Number 17, come thou fount. Let's
all stand together, number 17. Come thou fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon
it, mount of thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither
by thy help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to
arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God, He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed His precious blood. O to grace, how great a debtor,
daily I'm constrained to be! Let thy mercies, like a plethor,
suit my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart. Oh, take and
seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. Please be seated. There's one line in that hymn
that we just sang that I know Brian will never ever sing again. Prone to wander, Lord I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Never again. Let's open our Bibles together
to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. First Thessalonians Chapter 4,
I assume everybody has information about the services on Saturday. I know perhaps there's somebody
listening that doesn't. We'll have a, just a very brief
graveside service at 9 o'clock Saturday morning for those who
can be there. It'll be at the same cemetery.
where Terry Petrosky is buried there at, I guess that's considered
Forest City, at 436 and Hunt Club. And there'll be signs at
the entrance so you'll know where the, matter of fact, Rich, we
found a site that's six spaces from your mom's. So that'll be
at nine o'clock. And then we'll meet here at 1030.
and have a memorial service, and after that we'll all go to
our house for lunch and fellowship. Pam's doing well. The Lord's
given her a lot of grace. Grieving, but look here what
the Lord said about that. Verse 13 in 1 Thessalonians chapter
4, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope." We do sorrow. We sorrow for ourselves. Don't sorrow for Brian. Pam just kept telling me this
morning how happy she was for Brian. She's thrilled for him. 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, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall
rise first. And we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. So shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. What comfort those words are
to our soul. Let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
how thankful we are that you've not only given us your word of
promise, but you've taught us to believe them. We thank you
for the faith that enables us to receive the truth of thy word
and to set our affections on things
above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. not
on things of the earth. Lord, we ask that you would continue
to give us grace to be a comfort and encouragement to one another
as we lean on thee, as we trust your word, the one who is faithful
and true. Thank you for the testimony that
you gave to our brother Brian, and for the grace that you supplied
him with. Oh, Lord, so much grace. We're
thankful for the way in which you expressed his hope and his
trust in thee. And for the encouragement that
we have now in our hearts, knowing that in the resurrection, Lord,
that he will be caught up in time. And yet, even now, in eternity,
to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Lord, we pray that you would
continue to bless your word to our hearts and enable us, Lord,
to understand and to believe what you've accomplished for
us. We thank you that there will
be no proneness to wonder, No turning
our eyes away from the God that we love. Lord, we pray in this hour that
you would enable us to look unto Jesus, who is the author and
the finisher of our faith. Pray for our sister Pam and for
Charlie. We ask, Lord, that you would
draw them near to thyself give them peace and comfort that no
one else can provide. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again. Hymn 272. 272. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
strain, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. When darkness fails his lovely
face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy
gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid
rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. His oath is covenant, His blood
supports me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock
I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground
is sinking sand. When he shall come with trumpet
sound, O may I then in him be found, Dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid
rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Colossians chapter 1? To begin with, Colossians chapter
1. I thought it would be good for
us as a family just to look at some of the precious promises
that the Lord has given us in such a time as this. And the
first one I'd like for us to read is in Colossians chapter
one, beginning in verse 12, giving thanks unto the father. And we do, we do. We give thanks always for all
things, for all things are of God. What great hope. We don't sorrow like other men.
We don't think that, well, you know, why didn't things turn
out different? They turned out exactly like
they were supposed to, exactly like they were supposed to. And
we thank God for it, knowing that all things, he works all
things together for good, for them that love him. and those
that are the called according to his purpose, which hath made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light. Now that's where our brother
Brian is right now. He's with the saints in the light. And
he's made us to be meet, to be partakers with him. He's imputed
to us the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has put
away our sin by the sacrifice of himself once and for all.
And we stand in Christ, accepted before God, in the beloved, meet
to be partakers of the inheritance that our brother Brian is experiencing
right now. He's experiencing it. We know it by faith. He knows
it by sight, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness
and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. That's the work of grace. That's
the new birth. That's when God opens the eyes
of our understanding and enables us to look to the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the Alpha and the Omega. He's the one in whom
God placed us in eternity past before time ever began. He's
the one who successfully redeemed all God's elect. He's the one who said, I will
send my spirit. And he has. And they will be
willing in the day of my power. He's the one who does the work
of regeneration. He's the one who keeps us looking
unto Jesus. That's what he does. He said,
when the Comforter comes, he'll lead you into all truth. And
he'll cause you to look to me. And that's what he's doing right
now, causing us to look to Christ. He's the one who will present
us faultless before the throne of God with much joy. He's delivered us from the hopelessness
of the darkness of this world and our sins and giving us hope
in Christ. In whom? In Christ. We have redemption. The Lord
Jesus Christ, when he died on Calvary's cross, wasn't making
an offer of salvation to be finished by us. He redeemed His people. His blood successfully satisfied
the demands of God's justice. Not one drop of it was wasted.
He redeemed His people in whom we have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Let's put our sins away. by the sacrifice of himself once
and for all. Blessed is the man in whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. Those sins are forgotten, separated
from us as far as the East is from the West. That's the only
hope Brian had. That's the only hope I've got.
And I know it's the only hope that you have. Speaking of Christ who is the
image of the invisible God the firstborn of every creature now
That's a reference to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
the one who was firstborn and we just read in first Thessalonians
that the dead in Christ shall rise and And in time, we're gonna
look at this in a moment, in time, we look to that event with
much hope. But there's another realm of
reality, if we could put it that way, and that's eternity. And
in eternity, there is no time. There's no time in eternity.
Let me show you that. Turn with me to, keep your finger
there in Colossians, turn with me to Revelation chapter 10.
Revelation chapter 10. And the angel of God in verse 6. Revelation chapter 10 verse 6.
This angel, swear by him that liveth forever and ever. That's
Christ. So the angel's coming, making a strong oath in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the one who created heaven
and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things
that therein are, and the sea and the things which are therein,
that there should be time no longer. There's no time in heaven. It's all eternity. There's no
past, present, and future. There's no yesterday and tomorrow.
That's why the Lord said, to be absent from the body is to
be present with the Lord. And he told that thief on the
cross, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. God's word
is written on two different levels. He writes to the spiritual man
and tells us about those things which happen in eternity. And
only through eyes of faith can we see it. We can't see eternity. We just have to believe that
the eternal is what holds the temporal together. The natural man can only see
that which is temporal. And when the Lord speaks of the
resurrection which is to come, He's talking about events in
time. But in fact, everything that
happens in time has already happened in eternity. And so there's no
time in eternity. When we enter into glory, we're
not going to be looking around like, well, you know, how's it
been here, asking people. No, there's no time in eternity. And no, you can't, you can only
grasp that by faith. But when we enter into glory,
we are going to discover that we've always been there. I said,
I don't understand that. Ask God to give you faith to
believe it. Because this is the eternal.
There shall be time no more. There are two parallel universes. There is the eternal and there
is the temporal. And God's written his word on
both those levels. There is the spiritual and there
is the physical. There is that which is incorruptible
and unshakable, a place where time has never been. And then there is the created
place in which we live of past, present and future events that
one day will cease to be. Now, both of these are very real.
They're very real. But without the eternal, all
we have is the temporal. The natural man, all he can see
is the temporal. I'm always grieved in my soul
when I hear the foolishness of unbelievers talking about someone
who has passed into the eternal looking down from heaven at the
events that are taking place here in this world. That's worse
than foolish. That's blasphemy. There's no
more tears, no more sorrow. That's my hope, that we're going
to be delivered from time into eternity. You hear people talk about heaven
and they only can describe it in the context of time. The Lord Jesus Christ, Colossians
chapter 1, verse 15, is the image of the invisible God. You can't
see Him with your natural eye. You can't see eternity. You can't
see the hope of glory. You can't see Christ seated at
the right hand of God. You can't see the blood that
the Lord Jesus Christ shed as a covering for our sin. Faith
is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the evidence of
things not seen. The miracle of grace is when
God enables us to look beyond these temporal things. Colossians chapter 3, I'll just
turn over a page, look what it says. If you then be risen with
Christ, that's our only hope. All said, I'm crucified with
Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on Calvary's cross,
all of God's elect died in him. And then he went on in that same
verse when he said, I am crucified with Christ. That's the eternal.
That's something that's a mystery to the natural man. That's something
that happens spiritually when God gave us union with Christ. We were in Christ before the
foundation of the world. He's the lamb that was slain.
And yet in time he was slain, wasn't he? So Paul said, if you
then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections. Now here we are in this physical
body. We're living in time. We're living a temporal life
in a temporal world. But what does the Lord say faith
does? It sets its affections on things above, not on things
of the earth. That's where our affections are. That's where our heart is. That's
where our hope is. It's where Christ is. We have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. You can't see Him with the natural
eye. The natural man can only see that which is temporal. The
spiritual man sees that which is spiritual. 4, verse 3, Colossians 3, you are
dead. You are dead. And your life is
hid. It's hid with Christ in God. At 719 yesterday morning, Brian
took his last breath in this world. And I can tell you that his testimony
was that he died in Christ 2,000 years ago. Matter of fact, his testimony
would be that his hope was in the covenant of grace that God
established before time ever began. When Christ, who was the
lamb slain before the foundation of God, he believed that his
only hope of salvation was to be in that covenant of grace,
completely outside of time, had nothing to do with time. The
natural man knows that there's a spiritual realm and a physical
realm. The problem with the natural man, the unbeliever, is that
he thinks the spiritual is dependent upon the physical. He thinks
that what he does here in this physical world is somehow changing
the spiritual. It's not so. It's not so. The only thing holding this physical
world together is the spiritual. My hope tonight is that the Lord
will just enable us to get a glimpse of the eternal. And realize that
this moment in time for us as a church family, I mean this
puts everything in perspective. It really does. The things that
we get so caught up in in this world. And it's a fleeting, it's
a vapor. Christ, your life. Is he your life? Your hope is that God has hid
you in Christ? Go back to Colossians chapter
1. Christ is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him, verse 16, were all
things created. Let there be light. And there was. I was talking
to somebody on the plane going to Kentucky a couple weeks ago,
and they were talking about the enormity of the universe and
all the planets and what the likelihood was that there were
other inhabited planets in the universe. And I said, well, I
don't see a need for any of that. Well, why do you think God went
to so much trouble to make so many worlds? And I said, what
trouble? It wasn't even trouble. He just
spoke it, and it was. And the firmament declares His
glory. We look out into space, and the
stronger our telescopes get, the bigger God gets. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven, that's the eternal, that's the unshakable,
that's the source of all life in the temporal, and that are in earth, visible
and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things are created by Him
and for Him. Everything is made for Him. And He is before all things and
by Him, by Him all things consist. Everything consists by Him. It's
His omnipotent power that holds the physical universe together
and it's His omnipotent power that makes us willing and opens
our eyes and regenerates our hearts and causes us to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. All things consist by Him. And He is the head of the body. How dependent is the members
of your body on your head. What can any part of your body
do without your head? Nothing. The involuntary acts
of your organs are dependent upon your head. Everything in
your body is dependent. He's the head of the body. The
body can't function without the head. The firstborn from the dead,
that in all things, in all things, He might have preeminence. He
gets all glory, and all praise, and all honor, in all things. In life, in death, in salvation,
in creation, in providence, He gets the preeminence. Why? Because
He's holding it all together. And He's ordering it according
to His will and purpose and nothing's out of place and nothing's missed
its time. He makes everything beautiful
in His time. For it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. All fullness. The fullness of
salvation, the fullness of life, the fullness of joy, the fullness
of faith, the fullness of hope, it all dwells in Him. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross, by Him, to reconcile all things unto
Himself, by Him I say, whether they be things in the earth or
things in heaven. whether it be the temporal or the spiritual.
Christ has the preeminence. He has the preeminence in this
life. He has the preeminence in salvation. He has the preeminence
in glory. The saints of glory are around
the throne of Christ. He's the river clear as crystal
that flows from the throne of God. When Isaiah When Isaiah
in Isaiah chapter six said, I saw the Lord. That was Christ. Where was he? High and lifted
up. His train filled the temple. The seraphim hovered over it.
We were singing yesterday, the other day, the day before yesterday,
I guess it was, to Brian. And I was just thinking, you
know, Bert, you were singing to him. What singing he's enjoying
now. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. Heaven and earth is filled. Heaven's filled. Heaven is filled
with his glory. Lord, would you cause earth to
be filled with your glory for me? It's not for most folks.
It's not for most folks. Earth's not filled with his glory. Turn over with me to John chapter
11. Verse 23, Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
He wasn't speaking about what was about to take place in the
resuscitation of Lazarus. That wasn't his resurrection.
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the
resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said unto her, I am. the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Those who deny the eternal decree
and purpose of God would make the acts of men the determining
factor of all things. They make the acts of men, particularly,
the determining factor of their own salvation. God said, it is
not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth. It is God that
showeth mercy. I'll have mercy upon whom I will
have mercy and whom I will out harden. I'm the potter. You're the clay. I have the sovereign
right to make of the same lump of clay some vessels of honor
and some of dishonor. No man can say unto me, what
doest thou? No man can stay the hand of God. I'm so glad for
that. I'm thankful. In the eternal, It is appointed
unto man once to die. 7-19 yesterday morning was Brian's
appointed time. Pam knew that. We knew that.
You know, lots of decisions had to be made about machines and
medications and all that. And, you know, make those decisions
best we can, but resting in the and the truth that when God was
ready, He was going to take him home. We also live in time and the
Lord tells us to redeem the time because the days in which we
live are evil. It's not a lack of faith to pray
to God for healing. Hezekiah, you remember, the prophet
came to Hezekiah and told him, get your house in order, the
Lord's, you're going to die. And Hezekiah, the scripture said,
turned his face to the wall and asked the Lord for life. And
the Lord extended his life by 15 years. James says, when you're
sick, call the elders and pray. You know, ask God if it'd be
his will. So we're living in time. We don't know what God has ordained
in eternity, but we're living in time with an eye toward eternity. We're not bound by time. We're
not trying to control the events of time. We're making the best
decisions we can make and pleading with the Lord to have mercy upon
us in time, knowing all along that what He's purposed in eternity
is going to be the way it's going to be. The scripture says in Hebrews
chapter 4 that the works of salvation were finished. Turn with me there,
just so you can see this. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 3. For we which have believed, that's
something done in time. Though God has chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, though He's predestinated
us into the likeness of Christ, to be holy and blameless before
Him, God's done that. And yet, that which happened
in eternity determines that we're to believe in time. And so He
says, For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said,
as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished before the foundation of the
world. So God in that one verse is speaking
about eternity and time. He's saying the works were finished
before the foundation of the world. In the covenant of grace,
God's people were chosen. The lamb was slain. It was done. Yet Christ came in time and shed
his precious blood on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago and he
calls upon us in time to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To
enter into his rest. There's another passage of scripture
and, well there's lots of them, but look at this one in Acts
chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. Verse 22, ye men of Israel, and
that's the only people that are going to hear, are the All Israel
shall be saved. The true Israelites, those who
are circumcised by the Spirit in their hearts, those chosen
by God, all Israel, hear these words, Jesus the Nazarite, a
man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also
know. It all happened in time. It all happened in time. Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. That happened in eternity. That happened in eternity. We
live in two worlds. We live in this physical world.
But the eye of faith is looking beyond the temporal into the
eternal. Believing that He's created all
things and that He's determining everything according to His purpose.
So the Lord Jesus Christ was determined by God's determinate
counsel. He was ordained of God to go
to the cross, the foreknowledge of God. And yet you have taken
him by your wicked hands. You have crucified him and slain
him 2000 years ago. The Lord Jesus Christ bore in
His body on Calvary's cross all the sins of all of God's people.
And when God saw our sins on Christ, He had no choice. He had no choice but to forsake
Him and to pour out His wrath upon Him. So here in time, we bear responsibility
for what God had purposed in His determinate counsel and foreknowledge
before time ever began. Remember what Revelation chapter
10 says, time will be no more. In eternity there is no time.
There's no past, present and future. We are chosen in Christ. David said, although my house be not so with
God, yet He's made with me an everlasting covenant. He's loved
us with an everlasting love. That's eternity. The only hope
that I have that what's happening in time will be effectual is
if God purposed it in eternity. chosen in Christ, predestinated
according to the good pleasure of his will, and yet called by his spirit
to believe, called by his spirit to come, and enabled by his spirit to
see our need for that. We believe in eternity that God
has purposed all things together for our good and for his glory.
Yes, even our sin. Even our sin. Does that make God responsible
for our sin? Let no man say when he is tempted, he is tempted
of God, for God tempteth no man to evil, neither can he be tempted
with evil. But we're tempted when we're
drawn away of our own lust. Sin is conceived to bring forth
death. Lust is conceived to bring forth death. It's just death. But we're wholly
responsible for that. Completely. And yet we take great hope in
knowing that the older shall serve the younger. Gotta use
those snakes, Michael, on the ground, cause us to look to the
one on the pole. Did your sin do that for you? Our names, the scripture says,
were written of God in the land's book of life before the foundation
of the world. Yet in time, He's called upon
us to be His witnesses. If we fail to witness, is someone
that God would otherwise save not be saved? No. We live in both worlds, don't
we? We live in time. The Lord told us to redeem the
time for this world is evil. With an eye towards eternity,
oh Lord, that I could be a witness for Christ, Jerusalem and Judea
and Samaria and unto the outermost parts of the world to take the
gospel, declare it in hope of knowing for sure that those whom
you have chosen are going to hear and they're going to believe. We're going to look, Lord willing,
Sunday from Isaiah chapter 6, the second part of it, where
the Lord said, whom shall I send and who will go for us? You remember
what Isaiah said? Lord, here am I. Send me. And the Lord said, okay, go. Make the ears of these people
fat. They're going to have eyes, but they will not see. And they're
going to have ears, but they will not hear. The Lord gave
Isaiah a message to proclaim, and Isaiah said, Lord, I mean,
I could just imagine what Isaiah's thinking. I thought you were
going to send me with a message that was going to result in the
salvation of all of Israel. You know, it is only spiritual
Israel, though. The last verse of Isaiah chapter
6 says, and there shall be a tenth. There'll be a remnant that is
going to hear. Isaiah said, Lord, how long do I declare this message
of judgment until the cities be wasted without inhabitants
and the land be utterly desolate? Isaiah just keep preaching the
gospel. I've got some folks out there that are going to hear
it. I've got some children that are going to believe. In Ephesians, Scripture says
in Ephesians chapter 2 that we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus. When were we created in Christ
Jesus? Before time ever began. Unto
good works, which He has ordained that we should walk in them.
So He's ordained those things in eternity. And yet in time,
the Lord admonishes us to give ourselves to that. I'm sorry. He gave himself for us that he
might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous for good works. And then in Titus chapter three,
verse eight, he says to us, be careful to maintain good works. For this is good and profitable
unto all men." The work was finished from the
foundation of the world. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
bowed his mighty head on Calvary's cross and cried, it is finished. He was accomplishing in time
what God had purposed in eternity. And that's the most glorious
example of everything. Everything is God accomplishing
in time what He's purposed in eternity. Lord, give us the grace
To live in time with an eye towards eternity. To not grieve like
other men and not think that we're controlling the events
of eternity by what happens in time, but to trust you, Lord. To trust you to do what's right
and what's good. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for Your Word. We're thankful, Father, that
You've given us hope and peace and comfort and joy in Christ. We ask that You would send Your
Holy Spirit in power to continue to cause us to look unto Him. For it's in His name we ask it.
Amen. 290. Let's stand together. Yeah. Be still, my soul, the Lord is
on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief
or pain. Leave to thy God to order and
provide. In every change, ye faithful
will remain. Be still, my soul, thy best,
thy heavenly friend. Through thorny ways, leads to
a joyful end. Be still, my soul, thy God doth
undertake. to guide the future as he has
the past. Thy hope, thy confidence, let
nothing shake. All now mysterious shall be bright
at last. Be still, my soul, the waves
and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt
below. Be still, my soul, the hour is
hastening on. ? When we shall be forever with
the Lord ? ? When disappointment, grief and fear are gone ? ? Sorrow
forgot, love's purest joys restored ? Be still, my soul, when change
and tears are past. All safe and blessed we shall
meet at last. Are you going to be able to be
here?