I am thankful to our Lord for
this service and for this way in which Brother
Ed Ballard and Mindy have chosen to honor Ed's wife and Mindy's
mother so that all of her friends and church family could be together
for this service. When, when will we break all
of our traditions and begin to do things as God leads us? Have
people say a funeral in the evening? That's not being done. Why not? We're so bound by religious customs,
ceremonies, rituals, and traditions, we completely rule out the Spirit
of the living God. And we meet together as New Testament
believers of old to bury our dead for the glory of God and
to worship his name and do what he leads us to do, whether it
meets the approval of this world or not. And I intend to do it
that way. I spent some time because this
dear lady is very dear to me. For almost 20 years I've been
her pastor and for that long a very dear friend. And then
my son married her daughter. I think he fell in love with
her before he did the daughter. He always loved Joyce. Always
loved Joyce. And those who knew Joyce loved
her. And I was trying to think of something that ought to be
said. And that's so difficult to sum up. So many years and
a few words and so much love and so many experiences. So many
Sunday dinners. Ed and Joyce joined Doris and
I and the children in fellowship together. How do you sum all
that up in a few words? And I struggled with it a long
time. And I came over here tonight and was looking at the flowers
that you, dear friends, have sent out of your love and out
of your concern as a tribute. And I saw a basket of flowers
over there from Mr. and Mrs. Bob Boyd, and there's
a ribbon on it. I believe you ought to cut that
ribbon out and keep it. You know what it says? Special lady. Special lady. I said, that's
it. She was a special lady. She was
special to God. He loved her and revealed the
gospel to her. He chose her out of the whole
human race. She's special to Him. He said,
Thou art a special people unto the Lord thy God. That's what's
written in the book of 1 Samuel. You're a special people to the
Lord your God. She was a special lady. And she
was special to Ed, to Tim, Byron, Mindy, and Paul. Special. She was special to this church,
Tom. She was always here, sat right over there every service,
always here, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night,
Bible conferences, whatever we had. She supported the gospel,
she supported her pastor, prayed for him and loved him. Last time
I saw her alive, I went down to the home 48 hours before she
died. Went upstairs and Mindy woke
her up. I leaned over the bed and kissed
her on this cheek. She opened her eyes and says,
Hi, honey. I appreciated that. God's people love each other.
They love each other. And she was special to this church
and special to her pastor. And I think that sums up how
I feel about This dear one, what's written on that little streamer
from that basket of flowers, special lady. I want you to turn
to Psalm 116 and let me give you a message I hope will be
glorifying to God and of some help to you in this time. Psalm 116. This is one of those
great psalms. One of those great psalms written
from the believing heart of David, the sweet psalmist of Israel,
the man of whom God said, he's a man after my own heart. And
David didn't pluck these words from the air. He didn't lift
them from the traditions of religion, nor did he find them in the musty
books of theology written by men, but he spake as the Spirit
of God breathed on him. And in verse 1, he talks about
loving the Lord. We love him because he first
loved us. He said, I love the Lord. I don't
love him like I ought to. I don't love him like I want
to. I don't love him like I expect to someday, but I love him by
his grace. I love the Lord. That's what
he said. Because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. You know what I believe he's
talking about? He says, the Lord has heard my cry for mercy. That's
what he said over here in Psalm 51. He said in the 51st Psalm,
he said, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. And he heard my voice. He blotted
out my transgressions. He cleansed me from all my sins,
purged me and cleansed me and washed me and heard my voice. And then in verse 2, he talks
about a persevering faith. He said, because he hath inclined
his ear unto me, therefore I'll call on him as long as I live. Job speaking of the hypocrite.
Job said he calls on the Lord, but will he always call on the
Lord? He claims the Lord, but will
he always claim the Lord? David said, I will. By God's
grace, I'll call on Him as long as I live, as long as I live. And I'll die calling on the Lord.
And then in verse 3, he talks about afflictions and trials.
He said, the sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of
hell got hold of me, and I found trouble and sorrow. The believer
is not exempt from trouble. We have an example of it here.
Our Lord said, in this world you shall have tribulation. We're
not exempt from trouble. We're not exempt from trials
and we're not exempt from afflictions. But he said in verse four, in
my trouble and sorrow, I call on the name of the Lord. I knew
where to turn. I knew to whom I must turn. I called on the
name of the Lord, and I said, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver
me in this day of trouble. Deliver my soul. Gracious is
the Lord, O and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. He preserved
it the simple. I was brought low, and I like
this, and he helped me. This family has been through
trying times in the last Almost two years now. But I'll tell
you this. God gave Joyce the grace that
she needed in this time of trouble. And she witnessed a good witness. In all of this trouble and trial
and suffering, hardly a word of complaint. You know that and
I know that. Because He helped her. It wasn't by human strength. It never is. but it was by divine
strength and help. And not only Joyce, but Ed and
Mindy and the dear family, it's been a time of trial and suffering,
but the Lord will not, He will not subject us to that which
is too heavy for us by His grace and through His strength to bear.
He helped me. And that's the way that I must
end all of my confessions regarding troubles and trials and afflictions.
I say I've come through it, but He helped me. He helped me. Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither
by thy help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure safely to
arrive at home. I've gone through some troubles
and trials, but he helped me. He helped me. And then in verse
10, he talks about the foundation of his faith. I believed. I believed. What did you believe,
David? I believed God. I believed God. That's a summary
of faith. That's the definition of faith
is to believe God. Not to believe about God or believe
there is a God. The devil believes there is a
God and trembles. But David says here, I believe. I believe God. I believe His
Word. God's Word is the foundation of faith. I believe His Word.
And listen, therefore have I spoken. The Word of God is the foundation
of our faith. And therefore we speak. I was
greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, all men are
liars. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? He talks of committal. He
said, I'll take the cup of salvation. I will by faith take the cup
of salvation and I will call on the name of the Lord. That's
what Paul said. He said, I know whom I have believed. I believe. I know whom I have
believed. It's not I know what I believe or I know when I believe,
I know whom I know whom I have believed. The object of faith
is a person. I know whom I have believed and
I am persuaded and confident that he's able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. I'll take the cup of
salvation. I'll take it. I'll call on the
name of the Lord. I'll pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of his people. Now he talks of death and the
end of life. He talks about the end of all.
I love the Lord. I will by His grace call upon
Him as long as I live. It's been a journey of trial
and trouble and affliction, but He helped me. He helped me. He helped me. I believe, and
therefore have I spoken. Therefore have I trusted. Therefore
have I rested. Therefore have I committed to
Him. I'll take the cup of salvation. I'll call on the name of the
Lord." And then he talks about the end of the journey. He said,
precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. What is death? I'm standing here
in the presence of death. I hear people talk about the
death angel. I hear people talk about death
in other terms. What is death? The Bible has
a lot to say about it. One day, Jonathan and David were
talking, and David said to Jonathan, he said, Jonathan, there's but
one step between me and death. Do you believe that? There is
but one step between me and death, Ed, just a step. A step between me and judgment,
just a step between me and meeting God, just a step between me and
eternity, just a step between me and the departure out of this
world. That's what he said. And then
the Scripture says it's appointed unto men once to die. It's an
appointment we're going to keep. And after that, the judgment.
And then the scripture says, there's a time to be born, and
there's a time to die. There's a time to die. And then
the scripture says, thou takest away their breath. Thou takest away their breath,
they die and return to the dust. But what is death? Preacher,
can you, without flowery words that the cross of Christ be made
of non-effect without oratory and preacher talk. Can you just
tell me what death is?" Yes, sir. Yes, I can. I can. In the first place, death is
an act of God. My son Paul puts these scriptures
out here on the bulletin board, and he's been instructed always
to put the scriptures out there, which he was glad to do. I don't
know why we people think we can improve on the Word of God and
put our little catchy slogans on our bulletin boards, entertain
men. I don't know why. But he has
a scripture out there, the Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive.
Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Well, that's
what the Word of God says. It's in the book of Samuel. The
Lord killeth and the Lord maketh alive. The Lord woundeth and
the Lord healeth. I hear all the divine healers
saying, I believe in miracles. Anybody who believes in God believes
in miracles. Anybody who believes in the creation
believes in miracles. All healing is of God. Nobody
ever gets well without God's will. And death is of God. That's what the Scripture says.
Let me read it to you from the book of Job. Job writing in chapter
14. Listen to what he says. This
is what God says. It says, man's born a woman,
and has a few days and full of trouble, cometh forth like a
flower, and is cut down, he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not. And then over here in verse 4,
verse 5, it says, seeing man's days are determined, the number
of his months are with God. God hath appointed his bounds,
and he cannot pass. Yes, sir, death is an act of
God. There are no accidents with God. I am absolutely immortal,
and though God is pleased to call me home. That's so. That's what the Word declares. Death is an act of God, and we
submit to the will of God. When Samuel said to Eli the prophet,
he said, the Lord said that your two sons would die. And Eli replied,
well, it's the Lord let him do what seemeth good to him. And
when they came and told Job that everything he had had been swept
away and all of his children were dead, he said, well, the
Lord gave and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. In all of this, he didn't charge
God with foolishness. Death's an act of God. And you'll
never come to look upon it rightly or to accept it spiritually or
to find any help or hope or comfort in it until you, by the grace
of God, settle in your mind that this is an act of God. Now that's
just so. Then you lose your fear of men. Then you lose your fear of the
plague. He said a thousand will fall at your right hand and ten
thousand at your left. It shall not come nigh thee.
That's God's Word. You've either got to have all
chance or all God. You can't have both. You've got
to have all fate or God. You can't have both. It's got
to be luck or God. It can't be both. I'm sorry.
It can't be. God will not share His glory. And then death, secondly, what
do you know about it, preacher? I know it's an act of God. And
I know secondly, it's the results of sin. Scripture says, as by
one man sin entered this world, and death by sin, so death passed
upon all men. That's when it happened. Almighty
God created a man called Adam, put him in the Garden of Eden.
Made him holy and upright, the scripture says, but he sought
out many inventions. The word Adam means man, taken
from the red earth. He was the federal head and the
representative of every human being. God never created but
one man. You weren't created, you were
born from the lawns of another man. God created one man, Adam. Scripture says there's a first
Adam and a second Adam. The first Adam is of the earth,
earthy. The second Adam, second man,
is the Lord from heaven. As I have borne the image of
the earthy, by God's grace I'll bear the image of the heavenly.
By man came death, by man came the resurrection. As in Adam
all men die, in the second Adam we're made alive. That's what
this book says. That's what God's Word says.
Representation, imputation. And when Adam took the forbidden
fruit, Adam died. Death passed upon Adam, and in
Adam, and through Adam, and because of Adam it passed upon all men.
The old Presbyterians call that original sin, and they're right.
Why they call it original is the first one. There wasn't another
one like it. By one man's disobedience I became
a sinner. By another man's disobedience
I became righteous. So death is the result of sin.
There was no death on this earth until man rebelled against God.
There was no death on this earth until man sinned against God.
It'd do well for you to listen. We sit in church and sleep while
men preach the gospel. You'll sleep soon enough. It'll
be this sleep right here. And then you'd give your soul
to hear one gospel message. a truthful gospel message, not
from a promoter or a programizer, but a preacher, a prophet of
God, who's not afraid to stand and tell the truth about God
and Christ and salvation and eternal life. I've often said I've been preaching
35 years. I've seen very few people ever
converted at a funeral. Maybe someday I will. Maybe tonight
somebody will hear God's Word. and bow to Christ. Wouldn't it
be wonderful? Be like Samson. God said you
slew more Philistines in your death than you did in your life.
If George Ballard's memorial service could be used with the
Spirit of God to bring some person to bow to Christ, wouldn't that
be a victory? Wouldn't that be a victory? Death's the result of sin. Then
death, I know this. It's the decay of this body,
the final, final decay. God said, listen, then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was, as it was. There are plenty of, there's
plenty of pride here among us. We've got our degrees of influence
and power and class structure. black and white, rich and poor,
educated, uneducated, those who've attained and those who haven't,
the fortunate and the less fortunate. I'll tell you this, this is the
leveler right here, death. All you are and all you'll ever
be in the flesh is dust. That's all you are. The Lord
remembereth our frame, he knoweth that we're dust. And the only
difference is the difference he makes by his grace when he
puts within you through Jesus Christ by the new birth of spiritual
life. And that's where you differ.
When the old Titanic left the shores of this country and sailed,
a lot of folks on there, some of them awfully important, some
of them not very important, some of them presidents and vice presidents
of company and some were stewards and stewardesses waiting on those
dear folk. But when that folk went down
and they posted the names, it's just saved and lost. That's all. Saved and lost. And I tell you,
when God posts the results in eternity, It won't be who you
were or where you served or what you made or where you lived or
your possession. You'll be saved and lost. Believers
and unbelievers. That's right. Those who knew
Christ and those who didn't. Grace is the leveler. This old body is going back to
the dust. To the dust and the spirit of
God who gave it. Now whether a man meets God in
mercy or whether he meets Him in wrath and judgment, That's
not the point here. You ask me, what's death? Death
is the decay of the body. And I don't know why we can't
see this. I'm nearly 60 years old. My body's wasting away. My strength, my stamina, what's
wrong with us? We act like we're going to live
forever. Everything we do ought to be done in the light of this
experience right here, death and judgment and eternity. What is death? It's the end of
life on this earth and it's the beginning of a long eternity.
Somebody said, this life compared to eternity is like one snowflake
in a blizzard. That's how small it is. It's
like the vestibule that leads into a great palace hall. You're
just here for a moment. It's like one drop of water compared
to a flood. God said, as the cloud is consumed
and vanisheth away, so he that goeth down to the ground shall
return no more to his house. I'll go to Ed's house again,
but Joyce won't be there. That's just Ed, Ed. Not coming
back. Someday you're going to leave,
and you're not coming back. Someday I'm going to step for
the last time out of this pulpit where I preached for 30 And I'm
not coming back. Never, never, never. Neither
shall his place know him any more. Paul said to the elders
of Antioch, he said, you'll see my face no more. No more. That's what death is. Well, David,
how can you call it precious? How can you call it precious?
If death is the act of God, if death is the result of sin, if
death is the final rotting and decaying of this body and the
release of the spirit, if death is the end of life that leaves
loved ones missing and weeping and never return to your place, David,
how can you call it precious? Don't you know what something
is that's precious? Precious. That's what it says. Precious. Precious. We call our little babies precious. Precious. Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints. Well, let me answer that.
Why death of the believer is called precious. The death of
the unsaved is not precious. That's sad. That's not precious.
I've buried people where I couldn't say precious. You can't write
blessed where God writes cursed. You can't write cursed where
God writes blessed. When God says, blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord, you can't write cursed. But I can say precious, I believe,
tonight, and I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints, first of all, because they're
his. They're his. Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of, what's that word? His saints. His saints. They're His. They're
His. They belong to Him. He calls
them His jewels when I make up my jewels. He calls them His
elect. He chose them. He loved them
with an everlasting love. He sent His affection upon them
from eternity. He gave them to His Son. He calls
them His children. They're precious to Him. And
anything that takes place in their lives is precious to Him. There's a young man sitting here
and a young lady here somewhere. I've got, God's given me a love
for this congregation and for people to whom I preach. But
there's a young man and a young lady here that's, they're a little
different. And you know why? They're mine.
My son and my daughter. See what I mean? They're precious.
And while you love many of these dear people, that one's a little
precious. She's yours. See what I mean? And I'll tell
you this. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints because they're His. They're
His, Bill. They're His children. God wasn't
off distant somewhere when Joyce closed her eyes and died. Don't
you think that for a minute. My son died and he's 21 years
old in Vietnam. I heard somebody say this one
time, where was God when your boy died? Same place when his
son died, on the throne. Same place. Same place. He never did abdicate it yet. He rules. My God rules. He is God. What old Pharaoh say
in that movie, Ten Commandments, when Israel walked out, his son
was dead, he said, Moses, God is God. Well, let me tell you
something, Henry's God is God. He's God. He's God of life and
death. He's God. I wouldn't worship
any other God. They're precious. They're His.
And I'll tell you why secondly, I'll tell you secondly why the
death of his saints is precious, is because of the precious blood
that he shed to save them. He said, we're not redeemed with
corruptible things such as silver and gold from our vain conversation
received by tradition from our fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ. Can you, can you in any way? Can you in any way put a price
on one drop of His precious, precious blood? You know who that is hanging
on that cross? That's God in human flesh. Paul said to those
elders again, he said, you feed the church of God which He purchased
with His own blood. You know what redeemed my soul
from sin? The blood of God, the precious
blood of God. You know what redeemed my soul
from death? The blood of God, the precious
blood of God. And I'll tell you this, I'm not
my own, I'm bought with a price. And oh my soul, what a price. What a price! The Lord Jesus
Christ left glory and came to this earth and humiliated himself. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, and died and shed his precious
blood to save my soul. That's why anything that happens
to me is precious to God. He bought me, and it cost Him
the silver of His sweat and the gold of His blood. And I'm pretty
important to Him. That's right. I'm pretty important. I'm precious. Precious. Precious. The angels stood around
that tree. in silent surprise, in awe and
wonder, and watch the Lord of glory die for me." You talk about
precious. That's right, Joyce. Your death's
precious because He bought you with His own blood. And then
thirdly, I'll tell you why it's precious, is because of the precious
faith in them. You know, he said one time, when
the Son of God comes, will he find faith on this earth? Will
he? Will he? Yes, sir. Yes, he will. He'll find it here and there,
where he, by his grace, hath begotten that faith, which is
the gift of God. Faith's the gift of God. The
goodness of God, leadeth thee to repentance. By grace are ye
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift
of God. What is faith? And he calls it precious faith.
He said, to them who have obtained light, precious faith, through
the righteousness of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, sir? Joyce died in faith. In faith. And it says of the Old Testament
believers, and you can't say anything more of any man, whether
it's a Moses or a thief on the cross, whether it's an Apostle
Paul, Oh, it's a simple believer down somewhere in Elkhorn City. They died in faith. That's all
you can say. That's all that needs to be said.
That's all. For our Lord said, to him that
believeth, all things are possible. I believe. God help my unbelief,
but I believe. died in faith, and that faith
is precious. And then I'll tell you another reason why the death
of the believer is precious, is because of the precious promises
God has given to them. He said, whereby are given unto
us great and precious promises, that by these precious promises
we might be partakers of his divine nature. Where's my assurance? In me? Oh, no. I'm too weak, too frail. In my works? In God's sight, they're filthy
rags. Where's my assurance? His work. He said Christ died
for the ungodly. I'm ungodly, then He died for
me. He said Christ died for sinners. I'm a sinner. He died for me. He said, He that believeth on
the Son hath life. I believe, therefore I have life. Is that right? God cannot lie. I believe God. And if you receive
the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. The witness
of God is greater. I don't know why. I do know. I do know. Because we are natural
men. Preaching of the cross is foolishness
to natural men. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, but foolishness to him. But I tell you, to the
enlightened, all he needs, all he needs to build upon, to stand
upon, to rest upon, to have faith upon, is for God to speak. And
that's sufficient. I believe, therefore I speak. And then the death of the believer
is precious because we're in him. In Him, that's right, in
Christ. We died in Christ, buried in
Christ, risen in Christ, and the Scripture says, seated together
with Him in the heavenlands. And listen, unto you therefore
which believe, He is precious and we are in Him. Now then,
to the believer himself, precious in the sight of the Lord is the
death of the believer. But to the believer himself or
herself, death is precious. Why? Because it's not a penalty,
it's a privilege. I understand why men hold to
this life so desperately and will not let it go, because it's
all they know and it's all they have. And if this were all I
had, I'd hold to it too, but I have an inheritance, eternal
undefiled, that fadeth not away by the grace of God reserved
in heaven through the blood of Christ." And when this life is
over, that one step, David said, between me and death, will take
me into my inheritance. That's when George wasn't afraid
to die. If you're not afraid to die, because death is not
a penalty, because Christ bore the penalty, therefore I won't
bear it. The sting of death is sin. That's
what's... You see that wasp that flies around? What makes him
dangerous? His stinger. Take that out, he
couldn't hurt a fly. I'm not afraid of you, Mr. Wasp.
You buzz my head all you want to. You got no stinger. And when I see death moving around
and moving up to meet me at my coming, I say, I'm not afraid
of you, Bill. You ain't got no stinger. God took it out. That sting of death was planted
in the heart of my Lord on Calvary's cross and left it there. And because it pierced the heart
of Christ, it will never pierce me. He that believeth on Christ
will never die. I may go to sleep, but don't
you believe it. Joy's isn't dead. Joy's isn't dead. Her body's
asleep. It's resting. It's tired. She
went through this agony and pain and suffering, and her body's
sleeping now, quietly, tired. She's free. She's with the Lord.
What's the matter with us? We sorrow not as those who have
no hope? A little girl went out in the
yard one day, and she found a bird's nest. It was built on a little
robin, or whatever bird it was, built a nest. on a low branch
of the tree, and this little girl could just tiptoe up and
peep in that nest. She looked in there, and there
were three or four little eggs, little blue eggs. Oh, she came
running in, telling her mother what she had found. And every
day she'd go out there and look at those eggs. Well, she missed
a few days. Went on a vacation or something.
She came back, first thing she did, came in the house, threw
open that sliding patio door, and out she went in the backyard.
She walked up, and there on the ground, below the nest, were
the broken shells. And she gathered them up, and
tears just streamed. And she came running in the house,
and she said to her mother, all my pretty eggs are broken. And
her mother said, honey, Don't cry over the broken shells. The
little birds are free." Huh? And I say, let's don't cry
over the broken shells. The little bird's free. The little
bird's free. Who freed her? Her Lord. And when she's standing in His
presence tonight, Doing perfectly what we do so imperfectly. Doing
for the first time in her life what she's always wanted to do.
Praise Him like He ought to be praised. Love Him like He ought
to be loved. Singing unto Him who loved me
and washed me from my sins in His own blood. To Him be the
glory both now and forever. Have you learned that song? If you don't learn it here, you're
not going to sing it there. That's right, isn't it? Let's
don't cry over the shells. You're looking at a shell right
here that one of these days God's going to take away, and I'm looking
at a lot of them. But I hope I don't have to cry over the
shell, because I know the bird's free. Free. free to fly into
the presence of God and live forever and forever and forever.