wicked or righteous behavior is the fruit of the intents of a person's heart:
Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.



Daniel 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

These people had only a "form of godliness."

They rebelled against
A. The work of the Spirit
B. The words of the scriptures
C. The way of salvation

III. THE WICKED HAD RESULTING HEARTACHES
Ecclesiastes 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
A. In the essentials
1. In the mind
2. In the home
3. In goals and purpose
B. In the end
1. Disease
2. Disgust
3. Divorce and division
4. Disappointment
C. In eternity


IV. THE WICKED HAVE REAL HORROR
Ecclesiastes 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.

His days shall not be prolonged, but are as a shadow.

Proverbs 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

When a person dies without Christ
A. He has no more family
B. He has no more friends
C. He has no more fun
D. He only has FEAR and a FIERY future in hell!