I know Henry and Clarissa are
greatly encouraged by your love. I want us to begin this service
by reading from God's Word in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The only true comfort that we
do comfort one another and we seek to try to encourage one
another, but the only real comfort that is sure is from God's word. And pray that we will be encouraged
and comforted by what the Lord has spoken. And we also pray
for Emerson and Margaret who live in Canada. That's Peggy's
mom and dad. They're watching live online. Our, our sympathy goes to them. First Thessalonians chapter four,
beginning in verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep. Last Friday, a week ago today,
we were sitting at Peggy's bedside and I was reading to her from
1 Corinthians chapter 15. And she just fell asleep. She
just stopped breathing. And the Lord took her so, so
peacefully. And now the Lord tells us that
for a believer, it's sleep, it's not death. You remember what
the Lord said to Martha? when she was grieving over the
loss of her brother, Lazarus. And the Lord said that he would
rise again. And Martha said, I know that
he will rise in the resurrection. And the Lord said to Martha,
Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he be dead, yet shall he live. And he that liveth and abideth
in me shall never die. And the Lord asked Martha, believest
thou this? And Martha said, I believe, I
believe that thou art the Christ, the anointed one, the one son
of God to conquer death. That's what the Lord Jesus did.
He conquered death. That's where I was reading from
first Corinthians 15. Oh death, where's thy sting? O grave, where
is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, through
Christ Jesus, we have the victory. The Lord conquered death. We
believe what the Lord said. Believest thou this? He that
believeth in me shall never die. Never die. And so the Lord likens
this passing for the child of God as sleep. He says, concerning
them which are asleep that you sorrow not even as others who
have no hope. We have a sure hope in the promises
of God and in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And though
we sorrow, we don't sorrow as those who have no hope. For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord. It's by the word of the Lord. This is God's word. It's not
my opinion or anybody else's. This is what God says. That we
which are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep. Three times he refers to death
as sleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout. with the voice of the archangel
and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and
so shall we ever be with the Lord. And then the last verse
says, wherefore, wherefore, comfort ye one another with these words. Comfort ye one another. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth the Lord. Oh, the Lord will comfort
our hearts with that comfort that can only be found in the
glorious person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray together. Our merciful
heavenly Father, we pray that you would send your
spirit and power, that you would bless us with the gift of faith,
that we would believe all that you've promised and all that
you've done, and that we would hang all the hopes that we've
ever had on the finished work of thy dear son. We know, Lord,
that you're the only one that can speak peace to the heart.
And so we pray that you would use your word. We know that faith
comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God. Lord,
use your word to speak peace to Henry, to Clarissa, to Peggy's
mother and father, to Emerson, to Marguerite. Lord, we pray
that you would comfort our hearts as we mourn the loss of our dear
friend and sister. And yet, Lord, we know that She is glorying in the fullness
of all that you've provided for her as for all your people in
salvation. We ask it in Christ's name and
for his sake, amen. Tom's gonna come and lead us
in 296, 296 in the hard back 10 note. Let's stand together. all the way my savior leads me
what have i to ask beside can i doubt his tender mercy who
through life has been my guide Heavenly peace, divinest comfort,
Hear my faith, bid him to dwell. For I know whate'er befall thee,
Jesus, who with all things dwell. For I know whate'er befall thee,
Jesus, who with all things dwell. All the way my Savior leads me,
cheers each winding path I tread, gives me grace for every trial,
feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter,
and my soul a thirst may be, ? Flashing from the rock before
me ? ? Flow a spring of joy I see ? ? Flashing from the rock before
me ? ? Flow a spring of joy I see ? ? All the way my Savior leads me
? ? O the fullness of His love ? Perfect rest to Thee is promised
In my Father's house above. When my spirit, broken or tall,
Wings its flight to realms of pain, This my soul, through endless
ages, Jesus, let me hold the flame. This my song through endless
ages, Jesus led me all thy way. Thank you all for coming. Greg's asked me to say a few
words in way of a eulogy for Peggy. And he said, yeah, you
don't have to worry about preparing. Speak from your heart. And my
god, there's just so much to say about Peggy in the 20 years. Peggy, we've known Henry and
Peggy for a long time. She's going to be dearly missed.
by us. Greg has already mentioned that
her parents, Emerson and Margaret, are watching. It's a terrible
thing. It's a terrible thing to lose
your child. Most of us can't imagine what
that would be like. So we grieve with Peggy's parents. We grieve with Emerson and Margaret.
She's also survived by her sister, Winifred. And cousins and relatives
and There's a cousin that Peggy was close with, Beth, and her
husband Eric. So we want to acknowledge them
as well. And we sorrow with your sorrows. Boy, there's so many things that
I'm going to miss about Peggy. We've known Henry and Peggy since,
actually since before moving down here, and that was a little
over 20 years ago. Henry and Peggy were among the
first people that we knew and that we met in this church when
we were just visiting. And Henry and Peggy would come
over to Phil and Margaret's house. And Margaret, I hope that you're
able to watch as well, because I know she was a good friend
for you. They would come over to Phil and Margaret's house,
and she was one of the friendliest people that I've ever known.
And we've known her for such a long time. The thing about
Peggy was you never had to worry about your words. You never had
to worry about, Oh, did I say that the wrong way? Or did she
take that the wrong way? Peggy was Peggy. Peggy, what
you saw was what you got. And, um, I mean, and, and she
would come up to you after the service and she'd be all excited
about the, uh, about the message. She, she loved the Lord. And
I would listen to her sometimes and I'd think, wow, she has a
spirit that I wish I had. She has a love for the Lord that
sometimes my heart waxes so cold. So that was something about Peggy
that I think will always live in our hearts. She loved her family. She loved
her friends. She was, uh, she, she always
spoken in, in such glowing terms about Clarissa and Henry. You
know, sometimes you'll get a spouse who will kind of, you know, say
some things about their husband, maybe the wife, maybe not so
nice. And, you know, uh, never, never a word from Peggy other
than, you know, what a great family she had. And, um, she,
uh, she always appreciated the love and support that she got
from you guys. You know, the happiest time for
both Henry and Peggy happened 17 years ago. When the Lord moved their heart
to adopt Clarissa, and all the pictures circulated around, this
little baby, and suddenly their lives changed. She loved you
dearly. And from the, before, just from
the very beginning. And that was a bond that we shared
with Peggy as we adopted twice as well. And the analogy is how
the Lord Jesus adopts sinners, undeserving, ungrateful at times,
sinners, who have no, nothing to earn. Nothing that they've
earned to be in heaven, to be under the grace of God. And yet,
God adopts his children from love and mercy. And that's what
it reminded me of when Henry and Peggy said, yeah, we're going
to get a baby. And who would have known that
you would turn out so great? It was just amazing. You could
see this visible change in them. Their hearts were so light. It
was just the best thing that ever happened to them. And I
will tell you that they loved our dog, too. I know this is
going to probably sound a little weird, but something you guys
might not know. But for many years, when we would
go away, Henry and Peggy and Clarissa would watch our dog,
Princess. And at first, we thought it was
kind of an imposition. And then they were just kind
of doing us a favor. But it became very clear that they loved our
dog. And this is before they got their
own dog. And they would send us pictures.
Wherever we were going, they would send us pictures of Princess. Just a very sweet family, a very
loving family. And Peggy was such a big part
of that. You know, when Greg asked me
to do this, I immediately thought about having done this two months
ago. Uh, sadly had to bury my mom.
Uh, my mom passed two months ago from, uh, from COVID. And,
um, but there's such a difference. There is such a difference. And
Greg has already alluded to this, right? And, uh, so I'm going
to, I'm going to read the same scripture again, if that's okay.
Uh, but I would not 1 Thessalonians 4.13, and this makes all the
difference in the world, but I would not have you ignorant.
to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep, that ye
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. When my mom passed,
I'll tell you, we have very little hope. My mom was never really
open to the gospel. She wasn't hostile towards it
because she saw what it had done in our lives, but my mom was
resistant to the gospel. At the very end, we had the opportunity
to read some scriptures to her and to pray and to play hymns.
Completely different when a child of God passes. Completely different. And so we weep, but not without
hope. Not without hope. And I'll just,
you know, the God of all comfort, right? 2 Corinthians 1 verse
3, blessed be the God Even the Father, I'm sorry, blessed be
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,
and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation,
in all of our tribulation, even the death of a loved one, that we may be able to comfort
them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted by God. And that is a gift. That is the
gift of grace that the Lord Jesus Christ gives us. And that is
the comfort. And you know, um, we talk about
the fact that, oh man, 2020 has been such a horrible year, such
a terrible year. And there have been a lot of
losses and a lot of pain and struggles. Uh, not the least
of which is the passing of our dear sister. I remind us and
remind myself that this is the year that God has ordained for
us. This is exactly how the plan was supposed to go from before
time began. And we weep and we mourn for
our losses, but we don't weep without hope. And we do have
the God of all comfort. And so I pray that as a congregation,
as a family, that we're able to continue to remind ourselves
and remind Henry and Clarissa that the God of all comfort watches
out for his children and takes care of his children. May it
be that we would look to the Lord Jesus Christ for all of
our wants, all of our needs, and all of our comfort. We will
miss Peggy. We will miss Peggy, but we have a great savior, and
we know where she is, and someday we'll join her. And that's the
country. Thank you. Let's stand together. Once again,
we're going to sing hymn number 236 in the hardback timbrel,
Amazing Grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a prince like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. I have already come. Tis grace hath brought me safe
thus far, and grace will lead me home. When we've been there 10,000
years Bright shining as the sun We've no less days to sing God's
praise Than when we first begun Please be seated. Henry and I were reminiscing
the other day about when they first moved here from California and how they came. It was 1996
when they first came to our church. Henry said, we were there the
Sunday that Todd preached. And, uh, and after that, you
know, there was some turmoil and Henry and Peggy had experienced
a church split in California. And Henry said, yeah, I really
want to be a part of this. You know, we've already gone
through that before. Peggy said, no. So I heard something. I want to, I want to keep hearing.
The Lord gave Peggy. ears to hear the gospel from
the very day that I heard the gospel. We heard the gospel at
the same time. And what a great blessing it's
been to us over these years, Henry and Clarissa, to enjoy
that fellowship with Peggy. We have a brother in our church,
Jack Bond, Several years ago, the Lord took his wife home.
And, uh, and the last thing that Jack's wife told him, she said,
honey, she said, uh, the Lord will provide for you and you'll
be following me soon. And, uh, what a, what a statement
of faith. That's true. You know, this service
is not for Peggy. People sometimes foolishly, we
hear people say, well, you know, they're looking down from heaven.
No, they're not. Heaven wouldn't be heaven. If there was any consciousness
whatsoever of this simple world, heaven wouldn't be heaven. No,
Peggy's enjoying the full glory of Christ right now. And the
scripture says, it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but
we know that when he shall appear, We shall be made like him for
we shall see him as he is. And that's where Peggy is. That's
our hope. That she's glorying in Christ. The corruptible flesh
has been made incorruptible. And she's without sin and not
missing us a bit. And that's a good thing. No,
these services are for us. there for us to find comfort
and grace and hope in our own salvation and in our own loss. In John chapter 13, the Lord
told the disciples that he was going away and that he was going
to die and they didn't understand. And the Lord said, let not your
heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also
in me. For in my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go and prepare a place for you. When the Lord Jesus
Christ, as the living word, ascended back into glory, he did not return
void. The scripture says that God's
word accomplishes the purpose for which God sends it. The purpose
that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world was to accomplish
the salvation of his people. And when he ascended back into
glory, he took with him the names of those for whom he lived and
died. And he did everything necessary to prepare a place for us. He said, I go and prepare a place
for you. His presence is the preparation for glory. His redemptive
work on Calvary's cross was all that God required for the putting
away of the sins of his people. And the Lord accomplished that. He went on to say, where I go,
you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said, Lord, we don't
know where you're going and we don't know how to get there.
And that's when the Lord said to the disciples, Thomas, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to the Father
but by me. And then Philip piped up and said, Lord, show us the
Father, and it sufficeth us. And the Lord said, old Philip,
have I not been with you so long that you don't know that when
you've seen me, you've seen the Father, for I and the Father
are one? When the Lord Jesus Christ reveals
himself through faith to the heart, he's revealing himself
as God, as God. All that we'll ever know about
God will be revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, I hope that we can find Comfort
in those words, let not your heart be troubled. Believe, believe. Abraham believed God and it was
accounted to him for righteousness. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God for they that come to him must believe that he is.
And he's the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And
yet we know that this faith is a miracle of grace. It's a gift
from God. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that is not of yourself. We can't just decide we're going
to believe. The Lord gives faith through the preaching of the
gospel. And our hope is that, you know, the disciples said,
Lord, increase our faith, increase our faith. That's what you and
I are in need of right now. Peggy has no need for anything. Nothing. All her needs have been
met. She's experiencing the fullness
of what David said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be
in want. She's not in want of anything.
And that's our hope. But we're the ones in need. That
the Lord would increase our faith and enable us to rest all our
hopes. on the glorious person and finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This service is for us. It's for the strengthening of
the believer's faith that's in hope that those who are strangers
to God's grace might be brought through the preaching of the
gospel to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our
hope. That's our hope. Because without that, there is
no hope. There's no life outside of Christ. That's why he said,
I am the way. I am the truth. And not that
I'm going to show you the way. Not I'll teach you the truth.
I am the way. This is life eternal, but they
might know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. God would reveal Christ to our
hearts and give us the hope that our sister Peggy had in Christ. It's a time for us to be reminded
of our immortality, our need for grace, our need to have our
sins forgiven. Truth is, as Jack was told by
his wife, honey, you'll be following me soon, this life is It is a
vapor. And the older we get, the more
we realize how brief it is. And it won't be long from this
day, mark my words, it won't be long from this day that your
friends and my friends will be gathering in a service just like
this. And they'll be mourning our loss.
And what hope is there outside of Christ? There is no hope.
Christ in you, your hope of glory. That's what the scripture says,
Christ, who is our life. He is our life. Also, this is a time for us to
rejoice, to rejoice in the Lord. Paul said, again, I say rejoice,
let your gentleness be known to all men for the Lord is at
work. hand, we have reason to rejoice.
In our sorrow, we rejoice. We rejoice in knowing that our
God reigns, and he hath done whatsoever he wills. Everything
he does is perfect. It's all working according to
his purpose and his plan. Our God is a God of purpose.
He's not just trying to get things done. That's what the world says.
He wants to save. If you just let him, oh, no.
Oh, no. No, our God is absolutely sovereign
and he's all powerful and he's immutable. And he, when he's
ready to save, he saves, he saves. No, we don't worship a God who's
depending on us to let him have his way. We worship a God who
was omnipotent. What great comfort and hope we
have. And knowing that no man can stay
his hand and no man can say unto him, what doest thou? He's the
potter, we're the clay. He has the right to make from
the same lump of clay, some vessels of honor and some of dishonor.
Therefore it is not of him who willeth nor of him that runneth,
it's of God that show of mercy. We're dependent on him, aren't
we? We come before him, believing the promises of God. We rest
in the glorious person and in the finished work. of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who said, come unto me, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Rest
for your soul. Take my yoke upon you for my
burden is light. Why is his burden light? Because
he bore the full burden of our sin on Calvary's cross. The burden's
been, that's why the Lord said to Isaiah, he said, comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, speak ye comfortably unto Jerusalem and
tell them their warfare is accomplished. The Lord Jesus Christ fought
the battle and got the victory. So that, it's already been won. That's what Peggy believed. That's who he believed. Paul
said, I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded. I'm persuaded
that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him. I'm
entrusting my soul to him. We also have a Christ who is touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. Shortest verse in the Bible,
you know what it is, Jesus wept. Where did that happen? In John
chapter 11. At a funeral service, at a graveside, the Lord wept
to show his compassion. I mean, the scripture says, we
do not have a high priest who's not able to be touched with the
feelings of our infirmities, but was in all ways in all ways
tested and tempted as we are yet without sin. Without sin. He was born of a woman. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. He experienced all the troubles
that you and I have and infinitely more in this life. And he wept. He wept. It's a
day of weeping. It's a day of sorrow. And it's a time of rejoicing
at the same time, isn't it? That's why he said, therefore
come confidently. The scripture uses the word boldly,
but that word boldly doesn't mean with some sort of, some
sort of confidence in ourselves. It's a confident that Christ
has paid the way. that when he bowed his mighty
head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished, and the veil
was rent, God opened up the way into the holies of holies. And
so he says, come boldly with confidence to the throne of grace. We don't come before the throne
of law, we come before the throne of grace. That you may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in your time of need. We have a need, Lord. We have
a need for your comfort, for your grace, for your mercy. We
have a need for, for faith. We have a need for forgiveness. We have a need for hope. We have
a need for crying. All those things are given to
us in the person of Christ. So the bottom line is Christ
is all and he is in all and we need him. Lord, I need you, I
need Christ. You know, last words are very
significant. Peggy, they say that hearing
is the last thing to go in this life. And there seemed to be
some evidence that Peggy was hearing you, Henry and Clarissa,
I believe she was hearing the word of God in the last moments
of her life, though she was not able to speak. The last words
are very significant. And the Lord's last words to his
disciples when he ascended into glory and the disciples said,
Lord, is it time now for you to establish your kingdom? And
the Lord said, it's not for you to know the time of the season.
But you go back to Jerusalem. What's a Jerusalem a picture
of? It's a picture of this church. It's a city of peace. It's where
we find peace with God. He said, you go back into Jerusalem
and you wait and the Holy Ghost will come upon you and you'll
be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and unto
the uttermost parts of the world. Peggy, I know from personal conversation
with her, had a great burden for her unbelieving friends and
family members, and she was a bold witness. She was waiting for
the Lord and knew what it meant to have the Spirit of God. That
was the Lord's last words, and he ascended into glory. The angels came and asked the
disciples, why stand you here gazing up into heaven? This same
Jesus who is ascended from you is going to come again in like
manner. And last Friday at six o'clock, he sent his angels. We remember the rich man and
Lazarus and the scripture says that Lazarus was taken by the
angels into the bosom of Abraham. And that happened. The Lord sent
his angels yesterday and came and received our sister into
his presence. And that's our hope. That's our
hope for her. And oh, I pray the Lord would give us that hope
and confidence in Christ for ourselves. And then in 2 Samuel chapter
24, The scripture says, these be
David's last words. Now we know that David is a type
of Christ. He's the sweet psalmist of Israel.
He was the king of Israel. He was the shepherd. He was the
prophet and he was the king. And in so many ways, David pictures
Christ. Even when David went against
Goliath, he represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the agreement
that was made between the Philistines and the Israelites, we'll put
one man against one man and whoever wins, the whole nation will submit. And David went as a type of Christ
and he slew the giant. Christ went to Calvary's cross
and he slew, he slew sin, he slew the grave, he slew damnation,
he got the victory and all of the enemy was subject to Israel
as a result of David. David typifies Christ in so many
ways. But here's David, the scripture
says, these be David's last words. When David was on his deathbed,
he spoke these words. He said, although my house be
not so with God. Now, just like every single one
of us, David had troubles in his home. His children, his grandchildren,
his wives, he had problems. And David, if David looked to
the stability and to the model of his house for the hope of
his salvation, he wouldn't have had anything to hope for. But
also David was speaking of the tabernacle of his own flesh.
when he said, although my house be not so with God, I'm not like
I want to be. I'm not like I ought to be. If
I look to myself for the hope of my salvation, what hope do
I have? I mentioned earlier that Peggy
heard the gospel the same time I heard it. We heard it from
Todd Nyvert. He came here in 1996 and preached
from Leviticus chapter 13 on the cleansing of the leper. As you preached, Hugo, you preached
on leprosy just a couple of weeks ago. And what a picture of our
state before God. We're leprous, we're sinners.
Peggy believed herself to be a sinner, and that's such a good
thing. For this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's who he
came to save. You see, there's no hope of salvation
unless you're a sinner. Peggy would say with King David,
although my house be not so with God. Yet, yet, he has made with
me an everlasting covenant. Now the word everlasting means
that it never had a beginning and it never had an end. And
David's hope of salvation was based on a covenant that he said
was everlasting. Now in religion, we hear about
men making their, a covenant is a promise. And we hear men
talk about, well, you know, give your heart to Jesus and make
a promise to God and he'll save you. That's not an everlasting
covenant. That's a covenant that man makes.
That's a promise that man makes. And God says that covenant, Isaiah
chapter 28, the Lord said, I will disannul that covenant. That
covenant will not stand. The covenant that you make, a
salvation that's based on our promise to God is no salvation
at all. David said, yet though my house
be not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant. This is the covenant of grace.
It's the eternal covenant, where God Almighty chose according
to His own will and purpose, a particular people before the
world was ever created. God sovereignly decided who was
going to be His. And the Lord Jesus Christ entered
into that covenant relationship with the Father. And He promised
to come to this world in time and do everything necessary for
the redemption of God's elect. And that's what the Lord Jesus
did. And God, the Holy Spirit entered into that promise. And
he said, I'll go and I'll open the eyes of their understanding.
I'll unstop their ears. I'll take out their heart of
stone and put in a heart of flesh. And I will make them willing
in the day of my power. Now that's God, the Father, God,
the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit coveting together without any
dependence upon us for anything. That's a salvation that's sure
and steadfast. David said, although my house
be not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure. What made that covenant of God,
that everlasting covenant, that covenant of grace, what makes
it so sure? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ,
his work on Calvary's cross is what made it sure. God made him
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. Christ bore in his body on Calvary's
cross all the sins of all of God's people, and he put them
away once and for all by the sacrifice of himself. so that
they are no more. God said, I remember your sins
no more. I've separated them from you
as far as the east is from the west. That was Peggy's hope.
Peggy had a great hope that her sins had been buried. They'd
been cast into the depths of the sea. They'd been covered
by the blood of Christ. They were put out of God's sight,
not by any commitment that she made, or a decision that she
made, but what Christ did on Calvary's cross when he said,
it is finished. Finished. There's the gospel
of God's grace. God's not in heaven wringing
his hands, wishing that men would let him have his way. God's not
begging men to please let Jesus into your heart. No, no, he finished
the work. And when He ascended back into
glory, He took with Him the names of those for whom He lived and
died. And they are seated in Christ at the right hand of God. Now that's a sure hope. Because
a hope that's based on the decision that I make or a work that I
perform, we're going to mess it up, aren't we? We're going
to mess it up. Christ could not mess it up.
He performed his work perfectly. He said, did you not know that
I must be about my father's business? The work that thou gavest me
to do, I have finished. He finished it. That was David's
last day. It's ordered in all things and
sure this covenant of grace that I'm hoping in for my salvation.
was completely fulfilled by the person and accomplished work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a sure hope. And then
David went on to say, this is all my salvation and all my desire. I got all my eggs in one basket.
Peggy had all her hope on Christ. She wasn't looking. to a prayer
that she had prayed, or a time in her life when she had done
something, or no, she cast all her care on Him. She would say with the Apostle
Paul, I'm persuaded. I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to him. I've entrusted everything to him. Put all put it all on
Christ. All on Christ. David said this is all my salvation
and all my desire. Not looking anywhere else. That's
a work of grace in the heart. Because most folks, you know,
they got Jesus, plus they got a religious experience, plus
they got their works that they're performing for God. And then
they're looking to themselves to look for evidences of salvation.
David said, although my house be not so with God, I can't,
I can't see the evidence in my own life. And at the end of that
statement, he said this, although he make it not to grow. Peggy would not have testified
a month ago when she was here.
She was here a month ago in service. She didn't tell any of you that
she was better then than she was 20 years ago, was she? No,
that wasn't her profession. When we grow in grace and in
the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we don't believe ourselves
to be getting better. We see more and more of our sin
and more and more of our need for Christ. And as we grow in
grace, we'll become more and more humbled and more and more
dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ for everything. Peggy was never
more dependent on Christ than the last days of her life. Although he'd make it not to
grow. We persevere because the Lord
keeps us. Because the Lord continues to
make himself known to us and reveal himself to us. This is
the gospel, isn't it? Sinful, depraved, No righteousness
whatsoever. All my righteousness is filthy
rags. Christ is all my righteousness
before God. I have no righteousness outside
of him. He made the covenant, the covenant
of grace established in eternity past. That's my hope. And he
ordered it in all things. And therefore it is sure by the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is all my salvation. Not looking anywhere else. This
is all my desire. Though he make it not to grow.
I can't look at myself and be proud of being better now than
I was before. No, I'm. I'm more dependent on
him now than I've ever been before. That's Peggy's testimony. I've preached that message before
here. Maybe a couple of times. And Peggy would have said, as
you said, Jerry, after the service, amen. What great hope. What great hope we have. We have
a great hope for our sister. And Henry, the Lord will provide
for you. And you and me and every one
of us will be following her soon. And what a glorious day that'll
be. when we're able to see him as
he is and be made like him. Going to be some sad, lonely
moments, days for each of us, missing our sister most especially
and for you and Clarissa for you. Pray the Lord will remind
you and comfort you with the glorious work of Christ and his
finished His person in finished work. And then he will give each
of us the same hope that David had, the same hope that Martha
had. The Lord said, believest thou
this? He that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Oh, yes,
Lord. Yea, Lord, I believe. I believe
that thou art the Christ, the anointed one, the savior of sinners,
the son of God. Now I'm resting all my hope on
who you are and what you've done. That's a sure hope. So we have
a day of sadness and at the same time, a day of rejoicing. That's not a contradiction. It's
our experience, isn't it? It's our experience. Our heavenly father, we thank
you for your word, both written and
living. We thank you for the accomplished
work of thy dear son. We thank you for the testimony
that you gave our sister to rest all her hopes. in Christ and
his shed blood. Lord, we pray that you would
increase our faith. Cause us in this time of loss
and sadness to find our hope also in Christ. Pray for Henry
and Clarissa especially, and for Emerson and Margaret. Lord, their hearts are sad and
hurting. Reveal Christ to them and comfort
them with that comfort that only You can give. Lord, keep us. Keep us here in
Jerusalem. Keep us looking to Christ. For
it's in His name we pray. Amen. Caleb, where are you? Caleb's going to lead us in a
very familiar hymn. Sing along in your heart. Feel
free. But listen for a few minutes and then we'll be dismissed. Which number is it? It's in the
back of the spiral. Why don't you come up here? When peace like a river attendeth
my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever, my Lord, Thou hast
taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul, with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come, let this blessed ? That Christ hath regarded my
helpless estate ? ? And hath shed his own blood for my soul
? ? It is well, it is well with my soul ? It is well, it is well with my
soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious
thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole. is nailed to the cross, and I
bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
O my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul, with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ's
hands to live, if Jordan No pain shall be mine, for in
death as in life, thou wilt whisper thy peace to my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul, ? With my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul ? ? But
Lord, tis for thee, for thy coming we wait ? ? The sky, not the
grave, is our goal ? O Trump of the angel, O voice of the
Lord, blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul, with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. And, Lord, haste the day when
thy faith shall be sighed, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul, with my soul. It is well. It is well with my
soul.