Let's ask God's blessing on this
service. Lord, we're very grateful for
Your blessings that You have given to all of us, especially
to Your people. And Lord, especially, we thank
You for the blessings You gave to Evelyn. And we have come this day to to thank You publicly and to
worship You together and to express our gratitude for the grace that
You gave to Evelyn even before You made the world. We rejoice
in Your goodness to her. We ask, Lord, that as we go through
this service, that everything will be done to exalt You to
magnify her Savior, the Lord Jesus. And Lord, we commit all
of this service unto You for Your glory. We ask these things
in the name of the only Savior of sinners and for His sake.
Amen. It is a blessed thing to be able to
preach of those who love the Lord. But in some ways, it's a difficult
thing, especially when you got close to them. And you love them
so much. I loved Evelyn. She loved me.
Just such an honor to be her preacher. And I'm thankful for
all of you family members. and ask God's blessings on you. I asked Kathy if her mother had
special verses that she liked and would want to have read and
she did. I'm going to begin with one of
them and I'll end with two or three more verses. But one of
the verses that she loved so much is in Philippians 4 and
verse 13. I can do all things through Christ
which He strengthened me. Those words spoken, written by
the Apostle Paul. He didn't just say I can do all
things. That would be arrogant. He didn't
end the statement there. He wasn't like Nebuchadnezzar
over in the book of Daniel who, he said, this is the great Babylon
that I have built. I can do all things. No, that's
not what the Apostle Paul said. He said, I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me. And in that In context, he
was talking about he had learned to be content in whatever state
he was in, whether he was in poverty or prosperity. He was a very contented man. And he said, it's only by the
Lord giving me grace and strength. And through the years that I've
known Evelyn, I saw manifesting in her the grace and the strength
that God gave her. And He blessed her infinitely. And she was such a blessing to
us, such a blessing to our congregation. As all of our folks here know,
and of course the family knows as well, her gift at arranging
flowers. She always kept our church building
adorned in such beautiful flowers. She had special flowers arranged
for my office. I always enjoyed them. I'm waiting
to get that back, by the way, the seasonal arrangement that
she made for me. But she was just such a blessing
to all of us, and she loved that verse of Scripture, and she loved
all the Word of God, and you know that. But that one especially
meant quite a bit to her. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. And even today, the Lord gives
us strength to believe Him, to rest in Him, and even in this
time of sorrow, He gives the strength and the grace to rest
in Him. Even in a difficult time like
this, because we have mixed emotions, sorrow, but not as others who
have no hope. And yet we rejoice. We rejoice
that she's with the Savior and her body worn out. has been vacated, her soul has
gone back to the Lord who loved her and who gave himself for
her. So, let's start off with that
verse. And at the end of the message,
the very last words that will be spoken will be another portion
of scripture that was so dear to her. We're going to sing a
song that she loved quite a bit, Amazing Grace. If you need a
songbook, it's 236. But we're going to remain seated
and we'll sing Amazing Grace together. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I am
found. Was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that taught to fear and grace my fears precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed. Through many and snares I had already His
grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead When we've been there 10,000
years Bright shining as the sun days to sing God's praise than
when we first begun. Evelyn Roberts Stevens was given
life by her Savior on Thursday, November 8, 1928, in Ashland,
Kentucky. And at the age of 92, that same
Lord that gave her earthly life called her home. He was Him. And now she has eternal life
with her Savior. And that day she was called home
was this past Thursday, April 15th, here in Ashland, Kentucky.
God's Word says in Psalm 90 verse 10, the days of our years are
threescore years and ten. And if by reason of strength,
they'd be fourscore years. Because it pleased God, He gave
her 32 more years because the work He had planned for her.
was not over yet. Evelyn was the daughter of the
late Eugene and May Roberts. Evelyn was preceded in death
by her loving husband, your dad, quite a few years ago. She also
suffered the loss of her sister Peggy Inyart, a brother Cecil
Roberts, and a daughter Connie. Evelyn was a longtime faithful
member of this congregation here at 13th Street Baptist Church.
And as our pastor mentioned, she made many beautiful flower
arrangements for her brothers and sisters to enjoy here at
church. I've worked over here a lot of
years, and I can still see her bringing those in. I've even
helped her carry quite a few of them in. And in fact, my wife
and I have two of them. in our home right this minute.
She was an excellent cook and enjoyed making favorite meals
for her family, her friends, and when there were social gatherings
here in this congregation in the back, she also cooked some
church meals for us. And they were delicious. In addition
to all of the above activities, she was a small business owner
of the Plaza Boutique, and she was past president of the Women's
Auxiliary at King's Daughters Medical Center. Evelyn was always
busy. She was a faithful fixture here
during worship services, where she loved to hear the story about
her Savior. And in a few minutes, our pastor
is going to relate that story again. And you'll know what Evelyn
loved and believed. You could always find her right
there. Very faithful. She sat there
all the time when she was able to be in service. She is survived
by her daughter, Kathy Keelan, and her husband, Terry. And she
loved to pamper and spoil her grandchildren. Chrissy Lalonde
and her husband, Adam, and her grandson, Jesse Keelan. Next
to loving and spoiling, the ones I just mentioned, along with
an occasional chastening, and speaking of occasional chastenings,
when her daughter, Kathy, was a junior at Paul Blazer High
School, where I taught, She was in my 11th grade history class.
And sometimes I had to continue that chastening. Not physical. But Kathy was a cheerleader.
And you know cheerleaders love to talk. And that was the chastening. And Terry, you probably still
do that today. No, he doesn't. No, chastening.
But it was loving chastening. Correction. She continued her
spoiling talents to her two great-grandsons, Tyson and Colton Leland, and
one great-granddaughter, Molly Keelan. She loved all of them
equally and dearly. She also leaves behind nieces
and nephews of which she was extremely proud. And I bet she
spoiled them also. She's going to be missed by us
all. Her sorrows, trials, and her earthly infirmities are no
more. In a short time, her pastor, Jim Byrd, is going to stand here
and proclaim the God that Evelyn loved because he so loved her
first. And towards the end of her earthly
life, she looked forward for the instance in time when she
would see her savior that she so loved to hear about when she
was in the flesh. We rejoice for Evelyn. And let me finish by reading
Psalm 91. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress. My God, in Him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings
shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day.
nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not
come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked, because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall
give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all the ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Thou shalt
tread upon the lion and adder. The young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet. Because he has set his love upon
me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because
he has known my name. He shall call upon me and I will
answer him. I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him and honor him with long life while I satisfy
him and show him my salvation. When all my labors and trials
are And I am safe on that beautiful
shore Just to be near the dear Lord I adore Well through the
ages be glory for me me. When by His grace I shall look
on His face, that will be glory, be
glory for me. When by the gift of his infinite
grace I am accorded in heaven a place therein to look on his face,
well through the ages be glory for me. ? Glory for me ? ? Glory for me
? ? Glory for me ? ? When by his grace I shall look on his
face ? that will be glory be glory for me Prince will be there
I have loved long ago Joy like a river around me will
flow Yet just a smile from my Savior I know Will through the
ages be glory for me me. When by His grace I shall look
on His face, Then will be glory, be glory forevermore. Thank you. That was your mom's
favorite song. And she is experiencing what
real glory is. Because she looks on the face
of the Lord Jesus. And oh, what a sight. She looks on His face not with
fear, not afraid, but with joy. Like the song says, joy like
a river. And she is delighted to be with
the saints of God. And last Thursday, when God called
her to be with Him in Heaven, She just was absent from this
body, present with the Lord. And she just immediately began
singing the song of the saints and singing about blood redemption,
singing about the salvation of God, and singing praises to the
Lamb of God. Now the Scripture says, blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord. She is blessed. She's always been blessed. The
Scripture says of the people of God that we were blessed with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And every blessing that God has
given to us and will yet give us, they were all given to us
actually in the Lord Jesus before God made the world. And that
included the great blessing of being with Him and enjoying Him
forever. What are the saints of God doing
in heaven? You ever think about that? How
do they occupy their time? Even though there is no such
thing as time in heaven, but what do they do? What are they
doing? How are they being occupied?
Well, the Scripture says they serve the Lord and they worship. They worship the Lord Jesus forever
and ever. Now, somebody said to me the
other day, because I'd made a similar remark in one of my messages,
they said, it seems like we'll get rather tired. Won't we get tired in heaven?"
I said, no, we won't get tired in heaven because we'll have
heavenly bodies and so there won't be any weirdness. And they
said, no, I mean, you know, just being always in the presence
of the Lord Jesus and always singing the songs of the saints
and listening to Him, will we grow weary of that? And I said,
absolutely not. We won't grow weary. We'll just
kind of sit on the end of our pews, as it were, and listen
to Him as He no doubt teaches us and breaks open for us the
Word of God. I think about those two disciples
on the road to Emmaus. And they had doubted. They had lots of questions. the Lord Jesus revealed Himself
to them, and then He began to open the Word of God to them. And they said among themselves,
oh, our hearts burned. Our hearts just burned as He
spoke to us of the things of God. And that's where it's going
to be forever in heaven. And our dear sister Evelyn is
with the Lord Jesus. She's singing praises of God. And she is listening to every
word fall from His lips. She sang about Him. She prayed to Him. She talked
to others about Him. She came here and listened to
preachers preach about Him. Now she's with Him. And that's
glory. That's glory for her. I've selected
just one portion of Scripture for you this morning. And it is a familiar Scripture
to those of you who are familiar with the Word of God. John chapter
14. As our Lord Jesus spoke to His
disciples who were troubled, And they were troubled for three
reasons. He had said, one of you is going
to betray me. That's Judas. And Judas got up
and walked out. So there are only 11 disciples
left. And then he said, and one of
you is going to deny me. And that was Simon Peter. And
that troubled them greatly. But mainly, those disciples were
troubled because he said, I'm going away. And they understood
what he meant. He was going to die. And this
very thought of the death of the Lord Jesus, it troubled them
right from the first moment that he mentioned it to them. It was
right after, if you remember, I'm sure you do, many of you,
in the book of Matthew chapter 16, our Savior said to His disciples,
who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, well,
some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Jeremiah, others
say that you're one of the prophets. He said, who do you say that
I am? And Simon Peter said, Christ, you're the Son of the living
God. The Lord Jesus said, well, flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father. And then right after that, right
after that, then Simon Peter, listening to the Savior, the
Savior said, I'm going to Jerusalem. He said, the Son of Man must
suffer many things. He must be killed. He must suffer
these things in Jerusalem. He must die. And Simon Peter
said, Lord, I want to talk to you for a minute. We don't want
to hear you talk about death. No more talk about death. And
our Lord said, now Simon, get away from me. You don't savor
the things of God. He said, I must die. And He had
to. He had to die to save them and
to save us from our sinfulness. And so, that thought of His death
troubled them. But death is troubling to all
of us. When He says here in John 14,
let not your heart be troubled. Don't let your heart be agitated. Don't be anxious. And I say to
the family members and to these, the members of her spiritual
family, don't be anxious about death, don't be troubled about
death, if the Lord Jesus is your hope of glory. There is no need
to be troubled. Death will just take us like
death took Evelyn in the very presence of the Savior. You remember the story, I'm sure,
of Lazarus, who was a very poor man, but he knew the Lord, he
knew the gospel, and he begged for something to eat. A rich
man wouldn't give him anything to eat. And then the Scripture
says a rich man, he died, and he lifted up his eyes, and he
was in hell. But Lazarus died, and angels
of God took him to glory. And this is what happens at the
moment of death for the people of God. Angels who were commissioned
by God, they gather around the soul, like they gathered around
Evelyn. And they waited for the Master
to say, bring her home. And then He gave His nod to them,
and immediately, They escorted her soul right into the presence
of glory. I know death is difficult for
us, and difficult for us to deal with. But if we're the people
of God, if we understand salvation through the merits and the person
of the Lord Jesus, really, really it's a time of happiness. I heard somebody say one time
to a preacher, He said, you know, preacher, we've got things backwards.
He said, I don't even know what you're talking about. He said,
well, when a little baby comes into the world, everybody's happy
and joyful and it's just a great celebration. Then when one of
the Lord's people dies, we're all brokenhearted. He said, we
got it just backwards. He said, really, when a baby
comes into the world, in a way, he said, that's a time of sadness,
because look what they're facing. I think about my grandchildren,
our grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, God willing. Boy, what a road
they've got to walk in this awful world, vile world. You know, ungodly world. And
there's a sense in which that's a sorrowful thing. But I'll tell
you, when a child of God goes home to glory, that's a time
of joy. I'm so happy for your mom. I just am so happy for her. And
we hurt. Oh my, we're going to miss her.
There's no question about that. Very special person. but in a
body that's wore out. I wouldn't want her back here.
No, not in this body. When she's in the presence of
the Lord Jesus, our Savior, who died for her, who redeemed her,
why, she has no more sickness. She has no more pain. She has
no more anxiety about anything. She's not worried about anything.
She's enjoying the blessed, blessed presence of King Jesus. And I'm
so happy for her. You've got to be happy for her,
even though you're sad for us. But he says, don't let your heart
be troubled. He said, you believe in God?
You do, don't you? He said, well, believe in me.
Believe I'm the Savior. Believe I'm the friend of sinners. Believe me, I came to redeem
you. Believe me, though I'm going
away, I'm coming back to you. But I've got to go away. I've
got to die. The purpose of God must be fulfilled. This is the only way we can be
saved. That's what he's telling these men. I've got to go. I've got to go. And in going
to die, I'll prepare a place for you. You see, we don't have
any place in heaven unless He goes to die for us. Unless He
gives His life as a ransom for His people. We're all sinful
people. We're lawbreakers. And the law
of God says the soul that sinned shall die. There's got to be
death. The justice of God insists upon
it. And the justice of God will settle
for nothing less than death for sin. What kind of death are you
speaking about, preacher? Well, there's got to be physical
death. But there's also got to be what
the Scriptures talk about, the second death. whereby those who
die in their sins must suffer the agonies of the wrath of God
forever. But the Lord Jesus, her Savior,
our Savior, He came into this world and He came to die. He
came to pay the debt that He didn't owe, but that we owe.
the debt to the justice of God, to satisfy God's law. And therefore, he died under
the wrath of God. He died that God might be just
and the justifier of all who believe on Jesus. He died that
God might be a just God and a Savior. That's why He died. He died to
bring in everlasting righteousness. He died to justify His people. And when He died upon the cross
of Calvary, there He hung suffering the wrath of God. He had all
of His seed in view, all of His people in view, and that included
Evelyn. I lay down my life for you. I'm
dying for you. And because I die for you, you'll
never die. You know, that's why the Savior,
you know how He referred to physical death for His people? Falling
asleep. Falling asleep. And her body
has fallen asleep. Not her soul. There's no such
thing as soul sleeping. Because at the moment that her
soul left this body, it was immediately with the Lord Jesus. And this
body, it will be buried at the cemetery here in a little bit.
There to await a glorious resurrection. How do we know that the bodies
of the dead in Christ are going to be raised again? Because He
was raised. His resurrection, that's proof
that this body right here, it's going to be raised again. Buried
in corruption, but raised again and in corruption. All mortality
now, but when the Lord Jesus comes back, immortality. So he says, don't let your heart
be troubled. Don't be agitated. I've got to
die. I've got to lay down my life
for the sheep and then take it again. And then he talks about
my father's house. There are many mansions, many
dwelling places in my father's house. He said, if it wasn't
so, I would have told you. He said, I'm going to prepare
a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, listen to what He says, I will come again and receive
you unto Myself. In order that where I am, that's
where you'll be. Now, when he says, I will come
again, I know he's talking about one aspect of what he says here
is he's coming again in the last day. And he'll receive all of
his people unto himself. But really, he receives us one
by one. He came for your dad, what, ten
years ago, something like that. He came. It's time to come home. And he went home. He went home. And then last Thursday morning,
he came for Evelyn. Time to go home. Time to go to
the father's house. Just to think of the father's
house. Isn't that a precious thought?
That's so sweet. I'm going to the father's house.
And that's where she's gone. And she's there worshiping, like
I said. And then one day, when the Savior
comes back, she's coming back with Him. Your dad's coming back
with Him. All of the saints of God who've departed, they're
all coming back with Him. And then He's going to raise
all their bodies. And their bodies, you see, they've
been redeemed also. So they're going to have new
bodies, glorified bodies, but it will still be the same body,
essentially. Evelyn will still be Evelyn.
Ed will still be Ed. Brother Mahan will still be Brother
Mahan. Go all the way down the line. And we'll be with Him forever.
There's nothing troubling about that, is there? To be with the
Lord Jesus? He's coming back to receive us
unto Himself. Until then, He receives us one
by one. Well, Jim, could you tell us
the reason she's in glory, the reason she's in heaven? Oh, I
can tell you exactly, because God chose her unto salvation
before the world began. She's a vessel of mercy. That's
what she is, a vessel of mercy. God ordained that she'd be His
child. Actually, she's always been His
child. She's always had life in Christ Jesus. And 2,000 years ago, her Savior
came into this world, and He lived for her. He died for her. He arose again for her. He suffered
all the wrath of God for her. No condemnation remains for those
who are in Christ Jesus. He suffered, bled, and died for
her. Then he arose again because of
her justification. And he went home to heaven to
be her mediator and to be her great high priest. She's in heaven because God chose
her unto salvation. The Son of God paid her sin debt. She's in heaven because the Spirit
of God dealt with her in saving, sovereign grace. You know what God did for Evelyn?
He did for Evelyn exactly what God is doing for you this morning. He sent her a preacher. He sent
her somebody to tell her the truth. That's why God sent me
this morning. To tell you the truth about a
holy God whose law you can't keep. About yourself, because
you're a sinner just like I am. and about the only Savior of
sinners, the Lord Jesus and the reason that He came into this
world to shed His blood, to satisfy God's justice. He's the only
hope you've got, I'm telling you. There's no other life except
the life which is in Christ. A little later in this portion
of Scripture, one of the disciples said, well, Lord, we don't know
where You're going and we don't know the way. And the Lord Jesus
said, I'm the way. I'm the way to God. I'm the truth
to God. I'm the life of God. And He said,
no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. And you all need to
hear that. And those of you who are watching
by way of the Internet, There's no coming to God except through
Christ Jesus. The Lord sent her a preacher.
He preached that message to her. And a miracle happened. A wonderful,
glorious miracle. She believed the Gospel. She
believed on Christ Jesus. And raised you unto the sound
of the Gospel. And then God opened up your heart.
to embrace the truth. That's what the Lord did for
Evelyn. He opened up her heart. He sent the Holy Spirit, who
did a work of grace within her. She believed this message. That's
what's got to happen to all of us. God's got to send His Spirit. And the Spirit has to cause us
to be born again. Quicken from above. And then
with that life comes faith to believe the Son of God. And one
of these days, by His grace, those of us who've been saved
by our Lord will go to be with Him in glory. You say, well,
will we know each other in heaven? Yeah, we will. We'll know each
other in heaven. I'll know Evelyn. She'll know
me. But it's a different relationship
in heaven. You say, well, we'll talk about
old times. We'll talk about the Gospel.
We'll talk about the greatness of God. We'll talk about the
grace of the Lord Jesus. Oh, Evelyn, isn't He a wonderful
Savior? You say, oh yes, He is. How delightful to look on His
face. Oh, when by His grace I shall
look on His face, that will be glory. That'll be glory for me. Let me lead you in prayer, and
then I'm going to read another two or three verses to you, and
we'll be dismissed. Bless the Word that's gone forth
this morning. We thank You for the Gospel of
Your saving grace. Grace for the sinful. Mercy for
the defiled. Lord, make all of us to be mercy
beggars. We don't deserve anything from
You. Nothing good anyhow. But we ask
You through the person and work of the Lord Jesus, our Savior,
be merciful to us. And save us by Your grace. We
give thanks for all the sweet memories of our sister in the
Lord Evelyn. And we rejoice in your good purpose
in taking her home to glory. Lord, fill the void. Give a strong consolation to
all of the family members and to her church family. Remind
us of her joy right now being in the presence of the Lord Jesus.
Bless all of these family members. Lord, give comfort and consolation
as only You can give. These things I ask in the name
of the Savior and for His sake. Amen. I began this service by
reading you Evelyn one of her favorite verses. Philippians
4.13. And then I will read another portion
that was very dear to her heart. It's out of the book of Numbers. Numbers 6. The Lord told Moses,
He said, You speak unto Aaron and unto his son, saying, On
this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto
them, The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His
face shine unto thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up His
countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Here's three times
it talks about the Lord bless thee. The Lord bless thee and
keep thee. That's God the Father. who blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
The Lord make His face to shine upon thee. We see the glory of
God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Father blesses
us, the Son blesses us, and then the Spirit of God. The Lord lift
up His countenance upon thee. Only the Spirit of God can give
us peace. Peace that passes understanding. May the Lord bless we ask Him
to do that. Amen.