Good evening. We've gathered
here tonight, first of all, to worship the Lord. And secondly,
to remember our brother, Walter Groover, who went to be with
the Lord May the 27th, 2021. Walter was born June the 25th,
1935 in Gadsden, Alabama. And as I said, he went to be
with the Lord May the 27th, 2021, in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. He was preceded in death by his
parents, Hubert and Myrtle Groover, and his son, Cody Groover. He survived by his wife, Betty,
his daughters, Lisa, Desta, Richards, and husband, James, Kevin, or
Gina Groover, Kevin Groover and wife Cindy, daughter-in-law Winna
Groover, and his brother, Jim Groover, and his two sisters,
Marjan Rochelle and Dina Nicolardi, survived by 11 grandchildren
and 16 great-grandchildren. For we know The Apostle Paul
declares in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 in verse 1, For we know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. For in this we groan earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven.
If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened. Not
for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. Now, he that hath wrought us
for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the
earnest of the spirit. Therefore, we are always confident
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident,
I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to
be present with the Lord. Wherefore, we labor that whether
present or absence, we may be accepted of him. For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone
may receive the things done in his body according to that he
hath done, whether it be good or bad. Let us bow our heads
in prayer. Our Father, we come before Thee
this evening, and we give Thee thanks that through Thy Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that we may approach Thee that we may
call thee our God and our Father. And Father, we are thankful that
we are able to come this evening to worship thee. And also, Father,
to remember our brother in Christ, and we pray tonight that you
will bless this service, that you will be honored and glorified
in everything that is said and done. We thank thee so much for
the gospel. Lord, that you have committed
unto us, and we pray tonight that you would bless your word
as it goes out in this place and in every place where your
people gather. For all of these things, I ask
in Christ's name and for his sake, amen. Our first hymn tonight,
Blessed Assurance, is number 255, number 255. One of the reasons we're singing
this hymn tonight is because Walter, just a few days before
he passed away, he had all of his family that were there with
him singing Blessed Assurance. And certainly he had a blessed
assurance. So let's sing out on this hymn
number 255. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine! Heir of salvation, Purchase of
God! Born of His Spirit, washed in
His blood This is my story, this is my song Praising my Savior
all the day long This is my story, this is my song, Praising my
Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending,
ring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love This is my story,
this is my song Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my
story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. Perfect submission, all is at
rest. I am my Savior, am happy and
blessed. Watching and waiting, looking
above. Filled with His goodness, lost
in His love. This is my story, this is my
song, praising my Savior. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my
Savior all the day long. Let's turn now to hymn number
268. 268, How Far Am I Foundation. How firm a foundation ye saints
of the Lord Is laid for your faith in his excellent word One
more can he say than to you He has said to you Who for refuge
to Jesus have fled Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, I will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my gracious, omnipotent hand. When through the deep waters
I call thee to go, The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow. For I will be with thee thy troubles
to bless, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. When through fiery trials Thy
pathway shall lie, My grace of sufficient shall be Thy supply. The flame shall not hurt Thee,
I only design Thy draughts to consume And Thy gold to refine. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell should
endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake. If you would please open your
Bibles with me to First Timothy chapter four. First Timothy chapter
four, verse six. I've been asked by Betty to share
one or two memories about our brother Walter. And I got to thinking about This portion in 1 Timothy 4,
verse 6, if you read it there with me, it says, and this is
the Apostle Paul writing to young Timothy, a young pastor. If thou put the brethren in remembrance
of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine whereunto
thou hast attained. Betty? Where is Desta? Oh, I said Betty. I saw Betty.
I made eye contact with Betty. Desta, James, Lisa. Where is Gina? Gina? Oh, right. Gina's tuned
in, I trust. Gina and Kevin. I think about
Jimmy and his two sisters and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Your husband was a good husband. Your father was a good father,
a good grandfather, but supremely above all things, he was a good
minister of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, should he hear me say that,
he quickly reminds you, by the grace of God, I am what I am. He did not attribute anything
that he said or did that the Lord was pleased to use to anything
of his own ability. He didn't go down to the Yucatan
with a PhD or an ordination. Certainly not looking to it. And I'm certain, as I'm standing
here now, I can hear my brother saying in Spanish, I heard him
say it so many times, hermano, predica la palabra. Preach the
word of God. He would be the first to say
with all of us, with all of God's people, that wonderful verse
that our brother David declares in Psalm 115, verse one, not
unto us, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name,
give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Now in
this verse here, it says, brethren, if you put the brethren in remembrance
of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ.
Well, what things? In 1 Timothy chapter 1, the apostle
tells us what those things are. Those things according, this
is 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 11, those things according to
the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my
trust. I know that my brother loved
the Lord Jesus Christ. How do I know this? Because our
Lord tells us with utter simplicity in John's gospel chapter 12, John chapter 14, excuse me. He
says there in verse 23, Jesus answered and said unto him, if
a man love me, if a man love me, he will keep my words and
my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our
abode with him. He that loveth me not, he that
loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the word which you
hear is not mine but the father which sent me. Now, as I conclude
these short remarks, I would like to say that when I went
to the Yucatan in 2006, that I could turn to the Book of Acts
and say that, well, what does it say there of Apollos? In Acts
chapter 18, it says of him, this man, it says, a certain Jew named
Apollos, that was not me. It says a man who was an eloquent
man and mighty in the scriptures. That's most definitely not me.
Not when I went to the Yucatan in 2006. I went to the Yucatan
in 2006 in darkness. I had a half a gospel, which
there's no gospel at all. And I'm so thankful that my brothers
and sisters and the Lord Jesus Christ there in Merida, Yucatan,
they prayed, they preached, and they waited. That's what goes
on in the preacher's class, if you don't know. It's one message,
Christ and him crucified. And those faithful men you've
heard about, Jose Tzul, the pastor in Tecal de Venegas, if I'm not
mistaken, Elio Chai, and all those other men, they bring other
men. to listen to a man preach Christ and be crucified and wait
for the miracle. What miracle is that? The miracle
our Lord tells us about. He says, as it's written in the
prophets, they shall all be taught of God. And all who hear the
father and learn of him come to me. I'm so thankful for that. Now, I've said that he is Our
brother was a good minister of Christ. I would like to emphasize
this fact that he was a good man. How will I do that? Turn
with me to Acts chapter 11, and how appropriate that we see
in Barnabas, and Barnabas means a son of consolation. Well, my
brother Walter was a son of comfort, and he was sent to the Lord to
comfort his people. And it says there in Acts chapter 11, Speaking
there of Barnabas, it says, when he came, our brother didn't send
himself. Our brother was sent from God
to the Yucatan. In fact, I can trace this whole
portion here, this testimony preserved by the Holy Spirit,
and I can trace out what I see that the Lord was pleased to
do in Walter's life. When he came and he had seen the grace
of God, Do you know what an undeserved privilege it is to preach to
God's precious people? How can I see the grace of God?
How on earth can that be? When God is pleased to take you
from darkness, deliver you from the darkness, the power of darkness,
and translate you into the kingdom of God's dear son. That's what
Brother Walter got to see 56 years. You know, I think he'd
correct us. Just because if you don't know
this about Walter, he reminds me of my Chinese friends. He
starts counting his age from the time of conception. So if
you all thought he was 85 years old, no, he wasn't. He was 86. but to see the grace of God in
the face of God's people, to see how the gospel of Christ
and Him crucified comforts His people's hearts. Total depravity,
without me you can do nothing. Unconditional election, you did
not choose me, but I have chosen you. Limited atonement, I don't
pray for the world, but for those you've given me out of the world.
Irresistible grace. How wonderful it is to hear our
Lord and God Jesus Christ say, all that the Father has given
me shall come to me and all who come to me I will know wise cast
out. And perseverance of the saints, preservation, what does
he say? And I think it would be good to remind
us of, there's just some limited time. I set my watch for eight
minutes, I got 10. So I got two more minutes. But to see here, He exhorted
them all that with purpose of heart, how can you exhort rebels
and sinners like you and me? Only if God is pleased to open
our hearts. And with that heart open to the Lord, he exhorts
God's people with purpose of heart that they would cleave
unto a theological position. that you can look down your nose
at, at other people, not at all beloved, to cling, to cleave
under the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm so thankful that our
brother Walter was faithful to preach a person. Yes, we love
those truths that adorn the doctrine of Christ. We know that they
are precious truths. We wouldn't minimize any of them.
And we know how It's a miracle that any of us would believe
them. What does the apostle John write? He says, whosoever does
not persevere in the doctrine of Christ, the teaching of Christ,
has not God. But for those of us who, by God's
undeserved grace, love, and mercy, we persevere in that doctrine.
We love that doctrine, and he who has the doctrine of Christ
has both the Father and the Son. If you'll turn with me to John
chapter 10, I'll read one portion. While you're turning there, I
remember showing Brother Walter a gospel track that I was quite
proud of. I thought it was pretty good.
I showed it to him and he told me, he pointed to the verses
in it and he said, Joseph, that's where the power is. Where's the
power? It's in the word of God. It's
not in the eloquence of our speech or some creative outline we can
come up with. It's in the power of God itself.
And in John chapter 10, John chapter 10, it says there, beginning there in verse 27, How wonderful it is that portion
here. I'll not expand it further than verse 27. I don't have much
more time. But our brother, he would comfort
God's people, exhorting them to cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he would always remind us
it's not our cleaving to him that keeps us. It's his cleaving
to us. We're in his hand. It says here
in John chapter 10 verse 27, my sheep hear my voice. I know
them and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life. He's
not trying to make a deal with you. He ain't a car salesman.
He ain't making you an offer. He sovereignly gives life to
undeserving sinners like you and me. Unsought for, unlooked
for. And they shall never perish,
now though shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father
which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able
to pluck them out of my hand, out of my father's hand. I and
my father are one. And Brother Walter, to help with
a visual illustration of that, he would put a coin in his hand,
and he would say, beloved, we're in the son's hand, we're in the
father's hand, and we're sealed with the Holy Spirit. and all
of God's sheep were comforted and are comforted even now. Thank you, Betty. Lord bless
you with the words we heard. Not mine. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy womb inside which flow. Be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of
God. Born of His Spirit, washed in
His blood. This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Savior all the day
long. This is my story, this is my
song, praising my Savior all the day long. Solamente en Cristo, solamente
en él, la salvación se encuentra en él. No hay otro nombre, dado
los nombres, solamente en Cristo, solamente en Él. Only in Christ Jesus, only in
the Lord can we be saved from sin and shame. So trust Him fully,
for salvation freely, only in Christ Jesus, only in the Lord. So trust Him fully, for salvation
freely, only in Christ Jesus, only in the Lord. Well, I prayed and sought the
Lord for a passage of scripture to preach from this evening,
to speak to us from. And my problem was knowing Walter
for almost 60 years and hearing him preach the gospel many times,
I think I know what he would want me to do. But my problem
was there are just so many verses of scripture that came to mind.
so many passages of scripture that made me remember Walter
and his faithful ministry. So I couldn't decide on one,
I'm just going to take three. And the first one is Proverbs
chapter 10 and verse seven, the memory of the just is blessed. The memory of the just is blessed. We are remembering Walter Groover
and our memory of him is truly blessed. But the text tells us
that it is the memory of the just that is blessed. Hear me now. The memory of the
just is blessed. Who are the just? Is everyone
in the world just? Is everyone here in this building
this evening just? The memory of the just is blessed. Who are the just? This word which is here translated
just is oftentimes, this Hebrew word, oftentimes in the Old Testament
translated righteous. We could, and it could have been
translated the memory of the righteous. is blessed. And one example I want to give
us tonight where the word is translated righteous instead
of blessed is in Genesis 7 and verse 1. And the Lord said unto
Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee I have
seen righteous before me in this generation. The same word that's
translated just is translated righteous. Now I chose this example,
there are many in the Old Testament as I said, but I chose this example
because the Lord here declares that he had found or saw Noah
to be righteous before him. Righteous, just before God. You know, it's relatively easy
to be called righteous or just before men, but to be just before
God, that's something else. That's something altogether different.
A man goes to work, takes care of his family, tries to treat
his neighbors well, stays out of jail, And most people will
say, well, you know, he's a just person. He's a righteous person. And before another man, another
woman, it's easy to appear just and to appear righteous. But
we're talking about being just or righteous before the thrice
holy God. And the scriptures declare there's
non-righteous. No, not one. Romans chapter three,
the apostle Paul is quoting from Psalm 14 and he tells us there
is none righteous, no, not one. What does that mean? It means
that there is no man who is by nature righteous before God. When God created Adam, He created
him holy and just and good, righteous, but you know it wasn't long before
he disobeyed God. He sinned against God and he
lost that righteousness. Now that righteousness was creature
righteousness. He was a creature and he was
created righteous. That was creature righteousness,
but how can a man When the scripture says there's none righteous before
God, how can any one of us, you and I, and we're all the same,
there's no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. How is it that someone like you,
someone like me, and I know myself the best, how is it possible
that God Almighty that the Bible declares that the heavens are
not clean in his sight, that he charges his angels with folly. How in the world is it possible
that someone like you or me, that we might be just or righteous
before God? You know, that's one of the oldest
recorded questions in history. It's found in the book of Job
chapter nine in verse two. How should man be just with God? Have you ever thought about that?
Have you? Have you ever wondered about
that? Has it ever concerned you? Because you know, you're bound
to know this, you're going to stand before God. It's appointed unto man once
to die, but after this the judgment. We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. There's no exception. Have you
ever considered that all important question? How can a man be just
with God? Well, that's what the gospel's
all about. That is the gospel. How it is that a sinner might
be declared righteous just before Almighty God. Must you leave
your country like Walter did and live in a foreign country
for 56 years? Serve the Lord? Is that the way
a person becomes just or becomes righteous? Let me say, and I
read this in something recorded by Walter just recently. He was
just quoting the scripture, but he said, it's not by works of
righteousness, which we have done. No, no man or woman can
make themselves righteous before God. That's an impossibility. It is the work of God alone. Man doesn't contribute. Man has
nothing to add, nothing to offer. It's the work of God alone to
make a person righteous. so that that person that God
makes righteous may stand in his presence, may be accepted
with God. The scripture said salvation
is of the Lord. It's of the Lord in his planning
before the foundation of the world, before there ever was
a sinner. in the mind of God. God planned
salvation. It's not plan B. Some people
have that idea, you know, that God created Adam and he didn't
know what was going to happen. Adam sinned and then God had
to switch to plan B. No. There's only been one plan
of salvation and that's God's plan. He planned salvation. And He procured salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man,
came into this world and by His death, by His righteous life,
He procured salvation, righteousness for His people. And it is applied
by God the Holy Spirit. As our brothers already said,
Men are depraved by nature, no exceptions. What does that mean? Well, it means a lot of things,
but one thing it means, it means that man is spiritually dead. That man cannot understand the
things of God. Men are very intelligent, some
more than others. They can understand a lot, and
they may understand some facts about the scripture. But salvation
comes by revelation. The Lord Jesus Christ, God the
Holy Spirit, with his word, working in the heart of his people, brings
them, as you said, to know Christ, to know him. To be just before
God, we must have a righteousness that God will accept. That's
waiting. You're going to stand before
God. I'm going to stand before God. And if we're going to be
accepted, we're going to be received into glory. We must have a righteousness
that God will accept. Did you know the scripture says
that all of our righteousnesses, plural, all of our righteousnesses,
All of our good works, they're filthy rags. Filthy rags before
God. All of man's so-called good works
are pictured by those fig leaves that Adam and Eve clothed themselves
in when they had disobeyed God and sinned. Their fig leaf clothing
would never do It would never do. They needed God to clothe
them. Those fig leaves, that's a picture
of your church membership, if that's what you're trusting in.
Your baptism, your denomination, if that's what you're trusting
in. You've just got a bunch of fig leaves drawn around you,
and that will never do. Not to come before Almighty God
and be accepted. No, they had to be clothed by
God. God had to clothe them. To be
a just person must be as righteous as God himself is. You say, Preacher,
you've gone too far now. No, I haven't. For you, for me,
for any son of Adam, be received by God Almighty, we must be as
righteous as He is. You say, that's impossible. No,
that's, that's what I'm saying. That's what the gospel is all
about. That's what the gospel, that's why it's good news. There's a way, one way by which
a guilty sinner might be made just righteous before holy God. There's only one way. Just as
God clothed Adam and Eve, that first guilty pair, with the skins
of a substitute. An innocent substitute had to
die so that they might be clothed. What a wonderful picture and
type is that of the gospel. The substitute, of course, is
the Lord Jesus Christ, who worked out a righteousness that God
will accept. And he worked that righteousness
out by his perfect obedience. His absolute obedience. Never
had a sinful thought. Never spoke a sinful word. Never an unrighteous deed. He worked righteousness. He is
the Holy One of God. He worked out this righteousness
that God will accept by His obedience to the law of God, God's perfect
law, even unto death. Not only did he obey the law
of God, but he suffered at the hands of that law, which he suffered
death because that was the penalty of the law of God. The soul that
sinneth, it shall die. It's called the righteousness
of God. His righteousness. It's called
the righteousness of God. Why is the righteousness of Christ
called the righteousness of God? Number one, because He is God. Number two, because God planned
it. And number three, because God
accepted His righteousness. You say, how do you know? Because
on that third day, after He had been charged with the sins of
all His people, All his people, the weight of all the sins of
his chosen people were all made to meet on him. And he bore them
in his body, the scripture says, on the tree. And then that body
was buried in the grave. And on the third day, he came
walking out of that grave, leaving our sins behind. How do we know
God accepted his righteousness? Because he was raised for our
justification. That righteousness, that righteousness
of Christ. And here's a wonderful thing.
It is imputed to everyone that believes in Jesus Christ. Everyone. Everyone that believes
in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as our sins were imputed to him,
charged to his account, and he had to pay for them, suffer for
them, now his righteousness is charged to our account. And before
God, we are justified. In fact, the scripture says who?
The apostle Paul challenges, challenges who? shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies. This is the only way that any
are the just whose memory is blessed. My second scripture,
and I'll be more brief on the second and even briefer on the
third, but my second Scripture is, behold, a sower went forth
to sow. Those words come from Matthew
chapter 13 in verse 3, a parable of the Lord Jesus Christ. A sower
went forth to sow. And the seed is explained when
our Lord explained the parable to his disciples. The seed that
the sower sows is the word of God. The Lord Jesus called and
sent Walter to sow, to preach the word. As he told you, preach
the word, preach the gospel. He was an ambassador of Christ. That was his ministry, his work,
to sow the seed. And just as in the parable, Walter,
over the years, many years of preaching the gospel, He saw
some seed fall on the wayside. Didn't amount to anything. He
saw some seed fall on stony ground. It might spring up for a little
while, but then it would turn to nothing. Some seed fell among
thorns, and the cares of this world and of this life choked
it out. Thank God Walter saw some, many,
many. The seed fell on good ground
and it brought forth fruit. Walter's message never changed. When I heard I was going to be
asked to speak tonight, I went back and I asked someone, do
you have a copy of that track that Walter wrote? many years
ago, and he said, yes, I do. Send it to me. I want to read
it. And I remember when Walter first had that tract printed,
the title was Perdido en Adan, Redimido en
Cristo, Lost in Adam, Redeemed in Christ. His message never
changed. The gospel doesn't change. The
same gospel that the apostles preached now over 2,000 years
ago is the gospel that we must be preaching today. A lot of things have improved.
I wouldn't want to go to a doctor, Dr. Petticoat. I wouldn't want
to go to a doctor who still was practicing medicine like they
did 2,000 years ago. Would you? Not hardly. By the same token, I don't want
to hear a preacher who's not preaching the same message, the
same gospel that was preached 2,000 years ago. The gospel doesn't
change. Why? Why should it change? Manda
hasn't changed. God hasn't changed. Man's need
hasn't changed. The gospel hasn't changed. And
Walter, the message he preached, it never changed. And it didn't change because
Walter knew it was the power of God unto salvation unto everyone
that believeth. And he proclaimed that message. He was bold. Now Walter, like
you said, he wouldn't want us talking about him, but he's not
here. I have to say a few things. I
want to say a few things because he was such a faithful brother
in Christ. But he was bold in preaching
the gospel because, as I said, he knew it was the power of God
unto salvation. I remember preaching with him
in a number of places back over the years, both in Mexico and
here in the States. They were not always friendly
places where he preached. Once, we both were asked to preach
in a conference in a place there in Mexico, which was certainly
not friendly to the gospel. It was a so-called Christian
church, but they taught what you hear today in most churches
in our country, that God loves everyone the same, that Christ
died for everyone, Judas as well as Peter, and God is trying to
save everyone. That's the kind of church it
was. So what did Walter preach at the conference? He preached
the truth that Christ died for his chosen people. Man speak
of this as a limited atonement. He preached that God died for
his sheep. And that atonement was effectual,
is effectual. That propitiation got the job
done. Well, he was never asked to preach
there again. I'll say that. And I'm so glad I can say this
tonight. In that pueblo, in that village, there's a church now
with a faithful pastor that Walter taught the truth. Brother Edovacio. I saw him at Walter's funeral
service in Mexico at the end of the service. It is not Christ and his work
Christ and his work plus man's contribution that saves sinners.
It is Christ alone. And as they sang in that hymn
or that chorus a little while ago, that was one of Walter's
favorites, solamente in Cristo, solamente in el. There is salvation
in only one. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. The Lord blessed Walter's
ministry in Mexico. I don't know that it's possible
to know just how much until eternity, but I've known quite
a few pastors and preachers in my life, and I would say that
And some other preacher told me this recently, of all the
men we know, it seems that Walter's ministry was blessed the most
as far as outward signs, as far as churches and people who were
saved under his preaching. The last verse, and I'll be very
brief, for I'm in a strait between two. having a desire to depart
and to be with Christ, which is far better. What takes place when a child
of God breathes their last breath in this world? Well, you know,
some teach that the soul must go to an imaginary place called
purgatory until all their sins are purged. That's a lie. That's a lie straight out of
hell. The sins of God's people were purged, were paid for at
the cross. And it's nothing that man can
do that will take sin away. That's his work. What does the Bible teach? Well,
the Bible, our Lord told that thief who looked to him there
being crucified alongside the Lord Jesus Christ when he said,
Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom today. Today, not after you pass through
some make-believe place to purge your sins. No, no, today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Well, some teach that the soul
and body sleep in the grave. What does the word of God teach?
The body sleeps. And yes, the body sleeps in the
grave. And the reason, no doubt, that
the scripture speaks of death as a sleep is because when you
go to sleep tonight, you plan on getting up in the morning. And in the future, all of the
bodies of God's children are going to get up. They're going
to get up out of that grave. They're going to be reunited
with their soul that has been with the Lord. Well, that's what
happens when a believer dies. When Walter breathed his last
breath two weeks ago, he left his tent. He'd been living in
that tent for 85 years. And he left it, and where did
he go? To the Father's house, eternal
in the heavens. And what has he been doing there
since? Well, I can't tell you everything. I wish I could. You've got to
die and go there to find out exactly what's going to happen.
But like someone said, it's much better than we can imagine. I
know that. But I'll tell you one thing he's
been doing. He's been praising the Lord Jesus Christ. He's been
worshiping the lamb who shed his blood and redeemed him from
all his sins. And no doubt, he's also, he's
seen the Lord, we know that, to be absent from the bodies
to be present with the Lord. But he's been reunited. with
a lot of brothers and sisters that he knew here on earth. A
lot of those that he preached the gospel to. Some of those
pastors, I think of Brother Rutilio. I think of his son, Cody. I think of a number of pastors
that we were talking about the other night, Betty. Brother Jackson,
I see Mrs. Jackson here tonight. Brother Mahan, Brother Scott
Richardson. We just go down the line naming
Brother Bill McDaniels. I see his son's here. Reunited. Oh, what a day of rejoicing that's
going to be. Amen? Amen. We're going to sing a hymn, our
last hymn, number 431. I love to tell the story. And
let's stand as we sing this hymn. After we're dismissed, everyone
is invited to go to the fellowship hall and there's desserts and
coffee and tea and all those good things we want you to partake
of, if you will. But let's sing out on this hymn,
number 431. I love to tell the story. I love to tell the story of unseen
things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story Because
I know it's true. It satisfies my longings as nothing
else can do. I love to tell the story. to tell the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. ♪ I love to tell the story ♪ ♪
More wonderful it seems ♪ ♪ Than all the golden fancies ♪ ♪ Of
all our golden dreams ♪ ♪ I love to tell the story ♪ It did so
much for me. And that is just the reason I
tell it now to thee. I'd love to tell the story, will
me. be my theme in glory, to tell
the old, old story of Jesus and His love. I'd love to tell the story, it
is pleasant to repeat. What sings each time I tell it,
oh, wonderfully sweet. I love to tell the story, for
some have never heard. The message of salvation from
God's own holy word. I love to tell the story, it
will be my theme in glory. to tell the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Before we sing the last hymn,
do some of the ladies need to go back first? I usually forget
this. But if some of the ladies would
like to head on back to the back, and everybody's welcome to stay. I hope everyone will stay. If
you will, y'all go ahead. Let's sing the last verse. I love to tell the story for
those who know it best. And thirsting To hear it like
the rest, and when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new
song Will be the old, old story That I have loved so long I love
to tell the story It will be my theme and glory to tell the
old, old story of Jesus and His love.