I Love your 176-Year-Old Cemetery

On March 4, 1841, Daniel McCorvey, an elder in the Philadelphus Presbyterian Church in Robeson County, NC, asked for his and his mother's church letters before they headed west. Annabella Buie McCorvey was born in Scotland in 1775 and is buried in our cemetery. They immediately began meeting for worship in their home until Presbytery organized this congregation in 1845, 176 years ago!

The material part of us is important: If we look at the Bible, we see that God's people have always treated the human body with respect after death.

Following the examples of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 49:29-33), and as an expression of his own faith (Hebrews 11:22), Joseph made his family swear to bring his body back with them (Genesis 50:24-25). Moses and Joshua fulfilled that oath (Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32).

When Moses died, Satan did not want him to be buried, but God sent the archangel Gabriel to deal with the devil (Jude 1:8-10), and God himself oversaw Moses' burial (Deuteronomy 34:5-8).

Because death contaminates people under the Ceremonial Law (Numbers 19:11-13), a place of worship can be defiled by placing human remains there, particularly their ashes (1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 23:16-19).

When we walk in this cemetery, we get three messages.

1. DEATH: Until Jesus comes, every single one of us will die (Hebrews 9:27).

2. PROVIDENCE: Read some of those inscriptions, and you will see monuments to God's faithfulness (Romans 8:28-29).

3. RESURRECTION: At the moment of death, the souls of believers are instantly with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8), while their bodies sleep in their graves, awaiting the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).