We're here this afternoon to
celebrate the life and to mark the passing of Carter Gene Brown,
88 of Ashland, who passed away on Thursday, March 19th, 2020,
in the Community Hospice Center. Carter was born October 6th,
1931 in Ashland, Kentucky, a son of the late Carter M. and Mabel
Fraley Brown. In addition to his parents, he
was preceded in death by a brother, David Brown, and a sister, Joan
Eskridge. Carter was a graduate of Ashland
High School and the University of Kentucky. He served honorably
in the United States Air Force in Japan and Korea. He was a
member of Hurricane Road Grace Church and retired following
a long career as a metallurgical engineer. Those left to cherish
his memory include his loving wife of 43 years, Joyce Moses
Brown of Ashland, a son, Dr. Carter Matthew Brown, and wife
Susan of Louisville. a daughter, Melinda LaFleche,
of Boston, Massachusetts, a brother, Timothy Brown, and wife, Beverly,
of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, grandchildren, Colin, Adam, and
Carolyn LaFleche, and David, Michael, and Tyler Brown, and
two nieces, Jill Eskridge-Turner and husband, Joe, and Joellen
Eskridge-Bowman and her husband, Jim, all of Ashland. Carter will
be missed by a host of friends from all over this country and
all over the world. To tell you how well Carter and
Joyce are thought of, when I travel different places to preach, the
first question I used to be asked was, how are Henry and Doris?
And then recently, that question has now been changed to, how
are Carter and Joyce? Carter told me to tell people
when they asked that, he said, tell them we're old. Carter had
a great sense of humor, and he never lost it. I got to know
Carter quite well while For several years, we sat next to each other
in Henry's study in the men's meetings before the Sunday and
Wednesday night services. During that time, we talked about
a lot of different subjects, and I quickly learned that Carter
should be the man in those commercials, the most interesting man alive.
Carter lived a fascinating life. He served in the Air Force in
Japan and North Korea, and he traveled to many other places
all over the world And Carter didn't just travel to those places.
Carter had interesting experiences in all those places. He even
one time made an emergency landing on Wake Island and spent some
time there while they were repairing the airplane some years after
World War II had ended. And he told me it looked just
exactly like it did when the war was going on. Nothing had
happened to it, just like It looked when the island had been
abandoned in 1945 or whatever. And he just loved going through
that island and just like a museum and looking at all the things
that had been left there. Who does that sort of thing except
Carter? And Carter loved to travel and
visit the missionaries. Carter was very interested in
the mission work. Even on his deathbed, he asked
me if I'd like to go to Europe and just preach all across Europe. That was the very last thing
Carter Brown ever said to me, wanting to arrange that trip
to go preach all across Europe. Carter was a generous and a kind
man. Much to the chagrin of my family,
Carter got me interested in the Band of Brothers, story of the
101st Airborne Division in World War II. He told me about this
television series that was on HBO. I told him I didn't get
HBO. The next week he brought me his box set of DVDs to be
able to watch that series, and then he gave me some books on
it. We would talk about that for hours on end. Joyce told
me she has watched the Band of Brothers and the movie Pearl
Harbor many times against her will, and my family has too,
and they'll always have Carter Brown to thank for it. Carter
had a famous sense of humor. Jill and Joellen were telling
me that When they were girls, the pictures on the wall would
all be crooked after Carter would visit. He'd go through and tilt
all those pictures so they wouldn't be hanging just straight, just
to get to his sister, Joan. I was so glad they told me that
story. That's the most Carter thing I believe I've ever heard. And then Carter loved Joyce.
You two were such a pair. What a pair, what a love that
you have. And that kind of love is precious. I know how well Carter loved
Joyce by watching how dedicated she was to Carter when his health
began to fail. You don't do that for somebody
that you don't love. But my best and most treasured
conversations with Carter were the conversations we had about
the gospel. Carter loved to hear the gospel. He enjoyed to talk
about the things of the Lord and about the scriptures. Those
conversations were Blessings to me. Carter was a faithful
man. He took a stand for the truth,
and he never compromised it. Carter Brown lived one of the
most interesting lives of anybody that I've ever personally met.
Even the time of Carter's death is interesting. I mean, people
are going to be telling stories about this time for years and
years and years to come, and that's the time our Lord chose
to bring Carter home. Even the time of his death is
interesting. But even after the most full and interesting life,
we all must die. We're so sad today to lose Carter's
presence in our lives. We're heartbroken, we're bereaved,
but we're not in despair because of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
Carter trusted. Now from what I hear, they say
that the book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible. And Job had
the same hope that Carter And he had the same hope that we
who believe today have. Now you know the story of Job.
Job was being crushed by the worst trial that we know of.
Yet Job had a good hope. While Job was being crushed by
that great trial, Job still found comfort. He found his comfort
in Christ. And I pray that the Lord will
give us that same comfort this afternoon. Now you can imagine
when Job kept getting all these waves of bad news coming to him
and he didn't know what was going on. He didn't know why that this
was happening, but he told us what he didn't know. Job told
us, this is what I know, Christ, his Redeemer lives. Job 19 verse
23, Job said, all of my words were now written. Oh, that they
were printed in a book. that they were graven with an
iron pin and led in the rock forever. For I know that my Redeemer
liveth." Job was telling his friends, boys, this is my hope
and you put it on my tombstone. This is what I want you to write
on my tombstone, my Redeemer liveth. And I want us to see
a good hope of salvation by quickly looking at three words, my Redeemer
liveth. The first word, is Redeemer. That's where we have to start,
the word Redeemer. Now if there is a Redeemer, that
tells me there's a problem. And the problem is sin. It's
a problem that all of us have. All men are sinners. We became
sinners and we became guilty in Adam. And we have done nothing
but sin ever since. Now God has a law that we cannot
keep. God demands perfection that we
cannot give. We have a sin debt that we cannot
pay. Our sin demands death. That's
why we're here this morning. Sin. Sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death. So there's a death for us to
die and a judgment to face. It is appointed unto man once
to die, but after this, the judgment. And if we would have a good hope
of salvation, God must provide a redeemer. And that's just exactly
what God did. He provided the redeemer for
the people that he chose to save. God sent his own son, made flesh,
made a man to be the kinsman redeemer, to redeem his people
by paying the price for their sin with his own precious blood. That's what Christ came to do
and that's what he did. So the debt is paid. The sin
of God's elect is put away because of who died. The debt is paid
because of who paid the debt. Sin is cleansed because of whose
blood was shed. It's the blood of the Son of
God. By his blood, the Lord Jesus
Christ redeemed his people from all of their sin, lock, stock,
and barrel. The debt's paid, sin's been put
away. Then we who believe on Christ have a good hope. It can't
get any more sure than the Lord Jesus Christ paying your sin
debt with his own precious blood. It can't get more sure than the
blood of God. There is no fear of death and no fear of judgment
for anyone for whom Christ died. That's the word redeemer. The
second word is my, me. Now we know from reading scripture
that Christ died for a specific people. people chosen by the
Father. And those people are redeemed.
No question about it, they are redeemed. But here's my question. How do I know that Christ died
for me? Well, the only way we can know
that is faith. The only evidence we have that Christ died for
us is faith in Christ. If Christ died for you, God the
Holy Spirit will give you faith in Christ. you will hear Christ
preached and you'll believe him. You'll hang your entire soul
upon him. That's what the apostle Paul
told the church at Thessalonica. He knew their election of God
and he knew because when they heard the gospel, they believed
it and they became followers of Christ. Faith in Christ is
the only evidence we have that God chose us and Christ died
for us. So if you believe Christ, Christ
died for you. And listen, He died for you on
purpose. He died for you on purpose, you.
Well, do you reckon anything, He's gonna allow anything to
happen to allow your soul to perish? No, not a chance. Christ died for you on purpose.
Well, then there's no fear of death. And there's no fear of
judgment because Christ was already condemned and He already died
in your place. That was Carter Brown's hope.
Now that's a good hope, isn't it? The third word is liveth. Christ died. The death of Christ
guarantees the eternal spiritual life of God's elect. But he didn't
stay dead. He rose again from the dead.
He liveth. And those for whom Christ died,
they can't die the second death. because Christ already died for
them. It's impossible for them to die the second death because
God's holy. God will never judge the same
sin twice. God's not gonna kill two people
for the same sin. If Christ died for you, you can
never die the second death. And the Holy Spirit gives faith
in Christ and eternal life to everyone for whom Christ died.
It's eternal life. than those people who believe
on Christ, who have faith in Christ, they can never die. Their
life is eternal life, spiritual life. So that means this, at
this graveside, this is not the end. I know this place, this
cemetery is where we come to bury our dead, to let their bodies
rest in peace. But this place, one day, is going
to be a place of great life. This place is the place of Carter's
resurrection. This is not the end, his body
will be raised again. Carter will be raised again in
perfect glorified flesh because Christ our Redeemer liveth. He liveth. You notice that Job,
he was so sure of salvation in Christ, he talked about the second
coming of Christ before Christ ever came the first time. He's
already so sure of salvation, he's talking about Christ's second
coming. for he comes to gather all of his people to be with
him where he is, beholding his glory. Listen again, Job 19 verse
23. Oh, that my words were now written.
Oh, that they were printed in a book, that they were graven
with an iron pen and led in the rock forever. For I know that
my redeemer liveth and he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God. whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another. He won't be a stranger,
I'll know him. I'm gonna do that in my flesh,
though my reins be consumed within me." Now right now, Carter is
living. He's living life that we, so
glorious, so much life, we cannot imagine what it's like. Because
he's living with the Lord. He's living with the Lord because
Christ, our Redeemer, liveth. And one day, Carter lives now,
but one day when the Lord returns, he's gonna be raised in this
body, in a body, and we'll be ourselves, we'll look like each
other, we'll recognize one another. The great difference will be
then we're gonna be raised in glorified flesh. In flesh just
like our Lord Jesus Christ, And all that will happen because
our Redeemer liveth, because he is life. He gives life to
his people, but he is the life of his people. We shall be raised
again because our Redeemer liveth. Now, wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. My Redeemer liveth. Joyce, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry
for the pain and the loss you feel right now. And there's nothing
I can say that could take it away. But let's comfort our hearts. I hope that these words will
comfort your heart. My Redeemer liveth. That will
comfort our hearts, even when we're broken hearted, just like
it did for our brother, Job, so many years ago. May the Lord
bless you.