Before I say anything, just on behalf of our family,
let me say thank you. We've been just overwhelmed by
your kindness, by your graciousness, just your kind thoughts and kind
words and your prayers. We said this the other day as
we drove out to the gravesite. Dale would have just been overwhelmed.
He would have just been completely overwhelmed that folks would
have been so thoughtful. So we thank you and we continue
to covet your prayers. Back in August when we were up in Cleveland, Dale felt pretty certain that
he had never come home from Cleveland. He was confident. He made us very aware of that. And each subsequent trip to the
hospital, he continued to try to prepare us and say goodbye
to us. Always thought how unselfish
that was of him. From that time, I began thinking,
what would you say? What would you say about Dale
Simpson? And a scripture came to my mind,
and it's probably an odd scripture for this time, but it's the account
of Naaman back in 1 Kings. And this is what our 2 Kings
5, this is what was said of Naaman. And I believe this is true of
our brother Dale. Sid Naaman, he was a great man. He was a great man. Distinguished
of men. He was a great husband. He was
a great dad. He was a great grandpa. He was
a great man. Earl, he was a great friend,
wasn't he? He was a great man. And I would tell you young girls, as
you look for a husband, that's the kind of man you want to find.
Great man. And for us that are husbands,
Earl to be a great husband. Love our wives. care for our
wives, to cherish our wives. Dale Simpson was a great man. He was a great friend. Second,
this was said of Naaman, he was an honorable man. An honorable
man. Another word for that word honorable
is gracious. Dale Simpson was a gracious man.
kind, gentle, forgiving, the kind of person you like to be
around. And anytime you had a conversation with him, he always wanted to
know about you. It was never a sit there and
let me talk about myself. He was a kind, gracious man. He loved his country. Oh, how
he loved his country. Loved to have his flag out waving
in the front yard. He loved his family. I don't
know that there was anything more dear to him than his family. He loved his brother. Oh, how
he loved to come and worship with his brother. How he loved
his spiritual family. Del Simpson was an honorable
man, an honorable and a gracious man. And then the last thing
that was said about Naaman, he was a mighty man, a mighty man. I think of Del and I think of
a man who was a, he was a man among men. You know, I said earlier
he loved his country. He served his country. He served
his country. And I was thinking about that,
how name was it? A Mighty Man in Valor. Dale stood
for something, you know. Somebody said this and I can't
remember at the graveside. Said, Dale never, I think it
might have been you, Bob, Dale never get fuzzed up again. And
I thought about this. In the 25 years that I knew Dale
Simpson, I can think of two things, two things that would get him
fuzzed up in just two. And he'd stand up quickly for
these two things. One was his family. A crossword
to his family, he'd stand up and fight. Second, this gospel
that we love. He'd take a stand for the gospel.
He stood for the gospel, this gospel that he loved. He was
a mighty man. And then, I said that was the
last thing, but this fourth thing, this fourth thing, and this is,
Dale would probably have a fit. He'd have a smothering spell
if he heard people saying these things about him. This is what
Dale would say about himself. And this was true of Naaman.
Naaman was a limper. Naaman was a sinner. That's what
Dale Simpson would tell you about himself. He'd say, I'm a sinner,
unjust, undone, no help, no hope apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
No help apart from him. And then this, what's the Lord
Jesus Christ say about Dale Simpson? What does He say about every
one of His sheep? Every believer. Over in Luke,
chapter 4, beginning with verse 25. You don't have to turn there.
Our Lord said this. He said, I tell you a truth.
I tell you a truth. Our Lord spoke the truth. Our
Lord spoke the truth. He said, I tell you a truth.
There were many lepers. There were many sinners. in the
time of Elisha. Many sinners in Israel in the
time of Elisha. And none of them was cleansed.
Save one. Save one. None of them were delivered.
Save one. None of them were saved. But
name one. And I believe we can put Dale
Simpson's name Right there. Right there. In every one of God's sheep.
Every one of God's sheep. He said, I'm the Lord. I change not, therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Now he saves one, he saves every
last one of his sheep by his mercy and by his grace. And our comfort Comfort of this
family. We gathered together here this
morning. Jackie said, I want us all to
sit together. That's what we did over to the
hospital. That's what we've done around the house. We've just
gathered together. And that's what we do this morning
as this family of believers. Our hearts are broken, but we
gather together as one to hear God's Word and listen. This is our comfort, not in the
fact that we know Dale was a great man. We know that Dale was an
honorable man. We know that Dale was a mighty
man. And we're thankful, so thankful. But our hope and our comfort
and our rest is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord, by the sovereign
will of God, he's determined that every child of God, every
one of His elect, every one elected by the Father, redeemed by the
Son, and called by the Holy Spirit, will be brought to Him, will
be brought to Him, and not one, not one will be lost, not one. Our salvation, our security,
our hope, our rest, it's in the obedience, and sacrifice of his
son. The obedience and sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Over in John 17, 24, Abbey had
this verse this morning. Our Lord said this, he said,
Father, I will. I will that they also whom thou
hast given me Boy, our heart's desire is to have him right here
with us, isn't it? But the Lord Jesus Christ, he
said, it's my will. It's my will that they whom you've
given me be with me where I am, that they may behold the glory
which thou hast given me. Thou lovest me from before the
foundation of the world. And that's where our brother
Dale sits right now. Beholding his door. Beholding his door. All right. Turn with me for our
scripture reading this morning. To Psalm 46. God is our refuge. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will not we fear,
though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea? Although all these things are
removed, God's witness, God's presence, Though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof, there is a river. There is a river the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High." God is in the midst of her. He
said, I in them and thou in me. God is in the midst of her and
she shall not be moved. God shall help her, and that
right early. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the
Lord. What desolations he has made in the earth, he maketh
wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow.
he cutteth the spear and sundered, he burneth the chariot and the
fire. Be still. Be still and know that I'm God.
I'll be exalted among the heathen. I'll be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob. The God of Jacob. He's our refuge. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
Lord, we thank you for this day. Lord, though our hearts are broken,
our hearts are troubled, Lord, we thank you for this day. For
it's a day that you've given us to come together in your house,
Lord, to sing hymns of praise. Lord, to read Thy Scriptures,
Lord, to hear Thy Word preached. It's a day to rejoice in the
Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Lord, we thank You for Your many
blessings. We thank You for our families. Lord, we thank You
for our homes. Lord, we thank You for Your provision. Lord, how You've blessed us and
provided for us, Lord, so richly in Christ. Lord, we thank you above all things for
our Savior. Lord, that you've sent your Son, Lord, to suffer
and die in the place of your people. Lord, to provide us with
a a perfect righteousness. Lord, we thank you for a good
hope, a sure hope, a certain hope. Lord, how we thank you
for our Savior. Pray that you would continue
to teach us of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray for those who are
in a time of trouble, for those who are sick, those who are hurting,
Lord, only You can comfort our hearts. Lord, we pray that You
would be with us and strengthen us in all things, Lord. Teach us not to rest on this
arm of flesh, but to look to Thee, to rest in Thee, to trust
in Thee for all things. We pray for our children, Lord,
that You would hedge them about, that You'd protect, keep, and
defend them. above all things, that you teach
them of Christ. That you would bless them to
know the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for our upcoming conference. Lord, these men that will preach. Lord, that you lay a message
on their hearts. Lord, that you bless the sounding
forth of your gospel. Pray for our brother John Our
pastors, they preached this morning. Lord, that you bless your word. Again, we pray, be with us in
the days to come. Lord, uphold us by thy mighty
hand. Comfort us, strengthen us, Again,
cause us to rest in peace. Bless us for Christ's sake we
pray.