The scriptures are filled with
stories about certain women. And they're not just any women.
They're certain women. They're particular women. Women
that have been chosen by God himself from before the foundation
of the world in the everlasting covenant of his grace. They're
women that are given by the father to the son as a bride. And the son at that moment took
full responsibility for these women. You see, they're precious
women. They're bought with a price. They're bought by the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave his life for them. And
there's no more valuable commodity ever in this creation than the
blood of God. God gave whole nations for these
women. They're precious. They're beautiful
women. In the eyes of the all-seeing
God, they're the fairest among women. In them there's no spot
and no blemish. They're holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. You see, they're loved women.
They're loved with the everlasting love of God himself. They're
loved unto the end. They're loved completely. They're
loved fully. They're loved perfectly. And
they're loved eternally. They're secure women. They're
shielded and protected by the hand of our sovereign God. They're
hidden with Christ in God. And they're made to stand no
matter what Satan, this world and their own flesh would throw
at them. We have the great privilege of
knowing one of these certain women. Our dear sister June is
one such woman. And no matter how many trials
she faced in this life, by the grace of God, She remains a faithful
encouragement to us all. So these certain women in the
scriptures always seem to be in difficult circumstances. They're
targeted by Satan. They're shunned by the world
and they're afflicted by their own flesh. Our dear sister knew what it
was to suffer in this life. And each one of us knows something
of her suffering. And yet in the midst of all that
suffering, June continued to look to her saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ. She continued to rejoice in his
sovereign grace in spite of all her difficulties. I've had reason
lately a number of times to think of a particular scripture. And
it reminds me of June in her trials and her encouragement
of us. It's Habakkuk 3 verses 17 to
19. It says, although the fig tree
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labour
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no
meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. It's a great description of the
struggles of the saints of God in this world. It's a great description
as flesh struggles against spirit, and we don't achieve the things
we want to. Verse 18, yet, And this reminds
me so much of our sister June, in spite of all the trials and
difficulties that she went through here on earth. Yet, I will rejoice
in the Lord. I will join in the God of my
salvation. The Lord God is my strength and
he will make my feet like Heinz feet. and he will make me to
walk upon mine high places." You see, the thing that probably
impresses me most about our sister June is that not only did she
have her eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, she continues to
encourage all of us to look beyond the difficulties of this life
and to see the sovereign hand of our God in all things, working
good for us and glory for himself." See, June had a particular way
of comforting us with the same comfort that she'd received from
the hand of our loving God and Saviour. It might have been a word in
season. It might be a particular scripture. It might be a precious promise
of God. And each one of them tried in
the furnace of June's own afflictions, and yet each one comforting to
our souls in our own times of need. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 4 says, that
our God comforts us in all our tribulation. And his purpose,
that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble
by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. What a testimony to how June's
encouraged us. See, these certain women, as
we know, are an illustration of the church of God. They're
a representation of what it really is to be a Christian. Helpless sinners, clinging to
the precious promises of God for life itself. What an incredible
mercy June is from our Father in heaven. What a great blessing
it is to our church to be in fellowship with one of these
certain women, this precious child of God. It should be and it is a reason
to praise our God greatly for such a sister as June is to us. Just turn in your Bibles to John
11. We've been looking at it. June always reminds me of precious
promises. They're promises that she herself
rests in. And these scriptures are filled
to the brim with the promises of God. And each one of them
is precious in its own right. But there's one which is very
significant to me at the moment. John 11 verses 25 and 26, Angus
read them earlier. Jesus said to her, this is to
Martha. Martha's one of those certain
women. She's a picture of the church. She's a blood-bought
child of God, just like all of us, the Lord's people. He said,
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. This is talking about
our convergence. We're all born dead in sin, but
we're made alive by the Holy Spirit in our convergence spiritually
in Christ Jesus. And he goes on and says, And
whosoever liveth and believeth, our sister June believed, whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. See, never die. What an amazing promise of God. Every child of God died once
at that cross in our Lord Jesus Christ. We experienced something
of her death in our conversions, but now in our great Saviour,
we have as a possession eternal life. Now, I'm not sure if you
noticed, But I'm trying as much as God would give me the grace,
when I consider my sister June, to speak in the present tense.
We have the most comforting promise here. It's sealed in the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. June's more alive now than she
ever was. So where is she now? Police Fish is away in England,
a long way away, and we can't see her now, but we expect to
see her soon. This isn't much different compared
to eternity. The short time we have here in
this world, it won't be long before we see our sister again. Our beloved sister is in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and in Him, And yet another promise. She's
actually here with us this morning. In fact, no more will her desire
to worship God and fellowship with his saints be frustrated
by the things of this world. In John 11, Lazarus has his bonds
loosed There's nothing that can impair
June now or forever of meeting with us. What an amazing God
we have. What a great consolation to those
who mourn at this time. What a great privilege it is
to know one of these precious certain women in our faithful and encouraging
Sister June. May June continue to encourage
us in all the circumstances of our lives, and may our faithful
King and Saviour continue to cause us to rest, just as our
dear Sister June does. in his precious promises for
all eternity. Let's pray. Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you
for the incredible privilege it is to know our dear Sister
June and to be encouraged by her. What a gift, what a great
gift you've sent us in her. I thank you, Heavenly Father,
that even now she continues to point our eyes heavenward Even
now, she encourages us to cling desperately to those precious
promises for life itself. Father, thank you so much that
all the trials and difficulties of this world have ended for
her. And we thank you that we have the incredible promise,
the incredible comfort and blessing to know that it won't be long
and we'll be where she is. We praise you, Heavenly Father,
for the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you
so much that all things necessary for life eternal, for our life
in your presence, Heavenly Father, your holy presence, is yes and
amen in the finished work of our great King and Saviour, our
Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we pray in his name for
your glory's sake. We'll have a break. One of the
amazing things about seeing June in these last few days and weeks
is that her thoughts are always about other people. I went to
see her just last week and the first thing she said is, how's
Rob? How's Rob? She was praying. It's a wonderful
lesson, isn't it? If we could possibly by the grace
of God, have our eyes taken off ourselves and put on to other
people and our brothers and sisters, but most of all in the Lord.
So thank you, Simon. Let's have a break and comfort
each other with the words of God's promise.