you To everything, there is a season. And a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born. A time to die. A time to plant. A time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn. The Bible also says that it's time to seek the Lord while he may be found. And I welcome each and every one of you here this morning for the service of thanksgiving for dear late brother Fred McKean. On behalf of the family, we want to sincerely thank you for all your expressions of sympathy and your presence here today, which is an encouragement undoubtedly to the family who mourn today. The family also want to thank Broadway's nursing home and Antrim Hospital for their dedication and care to Fred. Can I, on behalf of the congregation here, express sympathy to the family, beginning with Fred's dear wife Lillian in the home there. Also to Alan and Ann, Greg and Sharon, Laura and David. The grandchildren, Ewan, Jacob, Hunter, and Nina. For Fred's remaining siblings, who we trust have been able to join in with us today for this service, Elizabeth, Jennifer, and Mildred. Perhaps you'll bow with me in a word of prayer this morning as we seek the Lord at the commencement of our Thanksgiving service for the life of Fred. Our Heavenly Father, we bow before Thee this Monday morning. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. We thank you, Lord, for that magnificent truth in John 10, where we read about the shepherd who gave his life for the sheep. In Romans, Lord, we are told, greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. And Lord, You laid down your life for Fred. We thank you, Lord, for that great work of salvation, which Fred clearly, clearly, clearly rested in, trusted on, and enjoyed. For Fred, today, it is far better. Lord, he's with you. He's with you in glory. No more pain, no more suffering, no more sorrow. And Heavenly Father, we pray that everyone in this gathering would follow in Fred's footsteps. As Paul in scripture wrote, be ye followers of me. And Lord, surely this congregation would do well to follow Fred in trusting thee and in making preparation for the life hereafter. Lord, be with us this morning. Give help to everyone involved for the conducting of the service, for those who mourn. May it be, Lord, both appropriate and may it be even encouragement and a help. And Lord, if Fred had his wish today, Lord, we are conscious he would want Christ to be glorified. in thy name exalted. Bless the family, particularly who feels the lost the most keenly. Be with them today and help them, Lord, to be comforted immensely in the fact that Fred is in glory with his Savior. Be with us now, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. The family asked me to bring a word of tribute, and it is both my privilege and delight to do so. Fred. was a good, godly man. It wasn't all in common, even in recent years here. I had a phone, Fred, maybe around the time coronavirus was still happening, we're coming out of it, and I remember one day I phoned Fred, I said, Fred, are you all right? Because he was breathing quite heavy. And he said, I'm doing okay, I'm out for a walk here. I said, where are you? I'm down at the harbour, and that could have been, I mean, nine o'clock in the morning. And I thought, well, good for you, man, it's the late 70s. We danned our way down to the harbour and back up again. We miss Fred. He hasn't been here much, just due to ill health and obviously being in the nursing home. He always sat to my left. There are seats actually empty there this morning. And I've said that to Fred many a time. Fred, your seat's still empty. He'll not be back to sit there again, but he's got a better place, a better seat today. He's with the Lord. If Fred would have been born a day later, he would have been a year younger. He was born the 31st of December, 1940. A few hours later, it would have been 1941, but he just missed out. Fred grew up in beautiful Ballycastle, a holiday resort for many, but home for the McKean family. Mr. and Mrs. McKean had six girls and two boys, I understand. And remarkably, they brought them up in a three-bedroomed house. That's a lot of people in a very small house, but good for them, they did well. I was told that Fred's father had a, let's say, a very effective way of teaching his children how to swim. I can only picture in my mind he would have taken wee Fred to the pier and threw him in. So Fred learnt very early in life, sometimes you have to learn by jumping in or being thrown in at the deep end. Fred went on to school in Ballycastle. And when he was the age to work, I gather he's like most young boys, school just wasn't his thing really. He's glad to go and get his hands into a job and earn some money. And when he came to age, he got a job in Morton's Fish Catching and preparing fish. Also, he'd have worked in the fairground that came to Ballycastle during the summertime. Nevertheless, Fred had his heart set on the army. He tried to join. when he was too young. The difficulty with that is, apparently, he had family members in the army who knew his age. So getting in underage just failed completely for him. He failed to slip under the radar. But with the passing of time, he did join. And he joined the Royal Engineers. He served in Malaysia, Yemen, Hong Kong, et cetera. Interestingly, during all those times, and the family said there were photos of Fred, and he didn't look like he was doing engineer work in that photo, but perhaps was in some kind of combat position. But interestingly, during one of his tours, I'm told he had a pet. It wasn't a dog. It wasn't a cat. It wasn't a bird. I believe it was a monkey, a wee monkey keeping company when he was in the armed forces. He was in the South East Asia Task Force and was assigned to the Gurkhas as well. The family said he had a fear of spiders. That's not a great fear to have when you're in the army. And there was one occasion, he told his family, they were obviously in a combat situation, and they had to be very still. He had the gun set out in front of him. And lo and behold, he wasn't one but worried about the opposing force not too far away. All he could see was a six-legged creature claiming up his gun. up over his head and down his back. I sympathise there. I'm okay with spiders, but that'll be too much for me, I have to admit. After a number of years in the army, still, I work out in his 20s. He came home from service and he found employment in Courtaulds where he worked in nylon. I believe they had a factory in Larne, a factory in Carrick, Fergus. He was in the factory in Carrick. Following that, he worked in Ballylumford, and I know some of our own congregation met him there, the likes of Fred Buchanan, Graeme Miller, worked with him there in Ballylumford. He also joined the UDR in the 70s, and then, I understand, he retired at the age of 55. Throughout those years, Fred clearly was a worker, he was also a gardener, he was a fisher, and a fixer-upper of whatever broke around the house. And during my visits, I'd often seen the tools out in bits and pieces that I didn't even know what they were, sitting on the floor, but he seemed to know what he was doing with them. That's something of his education and his work life. Now, let me talk a little bit about Lillian. And going back now to a younger Fred, 1960s, in his 20s, having traveled the world, having served in the army, he was now ready to try marriage. And he met Lillian. Now it must have been serious very quickly because, well, he cycled to visit Lillian, and that's fine. except he lived in Ballycastle and she lived in Larne. When the family said that to me initially, I didn't think a big lot about it, but the more I thought about it, that is some cycle. My son and I did part of that cycle on occasion, and we did it in parts, not all at one go. And if I cycled 40 mile and I knew I had a 40 mile cycle back again, Well, it would be a very poor deed in my case because I would have been done altogether. But good for Fred, he must have been very serious about it indeed. Lillian was the woman he met and Lillian was the woman he married. And they moved in to the newly built Cairngorm Walk where they lived right up until they were moved in to the nursing home there due to ill health. They had three children here this morning, Alan, Greg and Laura. I know Greg, I know Laura. I have passed Alan on a couple of occasions in hospital. He had been over a visiting family before, and for whatever reason, I would have met him in the hall, but never knew him. So I knew him to see from going in to visit Fred or Lillian, and they would tell me, Alan just walked out the door. And sure enough, this again, I was in the hospital, and Greg said, you won't believe it, Alan just walked out the door. And that was the case, so it's nice to meet Alan. over the past few days as well. Fred, and of course Lillian as well, dearly love their family. Very often I've been visiting and Fred would have been telling me about his family, his children, his grandchildren and his sisters. Conversation about family was often very lengthy indeed. I feel I know you as actually quite well from all the conversations that we've had. Fred could rack up a fairly decent phone bill in a very short space of time. Many a time I would have called and he told me I was on the phone with such and such a family member, but that was nearly every time I visited. Clearly, he was a man who kept the family together and phoned and kept up to date. His usual Sunday routine was church in the morning. and then phoning round family in the afternoon and then church again in the evening. I remember during COVID lockdown we had a phone-in message. So we would record a message. People were able to just phone a phone number and sit and listen to the singing and the message and so on. And Fred's sisters were part of that congregation. And I remember when lockdown had lifted and things were getting back to normal, I just naturally stopped doing those recordings. And then one day, Fred phoned me up and he said, Mr. Brown, We can't get through on this phone line, what's wrong? I said, well, Fred, I didn't realise. I thought everybody had moved on and not using it anymore, but lo and behold, they were still listening and anxiously waiting for that service week by week. Never did start again, of course, but yes, he knew how to use his phone. Anyway, Fred enjoyed visiting his siblings in England. Many a time, you know, Fred would have been I suppose his late 70s. And he had been telling me about sailing over in the boat, driving the whole way down to Hartlepool and his journeys around England. And I really was impressed at a man of that age being able to navigate through all that and do it safely. He did well. He did well. He enjoyed those Visits, he travelled, I didn't actually realise this until the family were telling me, but he travelled to America half a dozen times. The first time he was 65, is that right? His last time he was 75. Myrtle Beach was apparently a favourite location, an almost 60 mile stretch of beach, and I must say that does sound appealing, especially as we come into winter here. He also went to Israel twice, so he certainly got around. Fred was a family man. That's fair to say. Fred was a working man. He was also a traveling man. But let me tell you something. Fred was a godly man. I know that from first-hand experience. He told me he often and regularly read the word of God prior to salvation. Something always did. He said particularly when he was in the army he knew there was the threat of death that was always imminent and he'd been reading the word. But if I understand this rightly, it wasn't until, it was either a week of meetings or a special weekend service or something like that in the Methodist church many, many years ago. And both he and Lillian had attended those meetings. And that's when they got saved. Fred first, if my memory serves me correctly, and then Lillian shortly after. They continued to attend God's house, serving the Lord wherever they could. They helped in the Methodist church. He became a lieutenant in the boys' brigades. They attended the mission hall from 1983. They got involved in the work back then. was involved in the children's work. Even when they were coming here together, Lillian was still talking to me about and being involved in the children's work in the mission hall, able and willing to do what she could there. As for Fred, Fred was there to lend a hand, I understand, locking up and opening up and greeting people and just getting involved wherever he could during the building program. I assume that was during the time of the church hall being He also did outreach in the main streets, handing out gospel tracts and just sharing the gospel with whoever he could. Often it would have been the case that some of the men would have been down on a Friday morning and then we would have been down on a Friday afternoon. The outreach worked out quite well. But what encouraged me was this. I think it was Monday night. I called with Fred fairly late on. And he was obviously very unwell, Monday night passed. But I was talking to a friend, I can't remember how the conversation came up, but he said to me, does Alec Turk still give out tracts? Does he still do outreach? And I thought, well, there's a man. who's just drawing to the end of life in the departure lounge, still interested in the work of God, still interested in reaching souls for Christ. Not genuine, it didn't encourage me. Fred was a worker for the Lord. Over the years here, that he attended. He was regular in church services. It was unusual for Fred not to be here. As I said, just sitting on my left here, usually when he could, he would nip up and sit down and pay good attention. Fred was a good listener. The last time him and his wife were here together, this is our harvest weekend, we just finished there last night. And the last time Lillian was here was during the harvest service a few years ago. It's the last time they came together. Fred would always have been at the midweek prayer meeting. And Fred was praying publicly in the meetings right up until that occasion where he had that bleed in the brain. That changed things, but up until then, Fred prayed regularly. He prayed for his family, and I want the family to know that today. He wrestled with God in there for his family. that they'd be blessed, that they would all know what it is to know the Lord for household salvation. Fred always prayed the phrase when he was getting liberated, he said, Lord, cover us in the blood. I'll explain that. What that certainly means is Christ shed his blood on Calvary. He died for our sins. And by that bloodshed, there's cleansing from sin and every blessing that comes to the Lord comes through Christ's work upon the cross. He often prayed that and that's something I'll always remember about Fred. Fred was a family man. Fred was a working man. He was a traveling man. He was a godly man. And like the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 7, we could say of Fred, he's finished his course and he's kept the faith. And now he's with the Lord. Please take your order of service here. We want to sing the first chorus. apparently a favorite of Fred's. We'll sing this through twice, for I am building a people of power, and I'm making a people of praise. Let's get the introduction, then we'll stand together to sing. Let's all stand. ♪ And thy name did not mean no praise ♪ ♪ And the word through this land by thy spirit ♪ ♪ And the glory of thy gracious name ♪ ♪ Elder Church, Lord, make us strong, Lord ♪ ♪ Join our hearts, Lord, through your song of praise ♪ Lord, in your body Amen, you may be seated. I want to read just one verse of Scripture with you here. It's found in Romans chapter 5. Let me read actually a couple of these verses, Romans chapter 5 and the verse 1. Where we read, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Moving down to verse six. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The Lord bless the reading of his word to our hearts. Particularly at verse number one, I want to leave with you, where it says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Now, here, yesterday morning, Lord's Day, We were considering the fruit of the spirit found in Galatians chapter five. That's a portion of God's word that talks about when somebody's saved, God enters in. There are certain characteristics, certain blessings, certain virtues that the Lord brings into the individual's heart, life, and soul. When you're saved, the Holy Ghost comes in. That's the evidence of salvation. And we were dealing with the subject of peace because the Spirit brings in love, joy, peace, and there's nine in total, but we were in the third one yesterday, peace. When the Spirit of God comes in, when somebody's saved, they enjoy the gift of peace. And I couldn't help but think when I was preparing that message and when I was preaching it, I couldn't help think about Fred. Because in my experience of Fred, he was a man marked with a peace about him. He clearly had a peace with God and he lived that peace out. I was relating to a young man last night, I actually had a service up in one of our Belfast church in the Martyrs Memorial and I was, speaking to one of the young men afterwards, just telling him about this man, Fred McKean. And I mentioned to that young man, I was doing a hospital visit through the week and Fred was, he was very low. It was coming near the end and we were conscious of that. Greg was there and we read the scriptures and we prayed. And I honestly did not think that Fred even heard me, let alone understood me. And what struck me, it really took me by surprise. Once I'd read a brief reading of scripture, I prayed, and when I finished praying, he said amen. Now it was a very quiet amen, but I was astounded. That's my last word from Fred, a gentle yet heartfelt amen. And the friend I was speaking to last night said, that just sounds like a man where the peace of God reigned in his heart right to the end. He wasn't anxious, fearful, he knew he was ready to go. Ready to go, a man with peace. And so, this morning, I know a friend, would love everyone here to enjoy the peace that he had. You see, salvation, that's what salvation is. It means you have real peace with God. You'll remember that verse, I'll read it, you won't have to turn to it because you'll know it anyway, but it's in Luke chapter two in the verse 14, when the angels filled the sky and they sang, they proclaimed something about the Lord. In verse 14, the multitude of the angelic hosts sang, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. What that verse means is that the very fact that Christ was born in Bethlehem, that was the evidence of God's goodwill toward men. And because that Christ had come, there was a way for God to have peace with men. That's what the verse means. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace and goodwill from God toward men. The coming of Christ is how we obtain peace with God. Fred trusted in the Lord. There is no doubt about that whatsoever. He had called upon the Lord for salvation. He repented of his sin. He confessed his sin to God. Here's what I like about Fred. He was honest before God. That's just what he did. He was just honest before the Lord, Lord of sin. He prayed this many a time in the prayer meeting about his sin, about his shortcomings, his failures. But Lord, I'm trusting in you for forgiveness and salvation. That's the key. to having peace with God, calling upon the Lord, trusting in the Lord. I want you to understand this morning as well that peace is a reality. It's a reality. I remember reading one time, thinking again about our late brother's service in the army, I read of some World War II Japanese fighters And wherever they were, they were still in parts of the jungle. And a long time had passed before they made contact with people and they found out that actually the war was over. There was peace. They were still living on red alert. They were still ready to fight. They never heard. that peace was established. And I wonder this morning, could that be like yourself? You're still at war with God. And the reality is, peace is available, it exists. Christ died on the cross so that you and I can have peace with God, so that we can have forgiveness, so that we're not sinning against the Lord and an enemy. Rather, we could be the children of God. Peace is available. Peace is a reality. Let me just tell you here what the terms of peace simply are. Matthew's gospel, chapter one to verse 15. We have that well-known statement where it says, repent ye and believe the gospel. That's it. That is the terms of peace. That is why Our brother Fred here throughout his life was marked by peace because he repented of sin and he believed the gospel. That was it. It's as simple as that. And yet that was life-changing for Fred and it's life-changing for every single believer. I read of a vet and the vet wasn't examining a monkey now. It was a vet who was examining a dog. And as he did so, the dog snarled at him, showed its teeth. The vet tried to calm it down. He tried to pet it. The dog was having none of it. So very quickly, the vet took the dog and he put it on its back. And as soon as that happened, he saw in its paw was a thorn. And he decided immediately, I'm going to get that thorn out. But the dog likewise decided that he wasn't taking the thorn out. So the fight continued. But eventually the vet did get the thorn, pulled it out. And the moment he did that, the dog got up and it was like a new animal. The walk round, the surgery, it licked the vet, and it was a complete different creature. I couldn't help but think about that thorn. That thorn is like sin in you and me. And we would fight with the Lord so that we can keep our sin, even though that thorn, that sin, it's ruining your life, it's ruining your eternity, But when the day comes when the Lord puts you on your back and he pulls the thorn out, when he removes the sin, when he removes the love of sin, you'll stand up and you'll walk around a new person, thrilled and thankful at what the Lord has done. Sometimes we can fight against the very one who is there to do us good, to bring us the cure, to bring us the remedy. As I said in the word of tribute there, Fred often prayed in the hall behind me where we will have supper later on. He usually just sat through those doors that have been the third or second or third seat, front row is usually where he sat in. I said he often prayed for his family collectively and individually. He also prayed for this town. Fred prayed for many of you, maybe not always by name, but I knew at times he was praying for people that he knew, because he wanted them to enjoy the peace that he had. That was refreshing. That was a godly man. Reverse in the Song of Solomon, which I want to read here, and it talks about The bride, when she sees her beloved, that's the song, that's what it's about here. And the bride here looks into her groom's eyes, and here's how she describes his eyes. And what this is doing, it's describing the believer who looks at Christ. It's like looking into Christ's eyes. That's the imagery here. Anyway, it is verse number 11. Verse 12, sorry, and it says, his eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of water washed with milk and fitly set. Now you have to think about that for a minute. What she's doing here is she's looking into her beloved's eyes and she's expressing when you look into my beloved's eyes, it's like looking into a painting or a scene. where you have a beautiful, tranquil, flowing river, and you have a row of doves, and they're sitting there beside the river, they're refreshing themselves, they're perfectly white. And could you imagine a more tranquil scene? If you were walking, I don't know, through Ballyboy Forest or wherever, Well, that's a bad example, not a big lot of rivers there, but if you're walking somewhere where there's a beautiful river and it's calm and smooth and level and a row of doves, that'll be a very tranquil scene. You want to stand back and look at it, not disturb it. Well, that's how she described her beloved's eyes. And that's the description of what it is to look at Christ, just perfectly tranquil, perfectly peaceful. Remember that verse in the Bible where Peter denied the Lord three times? And after the third time, we read that he looked at the Lord. And when he looked at the Lord, that tough, hard sailor broke down in tears and ran away. And I believe that's because when he looked at the Lord, he didn't see the eyes of a dragon filled with anger. He saw the eyes of a man filled with peace and love toward Peter. That was Fred's experience. When he talked about the Lord, he talked about the Lord as his savior, as the one who gave him peace with God. Fred loved the Lord, and the Lord loved Fred. Let me say here, in closing, Romans chapter five, in that verse one, it says, therefore being justified by faith, We have peace with God. What that verse means is simply this, that although we have broken the Lord's law so many ways, the reality is the Lord can justify you. That's not a hard word to understand. Just means to be made just, justified, to be made just, to be made right before God. and we're made right before God by faith. What that means is we're not working for it, we're not trying to achieve it, we're not trying to do good works to please God. Rather, when you're, the word faith means trust. You're trusting in the Lord to justify you. What that means is we, like Fred did, we go to the Lord and we say, Lord, forgive us. You justify us. You take away our sin. You save us, so we're justified. We're made right with God through faith. And if you're justified by faith, by trusting in the Lord, and that's it, you just trust in the Lord. He does it for you. That means we have peace with God. And all of that comes through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then read the verse again. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. One question then to finish with. Have you the peace with God that Fred has? I'm saying present tense, not past tense, because he has it now. He's in glory. He has peace with God. You and I, we're not worthy of heaven. We have broken the Lord's law, we have sinned, and our sin deserves eternal hell. That's the reality. And yet the Lord says that he will give us heaven by forgiveness. All we do is have faith in the Lord. Enjoy peace with God. Enjoy peace forevermore. Listen, you see when I was in the hospital with Fred, I wasn't trying my best to share the gospel in the hope that Fred would get saved. He had that sorted out years ago, decades ago, and lived for the Lord for years. What about you? Are you saved? Have you peace with God? Will you see Fred again someday? Will you see the Savior? Let's take our order of service, please. Turning to the final piece here. Abide with me. Fast falls the even tide. The darkness deepens. Lord, with me abide when other helpers feel and comforts flee. That's a description there. of the end. Helpers are failing. The helpers can't help you. They fail to be able to do anything for you. Comforts of recovery, and they're all gone, they flee away, well then, the help of the helpless is the Lord. Oh, abide with me. And that was the piece that Fred enjoyed. We'll get the introduction again. We'll stand to sing. When we stand to sing, let's remain standing, please, for a word of prayer, and then for the procession. ♪ With me heart ♪ ♪ Every passing day ♪ Lord, abide with me. I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless. Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death? I am triumph still, if Thou abid'st with me. Hold out Thy cross before my closing eyes, to the skies. Heaven's morning breaks as Thursday's shadows flee. If I fail, Let's remain standing, first of all, for a word of prayer, and then the procession to follow. Oh God, we bless thee for the cross, where Jesus bled and died. We are thankful for Fred's Savior, or Savior. We are thankful, Lord, for your grace and your mercy in Fred's life. Thank you, Lord, for a clear testimony to saving grace. And Lord, truth being told, we will miss him. There is simply no doubt about that. The family will miss him. Heavenly Father, we pray that everyone here, when the day of our departure comes, will have that clear, clean-cut testimony of God's saving grace. Lord, remember Lillian. Lord, be gracious to her and help her, we pray. We pray for Alan and Ann, Greg and Sharon, Louise, David, the grandchildren, the siblings, O Lord, draw near today, and the days that follow when a voice that was dearly loved will no longer be heard. We pray, Lord, they will be encouraged, and even, Lord, encouraged to trust and walk with thee. Lord, be with us now as we go to the graveside. Be near to us, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Now just before we take Fred out, let me say there is some refreshments here for those of you who are not going to the graveside. If you make your way through this double door on my left, and for those who are going to the grave, feel free to come back here and there's refreshments for you as well. Thank you for your presence here today. I'm sorry. you you