I love the last line of that song, Oh, bear me safe above a ransomed soul. That is someone who paid the price of my redemption and it was paid in full with his blood. He redeemed us with his precious blood, as Peter said, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his own precious blood. He obtained eternal redemption, eternal redemption for us.

I first met my friend and brother, Gene, in 2010, when we were flooded over there in the Zebulon area. And the church was flooded, had severe damage. And I'd never met him until that day. And he was up in Pike County kind of surveying the damage. And he stopped by the church building where we were working, trying to do some recovery. And we had two big holes in the side of our building, three foot by four foot. And I was needing a block layer.

And guess who showed up? Gene showed up. I'd never met him before. He introduced himself. And I told him we needed some help. And he said, well, I'm a bricklayer. I can help you. And I gave him a $100 bill. I said, you go buy what supplies we need and you come back and we'll work on this building. Some of the men that were with me said, you just gave a $100 bill to a total stranger.

And I said, I trust him. I trust him. He said he'd come back. I said, I'm taking him at his word. And he did come back. And he did help us. So that's the first time I met him. And it was a, you know, you only have, you only can make a first impression one time. You only can make that one time. And he made that first impression on me.

Later that year in 2010 in the fall, in October I think it was, we started building a house out of the flood plain. Our old house had been flooded several times. And of course, when you lay the foundation, you need a block layer. And guess who volunteered to lay some block on the footer for my house? It was Brother Gene. And Brother Gene came with his nephew, Tater, and we worked on the house, laid up the block. I mixed up the mud and carried the block, and Gene and Tater laid the block down, and they did an excellent, excellent job.

My house was tested. That foundation went through a test a couple winters ago. New Year's Day, we had a mine blowout above the house, and a big mudslide came down. pushed right up against that block wall, right up against that foundation. Guess what? It didn't move. That foundation and that block they laid, it held strong. It held firm. So Gene laid a good foundation for the house to rest upon, didn't he?

When you think about foundations, what do you think about? As a believer, we think about Christ being our foundation stone. He is that sure foundation that God had laid. He said in Isaiah, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. He that believeth on him shall never be confounded, ashamed, or forced out. Those who are fixed upon Christ, the rock of ages, he's called.

And then Jean and Anna moved to Pikeville, I think she told me, 2019, and they attended the services there at Zebelin for a number of years. We went through all that COVID stuff back in 2020, and it was a trying time, but the Lord was gracious, and we came through it okay. And they attended the services there until they moved back to Berea.

Gene was always pleasant to be around. I'm sure he had times that maybe he was a little out of sorts, but we all get that way, don't we? But all the times that I was around him, he was a pleasant man to be around. He was one of those fellas that you just want to hang out with, where you want to be around. And the times that I was around him and with him, we had an enjoyable time together. I consider him my dear friend.

But more than that, my brother, my brother in the Lord, my brother in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the same Father, begotten of God, begotten of God the Father, made new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been adopted into the same family. We have the same hope of salvation in Christ.

Now we gather today to say goodbye for just a little while. I hope to see him again around the throne of God, worshiping together and singing together. One day, there'll be no separation among God's family. We'll be forever with the Lord. No more death, no more sickness, no more pain, no more crying, no more tears, no more separation. We'll be gathered together around the throne of God, singing, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive all honor, Glory, blessing, and power both now and forever and ever.

That's what our brother's doing right now. We have his body here with us, but Gene is not here. He's with the Lord. What's he doing there in front of the Lord's throne? Worshipping, beholding the Savior face to face, and worshipping Him in perfect spirit and in truth.

Death, you see, to the believer is not punishment. To the believer, it's not, it's promotion. Our dear brother got promoted last week. He was promoted to glory. Our Lord, when he praised her in John 17, every time a believer died, this prayer is answered. He said in that high priestly prayer in John 17, Father, I will that all that you have given me be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory. That prayer was answered last Wednesday when the Lord visited and took our brother home to glory. That prayer was answered.

Paul writes to be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord. And then the psalmist in Psalm 116 says, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. In the sight of the Lord, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

You mean Brother Gene was a saint? Oh yeah. He was a sinner saved by the grace of God and made a saint in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer is a saint saved by God's precious grace. And then when we read the revelation in chapter 14, the revelation of Christ, we read, blessed are the dead, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. That's a blessed thing to die in the Lord. Now it doesn't say blessed are those who die. It says blessed are those who die in the Lord, in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every believer has this good hope of salvation because of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we often say that salvation's of the Lord. It's all His doing. It's by His grace alone that He saves guilty sinners from their sin. It's all about a good hope of salvation based upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who He is. God Almighty, manifest in the flesh, come to save His people from their sin. You see, Christ in you, that's who He is and what He accomplished. The Lord Jesus Christ did not make an effort to save sinners. The messenger from heaven said, call his name Jesus. He shall save his people from their sin.

And he did. Successful. We have a successful savior, not a failure. It says in Isaiah 42, he shall not fail. He shall not be discouraged. Our Lord Jesus Christ is faithful in all that he has done. Faithful is he who called you, who will also do it. Salvation is his doing, not ours. Salvation's all of his doing. That's our hope. Christ in you is a hope of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ in scripture is called the good shepherd. We have a shepherd. He's a good shepherd. The good shepherd gave his life for his people. He laid down his life for his sheep, particular death and atonement, particular redemption for the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ stood as surety of that eternal covenant and all those for whom the Lord represented as the God-man mediator and those for whom he died, he saved them with an everlasting salvation. They cannot perish. because he saved them. He purposed that from eternity. He worked with all things after the counsel of his own will.

Every believer has this good hope of grace through our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm 23, David, a man after God's own heart, David, the king of Israel, David was a sinner saved by the grace of God, and he says this. And this is familiar with all of you, but perhaps you're not familiar with the message of Psalm 23.

David said, the Lord, the Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. Do you have a shepherd? Do you have a Lord? David said in Psalm 27, the Lord is my light and my salvation. He's my shepherd. He's my light. He's my salvation. We have no other. No other hope of salvation but in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is my shepherd.

What do lost sheep need? A shepherd, a shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ is called the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ is called the great shepherd of the sheep. Through the blood of the everlasting covenant, he saved his people. And then he's called not only the good shepherd, The Great Shepherd, he's called the Chief Shepherd. This is the one who's our shepherd. For the believer, he's a cheap shepherd who said, I'll go away and I'll come again and receive you into myself that where I am, there you may be also. That's a great hope, is it not? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

This psalm is a psalm of comfort, Psalm 23. But you know, it follows Psalm 22. And why is that significant? Well, Psalm 22, if you read Psalm 22, it's all about Christ and Him crucified. He cries out from the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You know where that comes from? Psalm 22 verse 1. Without Christ crucified, there in Psalm 22, and the fulfillment of that in him coming and dying for his people, we would have no comfort of salvation without the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified for our sin.

So the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, I shall not want. The Lord Jesus Christ is that shepherd of the sheep that was promised in the Old Testament scriptures. Listen to Ezekiel 34, I will set up one shepherd over them, he shall feed his sheep. He is that promised shepherd. In Isaiah 40, it says, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs in his arms, and he carries them in his bosom. Think about that. The Lord carries his people upon his heart. Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ is described as the shepherd of the sheep, And in the New Testament, we had the fulfillment of that shepherd that was promised. The New Testament talks about the Lord Jesus Christ being the good shepherd. He said, he said, no man takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father. He's that good shepherd. Think about that.

He came and he gave himself, made himself a sacrifice for our sin, for the sin of God's people. And it was successful. How do we know that the sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ made for his people was successful? How do we know? God raised him from the dead, delivered for our offenses, and raised again because he did what? He justified those people.

God put his stamp of approval on all that Christ said and all that he did, and he raised him from the dead the third day, but what happened after 40 days? Three days the Lord was raised from the dead and he lived among men 40 days. What happened after 40 days?

The Lord Jesus Christ, that God-man mediator, in the glory of thy body, ascended to the throne of God and he's seated on the throne of God right now, interceding for his people. Isn't that comforting? He ever lived to intercede for us? That's the kind of shepherd I need. Intercede, intercede for me. Now, I trust you can say with David that the Lord is my shepherd.

And if you can say that the Lord is my shepherd, you can also say, as David says here in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I shall not want. I shall not want. And then he mentions these things that we shall not want for as believers. It's because of who he is and what he's done that we can boldly say with confidence, because he's my good shepherd, my great shepherd, I have no want.

He meets all our need. Paul said, my God shall supply all your need. according to his riches in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a great need of forgiveness, redemption, pardon, righteousness. All those things are fully met where? In Christ, in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm weak, guilty, and sinful, but I shall not want because I have a great shepherd. I have a great savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, you know, He is called God, our Savior. The one who is our Savior is God. The one who is our shepherd is God. That's why we shall not want.

He's able to perform all that He promised concerning the salvation of His people. All that God has promised, you know, sometimes we make promises, don't we? We all have made promises and sometimes circumstances come up and we can't meet that promise. Say, I'll meet you here, I'll do this. And sometimes we just can't do it due to different circumstances. The Lord has promised us all things and he performs all things for us. All the promises of God in Christ are yes.

Is there salvation in Him? Yes. And He's able to perform all things for us. You see, salvation is based upon His performance, His faithfulness, His doing, not ours. We call that salvation by grace. by grace alone. He's able to save to the uttermost all that God promised. He's able to perform. He's performed all things for us. He's able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. He's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of God's glory with exceeding joy. He's able to raise up our vile bodies and give us a new glorious body like unto His.

Our bodies go back to the dust, just as the Lord said. But one day when the Lord comes back, we're gonna be raised from the dead and we're gonna have a new body. Think about it. A new body that will never grow old, never grow weak, never grow tired. We'll have perfect union and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever in that new body. Beholding him face to face with that new body, just like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, in the rest of this psalm, he makes this statement, because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, and then he gives us several things that the believer resting in Christ shall not want for. Shall not want for. He freely supplies and freely gives us all things. We're justified freely by His grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not justified by our works, by our deeds. Brother Gene believed that. He would tell you in a heartbeat, wouldn't he? Salvation of the Lord, salvation by the grace of God alone, justified freely by his grace. Listen to this scripture. God who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Everything in salvation is a free gift of his grace to undeserving sinners such as we are.

He says, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside still waters. The believer resting in the Lord Jesus Christ shall not want for rest. Shall not want for rest. The believer finds his word most sweet and tender like fresh grass would be to the sheep. I shall not want for rest.

We feed upon him through the word. And he makes me to lie down, he says, there in green pastures. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He lead me beside still waters, so we shall not want for rest. He makes us to lie down and rest in him. And he says, he leads me beside still waters. So he makes me to lie down, he gives me rest.

Our Lord said in Matthew 11, come unto me all you who are laboring and heavy laden and I will give you what? Rest, rest. We have rest for our soul in the blessed Savior. So we shall not want for rest because the great shepherd is our rest. And then the second thing he says, he leaves me besides still waters. We shall not want for refreshment, for rest and refreshment.

Listen to this scripture, Isaiah 55. Ho, everyone that is thirsty, come, come ye to the waters. Come, buy and eat and drink without money and without price. Salvation is a free gift of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the living water of life, springing up into everlasting life. He said this, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.

A well of water, springing up into everlasting life. I shall not want for rest. I shall not want for refreshment. He's a water of life. He's a water of life. If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. And we do. He's a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Verse three says, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. I shall not want for reconciliation. He restores our soul. He restores us. I shall not want for redemption or reconciliation. He restores my soul. Now what does my soul need restored?

Well, in Adam we've sinned. In Adam we're guilty. In Adam we've sinned. All have sinned against God. In Adam all died. In Adam all sinned. And because of that, our sin has separated us from God. How can I be reconciled and restored? Not by anything that I have done, but God was in Christ reconciling his people unto himself. The work of reconciliation is his doing. His doing through his dying. We have redemption through his blood and we have reconciliation. See what he's saying? He restored my soul. He reconciled and redeemed me. And it says, He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

I shall not want, the believer shall not want for righteousness. Now a lot of people make a very sad mistake in mistaking human morality for righteousness. Human morality before God is nothing but sin. Did you know that? Man, his best state is vanity. All of our so-called goods and righteousness, good doing before God are nothing but filthy rags. The believer has to have a perfect righteousness to stand before God. Well, preacher, you're a guilty vile sinner. That's right. That's what I am in myself.

But in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the Lord my righteousness. In Romans chapter four, Paul talks about, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. I have a blessed righteousness in Christ. You know, he's called, in scripture, he's called the Lord. He's the Lord, our righteousness. Christ is the believer's righteousness. It says there, he restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. For Christ's namesake, we have a blessed, justifying righteousness worked out for us through the faithful obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. He magnified the law of God on our behalf in every precept and every penalty. He satisfied God's law and justice for us. He restored my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake.

And then it says in verse four, I shall not want for fellowship or companionship, because it says there, listen to verse four. He said, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'm walking through this valley, I will fear no evil, and the reason why is because thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. We shall not want for fellowship or companionship.

Thou art with me. The Lord's with his people. They say, well, I don't feel his presence. He didn't ask you to feel his presence. He said, believe my word. And lo, I'm with you always. He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Lo, I'm with you always. Always. I shall not want. for fellowship and comfort. He's promised to never leave us and never forsake us.

Nothing can separate the believer from the love of God, which is in Christ, not even death. Although we walk through the shadow of the valley of death, we have nothing to fear, for Christ has taken the sting of death away. He died for our sin, according to scripture, and he ever lived to intercede for us, to apply all of his blessings unto us. Death to the believer is just a shadow. No need to fear a shadow. Christ has removed the substance of death. Only a shadow remains. Death to the believer, as I said earlier, is not punishment. Promotion. is promotion, to be absent from this body. And that's what happens when a believer dies, his soul and spirit leaves that body to be with the Lord forever and ever and ever.

Gene's a happy camper. He's a happy camper, worshiping around the throne of almighty God. I look forward to death. As a believer, I do. I look forward to meeting the Lord, being taken this body of flesh that I dwell in and putting it in the ground and being done with this old rotten flesh. and to be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever.

He says, I shall not want for comfort, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Christ is our comfort. He's our comforter, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's all of our comfort, all of our salvation. He says in verse five, I shall not want for possession. for provision.

He said, My cup runneth over. Thou preparest me a table before the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. He said, My cup runs over. We have a cup full of blessings. Think of this scripture. He's blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made to the believer wisdom, but of him are you in Christ, who of God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Everything that I need to stand before God, justified, is freely given to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's good news, is it not? He shall supply all our need according to his riches in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Do believers have enemies? Our Lord said, if they hated me, they'll hate you too. But he anoints our head and our cup runs over. He anoints us. by the Holy Spirit that reveals Christ unto us. He said, when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he'll take the things of Christ and show them unto you, and that's what he does. In closing, he says in verse six, I shall not want for anything in this life, nor in the life to come.

He said, surely, certainly, count on it, goodness, mercy. The Lord is good to his people. He's good to his people and he's merciful. He'd like to show mercy. I need his goodness. I need his mercy. He said surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. Follow me.

We have Little dog in here earlier walking around. I love dogs. My wife loves dogs. But I always thought about, you know, the shepherd always has out there in the plain, the shepherd always has those sheep dogs, doesn't he? Those sheep dogs that kind of watch, protect the sheep, don't they? Well, I look at this as a shepherd having these two sheep dogs named Goodness and Mercy. Goodness and Mercy. They watch and protect the sheep.

Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. While I'm here, goodness and mercy, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Those two sheepdogs, sheepdogs, goodness. The Lord is good to his people. and the Lord is merciful unto his people. He's a God of mercy. He said, it's sovereign mercy, but it's mercy. He said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. But he says, I will have mercy. I will have mercy.

I shall not want for any good thing in this life or in the life to come for I dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David says in another Psalm, Psalm 84, he said, the Lord God is sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly, that walk it by faith, that just shall live by faith.

Grace and glory. He gives his people grace now. We can say with the apostle Paul, I am what I am by the grace of God. Sovereign grace, free grace, electing grace, saving grace, I am what I am by the grace of God. He gives us all grace now, and then you know what?

Glory forever. We have grace now, we'll have glory forever in our blessed Savior. Now, I pray that you'll go home and look at Psalm 23 again, and think about the shepherd, because we have a great shepherd, that is the believer does, we shall not want. For any good thing, he supplies everything we need freely, fully, eternally. We have eternal salvation. He saves us with an everlasting salvation. He obtained for us eternal redemption with his own blood. We shall not want for any good thing.

How are all these blessings received? Not by doing, by believing, by faith, by faith. Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I pray the Lord will bless His word and comfort you. And we'll close our service here by a word of prayer. And then we'll turn it over to the brothers to take care of things. Our Heavenly Father, again we come to Thy throne of grace as needy, beggars, mercy beggars, asking you for grace to help in our time of need. Lord, bless this dear family. Comfort them only as you can with Christ who is our comfort.

And Lord, we give you all the honor and glory for the salvation that's of the Lord, salvation that you purposed in eternity, and it's salvation you accomplished in time that you freely give to your people by your grace. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we do give thanks. Amen. Okay.