Holy blood, binding as he promised,
perfect peace and rest, hidden in the hollow of his blessed
head. Never foe can follow, never traitor. Not a surge of worry, not a shade
of care. Not a blast of hurry, touch the
Spirit there. State upon Jehovah, hearts are
fully blessed. As He promised perfect peace
and rest, Every joy or triumph, Holy from above, Traced upon
our dial by the Son of Love. They who trust Him wholly find
Him wholly true. State upon Jehovah, hearts are
fully blest. Thine be as He promised, perfect
peace and rest. Okay, thank you, Robert. Those hymns are more meaningful
right now, aren't they? Peace. When peace like a river,
calm attendeth my way. No sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot. It taught me
to say, it's well. It is well with my soul. I hope
you can say that. Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57. We have taken this text for Other
righteous and merciful men. Stephen, your dad, this was his
funeral text, and it's fitting for men like him, men like Cody. Verse 1 and 2, the righteous perisheth,
and no man layeth it to heart. Merciful men, or men of kindness
or godliness, are taken away. considering that the righteous
is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds,
each one, every one, walking in his uprightness, or walking
before the Lord. is not only a day of worship
for our Lord, but this is a memorial of our dear brother, Cody Gruber. The people in Yucatan have already
had two services for him, and there will be others, I'm sure,
and the one in Houston that is to come. I say with David what
he said when Abner passed away. David said this, He said this
to all the people. He cried out, know you not that
there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? You know that and you knew him
well. He considered him a prince of a fellow and a great man.
That's what the Scriptures call his people. The Lord has taken
Brother Cody Gruber who was a prince. A great man, a righteous man,
a merciful man, a man of kindness. He certainly fits this Scripture,
doesn't he? A righteous man, a man of great
kindness, a faithful, faithful servant, a faithful, faithful
a preacher of the Gospel, a minister, a servant to God's church, and
a faithful, faithful pastor and preacher and brother and friend. Faithful, faithful, faithful.
That's the best thing you can say about someone. Faithful. Along with meek and lowly and
merciful and kind. I hope, I want us, I hope we
will lay this to heart. I don't want us to be like these
that Isaiah said they don't consider, people don't consider the world.
It's nothing to them that passed by, but I want us to lay these
things to heart. May the Lord lay them on upon
our hearts and may we consider carefully what has happened here
and why. I'm going to give you several
reasons, I believe, from Scripture why the Lord removes the righteous. But I want us to lay to heart
things, I want us to consider things like death. We need to
consider this, the death of the righteous and why the righteous
are taken and lessons we have to learn from this. Nothing more
important that we should lay to heart and consider and think
about than death. You've heard me say so often
that I'm not Standing up preaching and teaching, trying to teach
you so much how to live, but rather how to die. Yes, how to live like Christ. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ, but to die is gain if you know Him. There's nothing more important
that we lay to heart and consider and think about than our end,
and it's all of us. Moses wrote, oh, that they were
wise and would consider this, that they understood this, and
that they would consider, always be thinking about their latter
end, that it's all going to end. It's all, all going to end. Death is inevitable. Death is
imminent. It's inevitable. It's imminent. Look at Job 14 with me. Job 14. Fitting that the oldest book
in the Bible speaks of death. Job 14. And it started with death,
didn't it? The book of Job started with
death. The death of everyone and everything
Job had. It perished. They perished. Death is imminent. In Adam, all die. All die. All flesh is grass. That's what he told the prophet
Isaiah and he told whoever the voice is to stand up and cry. He said, what shall I cry? Cry,
all flesh is grass. It's going to perish. It's going
to wither. Some very young grass, tender
grass, taken. Taken. Death is inevitable. It's
appointed. It's appointed unto man. We have
an appointment with death. Look at Job 14. This is not fatalism. We're accused of fatalism, aren't
we? No, we just believe God. This is the truth. Job 14, 1
through 5, man that is born of a woman is a few days, short
days, and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower
and is cut down. Flowers don't last long, do they? We're not perennials. We're annuals. Cut down. You just have a few
short years and it's gone. in this life, like a shadow,
and continueth not. Dost thou open thine eyes upon
such a one, and bring me into judgment with thee?" Or as David
said, what is man? He's so brief, he's so insignificant
that God should think upon him or visit him. Verse 4, who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Why do we die? Sin. Like the Lord said before the
flood, He said, all flesh has corrupted my way. I'm going to
destroy man. He said, every living thing I'm
going to destroy, except the righteous. Noah fell on grace. And he was
found in the ark. And God said, thee have I seen
righteous. Verse 5, seeing his days are
determined, the number of his months are with God. Now, God has appointed his bounds
that he cannot pass. Job, after losing everything
and everyone, this is what he said. This was his comfort. The Lord giveth. It didn't have
to, but it did. In mercy and grace. And the Lord
take it away. It's His to give and His to take
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And here he says, our days are determined. The number of our
months are with the Lord. He's appointed our bounds. We
cannot pass. Cannot pass. Ecclesiastes says
that this is a war that no one can avoid. A time we cannot avoid. It's appointed unto us. You know,
this thing about death being appointed is both fearful, a
fearful thing, it's a comforting thing, and it's an instructive
thing. It's fearful in that God has appointed our bounds. The
instrument of our death has already been appointed. We need to be
thinking about that. And that's the most comforting
thing. We have no more time than He
gives us so we don't need to worry. We don't need friends and do
this and do that and be so concerned with the flesh. No, He's already a point right
now. And He can't pass it. He cannot
exceed it. So why worry about it? I told Mindy, you know it's a
good thing we don't know when we're going to die. It's a good
thing we don't know when other people are going to die. We couldn't
live. We couldn't live. He said, just
go on. I've determined it. It's with
me. It's going to happen. You can't,
you can't, nothing you can do about it. Just do what I tell
you. Trust me. When it's time, I'm
going to take you. Like my old dog, I've determined
the day. I laid him down. That's the Lord. That's us. Aren't you glad? Then I give
you peace for yourself and for everybody and everyone. Quit
fretting. I know it's easy to say, but
that's what the Lord said. Rest a little. Wait. Okay? Death
and some things to consider. Who next? Who's next? I've got
a calendar, a daily planner. Some of you do too, don't you?
You write things in it? Do you write future things? Pretty
presumptuous, isn't it? But we do it anyway, don't we?
We're hopeful. I wrote on Thursday, Cody Grooverpad,
a big black letter. I wrote a couple of months ago,
Henry Seward passed. Big black letters. Several months
before that, Mary Turley's gone. Big black letters. John Michael's
gone. I didn't know. We didn't know.
The Lord did. He already put it down. He wrote
down the date. He wrote down the hour. He wrote
down the cause. But he did it. That's comforting,
isn't it? That's comforting, isn't it?
Make your plans, but don't make them too far ahead, okay? But
who's next? Somebody. Wouldn't it be wise
to consider that? Death is the wages of sin. Look
at Romans 5 with me. Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter
5. I'm going to preach the gospel
to you. I just did. Romans 6.23 says the wages of
sin is death. Why do we die? Because of sin,
that's why. The world doesn't know this. The world doesn't believe this.
But we know it. We know it so. We know it so. Verse 12, Romans
5, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, that's
Adam, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, all have
sinned. Not only physical death because
of sin, but spiritual death, and Adam all died, right? All
dead, were born dead and trespassed in sin. Dead to God, dead to the understanding
of God, dead, no fellowship with God, no eyes to see, ears to
hear His voice, no heart to understand. Dead, dead, dead. That's what
the Scripture said. Look at chapter 3. Until we're
dead, our children are born that way, unless God gives life. Look
at Romans 3. Here's how He gives life, through
the preaching of the Gospel. Now we know. Verse 19. That whatsoever
things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty
before God. The law says the soul that sinneth
must surely die, doesn't it? Shall surely die. Shall. Surely
die. Doesn't it say that? All have
sinned. We've sinned. Death passes upon
all. Even those, Romans 5 says, even
children who have not sinned after the similitude are in the
same way that Adam did, but the result of sin is death. We don't
believe, we believe Christ died for them. Somebody's got to,
so that we might live again. Verse 20, so by the deeds of
the laws, they were guilty. We've broken every law. The law
saith guilty and must die. By the deeds of the law, no flesh
is justified or declared righteous. That's what justify means. It
means to declare righteous. Holy, unblameable, unapprovable
in God's sight. God is holy. He said, I'm holy,
be ye holy. I'm righteous. The Lord loveth
righteousness. And he hates iniquity. But we're
all workers of iniquity by nature. We're all unrighteous, the scripture
says. By nature, we're unrighteous. There's not a righteous man.
None righteous. No, not one. None good. No, not one. That's
what God says about this present, he calls it, evil world. And such were some of you. Are by nature. Verse 20, by the
laws and knowledge of sin, some ignorant people, Trying to keep
the law, but they don't understand. But now, I love the word but,
don't you? But now, look at verse 21, the
righteousness of God, that which He provided, that which He demanded,
that which He provided without the law, without you keeping
it, is manifested, made clear. Stay with me now. This is the
gospel. If you don't know this, you've
got to know this. Or you're not righteous. You're going to perish. But if you know this, if you're
made righteous, if you know where your righteousness is, you'll
never perish. This is good. The righteousness
of God by faith. Now, this is why you have a King
James Bible. Because the original says, by
the faith of, you see that? Faith of Jesus Christ. It says
that several times through the scriptures, doesn't it? Those
of you who know them. We're made righteous, not by
us keeping the law, but by Jesus Christ keeping the law. We're
made righteous, God's people are made righteous, not by us
being obedient to God, but by Christ's obedience to the law. Elect, Peter said, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood. His obedience. Yes, and that
we might be obedient children, but our righteousness. You see, here it is. Here it is. You have He quickened
who were dead in trespass and sin. And you who were dead in
trespass and sin. But God, for His great love for
what He loved us, hath quickened us together with Christ, for
by grace you are saved. And He put us like Noah in that
ark. Of God are you in Christ, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, Come on. Righteousness. Isaiah 55 says, the last verse
says, Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. Righteousness. Righteousness. People, some folks don't even
know the Word and never hear it from their preacher. The righteous. Say ye to the
righteous, Isaiah says, say ye to the righteous. Those that
are in Christ by faith. Those that trust Christ. Those
that know they're not righteous in themselves, but their righteousness
is of Christ. That He is the Lord, our righteousness. If you're one of those that say,
the Lord is my righteousness, say ye to the righteous. It shall
be well with them. The say of the wicked, it shall be ill. Who are the
wicked? Very simple. They're not in Christ. It doesn't matter how moral. It doesn't matter how good they
apparently seem to be. And many trust in themselves,
our Lord said, that they are righteous. Didn't he? Like the Pharisee and the Publican,
he gave that illustration. Two men went into the temple.
One man said, I'm not like other men. And he talked about what
all he did. And our Lord said, many will
say to him in that day, Lord, Lord, he said, but not everyone
that says Lord, Lord. And so they will say, we've done
many wonderful works in your name. We've preached in your
name. We've cast out devils. We've given our bodies to be
burned. We've done all these wonderful works. We've done all
these wonderful works. And our Lord says, you're workers of
iniquity. You're not trusting my Son. You're going about to establish
a righteousness of your own. You're trusting in that. And
if righteousness come by the law, my Son didn't need to come
and die. You're saying that Christ, that He didn't need to die for
you, that you can handle it just fine yourself. That's how serious
it is. It's not doctrinal error. It's
saying that I've got something to add to this work of Christ. What did it take to put away
the sins of God's people for Christ to live here 33 and a
third year perfectly according to the law that we don't even
know? And to die, go through hell on
Calvary's tree for us, forsaken by God, punished by God, his
soul made an offering for sin. That's the only thing that will
put away the sins of God's people. Only thing. And for anybody to
add to that, it takes away from it. The wicked are those that
are not in Christ. Trust in themselves that believe
in their faith even. It's not your faith. It's the
faith of Christ. You see, He abideth faithful.
We're going to be delivered in His faithfulness and His righteousness,
right? It's vital that we know that.
His works, His goodness. And all of God's people, all
of God's people say with Isaiah, all of God's people know this.
The righteous know this. All our righteousness are as
filthy rags. As David in Psalm 71, I will
make mention of thy righteousness and thine only. That's what the righteous say.
Ironically, all the righteous say, in my flesh dwelleth no
good thing. All the wicked say, I can't find
any bad thing in me. Isn't that ironic? But God says to the publicans
and the harlots that trust Him, righteous. God says to the leper
that's covered from head to toe, no soundness in him, no clean
spot in him, God says to the leper, clean. And to that man
who says, I can't find just maybe a few little blemishes, He says,
unclean. The righteous understand that. The wicked don't. They say that's
not fair. We're not saved by God being
fair to us. We're saved by mercy. We're saved
by blood. We're saved by Jesus Christ's
righteousness, not ours. Death is not death to the righteous. Those in Christ In Christ, they're made alive.
Go back to Psalm 37 real quickly. Psalm 37. Go back there real
quickly. In Christ, they're made alive. Psalm 37. Where do we
go? Did you notice all these verses?
Let's look at verse 20. The wicked shall perish. Now,
I remind you, that's not just those that don't worship God
and know God, but that's those who trust in themselves. The enemies
of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs, they shall consume
in the smoke, they'll consume away, the wicked borroweth."
See, what do we have? Pride is abominable to God. Pride is abominable. What do
we have that we haven't borrowed? We don't own anything, it's borrowed. And we've got to give it back
to Him that gave it, that loaned it. There's peace right there. There's
peace right there. He loaned it. Be thankful for
the loan. He's the one to determine how
long you would borrow it. The wicked borroweth, and payeth
not again, payeth not thanks, payeth not gratitude, payeth
not worship his due. But the righteous showeth mercy,
and giveth like him. Such as be blessed of him shall
inherit the earth. They that be cursed of him shall
be cut off." Verse 29, the righteous shall inherit the land. dwell therein forever. The mouth
of the righteous speaketh wisdom." Everyone in here, every righteous
person in here can now quote 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31. He's
made unto us wisdom and righteousness. That's the wisdom we speak, not
the wisdom of this world. Oh my, look at verse 35. I've
seen the wicked. I've seen them. You see them
around us now, don't you? Spreading themselves like green bay trees.
Our country has never been a more affluent society in the history
of the world. Brethren, it's like lambs being
fattened for the slaughter. That's what God said. Wait, you're going to see. You're
going to see it. They passed away. But you look
at verse 37. You mark the perfect man. You
mark this down now. God has. You write this down
now. You lay this to heart, you consider
this the perfect man, that is, the man that's in Christ, complete
in Christ. Behold, upright. The end of that
man or woman is peace. Go back to Isaiah 57. Isaiah
57. Oftentimes in Scripture, from
the beginning, beginning with Abel, oftentimes, God's saints,
at a young age or in their prime, at their most fruitful time,
the Lord takes them away. How old was Abel? He's the first
death. No, he's not the first death. The Lamb was. But he's
the first man to die. And how old was he? He was pretty
young, I guess. His son married. Oftentimes the Lord takes away
the just, the righteous, the good, the merciful at their most
useful time, vital men and women. Vital men and women at a young
age are in their prime, at their strongest, their most fruitful,
like Brother Cody Gruber. Throughout the Scripture, Throughout
history, the history of the church, this is so. We need to lay it
to heart. Why? Why? Why? Why does the Lord
do that? We need to consider why. Elijah was in his prime, and
when the Lord was taking Elijah, Elisha, the young man who was
following him, said, Oh, my father, don't go. He was distraught that
the Lord was taking Elijah away. Elijah was one of 7,000, but
one of a few where he was, and the Lord took him. Moses, you know, was 80, but
he was one of only two men in Scripture that's still as strong
as he was when he was 20, Moses and Caleb. He was as strong,
Scripture says, when he was 80 as when he was 20. He was in
his prime, and the Lord took him. You're not going in the
promised land. This man was leading 2 or 3 million people. And the people of Israel were
distraught. Josiah, young, young king Josiah,
he's the one that found the book and brought Israel back to the
Lord, one of the greatest kings in the history of Israel and
Judah. The Lord took him. It says He took him before He
sent evil. Hezekiah. John the Baptist was
33. 33 years old. John the Baptist.
You know the story of the disciples. They were distraught. They went and told the Lord.
He said, You've come apart into a desert place. Do you think
He didn't tell them His purpose? James. Herod had James killed. James was about 40. That's young. James was about 40. The church
was just grief stricken. Peter, James, and John. John was exiled on an island.
Nobody could see him again. Taken away. Oh, no. Oh, yes. Paul was put in prison. His work's
over. Oh no, he's got to write some
letters. So many martyrs, Hebrews 11 speaks
of them, doesn't it? So many martyrs in modern times,
at least going back to the 15th century, After the Dark Ages,
the martyrs, men like William Tyndall, whom the Lord used to translate scriptures into English.
We have this Bible because of William Tyndall and John Wycliffe.
William Tyndall was 52, burned at the stake. People were upset. Wycliffe was 60. John Knox, you
know John Knox, the great Scottish reformer of the great man and
not a greater man in modern time. 58. Augustus Toplady wrote Rock of
Ages. Great preacher. I have his works
downstairs. He was as good a great preacher as he was a hymn writer.
He wrote numerous hymns for the church. Preached in his prime.
He was 38. Calvin. John Cablin, 55. 55. That's real young to us,
isn't it? 55. Bunyan, 60 years old, younger
than me. Manton, 57. David Brainerd. Missionary
to the Indians in this country. Few know. Few people in the world
know. God's people do. It was Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan
Edwards was his father-in-law, wasn't he? Jonathan Edwards said,
the world needs to know the gospel that produces a David Brainerd. He was 29. 29. The Lord took him. Robert Murray McShane. If you've
never read a sermon by Robert Merrick Machine, make it your
next. Twenty-nine. Jonathan Edwards, 55. Augustus
Topley, Spurgeon, 58. Cody Groover, 57. Why? Why? Consider some things with me,
okay? We're not in the dark about it. The Lord's given us some
understanding. There's nothing new under the
sun, you know that? Our Lord's ways are the same. We have many examples in the
Scriptures, as I just gave you some, but we don't know the immediate
reason, we don't know the near future, the purpose and all that,
but listen to me. I'll give you seven things to
consider. First of all, why does the Lord
take the righteous, merciful men like this in their prime.
Why? Number one. Number one. When Christ said in his prayer
in John 17, Father, I will that they be with me where I am. What
he was saying by that is, I love them. I love them dearly. And in our language, I want them
with me someday. I love them more than they can
imagine. And I've laid down my life for
them. I love them to the end. And I
want to be with them forever. So the other day, God said, Cody's
coming to me. He's coming to me. You've had
him long enough. I have on him now." Huh? That's a fact. Secondly, when our time is over,
our work is finished. Our work is finished. Brother
Cody's work on this earth was finished, right? Paul said, I
have finished my course. We all have a course. We all
have a vocation. Paul is the one that told us,
walk worthy of that vocation. Find out what that is, that you're
a member of the body. Find out what it is and do it
with all your might as unto the Lord. You've got a course to
run. You've got a race to run. You've got a work to do. You've
got a gift, something. Use it to the best of your ability,
to all your power. And when your work is finished,
He takes you. Simple as that, isn't it? John the Baptist was taken. His
work was over. He's the forerunner of Christ,
wasn't he? He's the forerunner, Brother John, so Christ is here. He said, this is Elias who said
that he would come before I came. So he did, and like the Lord
took Elijah out, Christ came and took John. That's a fact. The work's finished.
Here's another reason. Maybe it's time for someone else
to pick up the mantle. Right? When Elijah was taken,
Elisha was standing there waiting. Waiting. Moses, when Moses was taken,
Joshua was waiting in the wind. Maybe, that's it, time for another. You know the Yucatan Peninsula,
the Yucatan where Brother Walter and Cody, see Brother Walter
got old and Cody took over and oh my, faithfully and ably took
over and The work progressed, the work flourished by the grace
of God through that man's faithful preaching and teaching and training
preachers, and perhaps those men are able to stand alone now. They've been taught, well, it's
time for them to go out. and pick up the mantle that Brother
Cody laid down. Time for another. Here's another
reason. It's the last days, and this
is the latter harvest. We're in the latter harvest.
There was an early harvest, and then there's a latter harvest.
In the early harvest of the church, Thousands, hundreds of thousands
and millions of people. Our Lord said in the beginning,
2,000 years ago, He said, look, it's white with harvest. A little
while later, Peter was standing up at Pentecost, 5,000, 3,000. White with harvest. And then
those went out preaching the gospel like milkweed. The gospel
went everywhere, all over the world. And our Lord said, when
the gospel is heard all over the world, then the harvest starts
to diminish. Here a little, there a little.
The latter harvest, like a fall harvest, you know, you don't
reap in the fall what you do in the summer, do you? The latter
harvest, you go out there and just hear a little and learn
a little. Last days. This is another thing. This is
a wake-up call to the church. Always, when the Lord takes a
preacher, when the Lord takes such a preacher
as this, Such a vital preacher. Brother Todd and I were talking,
and we both thought, if you'd ask us who's the most indispensable
man on preaching right now, it was Cody Grubar. And he took him. The Lord can
take the gospel away and not replace it. These men are the greatest gift
on earth. I said that before. I know God's people know it's
so. Our Lord said it's so. Gift.
It's a wake-up call to the church. We need to lay the heart and
consider what a gift the gospel is and those that preach it.
I said before that He's the most vital and useful man on the earth,
more so than the President of the United States. And that's
a fact. Those who know the truth, those that know God, those that
know themselves, those that know something about salvation, they
know it's so. Because all of this is going
to perish. And when it starts happening, we're all going to
gather here. When it starts happening. If
we lose everything, by the way, this building is paid for. And
we might have to make it like Noah's Ark and make a bunch of
little nests for us to live in. Seriously. Seriously. We'd be all right, wouldn't we?
Why? Because we've got the one thing needful. And we'll huddle
together like sheep around this gospel. Tell us again. We're
shivering. We're frightful. We're afraid. What's going to happen? I've
been telling you all along what's going to happen. Good things will happen. Not
going to beg bread. Not going to be forsaken. All
this is going to perish, but say to the righteous, they're
in Christ, it is well. Lose it all? So what? You have Christ. Oh, a little
that a righteous man is greater than the riches of many wicked?
Don't envy them. Why? Because they're like fattened
calves. It's a wake-up call. The Lord
took a shepherd away, a vital shepherd. Boy, when the Lord took the Lord,
when He took our Lord away for three days, the disciples were trying to
think about every message He said. They didn't have Him anymore. Oh, what was it he said? What
was it he said? I would give anything to hear his voice one
more time. Judgment? Could it be judgment?
Look at verse 1. The righteous perish. No man
layeth at the heart that men are taken. Merciful men are taken
away, none considering. He's taken from the evil to come. Evil to come. Unlike false prophets
who say, smile, God loves you, every true preacher, every true
preacher stands up before his generation. Every prophet, every
apostle, every true preacher sent by God stands up before
his generation and says, God is angry with the wicked every
day. God is holy. God will by no means carry the
guilty. Get in the ark. Get in the ark. Get in the ark.
Noah was a preacher of righteousness with him. Repent. That's the first message
of a true preacher. That's what all the prophets
preach. That's what John the last prophet
preached. That's what Christ preached. First words out of
His mouth publicly. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is close. It's right here and right now.
Repent. Repent of what? If God loves
us and Christ died for us, we don't need to repent. God is
angry. God's people know, repent. This world is evil to God. It's
evil to God. He says, it's going to perish.
It's not going to go on. So it's judgment. It's judgment
when the Lord begins to take away the voices. Men aren't hearing
those voices anymore. Okay? I've called and you haven't
answered. You've refused. Don't quit coming. And another thing, why? Look
at verse 2. He shall enter into peace. They
shall rest in their beds, each one, every one, walking in his
uprightness, walking in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the peace,
for the rest. Well done, now, good and faithful
servant, he will say to all his people, Well done. Rest. Enter into the joy of the Lord.
Rest from your labors. Peace, peace. You know, the Scriptures
calls His people the salt of the earth, the light of the world.
Our Lord did. He called us that. He said, of
whom the world is not worthy. This world was not worthy of
Cody Moon. It sucked. The Lord said of Job, listen
to this, The Lord said of Job, there's none like him anywhere. Nobody like him. God said that
of him. And brethren, oh my. When I say these things, I'm
exalting the one who made this man the way he was. By the grace
of God, he was what he was, but I've never known a more merciful
man, ever known a more kind man, a loving man, meek. Like his
Lord, meek and lowly, wasn't it? Meek and lowly, tender, kind,
compassionate. He was an example. And I know
he taught this to his preacher students, like Paul told Timothy
to be an example in word. And here Cody was, to be an example
in conversation. It never was around him. That
conversation wasn't good, wasn't heavenly. Be an example of love
or charity. Be an example in spirit, attitude. Be an example in faith. He left
everything and went to Mexico. Be an example in purity. And
so, with the merciful... Listen to me. Here's the reason
the Lord took a merciful man. With the merciful, He shows Himself
merciful. So what does He do? Takes him
out of this place. Well done, merciful man. Well
done. I'm going to show you the highest
of mercy. Come on home. No more pain. No more sorrow. No more labor. Your labor's over. Now just rest. That's why it takes merciful
men. And peace. Peace. You know, we often say this. I thought it. I thought, you
know, when somebody like him died, I thought, why not me? It should have been me. Have
you ever said this? I deserve to die. Have you ever
said that? No. Death is not... You don't deserve to die. We deserve to be punished forever
for our sin, but death is a reward to God's people. You understand
me? We deserve to stay here and pull
some more time. We need to spend some more time. You understand? Come far short of living. For His cause and His glory.
So we need a lot more time, don't we? No, we don't deserve to die.
We deserve to stay here on this place a while. You understand what I'm trying
to say? I do. Oh Lord. But He said they'll
enter into peace, peace. They have peace in this life,
peace with God. How? One way. through the blood
and righteousness of Christ. Peace with God. Peace of heart.
Peace of mind. Peace by believing. Not working. Peace in trials. Peace with others. Those that count. Eternal peace. They're going to go, it says
in verse 2, they're going to walk, enter into peace. That is, they're going to enter
into a place where the God of peace is. They're going to enter
where the Prince of peace is. They're going to go where the
sons of peace dwell. Nothing and no one can disturb
the peace. Who wouldn't want to go there?
Nothing and no one can disturb their peace. No sin, no trials,
no troubles, no more, no temptation, no adversary. Peace. Perfect peace. Let me give you some parting
instructions, okay? Some parting words of instruction. Lessons we need to learn from
this, from death. Lessons we need to learn. And
oh, how merciful the Lord was to Brother Cody when it took
him instantly like that. Brother Henry Sword, go in, get
a cup of coffee. Next thing he knows, he's with
the Lamb. And that happened to Brother
Cody. The Lord is merciful to the merciful.
Very merciful. God bless him. Here are some
instructions, and I'll close. Let us live. We have some time,
obviously. Let us live as if there's no
tomorrow. Okay? Because there may not be. Didn't our Lord say that? Don't
boast of tomorrow. Man, nobody, nobody, nobody expected
to hear Cody Gruber's gone. I called one of you and I couldn't
get it out. She said, did your dad go? I said, no, you're not going
to believe that. Cody Gruber's gone. No tomorrow. No tomorrow. That's happened several times.
I got a call when I was in Florida several years ago. Twenty-five
year old, raven-haired beauty in our congregation, Shannon.
Shannon's gone. Man, it's supposed to happen,
isn't it? It's not supposed to happen,
is it? Well, it did. And it was supposed to happen. Exactly like it happened. No
tomorrow. No tomorrow. So to live is what? Christ said, He's Christ. I mean,
Paul said, for me to live is Christ. There's no tomorrow. So what matters? Huh? If you know you don't have tomorrow,
what are you going to be doing? Right here, what you're doing
now, to live is to know Christ. You better make your calling
and election, sure. You better make your calling
and election, sure. You're going to be in the car tomorrow, and
then you'll be somewhere, might be somewhere gone tomorrow. Then what matters? I keep saying
that, don't I? What matters? Because it's true. For me to live is Christ and
to live as Him. For me to live is to live as
Christ. Christ came here to live for
us. We need to love one another.
We need to love one another. Live as if to know tomorrow and
live by love serving one another. We need to love one another.
It might be our last day together. It might be the last day I see
this lady. It might be the last day you
see one another. It might be the last sermon you ever hear.
How important does that make this? We're all going to be scrambling
to hear Brother Cody's last message. It's going to happen. It's going
to happen. Love one another. Last day. That's why Paul said, greet one
another with a holy kiss. Say hello. And don't forget. to say goodbye. Huh? Brother, I say this with
a heavy heart, but I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to say it. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Greet one another like you love one another. Treat one another
as Christ treated us. Time is short. Be merciful. Live with no regrets. Be merciful, be courteous, be
kind, be considerate, be patient like the Lord. Cherish the time
you have with one another. Cherish the time you have with
one another. Because it's short. Cody called
before they were coming here. I wouldn't take anything for
them coming here, would you? But Cody called and said, ìWeíd
like to spend a few more days with you if itís okay.î We said, ìOh, please.î So they
spent five full days with her, and the last day they were here,
Cody and I went fishing all day long. Got in my little boat all
day long. I wouldnít take anything for
that man. You know what our conversation
was. You know what our conversation was. Just like James and John,
their conversation. Like the two disciples on the
road to Emmaus, all day long. And we fished a while and caught
nothing. Oh, it was a good day. A profitable
time. Cherish the time together. Redeem
the time. Redeem the time. What's worth
talking about? You've got somebody that doesn't
know the Lord. There's no tomorrow. Be a witness. That's why we're
here. We ought to be a witness. Build up one another. There's
no time to tear down. There's no time. Because if they're
gone, we can't build them back up. Build up. Get your house
in order. Get your house in order. Time
is short. Spiritual house. Give diligence.
Leave no debts. Leave no debts. Paul said, owe
no man anything. You know what he's talking about?
He's not talking about better pay your credit card off. He
said, if you owe a debt of love, you need to pay it. If you owe
a debt of service, you need to pay it. If you owe a debt of
gratitude, you need to pay it. If you owe a debt of forgiveness,
you need to pay it. If you owe an apology, better
do it now. Better do it now. You hear me? And we do. Our Lord said, I said,
forgive one another. Listen to me, if other people
have served like Brother Cody and given his life, given, other
people have given, given, given, given, given for the cause of
Christ, and you haven't, you've taken, taken, taken, it's time. You owe. You owe. You owe. You're greatly
in arrears. You're greatly in arrears for
your service toward your Lord and other people that they've
served you. It's time to pay your debts. Leave no burden. Leave no burden. Love one another. The righteous perisheth. And
no man lay at the heart, we have. And merciful men are taken, oh
my, the finest. None considering, bless God we
have, that the righteous is taken away from the evil. He shall enter into, he has,
into peace. They shall rest in their beds,
Brother Cody. walking in his uprightness, walking
before the Lord right now. Brother Cody is the people. They
had a service for Brother Cody last night or the night before,
and had his casket open, and they had him dressed in a suit
and tie. They'd never seen him in one.
Down there, it's hot, it's 110, the shade, you know, and they
wear those white guayaberas. shirts, and they all dressed
just like that. And Cody did too when he was
preaching. Well, they put him in his finest
clothing, and they had that casket open, and Brother Iberito preached
that message. And Brother Iberito said, he
said, Brother Cody is in his finest earthly clothes right
here, but oh, he said he's dressed in much finer. He's wearing right
now the robe of Christ's righteousness. They'd never seen Him like that.
And you and I hadn't seen Him like He is now. But we're going
to. And I love that story. I could
go on and on and on and on. On and on and on. But the Christianan
and her partner, Pilgrim's wife, who was on that same pilgrimage,
they crossed the river and the two of them were instantly, in
a moment, the Twinkly and I were chained out of their rags and
dressed in light. And it says they both looked
at each other. I loved it. It says they both looked at each
other. And one would say to the other,
you're beautiful. Oh, but you're so beautiful." We're made beautiful, comely
in His righteousness. Stand with me. Our God and our Father, thank
You. Thank You for this blessed robe of righteousness that Your
saints, that is the righteousness of the saints, Thank you for
sending Christ as our Lamb slain for the remission of our sin. Thank you, O Lord. Make it so
for someone, for many, everyone in this room today. It's not
hard for thee to save many or like a few, O Lord. May someone
say in here for the first time, in the Lord have I righteousness.
I believe Him. I trust Him. I want to be found
in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
but His. Oh, Lord. Thank You, Lord, for
this time. Thank You for our brothers and
sisters, all of them. Thank You. Thank You. Especially
right now, we thank you for Brother Cody. Thank you. Thank you for
Winna, Walter and Betty. Thank you for them. Oh Lord,
may we, in some small way, know that there's a short time and
we have something to do in this kingdom, and may we pick up that
mantle do what we can, by your grace, for the time is short. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. In
Christ's name, amen. You're dismissed. you.