The book of Psalms, chapter 116.
A marvelous revelation. For the
grace of God is set forth. Now this is something that we'd
never know, never know. But that the Spirit of God would
teach us this. precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of His saints. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we call upon You
this afternoon, we thank You for the privilege the glorious
privilege to be able to assemble ourselves together in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ and to seek your face, to seek your
blessing, to seek your guidance and your understanding at this
precious time to remember our precious sister, one that was
precious, surely, to you. Lord, I ask you to bless the
word. Lord, if you don't bless it, Lord, it won't mean anything
to anybody. Help us. For Christ's sake, we
pray. Amen. As surely as the scripture reveals
in Revelation 4.1, that a door the Scripture says, was opened
in heaven. And the Apostle John, who was
on the Isle of Patmos for the sake of the Gospel, he was put
there because of what he believed, what he preached. And the Scripture
says a door was opened in heaven and John heard a voice. It was
a voice as a trumpet. And this is what the voice said
to John, come up hither. Now, what I'm about to tell you,
I'm going to preach, Lord willing, for a few minutes, not very long.
But I'm just going to tell you that what I'm about to preach,
I mean it. I want to share with you my heart. A lot of you have known Margaret
for years, years, years, a lot longer than I have. But in the
few years that I did know her, I learned a lot. And I'm convinced,
concerning what this woman professed and believed, I'm convinced just
as surely as John heard a voice from heaven say, come up hither. I'm convinced that Almighty God
called Margaret Wilson last Thursday morning about 9.20, wasn't it
Dave? I was talking to Dave on telephone when the other phone
rang and I heard what he answered, and I knew, I knew. About 9.20
on Thursday morning, they called him, Margaret had left this world. And that voice that John heard,
and I'm saying to you, I have no need to speculate here. I don't speculate the source,
the magnitude or the power of that voice that spoke to John
or even to Margaret. Now listen, I can make good on
this. The Lord said in John 10.27,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I've
told the folks here before. I've never heard, I've never
heard the voice of, you're listening to my voice right now. And you
hear it, you have two ears, you can hear me. I've never heard
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ articulated with my corporal
ear, I've never heard this, but according to the word of God.
A believer has ears, new ears, new eyes to see, new ears to
hear. And God's people hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ
according to His Word. He said, my sheep hear my voice. When the Gospels preach, when
that message goes forth concerning the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's according to this Word.
Don't deviate from this Word. Don't add to, don't take away
from. When they hear that, they hear it. That's the Lord speaking there.
Now, I'm going to be frank. I know that there's nothing that
I can say that's going to, humanly speaking, ease the pain, dry
the tears or dispel the loneliness. For all of us that knew her,
you wouldn't be here if you didn't know her. And you're here, and
I'm so thankful out of respect for her. She was a respectful
lady. If you knew Margaret, you probably
knew Bob. And you loved them both. And
it's not going to be something that I'm able to say that's going
to dispel that sadness. Even for his son David, I know
that. But now in her passing, There's
some hope in her passing that gives us great reason to rejoice. And I mean that. I'm talking
about truly rejoicing. The Word of God. Let's just back up everything
we say with God's Word, and that just settles it. No speculation. According to the Word of God,
in the book of Luke, there's something that happens when a
believer dies. When a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ dies, something happens. Now what does the Word of God
say happens? Well, we've got kind of an indication
right here. In Luke chapter 16, Verse 19
through 22, there was a certain rich man which was clothed in
purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full
of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from
the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores. And it came to pass that the
beggar died. Now listen to this. and was carried by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. Now let me ask you this. Do we
really believe that when one of God's own, one that he's everlastingly
loved in Christ, one that he's beheld and seen with that love
that only and be set forth for the Lord,
when one of his own died, one that Christ laid down his life
for, shed his blood for, whenever that believer, that beloved vessel
of mercy, when he died, do you think God really, really, now
really, sends the angels to take that beloved soul into his bosom? I believe He does. I don't believe
the Spirit of God would put that if it wasn't so. I'm convinced
that the moment that the Lord calls one of His own unto Himself,
here again, here's something set forth in the Word of God
that happens that I cannot explain. I can't. I'm going to read it
to you. And it's easy to read. It's easy to read. Oh, the depth
of it. I'm just going to tell you right
now. I can't explain it to you. But let me tell you what Scripture
says. 1 John 3, 1 and 2, Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew us not. Beloved, now listen, this is
talking to God's people. those that God revealed Himself
to, taught something of themselves and something who He is. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. I'm going to be honest with you.
When I look at myself and I consider some of the things that I do
and say and think, I think, can I deem myself a
child? But I believe it. I believe God. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know. Now how did John know to write
this? What does the scripture say?
Holy men of God moved as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This is what John was told to
write by the Spirit of God. Here's what he said. It doth
not yet appear what we shall be. Somebody said, well, I wonder
what it's going to be when we die. It doth not yet appear.
We don't know. But we know that when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him. What does that mean? I don't
know. What does it mean that we shall
be like him? For we shall see him as he is.
I told you I could read that real easily. But setting forth
how to explain that, Neil, how do you do that? Margaret gave witness. And those of you that know me,
know that what I'm about to say, you know me well enough to know
this. If I don't believe what I'm about to say, I just won't
say it. I'll be nice and I'll be kind
like you would. But if I didn't believe what
I'm about to say, I would not say it. But Margaret Wilson, according
to these scriptures, what I know, gave good witness of believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. She believed that Christ saved
her. and called her according to his
good pleasure. And her life before Christ, again,
I'm telling you, I'm just bearing my heart to you, wasn't because
of anything that Margaret believed that she had done for herself
or by herself. She didn't believe that she did
anything that would merit a right standing before God. Because
this is what we know, a believer knows. Salvation is of the Lord,
period. What about my efforts? What about
my contribution? The scripture says, for by grace
are you saved through faith, now listen to this, and that
not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Ephesians 2, a grace that has
no works, no works on man's part. Romans 11, 6 describes grace
and works. The scripture says, and if by
grace, and again, I looked all this up. Again, I tell people
here all the time, I don't speak Hebrew and I don't speak Greek,
but I do have a concordance and I can look it up and I can tell.
And if by grace, what does grace mean? Let me tell you what it
means. Unmerited favor. Grace, how many people deserve
in themselves to be saved? How many deserve to be saved? deserve it in themselves, none. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourself. So if it's by grace, then Paul
said, then it's no more of works that is conditioned upon your
works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
If you say, well, I was saved by grace and all I had to do
is, well, you just nullified grace. Grace is the unmerited
favor of God. Otherwise, grace, he said, is
no more grace. If works is added to it, then
just take the word grace out because you can't say salvation
by grace and all I had to do was, now it's not grace anymore. He said, but if it be of works,
Then Paul said, then it's no more grace, otherwise work is
not work. What does that mean? He said
if salvation is wrought or accomplished by something that man does, then
grace is meaningless. If you think that you've done
something in order to be saved, then just take the word grace
out. For by works was I saved, for made by whatever. Titus 3.5,
not by works of righteousness or good deeds or noble action
which we have done or performed or accomplished, but according
to his mercy he saved us. Saved us. Here again, there's
another word I use a lot. You use a lot. We all use it.
I want to look it up. He saved us. I looked it up.
Made us a partaker of salvation by Christ. He made us a partaker. He didn't ask for my permission. He didn't ask for my help. I'm
so glad for that break. And he did it by the washing
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Margaret
Wilson gave a good confession of faith in our Lord. A confession
that moves my heart in agreement with the word of God to say this. I got this what I'm about to
tell you from the scriptures. I saw the grace of God. I saw
the grace of God. There was a passage of scripture
that I just blessed my heart in the book of Acts 11.22. What
had happened? The believers, the regenerates
in Jerusalem had heard that the Lord had shown mercy to some
Gentiles in different cities. One of them was Antioch. They
heard, you know the story, I know you do. It's about when Peter
and he saw that kind of a cloth that had come down and it was
attached and it had four footed beasts and all kinds of unclean
things and the Lord told him to take and eat and Peter said
no, I've never touched anything unclean. The Lord was teaching
him something. Peter, what you call unclean, all these four
footed beasts and stuff, don't you call unclean what I call
clean. The Lord was teaching Peter something.
I'm getting ready to send you to some Gentiles. I'll guarantee
you, everybody in this room, I'll bet you, is a Gentile. You're
either a Jew or a Gentile, one of the two. So if you're not
a Jew, then you're a Gentile. And he was going to send him
to some Gentiles. Well, the gospel had never been
preached to the Gentiles. The Lord had told them, you know,
when He told them to send them out, you go to, you know, first
you go to the Jews first. But God was going to send them
to some Gentiles. Well, they heard that God had
saved some Gentiles. Can you imagine? People like
me and you. Nobodies. Not even worthy to
be saved, according to a Jew. And they sent Barnabas. to Antioch. Now, Barnabas, I
want you to go and see if what we've heard is right. We've heard
that there have been some Gentiles, and listen to what it says, Acts
11, 22-23. Then tidings of these things
came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem, and they
sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch,
who when he came and had seen the grace of God, was glad and
exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto
the Lord." Now, he was looking for something. He was sent there
by those in Jerusalem. He had heard that the Lord had
shown mercy to some of these Gentiles. And he went there and
he was encouraged He was encouraged because when he got there, the
Scripture says he saw the grace of God. He saw it. He beheld
something. Well, what did he behold? He beheld the evidence according
to that which God had set forth. Now really, at his point, it
was set forth in the Old Testament because there wasn't any New
Testament at that time. It hadn't been written yet, but
he saw according to God's revelation, His Word, that which had been
revealed. But the evidence of a believer,
about sinners that had a new heart, a new spirit, a new attitude,
Well, the Spirit of God was pleased to move upon the Apostle Paul
to write down this evidence, an evidence, an evidence. You
know, you start looking for an evidence in me, I'll just use
myself as an example. If you're going to look at me
as far as, you know, trying to find absolute consistency, well,
I'll be the first one to tell you, don't look at me, because
I, you know, I've got an old man, and you do too, in me that
just I struggle with, and I've warred, and there's times that
I'll do things and say things. I think I wish I wouldn't have
said that. I had no business thinking that. You know, but
the Spirit of God moved upon Paul to the church at Galatia
to write down the evidences, something that Barnabas saw and
was glad. And here's what it is. He beheld
the evidence of the Spirit of God, the fruit of God's Spirit,
which Galatians 5, 22, 23 says, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,
against such there is no law. He saw the evidence of love. Love for Almighty God. Love for Almighty God as He is
revealed in this book. Tell me about who God is. Don't tell me about what men
tell you He is if you can't back it up with this. But let me tell
you who God is. Love for God. Sovereign God. He's sovereign. What does that mean? He rules. He rules. He's God. He's God
in creation? How do you know that? Well, Genesis
1-1. In the beginning, God, without my help, or yours,
in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. He's God, sovereign God, In Providence, according to Daniel 4, you know
who said this? Nebuchadnezzar after he had looked
over Babylon and real proud of himself. I've done pretty good
for myself. Look at this great Babylon that
I have built. And while the words were still
in his mouth, you know what happened? God took his mind. Seven years
he was out there in the field grazing. Grazing like an animal. Hair all matted, eagle feathers,
looked like eagle feathers, hadn't washed it in a long time. God gave his mind back and that
was by grace. You know what he does? He says
this. He said he rules. This is what Nebuchadnezzar said,
he rules. in the army of heaven, among
the inhabitants of the earth, and guess who stops him, who
stays his hand? Nobody. He doeth as he will in
the army of heaven, the inhabitants of the earth, he all things,
he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Do you
want to know what's going on right now over there Overseas,
Russia, Ukraine, you wanna know what's happening right now? Exactly
what God Almighty has ordained. That's what's happening. I tell
you what, I can't believe they're, well, I tell you what, if you
wanna know the will of the Lord, pick up the newspaper and read
what happened yesterday. I guarantee you that's what the
Lord's will is. He worketh all things. And He's
sovereign in salvation. Moses asked him in Exodus 33,
19, he said, or 18, 19, show me your glory. Show me your glory. Look this up. Look this up. Moses asked him, he said, show
me what your purpose is. Show me your will. Show me what
you think. And this is what the Lord said,
verse 19, I will make all my goodness pass before thee and
I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. I'll be gracious
to whom I'll be gracious. I'll show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. Salvation is of the Lord. So the evidence of God's Spirit. This is what Barnabas saw. He
saw love. Joy? That is joy in the knowledge
of the eternal love of Almighty God for His people and the glorious
evidence of pardon? The glorious evidence of pardon. You want to know what the glorious
evidence of pardon is? When somebody doesn't look to
themselves and rejoice in themselves. They rejoice in Christ Jesus
and have no confidence in the flesh. Long-suffering? Patient,
patient in the Lord's good pleasure to rule and reign. Gentleness, graciousness, kindness. Remember, we're all creatures
of dust. Goodness, that spirit and desire
for the good of others. I just think, a thought just
went through my mind. What's the best thing in the
world I could do for any of us? I need to hear this too. Tell
us the truth. Tell us what God has to say.
We're all going this way. Let me tell you something. It's
just a matter of time. Unless the Lord comes back, as
the Apostle Paul said, and those that remain, we're not going
to prevent her. I can tell you for a fact, if
the Lord comes back before I die, I'm not gonna precede her. She's
gonna come out of the ground first. She's gonna meet him first
in the air. Then we which are alive and remain, then we'll meet him. There's
something precious about dying in the faith. Faith, that grace
to believe God. Meekness. What does that mean?
Submissiveness, not weakness, meekness is submissiveness to
the good providence of God. Temperance, that spirit by the
grace of God that wars against this old man. Barnabas came to
Antioch and he saw the grace of God. People that weren't trusting
in themselves that they were righteous feel proud of themselves
because they had done ABC and for God and they, you know, they
were just sinners, saved by the grace of God, just thankful to
be there. God had shown them something. Saw the grace of God
and he was glad, he was glad. Aren't you glad when you see
a believer? It's just like, go somewhere,
man I've been in other states and go somewhere I've never been
there before and got invited to go preach and meet somebody
I'd never met before and talk to them for just a little bit
and just listen to what they're saying. You just about listen
to what they're saying. You get a good idea pretty quickly,
you know, where their heart is, where their joy, he was glad.
He was glad that God had poured out His Spirit upon undeserving
sinners like Himself, and me, and you. And He exhorted them
all that with purpose of heart, cleave to the Lord. That they'd
cleave to the Lord with that firm, fixed, settled heart. Hold fast to Him. Hold fast. Well, in closing, Let me tell
you an amazing thing about what I just said. Hold fast to the
Lord. Apart from the grace of God,
I can't do that. The Lord said, I'm the vine and
you're the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you
can do You mean I can't hold to the
Lord, I can't cleave fast to the Lord by myself? No. No. I got four kids. And all
of them, they were growing up and I'd be out there playing
with them and swinging them and holding them, you know. I'd go
swing them around, you know, stuff like that. Try not to pull
their arms out of socket and stuff, and just be gentle and
stuff like that. You know, their little fingers,
you know, just grabbing hold of whatever they could. But you
know where I had them? I had them about right here.
I had them good. I had them secure. They were
hanging. I said, you better hold on. You
better hold on. You don't hold on. You better.
And their little finger, I could feel them trying. You know why
they were secure? He was glad and he exhorted him,
you know, hold fast to the Lord. Now for Margaret, according to
the grace and mercy of God revealed in this book, is what I believe. I believe that she's absent from
this body. I saw this body, I looked at
the body, but according to Margaret, that the Lord created in righteousness. Made a new man. Made a new man. A new Margaret. Absent from this
body now, I'll tell you where she is according to the scriptures.
She's with the Lord. She's with the Lord. For her,
and all like her, that died in the faith, no more sin, We don't
even know what that means. No more pain, no more sorrow,
no more tears. She sees the Lord according to
the scriptures as he is, according to God's word. She beholds him
that loved her and gave himself for her. They said, now Marvin,
you really believe that? That's all I got. That's the
only hope I've got. Because I'm telling you, if the
Lord has not done something for this sinner, then I'm gone. I'm gone. I will leave this world
if God has not saved me by grace. By grace. And just gave me faith
to believe it. He didn't save me because of
my faith. He didn't save me because of
my faith. He did not save me because of my faith. The scripture
says, for by grace are you saved. And you know it through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. I tell you this, there's no joy
like preaching the funeral of a believer. I can tell you somewhat,
as much as I understand it, there's a part of me, I envy this lady. I envy her. It's over. It's over. No more time for her. No more suffering. No more pain. I'll never have to hear her say
again, David. Call her up, Margaret, how you feeling? Well, I'm not
doing too good today. I tell you, she's doing good
now. She's doing good now. Our Father, as we come to the
end of this service, I'm so glad, I'm so thankful, Lord, that you've
been pleased to allow us the privilege to assemble ourselves
together in the remembering of Margaret Wilson. And Lord, we
thank you that you permitted us the privilege, Lord, to be
able to hear and to proclaim the glorious Lord and Savior
that loved her, I'm convinced, and all like her, gave himself
for her. I ask you now, Lord, would you
bless the word, praying that, Lord, it was honoring to you,
praying that it was a comfort, Lord, to your people. And I thank
you for Christ's sake. Amen.