Holy blood, binding as he promised, perfect peace and rest, hidden in the hollow of his blessed head. Never foe can follow, never traitor. Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care. Not a blast of hurry, touch the Spirit there. State upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed. As He promised perfect peace and rest, Every joy or triumph, Holy from above, Traced upon our dial by the Son of Love. They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true. State upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest. Thine be as He promised, perfect peace and rest. Okay, thank you, Robert. Those hymns are more meaningful right now, aren't they? Peace. When peace like a river, calm attendeth my way. No sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot. It taught me to say, it's well. It is well with my soul. I hope you can say that. Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57. We have taken this text for Other righteous and merciful men. Stephen, your dad, this was his funeral text, and it's fitting for men like him, men like Cody. Verse 1 and 2, the righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart. Merciful men, or men of kindness or godliness, are taken away. considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds, each one, every one, walking in his uprightness, or walking before the Lord. is not only a day of worship for our Lord, but this is a memorial of our dear brother, Cody Gruber. The people in Yucatan have already had two services for him, and there will be others, I'm sure, and the one in Houston that is to come. I say with David what he said when Abner passed away. David said this, He said this to all the people. He cried out, know you not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? You know that and you knew him well. He considered him a prince of a fellow and a great man. That's what the Scriptures call his people. The Lord has taken Brother Cody Gruber who was a prince. A great man, a righteous man, a merciful man, a man of kindness. He certainly fits this Scripture, doesn't he? A righteous man, a man of great kindness, a faithful, faithful servant, a faithful, faithful a preacher of the Gospel, a minister, a servant to God's church, and a faithful, faithful pastor and preacher and brother and friend. Faithful, faithful, faithful. That's the best thing you can say about someone. Faithful. Along with meek and lowly and merciful and kind. I hope, I want us, I hope we will lay this to heart. I don't want us to be like these that Isaiah said they don't consider, people don't consider the world. It's nothing to them that passed by, but I want us to lay these things to heart. May the Lord lay them on upon our hearts and may we consider carefully what has happened here and why. I'm going to give you several reasons, I believe, from Scripture why the Lord removes the righteous. But I want us to lay to heart things, I want us to consider things like death. We need to consider this, the death of the righteous and why the righteous are taken and lessons we have to learn from this. Nothing more important that we should lay to heart and consider and think about than death. You've heard me say so often that I'm not Standing up preaching and teaching, trying to teach you so much how to live, but rather how to die. Yes, how to live like Christ. Paul said, for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain if you know Him. There's nothing more important that we lay to heart and consider and think about than our end, and it's all of us. Moses wrote, oh, that they were wise and would consider this, that they understood this, and that they would consider, always be thinking about their latter end, that it's all going to end. It's all, all going to end. Death is inevitable. Death is imminent. It's inevitable. It's imminent. Look at Job 14 with me. Job 14. Fitting that the oldest book in the Bible speaks of death. Job 14. And it started with death, didn't it? The book of Job started with death. The death of everyone and everything Job had. It perished. They perished. Death is imminent. In Adam, all die. All die. All flesh is grass. That's what he told the prophet Isaiah and he told whoever the voice is to stand up and cry. He said, what shall I cry? Cry, all flesh is grass. It's going to perish. It's going to wither. Some very young grass, tender grass, taken. Taken. Death is inevitable. It's appointed. It's appointed unto man. We have an appointment with death. Look at Job 14. This is not fatalism. We're accused of fatalism, aren't we? No, we just believe God. This is the truth. Job 14, 1 through 5, man that is born of a woman is a few days, short days, and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and is cut down. Flowers don't last long, do they? We're not perennials. We're annuals. Cut down. You just have a few short years and it's gone. in this life, like a shadow, and continueth not. Dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bring me into judgment with thee?" Or as David said, what is man? He's so brief, he's so insignificant that God should think upon him or visit him. Verse 4, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Why do we die? Sin. Like the Lord said before the flood, He said, all flesh has corrupted my way. I'm going to destroy man. He said, every living thing I'm going to destroy, except the righteous. Noah fell on grace. And he was found in the ark. And God said, thee have I seen righteous. Verse 5, seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with God. Now, God has appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. Job, after losing everything and everyone, this is what he said. This was his comfort. The Lord giveth. It didn't have to, but it did. In mercy and grace. And the Lord take it away. It's His to give and His to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And here he says, our days are determined. The number of our months are with the Lord. He's appointed our bounds. We cannot pass. Cannot pass. Ecclesiastes says that this is a war that no one can avoid. A time we cannot avoid. It's appointed unto us. You know, this thing about death being appointed is both fearful, a fearful thing, it's a comforting thing, and it's an instructive thing. It's fearful in that God has appointed our bounds. The instrument of our death has already been appointed. We need to be thinking about that. And that's the most comforting thing. We have no more time than He gives us so we don't need to worry. We don't need friends and do this and do that and be so concerned with the flesh. No, He's already a point right now. And He can't pass it. He cannot exceed it. So why worry about it? I told Mindy, you know it's a good thing we don't know when we're going to die. It's a good thing we don't know when other people are going to die. We couldn't live. We couldn't live. He said, just go on. I've determined it. It's with me. It's going to happen. You can't, you can't, nothing you can do about it. Just do what I tell you. Trust me. When it's time, I'm going to take you. Like my old dog, I've determined the day. I laid him down. That's the Lord. That's us. Aren't you glad? Then I give you peace for yourself and for everybody and everyone. Quit fretting. I know it's easy to say, but that's what the Lord said. Rest a little. Wait. Okay? Death and some things to consider. Who next? Who's next? I've got a calendar, a daily planner. Some of you do too, don't you? You write things in it? Do you write future things? Pretty presumptuous, isn't it? But we do it anyway, don't we? We're hopeful. I wrote on Thursday, Cody Grooverpad, a big black letter. I wrote a couple of months ago, Henry Seward passed. Big black letters. Several months before that, Mary Turley's gone. Big black letters. John Michael's gone. I didn't know. We didn't know. The Lord did. He already put it down. He wrote down the date. He wrote down the hour. He wrote down the cause. But he did it. That's comforting, isn't it? That's comforting, isn't it? Make your plans, but don't make them too far ahead, okay? But who's next? Somebody. Wouldn't it be wise to consider that? Death is the wages of sin. Look at Romans 5 with me. Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. I'm going to preach the gospel to you. I just did. Romans 6.23 says the wages of sin is death. Why do we die? Because of sin, that's why. The world doesn't know this. The world doesn't believe this. But we know it. We know it so. We know it so. Verse 12, Romans 5, wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, that's Adam, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, all have sinned. Not only physical death because of sin, but spiritual death, and Adam all died, right? All dead, were born dead and trespassed in sin. Dead to God, dead to the understanding of God, dead, no fellowship with God, no eyes to see, ears to hear His voice, no heart to understand. Dead, dead, dead. That's what the Scripture said. Look at chapter 3. Until we're dead, our children are born that way, unless God gives life. Look at Romans 3. Here's how He gives life, through the preaching of the Gospel. Now we know. Verse 19. That whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. The law says the soul that sinneth must surely die, doesn't it? Shall surely die. Shall. Surely die. Doesn't it say that? All have sinned. We've sinned. Death passes upon all. Even those, Romans 5 says, even children who have not sinned after the similitude are in the same way that Adam did, but the result of sin is death. We don't believe, we believe Christ died for them. Somebody's got to, so that we might live again. Verse 20, so by the deeds of the laws, they were guilty. We've broken every law. The law saith guilty and must die. By the deeds of the law, no flesh is justified or declared righteous. That's what justify means. It means to declare righteous. Holy, unblameable, unapprovable in God's sight. God is holy. He said, I'm holy, be ye holy. I'm righteous. The Lord loveth righteousness. And he hates iniquity. But we're all workers of iniquity by nature. We're all unrighteous, the scripture says. By nature, we're unrighteous. There's not a righteous man. None righteous. No, not one. None good. No, not one. That's what God says about this present, he calls it, evil world. And such were some of you. Are by nature. Verse 20, by the laws and knowledge of sin, some ignorant people, Trying to keep the law, but they don't understand. But now, I love the word but, don't you? But now, look at verse 21, the righteousness of God, that which He provided, that which He demanded, that which He provided without the law, without you keeping it, is manifested, made clear. Stay with me now. This is the gospel. If you don't know this, you've got to know this. Or you're not righteous. You're going to perish. But if you know this, if you're made righteous, if you know where your righteousness is, you'll never perish. This is good. The righteousness of God by faith. Now, this is why you have a King James Bible. Because the original says, by the faith of, you see that? Faith of Jesus Christ. It says that several times through the scriptures, doesn't it? Those of you who know them. We're made righteous, not by us keeping the law, but by Jesus Christ keeping the law. We're made righteous, God's people are made righteous, not by us being obedient to God, but by Christ's obedience to the law. Elect, Peter said, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood. His obedience. Yes, and that we might be obedient children, but our righteousness. You see, here it is. Here it is. You have He quickened who were dead in trespass and sin. And you who were dead in trespass and sin. But God, for His great love for what He loved us, hath quickened us together with Christ, for by grace you are saved. And He put us like Noah in that ark. Of God are you in Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom, Come on. Righteousness. Isaiah 55 says, the last verse says, Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Righteousness. Righteousness. People, some folks don't even know the Word and never hear it from their preacher. The righteous. Say ye to the righteous, Isaiah says, say ye to the righteous. Those that are in Christ by faith. Those that trust Christ. Those that know they're not righteous in themselves, but their righteousness is of Christ. That He is the Lord, our righteousness. If you're one of those that say, the Lord is my righteousness, say ye to the righteous. It shall be well with them. The say of the wicked, it shall be ill. Who are the wicked? Very simple. They're not in Christ. It doesn't matter how moral. It doesn't matter how good they apparently seem to be. And many trust in themselves, our Lord said, that they are righteous. Didn't he? Like the Pharisee and the Publican, he gave that illustration. Two men went into the temple. One man said, I'm not like other men. And he talked about what all he did. And our Lord said, many will say to him in that day, Lord, Lord, he said, but not everyone that says Lord, Lord. And so they will say, we've done many wonderful works in your name. We've preached in your name. We've cast out devils. We've given our bodies to be burned. We've done all these wonderful works. We've done all these wonderful works. And our Lord says, you're workers of iniquity. You're not trusting my Son. You're going about to establish a righteousness of your own. You're trusting in that. And if righteousness come by the law, my Son didn't need to come and die. You're saying that Christ, that He didn't need to die for you, that you can handle it just fine yourself. That's how serious it is. It's not doctrinal error. It's saying that I've got something to add to this work of Christ. What did it take to put away the sins of God's people for Christ to live here 33 and a third year perfectly according to the law that we don't even know? And to die, go through hell on Calvary's tree for us, forsaken by God, punished by God, his soul made an offering for sin. That's the only thing that will put away the sins of God's people. Only thing. And for anybody to add to that, it takes away from it. The wicked are those that are not in Christ. Trust in themselves that believe in their faith even. It's not your faith. It's the faith of Christ. You see, He abideth faithful. We're going to be delivered in His faithfulness and His righteousness, right? It's vital that we know that. His works, His goodness. And all of God's people, all of God's people say with Isaiah, all of God's people know this. The righteous know this. All our righteousness are as filthy rags. As David in Psalm 71, I will make mention of thy righteousness and thine only. That's what the righteous say. Ironically, all the righteous say, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. All the wicked say, I can't find any bad thing in me. Isn't that ironic? But God says to the publicans and the harlots that trust Him, righteous. God says to the leper that's covered from head to toe, no soundness in him, no clean spot in him, God says to the leper, clean. And to that man who says, I can't find just maybe a few little blemishes, He says, unclean. The righteous understand that. The wicked don't. They say that's not fair. We're not saved by God being fair to us. We're saved by mercy. We're saved by blood. We're saved by Jesus Christ's righteousness, not ours. Death is not death to the righteous. Those in Christ In Christ, they're made alive. Go back to Psalm 37 real quickly. Psalm 37. Go back there real quickly. In Christ, they're made alive. Psalm 37. Where do we go? Did you notice all these verses? Let's look at verse 20. The wicked shall perish. Now, I remind you, that's not just those that don't worship God and know God, but that's those who trust in themselves. The enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs, they shall consume in the smoke, they'll consume away, the wicked borroweth." See, what do we have? Pride is abominable to God. Pride is abominable. What do we have that we haven't borrowed? We don't own anything, it's borrowed. And we've got to give it back to Him that gave it, that loaned it. There's peace right there. There's peace right there. He loaned it. Be thankful for the loan. He's the one to determine how long you would borrow it. The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again, payeth not thanks, payeth not gratitude, payeth not worship his due. But the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth like him. Such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth. They that be cursed of him shall be cut off." Verse 29, the righteous shall inherit the land. dwell therein forever. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom." Everyone in here, every righteous person in here can now quote 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31. He's made unto us wisdom and righteousness. That's the wisdom we speak, not the wisdom of this world. Oh my, look at verse 35. I've seen the wicked. I've seen them. You see them around us now, don't you? Spreading themselves like green bay trees. Our country has never been a more affluent society in the history of the world. Brethren, it's like lambs being fattened for the slaughter. That's what God said. Wait, you're going to see. You're going to see it. They passed away. But you look at verse 37. You mark the perfect man. You mark this down now. God has. You write this down now. You lay this to heart, you consider this the perfect man, that is, the man that's in Christ, complete in Christ. Behold, upright. The end of that man or woman is peace. Go back to Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57. Oftentimes in Scripture, from the beginning, beginning with Abel, oftentimes, God's saints, at a young age or in their prime, at their most fruitful time, the Lord takes them away. How old was Abel? He's the first death. No, he's not the first death. The Lamb was. But he's the first man to die. And how old was he? He was pretty young, I guess. His son married. Oftentimes the Lord takes away the just, the righteous, the good, the merciful at their most useful time, vital men and women. Vital men and women at a young age are in their prime, at their strongest, their most fruitful, like Brother Cody Gruber. Throughout the Scripture, Throughout history, the history of the church, this is so. We need to lay it to heart. Why? Why? Why? Why does the Lord do that? We need to consider why. Elijah was in his prime, and when the Lord was taking Elijah, Elisha, the young man who was following him, said, Oh, my father, don't go. He was distraught that the Lord was taking Elijah away. Elijah was one of 7,000, but one of a few where he was, and the Lord took him. Moses, you know, was 80, but he was one of only two men in Scripture that's still as strong as he was when he was 20, Moses and Caleb. He was as strong, Scripture says, when he was 80 as when he was 20. He was in his prime, and the Lord took him. You're not going in the promised land. This man was leading 2 or 3 million people. And the people of Israel were distraught. Josiah, young, young king Josiah, he's the one that found the book and brought Israel back to the Lord, one of the greatest kings in the history of Israel and Judah. The Lord took him. It says He took him before He sent evil. Hezekiah. John the Baptist was 33. 33 years old. John the Baptist. You know the story of the disciples. They were distraught. They went and told the Lord. He said, You've come apart into a desert place. Do you think He didn't tell them His purpose? James. Herod had James killed. James was about 40. That's young. James was about 40. The church was just grief stricken. Peter, James, and John. John was exiled on an island. Nobody could see him again. Taken away. Oh, no. Oh, yes. Paul was put in prison. His work's over. Oh no, he's got to write some letters. So many martyrs, Hebrews 11 speaks of them, doesn't it? So many martyrs in modern times, at least going back to the 15th century, After the Dark Ages, the martyrs, men like William Tyndall, whom the Lord used to translate scriptures into English. We have this Bible because of William Tyndall and John Wycliffe. William Tyndall was 52, burned at the stake. People were upset. Wycliffe was 60. John Knox, you know John Knox, the great Scottish reformer of the great man and not a greater man in modern time. 58. Augustus Toplady wrote Rock of Ages. Great preacher. I have his works downstairs. He was as good a great preacher as he was a hymn writer. He wrote numerous hymns for the church. Preached in his prime. He was 38. Calvin. John Cablin, 55. 55. That's real young to us, isn't it? 55. Bunyan, 60 years old, younger than me. Manton, 57. David Brainerd. Missionary to the Indians in this country. Few know. Few people in the world know. God's people do. It was Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards was his father-in-law, wasn't he? Jonathan Edwards said, the world needs to know the gospel that produces a David Brainerd. He was 29. 29. The Lord took him. Robert Murray McShane. If you've never read a sermon by Robert Merrick Machine, make it your next. Twenty-nine. Jonathan Edwards, 55. Augustus Topley, Spurgeon, 58. Cody Groover, 57. Why? Why? Consider some things with me, okay? We're not in the dark about it. The Lord's given us some understanding. There's nothing new under the sun, you know that? Our Lord's ways are the same. We have many examples in the Scriptures, as I just gave you some, but we don't know the immediate reason, we don't know the near future, the purpose and all that, but listen to me. I'll give you seven things to consider. First of all, why does the Lord take the righteous, merciful men like this in their prime. Why? Number one. Number one. When Christ said in his prayer in John 17, Father, I will that they be with me where I am. What he was saying by that is, I love them. I love them dearly. And in our language, I want them with me someday. I love them more than they can imagine. And I've laid down my life for them. I love them to the end. And I want to be with them forever. So the other day, God said, Cody's coming to me. He's coming to me. You've had him long enough. I have on him now." Huh? That's a fact. Secondly, when our time is over, our work is finished. Our work is finished. Brother Cody's work on this earth was finished, right? Paul said, I have finished my course. We all have a course. We all have a vocation. Paul is the one that told us, walk worthy of that vocation. Find out what that is, that you're a member of the body. Find out what it is and do it with all your might as unto the Lord. You've got a course to run. You've got a race to run. You've got a work to do. You've got a gift, something. Use it to the best of your ability, to all your power. And when your work is finished, He takes you. Simple as that, isn't it? John the Baptist was taken. His work was over. He's the forerunner of Christ, wasn't he? He's the forerunner, Brother John, so Christ is here. He said, this is Elias who said that he would come before I came. So he did, and like the Lord took Elijah out, Christ came and took John. That's a fact. The work's finished. Here's another reason. Maybe it's time for someone else to pick up the mantle. Right? When Elijah was taken, Elisha was standing there waiting. Waiting. Moses, when Moses was taken, Joshua was waiting in the wind. Maybe, that's it, time for another. You know the Yucatan Peninsula, the Yucatan where Brother Walter and Cody, see Brother Walter got old and Cody took over and oh my, faithfully and ably took over and The work progressed, the work flourished by the grace of God through that man's faithful preaching and teaching and training preachers, and perhaps those men are able to stand alone now. They've been taught, well, it's time for them to go out. and pick up the mantle that Brother Cody laid down. Time for another. Here's another reason. It's the last days, and this is the latter harvest. We're in the latter harvest. There was an early harvest, and then there's a latter harvest. In the early harvest of the church, Thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of people. Our Lord said in the beginning, 2,000 years ago, He said, look, it's white with harvest. A little while later, Peter was standing up at Pentecost, 5,000, 3,000. White with harvest. And then those went out preaching the gospel like milkweed. The gospel went everywhere, all over the world. And our Lord said, when the gospel is heard all over the world, then the harvest starts to diminish. Here a little, there a little. The latter harvest, like a fall harvest, you know, you don't reap in the fall what you do in the summer, do you? The latter harvest, you go out there and just hear a little and learn a little. Last days. This is another thing. This is a wake-up call to the church. Always, when the Lord takes a preacher, when the Lord takes such a preacher as this, Such a vital preacher. Brother Todd and I were talking, and we both thought, if you'd ask us who's the most indispensable man on preaching right now, it was Cody Grubar. And he took him. The Lord can take the gospel away and not replace it. These men are the greatest gift on earth. I said that before. I know God's people know it's so. Our Lord said it's so. Gift. It's a wake-up call to the church. We need to lay the heart and consider what a gift the gospel is and those that preach it. I said before that He's the most vital and useful man on the earth, more so than the President of the United States. And that's a fact. Those who know the truth, those that know God, those that know themselves, those that know something about salvation, they know it's so. Because all of this is going to perish. And when it starts happening, we're all going to gather here. When it starts happening. If we lose everything, by the way, this building is paid for. And we might have to make it like Noah's Ark and make a bunch of little nests for us to live in. Seriously. Seriously. We'd be all right, wouldn't we? Why? Because we've got the one thing needful. And we'll huddle together like sheep around this gospel. Tell us again. We're shivering. We're frightful. We're afraid. What's going to happen? I've been telling you all along what's going to happen. Good things will happen. Not going to beg bread. Not going to be forsaken. All this is going to perish, but say to the righteous, they're in Christ, it is well. Lose it all? So what? You have Christ. Oh, a little that a righteous man is greater than the riches of many wicked? Don't envy them. Why? Because they're like fattened calves. It's a wake-up call. The Lord took a shepherd away, a vital shepherd. Boy, when the Lord took the Lord, when He took our Lord away for three days, the disciples were trying to think about every message He said. They didn't have Him anymore. Oh, what was it he said? What was it he said? I would give anything to hear his voice one more time. Judgment? Could it be judgment? Look at verse 1. The righteous perish. No man layeth at the heart that men are taken. Merciful men are taken away, none considering. He's taken from the evil to come. Evil to come. Unlike false prophets who say, smile, God loves you, every true preacher, every true preacher stands up before his generation. Every prophet, every apostle, every true preacher sent by God stands up before his generation and says, God is angry with the wicked every day. God is holy. God will by no means carry the guilty. Get in the ark. Get in the ark. Get in the ark. Noah was a preacher of righteousness with him. Repent. That's the first message of a true preacher. That's what all the prophets preach. That's what John the last prophet preached. That's what Christ preached. First words out of His mouth publicly. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close. It's right here and right now. Repent. Repent of what? If God loves us and Christ died for us, we don't need to repent. God is angry. God's people know, repent. This world is evil to God. It's evil to God. He says, it's going to perish. It's not going to go on. So it's judgment. It's judgment when the Lord begins to take away the voices. Men aren't hearing those voices anymore. Okay? I've called and you haven't answered. You've refused. Don't quit coming. And another thing, why? Look at verse 2. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds, each one, every one, walking in his uprightness, walking in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the peace, for the rest. Well done, now, good and faithful servant, he will say to all his people, Well done. Rest. Enter into the joy of the Lord. Rest from your labors. Peace, peace. You know, the Scriptures calls His people the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Our Lord did. He called us that. He said, of whom the world is not worthy. This world was not worthy of Cody Moon. It sucked. The Lord said of Job, listen to this, The Lord said of Job, there's none like him anywhere. Nobody like him. God said that of him. And brethren, oh my. When I say these things, I'm exalting the one who made this man the way he was. By the grace of God, he was what he was, but I've never known a more merciful man, ever known a more kind man, a loving man, meek. Like his Lord, meek and lowly, wasn't it? Meek and lowly, tender, kind, compassionate. He was an example. And I know he taught this to his preacher students, like Paul told Timothy to be an example in word. And here Cody was, to be an example in conversation. It never was around him. That conversation wasn't good, wasn't heavenly. Be an example of love or charity. Be an example in spirit, attitude. Be an example in faith. He left everything and went to Mexico. Be an example in purity. And so, with the merciful... Listen to me. Here's the reason the Lord took a merciful man. With the merciful, He shows Himself merciful. So what does He do? Takes him out of this place. Well done, merciful man. Well done. I'm going to show you the highest of mercy. Come on home. No more pain. No more sorrow. No more labor. Your labor's over. Now just rest. That's why it takes merciful men. And peace. Peace. You know, we often say this. I thought it. I thought, you know, when somebody like him died, I thought, why not me? It should have been me. Have you ever said this? I deserve to die. Have you ever said that? No. Death is not... You don't deserve to die. We deserve to be punished forever for our sin, but death is a reward to God's people. You understand me? We deserve to stay here and pull some more time. We need to spend some more time. You understand? Come far short of living. For His cause and His glory. So we need a lot more time, don't we? No, we don't deserve to die. We deserve to stay here on this place a while. You understand what I'm trying to say? I do. Oh Lord. But He said they'll enter into peace, peace. They have peace in this life, peace with God. How? One way. through the blood and righteousness of Christ. Peace with God. Peace of heart. Peace of mind. Peace by believing. Not working. Peace in trials. Peace with others. Those that count. Eternal peace. They're going to go, it says in verse 2, they're going to walk, enter into peace. That is, they're going to enter into a place where the God of peace is. They're going to enter where the Prince of peace is. They're going to go where the sons of peace dwell. Nothing and no one can disturb the peace. Who wouldn't want to go there? Nothing and no one can disturb their peace. No sin, no trials, no troubles, no more, no temptation, no adversary. Peace. Perfect peace. Let me give you some parting instructions, okay? Some parting words of instruction. Lessons we need to learn from this, from death. Lessons we need to learn. And oh, how merciful the Lord was to Brother Cody when it took him instantly like that. Brother Henry Sword, go in, get a cup of coffee. Next thing he knows, he's with the Lamb. And that happened to Brother Cody. The Lord is merciful to the merciful. Very merciful. God bless him. Here are some instructions, and I'll close. Let us live. We have some time, obviously. Let us live as if there's no tomorrow. Okay? Because there may not be. Didn't our Lord say that? Don't boast of tomorrow. Man, nobody, nobody, nobody expected to hear Cody Gruber's gone. I called one of you and I couldn't get it out. She said, did your dad go? I said, no, you're not going to believe that. Cody Gruber's gone. No tomorrow. No tomorrow. That's happened several times. I got a call when I was in Florida several years ago. Twenty-five year old, raven-haired beauty in our congregation, Shannon. Shannon's gone. Man, it's supposed to happen, isn't it? It's not supposed to happen, is it? Well, it did. And it was supposed to happen. Exactly like it happened. No tomorrow. No tomorrow. So to live is what? Christ said, He's Christ. I mean, Paul said, for me to live is Christ. There's no tomorrow. So what matters? Huh? If you know you don't have tomorrow, what are you going to be doing? Right here, what you're doing now, to live is to know Christ. You better make your calling and election, sure. You better make your calling and election, sure. You're going to be in the car tomorrow, and then you'll be somewhere, might be somewhere gone tomorrow. Then what matters? I keep saying that, don't I? What matters? Because it's true. For me to live is Christ and to live as Him. For me to live is to live as Christ. Christ came here to live for us. We need to love one another. We need to love one another. Live as if to know tomorrow and live by love serving one another. We need to love one another. It might be our last day together. It might be the last day I see this lady. It might be the last day you see one another. It might be the last sermon you ever hear. How important does that make this? We're all going to be scrambling to hear Brother Cody's last message. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. Love one another. Last day. That's why Paul said, greet one another with a holy kiss. Say hello. And don't forget. to say goodbye. Huh? Brother, I say this with a heavy heart, but I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to say it. He that loveth not knoweth not God. Greet one another like you love one another. Treat one another as Christ treated us. Time is short. Be merciful. Live with no regrets. Be merciful, be courteous, be kind, be considerate, be patient like the Lord. Cherish the time you have with one another. Cherish the time you have with one another. Because it's short. Cody called before they were coming here. I wouldn't take anything for them coming here, would you? But Cody called and said, ìWeíd like to spend a few more days with you if itís okay.î We said, ìOh, please.î So they spent five full days with her, and the last day they were here, Cody and I went fishing all day long. Got in my little boat all day long. I wouldnít take anything for that man. You know what our conversation was. You know what our conversation was. Just like James and John, their conversation. Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, all day long. And we fished a while and caught nothing. Oh, it was a good day. A profitable time. Cherish the time together. Redeem the time. Redeem the time. What's worth talking about? You've got somebody that doesn't know the Lord. There's no tomorrow. Be a witness. That's why we're here. We ought to be a witness. Build up one another. There's no time to tear down. There's no time. Because if they're gone, we can't build them back up. Build up. Get your house in order. Get your house in order. Time is short. Spiritual house. Give diligence. Leave no debts. Leave no debts. Paul said, owe no man anything. You know what he's talking about? He's not talking about better pay your credit card off. He said, if you owe a debt of love, you need to pay it. If you owe a debt of service, you need to pay it. If you owe a debt of gratitude, you need to pay it. If you owe a debt of forgiveness, you need to pay it. If you owe an apology, better do it now. Better do it now. You hear me? And we do. Our Lord said, I said, forgive one another. Listen to me, if other people have served like Brother Cody and given his life, given, other people have given, given, given, given, given for the cause of Christ, and you haven't, you've taken, taken, taken, it's time. You owe. You owe. You owe. You're greatly in arrears. You're greatly in arrears for your service toward your Lord and other people that they've served you. It's time to pay your debts. Leave no burden. Leave no burden. Love one another. The righteous perisheth. And no man lay at the heart, we have. And merciful men are taken, oh my, the finest. None considering, bless God we have, that the righteous is taken away from the evil. He shall enter into, he has, into peace. They shall rest in their beds, Brother Cody. walking in his uprightness, walking before the Lord right now. Brother Cody is the people. They had a service for Brother Cody last night or the night before, and had his casket open, and they had him dressed in a suit and tie. They'd never seen him in one. Down there, it's hot, it's 110, the shade, you know, and they wear those white guayaberas. shirts, and they all dressed just like that. And Cody did too when he was preaching. Well, they put him in his finest clothing, and they had that casket open, and Brother Iberito preached that message. And Brother Iberito said, he said, Brother Cody is in his finest earthly clothes right here, but oh, he said he's dressed in much finer. He's wearing right now the robe of Christ's righteousness. They'd never seen Him like that. And you and I hadn't seen Him like He is now. But we're going to. And I love that story. I could go on and on and on and on. On and on and on. But the Christianan and her partner, Pilgrim's wife, who was on that same pilgrimage, they crossed the river and the two of them were instantly, in a moment, the Twinkly and I were chained out of their rags and dressed in light. And it says they both looked at each other. I loved it. It says they both looked at each other. And one would say to the other, you're beautiful. Oh, but you're so beautiful." We're made beautiful, comely in His righteousness. Stand with me. Our God and our Father, thank You. Thank You for this blessed robe of righteousness that Your saints, that is the righteousness of the saints, Thank you for sending Christ as our Lamb slain for the remission of our sin. Thank you, O Lord. Make it so for someone, for many, everyone in this room today. It's not hard for thee to save many or like a few, O Lord. May someone say in here for the first time, in the Lord have I righteousness. I believe Him. I trust Him. I want to be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness, but His. Oh, Lord. Thank You, Lord, for this time. Thank You for our brothers and sisters, all of them. Thank You. Thank You. Especially right now, we thank you for Brother Cody. Thank you. Thank you for Winna, Walter and Betty. Thank you for them. Oh Lord, may we, in some small way, know that there's a short time and we have something to do in this kingdom, and may we pick up that mantle do what we can, by your grace, for the time is short. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. In Christ's name, amen. You're dismissed. you.