Okay. Good evening. It's good to be
here. Tonight we're going to sing hymns
that Jerry wanted to be sung in his service. And we're going
to open up tonight's service in number 126, in your blue hymnal,
number 126, Rock of Ages. And if you could please stand.
And we're just going to sing a cappella all night. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed Be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no languor know? These for sin could not atone,
Thou must save and Thou alone. In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold thee on thy throne, Rock of Ages, You may be seated. Only safe place to be hid is
in Christ. It was my great joy to be able
to speak with Jerry a few times just before the Lord took him. And one of those, matter of fact,
I think two of those times, we read together from 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. And the scriptures, the word
of God becomes very poignant and powerful. when it's being
read in the last moments of life. And I had that same experience
yesterday with Digna. And I want us to read from this
passage together. Death, more than any other experience
in life, reminds us with such undeniable clarity our need for
God, our need for His grace, our need for His truth, and our
need for His comfort. And all those things are given
to us in His Word. We'll begin reading in verse 18 of 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished if there be no resurrection.
That's the argument that Paul's making here. If there be no resurrection,
then those who have fallen asleep, they're gone. If in this life
only, We have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the first fruits of them that sleep. For since by man came death,
and that's Adam. By man came also the resurrection
of the dead, that's the last Adam. For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in
his own order, Christ the firstfruits and afterwards they that are
Christ at his coming. Then cometh the end when he shall
deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall
have put down all rule and all authority and power For he must
reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. There's no
more death in him. Go turn with me over to verse 41. There's one glory of
the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars,
for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body and
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there's
a spiritual body. And so it is written the first
man, Adam was made a living soul in the last. Adam was made a
quickening spirit. I'll be it. That was not first, which was
spiritual, but that which is natural. And afterwards that
which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven as is the earthy. So. Such are they also that are
earthy and as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly
for as we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear
the image of the heavenly. Now this I say brethren that
flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Neither
doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at
the last trump, for the trump shall sound and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption. and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible have
put on incorruption and this mortal have put on the immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord. What is the work of the Lord? It's to believe on Christ.
That's his work. I was able to read this to Digny
yesterday. I said, Digny, you're doing the
work of the Lord right now. Right now, you're believing on
Christ, abound, abound in that work for as much as you know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Let's pray together. Our merciful heavenly Father, we come before thy holy presence
knowing that all our acceptance is in thy dear son, whose life of perfect obedience
to thy law satisfied all your righteousness, whose precious
blood shed on Calvary's cross, the hope of the covering and
forgiveness of our sin. Father, in this time of remembering
a loved one, we pray, Father, that you would give comfort.
We pray that you would give faith. We pray that you would give hope.
And we thank you. We thank you, Lord, for giving
Jerry a confession to make. And, Lord, we trust you. for all the hope of our salvation
and of his. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Blessed assurance, Jesus is Lord. Oh, what a Savior of glory divine. He is salvation, our substitute. Born of the Spirit, faithful
and true. This is His story, this is His
song. Praising my Savior for the work
He hath done. This is His story, This is His
song, pleasing our Father for the work He hath done. Perfect obedience, law satisfied,
justice demanded, our Savior should die. It is finished. Christ Jesus died. Precious blood offered. God satisfied. This is his story. This is his song. Praising my Savior. for the work he hath done. This is his story. This is his song. Pleasing our father for the work
he hath done. Our savior is risen. He sits on his throne. for his chosen below. God's Spirit is calling. All sinners will hear. O merciful Savior, have mercy
on me. This is his story. This is his song. Praising my Savior, for the work
he hath done. This is his story. This is his song, pleasing our
Father for the work he hath done. Blessed assurance, elected of
God, glory and honor, his name we adore. O weary sinner, be
of good cheer Our blessed Redeemer draweth so near This is his story,
this is his song. Praising my Savior for the work
he hath done. This is his story, this is his
song. Pleasing our Father for the work
he hath done. There's our hope. The work that
he has done. Jerry wanted us to have a service
where the gospel was preached. He asked. He asked me that. Yes,
birth that is Jennifer that. And so we're here tonight. At his request. To declare. The gospel. I was thinking about the purpose
of these services, and we must say that the very first purpose
is to worship our God, is to worship Him. If you'd like to
turn with me to Psalm 93, I actually prepared a preach from this passage
for Sunday. Psalm 93. The Lord reigneth. Our God reigns. He rules and
reigns with all sovereignty, all power, all authority, all
control. And we come before him and we
bow in worship. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength. wherewith he hath girded himself."
He just puts on his own nature. His own nature is omnipotent.
His own nature is majestic and glorious. The world also is established
that it cannot be moved. The purpose of God is set. Thy
throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O
Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift
up their waves. Now, the floods and the waters
are symbolic in scripture of trials and troubles, but they're
mostly symbolic of death, of death. The Lord, verse four, on high,
is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty
waves of the sea. Oh, death, where is thy sting? The testimony are thy testimonies,
the truth of God's word, which is the only place we can go to
find comfort, Thy testimonies are very sure. Holiness. Belongeth. To thine house, oh
Lord. Forever. Our God is holy. Our God is majestic. Our God
is sovereign. Our God is merciful. And when we come together for
a service like this, the first and foremost thing that we're
concerned with is bowing in worship. to our God. And as we do, we're
also brought to express gratitude for our God's mercy, not just
for our salvation, but for all the demonstrations of his mercy
that he's shown in our lives. This is a memorial service. This
is a time to be thankful and to remember fondly the life of
Jerry, who the Lord blessed many of us with. Bert, I knew Jerry
before I knew you. I remember as clear as if it
was yesterday when Jerry Ross introduced me to Bert Dunbar
and Bert Dunbar was holding Logan and Logan was about six months
old. I knew Jerry and how in God's providence after
all these years The Lord used Jerry. I'm very thankful for
that. And I would encourage the grandchildren
and Jennifer and Bert and all the family members to to recount
and remember those times. That's a good thing. It's a good
thing. Thirdly, this memorial service
is a time for us to consider Our own mortality. No event in life. Like death. To make us more keenly aware
of our need for God's grace for his mercy. For his comfort and
for his truth. And. Lord, teach us to number
our days. Teach us to number our days.
That we may apply our hearts to wisdom. This is a time for
each of us. One thing I know for sure about
memorial services is that they have no effect whatsoever. They
provide no comfort. They provide no peace and no
hope for the deceased. This isn't for Jerry. This is
for us. This is for us to worship God,
to thank God, and to seek God's mercy and his grace for our own
need. If you'd like to turn with me
in your Bibles, when Bert asked me to bring a message tonight,
I thought immediately about the thieves on the cross. And I thought,
you know, no one in all of scripture had more assurance given to them
than that thief on the cross. Today, you shall be with me in
paradise. One of the things that Jerry
expressed to me when we were talking the last month or so
is, He said, you know, I've wasted my life in false religion. And I said to Jerry, I said,
I said, well, Jerry, suppose that the Lord had had brought
you to Christ and taught you the truth when you were a young
man and you had lived your entire life serving God. Suppose that
that had happened. Compare that to where you are.
Does it really matter? Does it really make a difference
in terms of your need for grace and the salvation? You see, the
thief on the cross and the apostle Paul are in the same place, in
the same place. Luke chapter 23. at verse 31,
39 I'm sorry, and one of the malefactors which were hanged
railed on him saying, if thou be the Christ, save thyself and
us. Now, I think it's Mark that tells us that they both actually
railed on him, but one of them had a change of heart. I looked
up this word malefactor And it's a conjunction in the original
language of two words, the word evil and the word works. A malfactor is an evil doer. A malfactor is one whose works
are evil. And I thought, you know, these
two thieves, these two malfactors, represent us, don't they? One
on the right hand and one on the left hand. Is there a clearer
picture of the gospel of God's grace and his saving mercy than
these two malfactors? The scripture makes it clear
that all our works are as filthy rags before God. We can't produce
any work with our hands that are acceptable and righteous
before God. We have one. who was wounded
for our transgressions, one who took the punishment for our sin
and did a work with his hands that was acceptable and pleasing
to God. Who shall stand in his presence? Who shall come before
his holy hill? They that have a pure heart and
clean hands. We're all malfactors. Our works
are not acceptable to God. His work, the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the work of redemption, and the work of righteousness
performed by Christ is the only hope that we have. Jerry saw
that. Jerry came to to see that all
those things that I did, all that singing I did, all the church
services I went to, and they, I didn't know, I didn't know. In another place, these men are
called thieves, and they both represent all men, all men, and
that we, Our works are evil before God, and by nature, we would
rob from God his glory and salvation. And that's the, Malachi said,
will a man rob God? Yeah, he will. He will. And we do. That goes all the
way back to the beginning, doesn't it? When Satan said to Adam,
God doesn't want you to eat the tree of the fruit of the knowledge
of good and evil because he knows in the day in which you eat of
it, your eyes will be open and you'll be like God. Man's had
a God complex ever since. He's wanted to rob God. And every
time we try to take control, what are we doing? We're playing
God, aren't we? Thieves, thieves, malefactors. It's what we are by nature, and
I'm very encouraged, very encouraged when a man is able to confess
that he's a sinner and that his works are not acceptable to God,
that he's in need of an advocate, he's in need of a savior, he's
in need of a sin bearer, a substitute, One who performed a work that
was an evil, was holy, was good. One of the malfactors said, if
thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. That's really the issue.
The issue is, is Jesus of Nazareth the Christ? Is he the Christ? No man speaking by the Spirit,
no man speaketh by the Spirit calls Jesus accursed. Now, I looked up that word accursed. It is a thing devoted to God
without hope of redemption. Something that's cursed is devoted
to God for destruction, devoted to God without hope of redemption.
to suggest that Jesus died for somebody who's got no hope for
redemption, a person who's going to go to hell, is to call Jesus
accursed. It's to deny the very essence
of what it means to be Christ. And Jerry confessed that that's
what he did all his life. That's what false religion does.
That's what the false gospel does. denies the Lord Jesus as
the, what is that? If thou be the Christ, if thou
be the Christ, railing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you come down.
Even that thief on the cross who died in his sins knew that
the Christ had to be successful. He had to be, that the Christ
was all powerful, that the Christ would be like that woman at the
well. We know that when the Messiah comes, he's gonna set all this
in order. And so, that thief on the cross who died in his
sins knew more than men know today about Christ. They both railed on him, and
yet one of them had a change of heart. Well, he had a changed heart,
didn't he? God took out his heart of stone and put in a heart of
flesh. I thought, what? The Lord gave seven sayings that
we have recorded in scriptures from the cross. He said to John, or to his mother,
Mary, a woman, behold thy son, son, behold thy mother. He said, I thirst. He said, it
is finished. He said, father into thy hands,
I commend my spirit. He cried, my God, my God, why
has thou forsaken me? But all those things he said
after this interchange that he has with thief on the cross. So what did the thief on the
cross hear? Because we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing
comes by the word of God. What did the thief on the cross
hear? when he was brought to say, look
at, look, look, but the other answering rebuked him saying,
verse 40, does not thou fear God seeing thou art in the same
condemnation? Do you have no fear of God? What
brought the one to fear God? What brought the one to bow in
worship and beg for mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ? It wasn't
It is finished. It wasn't father into thy hands. I commend my spirit. It wasn't
my God, my God, why is thou forsaken me? It wasn't, I thirst in fulfillment
of prophecy. It wasn't the compassion that
the Lord showed between his mother and John. Those things all happened
afterwards. Look, look at, look at, um, Look
at verse 41, and we indeed justly for we receive the due rewards
of our deeds but this man have done nothing amiss. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
say that caused this thief to own his sin and to confess that
that one on the cross next to him was the Christ? What did he? What did he hear?
There's one saying that I haven't mentioned yet. You know what
it is. The first saying. Recorded in Scripture. From our
Lord's lips on Calvary's cross. Father, forgive them for they
know not what they do. This man knew that he was in
need of forgiveness. I heard someone say take the
gospel and meet people with the gospel at their point of need.
And then I heard another man say God meets men at their point
of rebellion. And I thought, both those statements
are true. The problem is the first statement
usually relates to trying to help people get through some
temporal issue in life, not knowing that their greatest need is their
rebellion against God. That's our greatest need. Our
greatest need is to be forgiven. Nothing else matters. Digna told
me yesterday her niece had come to visit her right before we
got there. And her niece is not a believer. And Digna said, oh,
I pray that the Lord will save her. Forgive her. Nothing else is important. That's
what she said. Nothing else is important. Nothing else. Father, forgive
them for they know not what they do. When this thief heard the Lord
Jesus Christ talk to his father like that, the Spirit of God
caused him to see, I'm a malfactor, I'm a thief, I'm getting what
I deserve. This man has done nothing wrong. He's the Christ. He alone is
able to forgive me of my sin. If what he just prayed to God
It's true. That's what I need more than
anything else. I need God to forgive me. Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. I know this about every person
in this world, every person I meet. Every person I meet, I know what
their greatest need is. I know what my greatest need
is, above everything else, is to be forgiven by God. Forgiven. And forgiveness cannot come without
covering. Cannot come without covering. It's the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ that hides our sins from the eyes of God. What the Lord Jesus Christ was
doing on Calvary's cross was shedding his precious blood as
the Christ to successfully accomplish the saving of his people. That's why this thief said, Lord,
Lord, look, look at, look at, um, verse 42. And he said unto Jesus,
he owned his sin. He confessed that this man had
done nothing amiss. He believed that he was able
to forgive sin. Remember when the Lord told that
one man his sins were forgiven? In Pharisees he said, no man
can forgive sin but God. Which is easier to say, your
sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk, but that you
might know that I have the power to forgive sins. I say unto you,
take up your bed and walk. And he took up his bed and he
walked. The Lord Jesus Christ, the only one's got power to forgive
sin. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
Lord, He bowed in worship, in submission,
in total dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ as God. That's a reference to not only
him being the Christ, but him being full deity. Lord, remember
me. Remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Now, my last visit with Jerry
just before the Lord took him, not sure how much he heard or
remembered at that point. It was just an hour before he
passed away and very frail. But here's our hope. Our hope
is not that we remember or that we understand. Lord, you remember
me. Truth is, some of us are going
to lose our consciousness before we depart from this world. But our hope is that he remembers
us. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. This thief came to believe that
Jesus was God, that he was the Christ, that he was able to forgive
sin. He came to believe that he was
a sinner in need of God's grace, and he cast himself on the Lord
Jesus Christ for the hope of his salvation. Lord, remember
me when you come into your kingdom. This thief believed things the
disciples didn't understand. You know, I mean, here was the
Lord Jesus Christ dying on a cross. And he believed that after he
died, he was going to establish a kingdom, a kingdom. You remember the disciples in
Luke chapter 24, when they were walking down the road to Emmaus
and the Lord walks alongside them and says, you know, what's
wrong with you guys? Have you not heard the one that
we thought was the Christ, the one that we thought was the prophet
of God? He's been crucified and he's
dead. What hope is there for a kingdom now? And yet this thief
on the cross, Lord, I know it doesn't look like much now, but
when you enter into your kingdom, would you remember me? Do you have mercy upon me? Just
remember me, that's all, just bring me to mind, recall me. And Jesus said unto him, verily, mark it down, I say unto thee, When God speaks, it can't be
reversed. I say unto thee. Today. Today, shout. Of a truth. You be with me. In paradise. What else matters? What else matters? These two thieves represent all men. Scripture
tells us in another one of the Gospels that one was on the right
hand and one was on the left hand. One was brought to believe
in the other died in his sins. We have the hope. We have the
hope that God was pleased in the final hours and days of Jerry's
life. Cause him to believe what this
thief believed. Jesus is the Christ. He's the
successful savior who accomplished the putting away. Jerry, a couple
of times when we visited him, he said, and we talked to him
about going to heaven. You know, don't, somebody's on,
when I'm on my deathbed, don't talk to me about anything other
than going to heaven. Talk to me about Christ. Talk
to me about salvation. Talk to me about the forgiveness
of sin. I'm not interested in anything else. And Jerry said a couple of times,
he said, well, I'm already there. You know, I'm already there.
I thought, yeah, you are. You are. We're in Christ, in the heavenlies. by the blood of the land that
was shed before the foundation of the world. We believe that we are worthy
of condemnation. That's what this thief believed.
Said, I deserve what I'm getting. God sends me to hell, he'd be
just. Or the only hope I have is that you would have mercy
upon me and that you would remember me. Because I know. I know that your kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom. I know that you're you're successful.
In doing what you've come to do. And I can't do anything at this
point. Other than cast my care. Upon you. Believing. Believing. That my only hope
is that you care for me. Remember me. A memorial service is a time
of worship. The time of acknowledging our
God. For his glory and for his goodness. It's a time to remember fondly
and with thanksgiving the good things that the Lord brought
into our lives through our deceased loved one. Jennifer, I know you
got a lot of memories with your dad. That's a good thing. Thank
God for. It's a time for us to reflect
On our need for Christ and our own mortality. It's a time for
us to rejoice in God's mercy and in his grace. Our Heavenly Father. We thank you for the successful
work. Of our Christ. The Lord Jesus. who laid down his life for the
sheep, shed his precious blood for the covering of our sin.
We thank you for the confession that you gave to Jerry in his
final days. Lord, for the hope that we have
of your mercy and your grace to remember malfactors and thieves
Even in the last days and last hours of life. Lord, we pray
that you would be pleased to remember us. And cause us Lord
to to number our days. That we might apply our hearts.
To know Christ. For it's in his name we pray.
Amen. 125, let's stand together, 125. I hear the Savior say, Thy strength
indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and
pray. Find in me Thine all in all. Jesus paid it all. ? All to him I owe ? ? Sin had
left a crimson stain ? ? He washed it white as snow ? ? Lord, now
indeed I find ? ? Thy power and thine alone ? ? Can change the
leper's spot ? and melt the heart of stone. Jesus faded all, All
to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I, whereby
thy grace to claim. I'll wash my garments white in
the blood of Calvary's Lamb. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. And when before the throne I
stand in Him complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips
shall still repeat, Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. No, no.