Lesson 23
The Funeral Of Y.I. Can't
Philippians 4:13
Background of Sermon
Sometime before the service, I instructed the young people to write down the greatest hinderance to their service for Christ. "I can't live for Christ because …" (unsaved family; public school influence) and to make sure they have it with them when they attend the service. Immediately before the sermon, the organist played some kind of funeral dirge and four designated ushers brought out a coffin to the front of the auditorium and left it open.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered today, to lay to rest once and for all, finally and forever, Y.I. Can't. You all knew Y. very well. You have loved him all of your Christian life. You have clung to him for a long time. He has been your best excused, your closest companion for many years. Each of you has written a eulogy about Y.I. Can't especially for today. But Y.I. Can't is dead and today we are going to bury him.
There is a verse in the Scriptures which is befitting for this occasion. It is a verse which describes the death of Y.I. Can't perfectly. That verse is found in Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Think about what this verse means:
I. Our Confidence
"I can do all things"
A. The Fallacies - Why we say and feel we can't:
1. Feeling Inferior (undesirable)
a. Moses - "I am not a good speaker"
b. Gideon - "I am from and insignificant tribe and family"
c. Jeremiah - "I am but a youth"
d. Amos - "I am a farmer"
2. Fearing Failure
B. The Fact - You can live for the Lord, no matter what the circumstances may be. (Paul wrote these words from prison!)
ILLUSTRATION: Jack Hyles tells about a time when he was in the army that the men in his outfit along with his sergeant held him down and tried to force him to drink whiskey. "I got the strongest jaws in the world", he said, "and they couldn't make me open my mouth."
ILLUSTRATION: Chuck Swindoll describes what it was like to be a married Marine, away from his wife in the Philippines. The solicitation from women when he walked down the street, the pornography. He said that in order to overcome the temptation he had to look straight ahead and walk as fast as he could and that he disciplined himself to a very strict Bible memorization program.
ILLUSTRATION: My summer factory job and the constant provocation to fight ® climax.
ILLUSTRATION: My job with the U.S.P.O. and the talk of co-workers and presence of porn.
Example: Timothy
Example: Godly king Josiah son of evil king Amon (II Kings 21:19-22:2)
You can do all things …
Even when you are out-numbered!
Ask Joshua and Caleb (Num.13:30)
Ask Jonathan and his armor bearer (I Sam. 14:6-7)
Even when you are out-sized!
Ask David (I Sam. 17:37)
Don't say "I Can't"! Can't is dead! You can do all things!
II. Our Dependence
"through Christ which strengtheneth me"
ILLUSTRATION: A man was reading through the book of Philippians for the first time. When he came to 4:13, the verse was split on two pages. He first read "I can do all things" on one page and thought "how cocky and arrogant this Paul is!" Then he turned the page and finished the "through Christ which strengtheneth me" and his opinion of Paul changed.
The object of his confidence is not self.
Prov. 14:16 "a fool is confident"
See also Phil. 3:3-4; II Cor. 3:5
The object of his confidence is not men.
See Psalm 118:8-9; Jer. 17:5
The object of his confidence is Christ.
Proverbs 3:26; John 15:5
Paul is depending on Christ to enable and strengthen him to do all things.
1. Christ is what we need!
2. Christ is all we need!
When we say or think, "If only I had …
(money; health; opportunity) we mock at the sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
Nothing is impossible with Christ (Jer.32:17;27; Luke 1:37; 18:27; Mark 9:20-23)
So you must let Y.I. Can't go. You cannot cling to him anymore. He's dead! He's gone! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
Closing Background
For the invitation, people filed by the casket and placed little pieces of paper that resembled gravestones which read, "Here lies Y.I. Can't. Buried (DATE) while the musicians played. Later, ushers came and hauled the casket off.