¶¶ ¶¶ ¶ ¶ ¶ Please rise. ["The Last Post"] We are gathered today to remember the life and to celebrate the heavenly homecoming of Lucille P. Dodson, known as Lucy, who was born April 15, 1925. and passed into glory October 14, 2019. Lucy was, in the presence of her family members, passing away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends. Lucy was the daughter of the late Peyton and Susie May Powell. She had two sisters who have predeceased her, Anna Lee Smith and Eloise Collins. She was the wife of the late Clyde F. Dodson, and she's the mother of Carolyn McNeely. Carolyn's here with Ron, and also of Rhett Dodson, here with his wife Teresa of Hudson, Ohio. Among her grandchildren are Brent McNeely and his wife Heather, and then great-grandmother to Brendan and his wife Jasmine. Colin, Dylan, Cameron, McNeely, all of Greenville. Lucy worked most of her life as a seamstress, but she was primarily a homemaker. She enjoyed sewing and painting. How wonderful it is that on this occasion we can say that her real love was for her family and for her savior. She was a member of Cannon Mountain Baptist Church in Pickens. Her family and friends found great delight in her clever humor and sharp wit, even as she lingered in her last illness. Well, let me call us to worship. This is a service of worship. Before I do, let me say there's three purposes of this service. One is to remember the life and faith and to celebrate these things of Lucy Dodgson. And secondly, we prayerfully seek the spiritual solace from the Lord, the comfort that God gives, and we've come before Him grieving for His comfort. Our primary purpose is that we would give glory to Her God and our God, the one true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our purpose above all else on this occasion is that He would have the glory of His grace. Let me read then from Psalm 116. which says, I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy, because he inclined his ear to me. Therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Gracious is the Lord and righteous, our God is merciful. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. for precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Let us pray. Father, we thank you that we gather on this occasion with sadness in our hearts, but also with a sense of satisfaction, and that satisfaction is in the faith of Lucy Dodson. and the results of that faith, namely that through union with Christ, she is justified and she even now is glorified in her spirit in the presence of the Lord in glory. Oh, how we praise you for it. We do pray that you would bless this memorial service, that you would be with each person who plays a role, but be with all of us, Lord, as we sing before you, as we pray together, as we attend to the preaching of your word. how we need the preaching of your word in these hours and what a message you have for our hearts. Father, we pray your blessing particularly on the closest family members. Be with them, lift them up, remind all of us of the precious promises that give us a certain hope in Christ of eternal life. Father, we pray boldly these things because we come in Jesus' name and we therefore pray in the manner that he taught us saying together, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Amen. Amen. ♪ On the way, with Him by my side. ♪ For I believe in Thee, and I know ♪ ♪ That's how the Father's will be done. ♪ ♪ The day of our restoration, in presence of Thee, ♪ Please be seated. Let us look to the Word of God and find comfort in His eternal truth. I'll read a number of passages beginning with Psalm 121. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. John chapter 11 verses 17 to 44. Now when Jesus came he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles off and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, The teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, see how he loved him. But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. Romans chapter 8 verses 31 to 39. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No. And all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Thus far, we redeem God's holy word. May He encourage our hearts in these eternal truths. Let's pray. Our God and Father of comfort and peace. You have sent your only son that sinners like us might be reconciled into fellowship with you through faith in him. Give us peace in the promise of the gospel, even as we've read. Be a refuge and strength, a very present help in our time of need, even now. Give us comfort from the Holy Spirit and give deep consolation from the promises of the gospel, that for those who are united to Christ by grace through faith, to live is Christ and to die is gain, and that to depart and be with the Lord is very much better, as you have said. There will be no more suffering or pain or tears, that at God's right hand is the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. We pray, O Lord, that you would grant that we might remember even the virtues of our dear departed sister in the Lord and even seek to follow her example of faith in Christ. And we pray even in the days and weeks and months and years ahead that you would provide for the family and loved ones in their time of loss. O Lord, draw near with comfort and grace in the gospel. Our Father, we praise you that The grave is empty and Christ has risen and is seated at your right hand that he is the resurrection and the life. That because he lives, not only are we able to face tomorrow, but we know that Lucy, though she has died yet, she lives. And she lives participating in the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, who has won the victory over sin and death. Even as we cling to you now, O our God, help us hear your promise of the assurance that you are with us. that when we pass through the waters, you will be there. And when we go through the fire, it will not harm us that you have called us by name and we are yours. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Let me just say once again, if you knew Lucy Dodson, you knew that she had two primary loves. One was the Lord Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior, and the other was her family. And it was contagious. I loved being around her because she was such an encouragement. Her smile radiated what was in her heart. I want to simply give you a saying of her late husband, Clyde. When something was better than best, and I'll refer to her in saying this, it was a third better. Being with her was a third better. She loved the songs of the faith, the songs and the hymns, and especially those that were about the Lord Jesus Christ. She would glow when on occasions that I sang to her at Brookdale and then in Ron and Carolyn's home. It was a joy to be able to minister and and song and share our faith, share the joys of Christ with her. Those were special times. Aren't you glad that you have, and we have, a personal Lord and Savior, one with whom we can communicate, talk, and one who prays for us, pleading his blood and merits before the throne? As the family and friends gathered around her as she slipped away on Monday evening last, they gathered around the bedside and sang the words of Fanny Crosby, safe in the arms of Jesus. Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast, there by his love or ♪ Sweetly my soul shall rest ♪ ♪ Heart is the voice of angels ♪ ♪ Born in a song to me ♪ ♪ Over the fields of glory ♪ ♪ Over the Jasper sea ♪ ♪ Safe in the arms of Jesus ♪ ♪ Safe on His gentle breast ♪ ♪ There by His love or shame ♪ Sweetly my soul shall rest, Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe from corroding care. Safe from the world's temptations, Sin cannot harm me there. Free from the blight of sorrow, Free from my doubts and fears, a few more trials, only a few more tears. Jesus, my heart's dear refuge, Jesus has died for me. Firm on the rock of ages Ever my trust shall be Here let me wait with patience Wait till the night is o'er Wait till I see the morning break on the golden shore. Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on his gentle breast, there by his love o'ershaded, sweetly my soul shall I want to thank you all for being with us today, for the kindness and the love that you have shown to us in our sorrow. We are sorrowful today. Our hearts are broken because we miss mom so much. But there are two things that my sister and I have never doubted. We have never doubted that our mother loved us. And we have never doubted that she loved the Lord Jesus Christ. And so yes, we sorrow, but we sorrow with hope. And I want to show you this afternoon how that's possible. I want you to turn, you'll find a Bible beneath the pew in front of you to page 1257. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians and the fourth chapter. 1,257 in the Pew Bible. 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13 through 18. Hear the living word of God. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord. we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of a trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Amen. Let's pray together. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, We come to you this afternoon and we take your promise of the Holy Spirit that he will undertake for us and undergird us in this hour, that he will be to us that comforter that Jesus promised and that by his work, the one who inspired these words will open our hearts and minds to understand your truth. And so guide us now into all truth that we may see wondrous things as we look into this passage. Teach us. Show us Jesus. And Lord, for those here who have no hope. Move in a miraculous, regenerating way. To bring them to repentance and faith. We ask in the Savior's precious name. Amen. It's difficult to attend a service like this, to have to face the death of a loved one, of a friend. Our Lord Jesus understands that. Reverend Bailey read earlier from John 11 where our Savior one day made his way to the town of Bethany just outside Jerusalem to a home he knew so well, the home of Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. And Lazarus had died. And there at the tomb, the Savior, in sorrow over the loss of his friend, wept. Jesus was not the only one to weep that day. Of course, the sisters were crying, Mary and Martha, and so too were the Jews who had come from nearby to gather around this family and to join in the morning rites. They too were weeping. But we read that when Jesus saw what they were doing, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. Now, not deeply moved the way we are this afternoon with sorrow, with that lump in our throats, but the term that John uses here is a picturesque word, one that might well describe a horse as it flares its nostrils and snorts. It's a description of disgust, even of anger. And that raises the question, how could Jesus, who wept at the tomb of Lazarus, be angry at the weeping of others? It's not that He was upset that they were sorrowful. As the Savior stood at that sepulcher and the tears ran rivulets down His cheeks, He sanctified our own weeping. And so we should never be afraid to shed those tears over our own loss. But as he looked at those around him, he saw that they were weeping like pagans rather than believers. They were weeping as though there were no resurrection. They were weeping as though they had no hope when their hope stood in their midst. Like Jesus and Mary and Martha, the Christians in Thessalonica had lost loved ones. Their sorrow was deepened by uncertainty, by nagging doubts, and by confusion. The Apostle Paul had taught them about Jesus' second coming. They looked forward to that day, but what about those Christians in the church? What about their family members who had died and been buried before that coming? It only stood to reason that they were going to miss out. They would not share in that glorious day. And so Paul, as he writes this first letter to that church, turns the light of the gospel upon their questions, upon their doubts and their confusion. What we learn here is that our loved ones who die in Christ are not gone forever. They will not miss out on the glorious day of His coming. They will not be losers at all. But those in Christ share in the glory of His coming. And therefore, we can grieve with hope. Let's look at this passage to see how Paul guides us in this process. If we're going to grieve with hope, then we're going to have to think theologically. Now, theology is a term that seems to scare some folks. It conjures up images of thick, dusty books and specialized schools that teach esoteric subjects and dead languages. But you need to come to grips with this. Everyone does theology. Everyone is a theologian, whether you're a devout believer or a militant atheist. You have to think about God. Now the question is, are you going to be a good theologian or a bad one? To be a good theologian, of course, you have to know certain things. And Paul writes here in verse 13, I do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who sleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. Ignorance is not a Christian virtue. It is a liability. The Bible, time and time again, is instructing us in the doctrines of the faith. Because what we know, what we think, invariably affects the way we feel and the way we react. And so as Christians, we are not Stoics. We're not interested in Stoicism. Nor are we interested in mere emotionalism. but in theologically informed affections, to feel deeply about life and to feel deeply about the truth of God. But we need more than just a list of facts. To really do theology, to think theologically, we have to take what we know and put it into action. And what you're going to see here is that the Apostle Paul takes a key piece of Christian doctrine and shows the Thessalonians how to work through it, how to reason through it. Verse 14, for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Notice here that Paul assumes the fundamentals of the gospel when he writes to this church. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Paul had planted this church. He had been the first one to preach the gospel to them and instruct them in the ways of God. And so he assumes that as a true Christian church, these are going to be the pillars of their faith. These are going to be the truths they go back to and cling to time after time after time. Jesus died and Jesus rose. Well, Paul says, if you believe that, then let's work out the implications. Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, All those in Christ will be raised as well. Christ will raise His people when He returns because He is their covenant head. Now that brief statement has behind it the entire storyline of the Bible. Let me give you just a brief snapshot. When the Lord created Adam, He made him not only the head of the human race, the physical head of the race, but the covenant head as well. The one to stand as our representative. That's why the apostle would write in Romans 5, for as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and death is passed upon all men for that all sinned in Adam. Adam stood in our place. And what He did, we did in Him. That explains not only why the world is in the mess that it's in, it explains why we are here today. Because through that sin, death came into the world. But because of sin and because of death, God sent a second Adam. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The covenant head of His people. The one who obeyed God perfectly where Adam had disobeyed Him. And the one who suffered the penalty of death, though he did not deserve it himself, he was willing to undergo the wrath of God for our sin, so that we might be set free. That's the entire story of redemptive history. that stands behind what Paul says here. Because in Adam all die, all those who are in Christ will be made alive so that when Jesus returns, those who have died in Him will not be left behind. They will not be at a disadvantage. but they will be raised up to meet the Lord. You see, Paul is taking the gospel and he's applying it here to the grief of the Thessalonians. The gospel was not just the way that they became Christians. Paul didn't say, you need the gospel so you can be saved, but then you need to move on from that to other things. You'll find that in his letters time and time again, he goes back to these fundamentals, back to these essentials of just who Jesus is and what he has done for us. And he shines that gospel light on our sorrow and our sadness time after time after time. He did it for the church in Corinth. It was the solution to their divisions. What was the solution to their arguments and to the false teaching that was creeping in? It was Christ and His gospel. He did it for the Colossians when they were being told they needed Jesus plus. They needed something else to go on in the Christian life to really achieve the deeper spirituality. Paul takes them right back to the cross. It says, in Christ you have everything. And he does the very same thing here. He says it's the gospel that helps us to think theologically so that our grief can be tinged with hope. The gospel, brothers and sisters, is not just the way into heaven. It is the way to live the Christian life. It's not just a ticket into glory, it's the map for the pilgrim's path. To grieve with hope, then, you need to think theologically. You need to learn to reason through the gospel and apply it to your heartache. But in order to think theologically, you have to be informed biblically. And so Paul goes on to write in verse 15, for this we declare to you by a word from the Lord. Now there's some debate over exactly what he has in mind here. Is this a saying of Jesus? Well, if so, where do we find it in the gospels? Does Paul have a different interpretation, perhaps, of the Olivet Discourse? Or is this something we've not fully understood? Or perhaps it's an oral teaching of Jesus that was handed down among the apostles but wasn't written in the Word of God. I think the simplest solution is that Paul himself received this as a direct revelation from God, and here he declares with apostolic authority what we are to know. This is Paul, like Moses and Isaiah and Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord. We declare this to you by a word from God Almighty. You can't think theologically. You can't grow spiritually. You can't grieve hopefully. Unless you know what God has to say. Because you see, doing theology is not just imagining things about God. Thinking our own ideas about him. But it's thinking God's thoughts after him. What is this word from the Lord that Paul declares? It's a word about Jesus coming again. Now this is a topic over which Christians disagree. We have our intermural debates over timing and sequence. But here are four fundamentals. First, Paul says the living will have no advantage over the dead. You see this, don't you? We who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not proceed those who have fallen asleep. Now, this term proceed means to go before, yes, but it's more than a word of sequence. It means to go ahead so as to get the advantage. When we were children on the playground and everyone would start running for the swing set, invariably someone would yell, last one there is a rotten egg. And you knew what that meant. If you got there first, you had the advantage. If you got there last, you could stand and watch the others have fun. Paul's point here is that no one will be disadvantaged when Jesus returns. Those who have died in Christ, no believer will be deprived of glory when the Savior appears. Secondly, he says it will be the Lord Himself who descends from heaven. What will the coming of Christ be like? It's hard to imagine, isn't it? What we know is that it will be personal. It's the Lord himself. When the Savior ascended back into heaven, two men in white apparel stood and they asked the disciples, men of Galilee, why do you stand here gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus will come again in like manner. It will be a personal return. This is not make-believe. It isn't a figment of our imagination. It isn't wishful thinking. But it is the intrusion of the eternal Son of God into space and time history. There will be a declaration, time shall be no more. It will be public. Do you notice how it's described here? There's going to be a cry of command, a voice of an archangel and the sound of a trumpet. Now, are these three distinct sounds that emit from heaven or are these three descriptions of that one note that sounds out and resounds from heaven to earth? What we do know is it will be conspicuous. It will be unmistakable. And it will be unavoidable. Jesus himself will come. And the Lord will raise the dead first. It's the dead in Christ who will be raised up. They're not at a disadvantage of anything. They are at an advantage. Because with new bodies, they will go to meet their Lord in the air. And then the living will be caught up as well to be with Christ forever. This is what Paul wants us to know today. He wants us to think theologically as we are informed biblically so that we can minister lovingly. He draws the conclusion in verse 18, therefore, encourage one another with these words. An others focused ministry is a part of grieving with hope. To not just turn our attention upon ourselves and our sorrow and our heartache and our misery and our loss, but to turn outward to others who have gone through the same experiences and to express love and compassion and comfort to them. The New Testament, of course, is filled with these kinds of one another passages. We're to love one another. We're to forgive one another. We are to bear with one another. And we are, I love the Authorized Version's translation of verse 18, we are to comfort one another. We do that in many ways, don't we? We feed one another. Comfort food. We express ourselves physically. Squeeze of a hand, arm around the shoulders, a warm embrace. We share our experiences. We know what you're going through. We share the lessons we've learned, the memories that we share, and we remind one another that time has a way of helping to heal these wounds. As a family, we've received that in abundance in this past week, and we cannot begin to thank you enough for all of those expressions. But there's comfort at a deeper level, a comfort that gets into the heart and into the soul, that ministers to us the way no other human being can. And it's the comfort of God's word. And so our ministry must not only be others focused, it must be scripture filled. Notice that Paul says, encourage one another with these words, the words of the gospel. The words of Christ's return. The words of hope that our loved ones will be raised again. Remember these words. Rehearse these words. Remind others of these words, because these are the living words of God. These are the words which are sharp and powerful. Sharper than any double-edged sword that can pierce right in to the heart and the soul and even discern between our thoughts and our intentions. It's these words that come to us in the small hours of the night. It's these words that uphold us because they are alive and they are God's truth. When Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica. He, of course, could make certain assumptions because he had been there, he had trained them, he had preached to them, and he knew that they had been informed about the basics of the gospel. And that's why, as we saw earlier, he could write in verse 14, since we believe that Jesus died and rose again. But I don't want to make that assumption about everyone here this afternoon. I don't want to make the assumption that just because you've come to a church service that you actually believe these essentials of the faith. I hope you do. But I hope you do more than assent to them. I'm not asking do you merely Identify yourself with these facts and so therefore you aren't Jewish, you aren't Muslim, you are in some fashion Christian. But do you believe for yourself that Jesus died and rose again? Do those truths bring you comfort and bring you hope in face of the fact that one day you too must die? Have you ever confessed that Jesus is the Lord? Have you ever believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead for your salvation? If you turn to Christ this afternoon, if you're willing to place your faith in Him, to receive Him as He's offered here, the One who conquered death, then you can receive this gift of eternal life. You can share in this encouragement and this comfort and this hope that when He returns, you too will participate in that glory. And you too will forever be with the Lord. My mother lived with that hope. She died with that hope. And she will be raised in that hope. And my sincere prayer is that that will be true for all of you. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, By your gracious and loving spirit, seal this word to all our hearts. Amen. You're going to find our closing hymn on the back of your program. The hymn, oh Lord, how merciful. And will you stand together as we sing. and crowned with brotherhood. ♪ From grace be free ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? After the benediction, the family will receive friends in the vestibule. Following that, we invite all who are able to attend the internment at Hillcrest Memorial Park on Gentry Highway in Pickens. And then if you can join us back here at the church for a meal following that. Will you pray with me? Our gracious God and heavenly Father, We thank you for the gift of your dear son. And we thank you for the hope of life in him. Make that hope real and living in every heart here today. We ask in his name. Amen. Will you lift up your eyes and lift up your hearts and receive the Lord's blessing. And now may the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. StSq3 3.30 (-0.99)" you