You may be seated.
Well, on behalf of the Family of Aaron Zachary, I want to thank you for your presence here today. This expression of your love and concern means a great deal to the family, I can promise you that. And so we're grateful that you have come and we... know that making the effort to come and be here is an indication of your concern and prayers and That's very, very encouraging to us. It is never easy to say goodbye to a loved one in this world.
And maybe even more difficult when that one has gone by way of a Painful. illness, a disease. And if that one is perhaps younger than the usual Um age at which we all think we ought to live, but of course we have no No guarantee of that, no promise, do we? And that therefore we need to be ready to go at any time. I must say that I've been very encouraged in talking to the family.
By the reports that I have heard of evidences of the grace of God working in Aaron's life. It hasn't always been that way. For those of you who've known him for many years, There have been times of What should we say? Trouble and disappointment. But the grace of God is so vast, and God.
In his kindness, sometimes reaches down and touches a life. Just prior to their leaving this world and going into eternity, and I think we have reason. To Hope. and believe that that's exactly what God has done in this case. We're all familiar with the crucifixion of Christ between the two thieves on either side.
And how, in the midst of that crucifixion, one of them had a complete change of heart. Both of them started out. being critical of Christ and railing and then one of them started Um rebuking the other one for doing that. And saying We deserve to be here, but this man does not. He is here because of no wrong doing which he has done.
And then that particular thief acknowledged Jesus as Lord and asked to be included in his kingdom. And the Lord said, today, You will be with me in paradise. Just... scant hours before he left this world.
Someone has said that there were two thieves on either side of Christ. And one of them was saved at the last hour that no one need despair. But one of them was not.
So that no one should presume. And we should not presume on the grace of God. We should be Seeking the Lord. while he may be found. and calling upon him while he is near.
And making our relationship with the Lord. the most important matter of our life.
Well, we're going to pray, we're going to sing a congregational hymn, we're going to have some family reflections. And reading of scripture.
So let's begin the service with a word of prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. on earth as it is in heaven. And Father of Mercies and God of Great light, we pray that your light will shine into the corner of every heart.
of everyone who is gathered here today. Lord, may your truth, applied by your Spirit, bring comfort to those who are sorrowing. And bring understanding and spiritual illumination to those who are wandering and who are uncertain of their relationship with you. And we pray that you will bless every part of this service. and that in it all Jesus Christ will be honored.
and we ask these things in His name, Amen. Take a hymnal from the rack in front of you and turn to number. three hundred seventy one. We're going to sing together congregationally. That which I trust is your heartfelt testimony.
When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well. It is well. with my soul. If you're able to stand, please stand and sing with us. And his shortest conflict begun by heavenless gift and share his own blood, my soul is well with my soul.
His wealth is well with my soul, my sin or the place of his glorious love. I saved my love, but the whole Lord is failed to this cross, and I bury it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Oh, my soul with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.
Let the Lord be surprised, and the praise shall be sun. The proud single man has destroyed. The tongue shall is down, and the Lord shall be still in his way. I soul in his will with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.
Thank you and be seated. Hi, I'm Christy, Erin's sister. Mm-hmm. Oh, and I am the sister of Aaron Zachary. My brother was one of the most fun loving individuals.
I've ever known. He never met a stranger. Aaron was kind-hearted and he had love for life That will live on through our hearts. He had a happy-go-lucky way about him and definitely left an imprint in our lives. We will always remember his openness and curiosity for life.
Aaron had a natural, unconditional love. The Zachary family farm started with our grandparents. Hazelina Doubt and Zachary. And we'll now end with Aaron. Aaron had a special love for our family farm, and he spent many, many hours working hard in the fields.
We are so thankful for his dedication to the farm. We had so many good times and loads of laughs. We are so grateful that God gave us the opportunity to spend the last three months by Aaron's side. and see him smiling. And not complaining.
Aaron gave it his all. He fought really hard with unimaginable strength. I mean, he was so she was stronger than me. In the evenings, dad spent time reading the Bible and praying with Aaron. I earned especially love for Dad to play the song Rejoice in the Lord.
We are so thankful for God's divine timing. And gracing Aaron with us such a Peaceful transition. Aaron left an incredible message.
So Melanie. Who was so kind to sheer? And now we will share it with you. Hey, if anything happens to me, uh I want you to know that I'm good with God. Uh absolutely.
I'm gonna be joining y'all in heaven. Uh well you And I'll be there. I love you, Erin. At times like this, there's two directions we have. Or Accustomed to turning, some turn inward.
with their pain and sorrow and heartache. and there's not much help found there.
So we're instructed by the Word of God to look to Him. The one who inhabits eternity, the one who has the keys of life and death. And I want to turn you there as we hear the Word of God from various places. This is Psalm 121. Notice how the psalmist begins.
He says, I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence cometh my help? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel shall neither stumble nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. the sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil, He shall preserve your soul.
The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth. and even forever. And then these words from Psalm 90. Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. before the mountains were brought forth, Horrible.
Brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting. to everlasting You are gone.
So satisfy us early. with your mercy. that we may rejoice and be glad. All of our days. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. and establish the work of our hands for us. Yes, establish the work of our hands. And then a couple places in the New Testament. that I'd like to just Speak to, this is 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
This helps us to realize that there are What is the most real and lasting reality in this world we cannot see with and react with our five senses? Everything that we react with with our five senses is temporal. The things that are going to last forever and ever and ever. We need Faith to be able to see. And this is what Paul is communicating in his letter to the church at Corinth.
He says, We do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, Yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary.
But the things which are not seen are eternal. And then from Philippians chapter four. Paul writing to the church at Philippi, he says, Be anxious. for nothing, but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God.
and the peace of God which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Isaiah 26:3 tells us, He will keep him in perfect peace. whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee. Let us pray. Father, we do look unto the hills from whence cometh our help.
Our help indeed comes from you. And how thankful we are that you're mindful of us. You know the heartache, you know the pain that this family is experiencing. And we ask, Father, that you draw near to them and help them to cast their cares upon you, knowing that you care for them. We thank you for the peace that passes understanding that is promised to those who look to you by faith.
And it is a piece that is Defies comprehension in this world. Most people think of peace as something that comes with favorable circumstances, but the peace you promise. is sourced in you. And we ask that you would impart that peace, that these precious folks. these family members, these acquaintances, these friends who knew this this man.
Father would Would experience that supernatural peace that you impart through your spirit. Lord, we ask that you will. Gather up this family with your arms. We thank you for your everlasting arms and ask you to minister to them in their sorrow. Help them to cast themselves upon you and detrust you.
Impart faith, Father, where it's absent. Strengthen faith where it's weak. And hear our prayers as we say, Father, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. continue to bless and direct in this service. For the honor and glory of our Savior, in whose name we pray.
Amen. His robes for ball. Clothed in my Sin, Christ suffered neath God's rage, draped in his righteousness, I'm justified. In Christ I live, for in my place he died. I cling to Christ and marvel at the cross.
Jesus forsaken God estranged from God, but by such love, my life is not my own. My praise, my all, shall be for Christ alone. His robes were mine, what cause have I for dread? God's daunting law Christ mastered in my stead. Faultless I stand with righteous works not mine.
Saved by my slaughter's vicarious death and life, I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost. Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God. But by such love, my life is not my own. My praise, my all, shall be for Christ alone. His robes for mine, God's justice is appeased.
Jesus is crushed, and thus the Father's pleas. Christ drank God's wrath on sin and Christ is done. Sin's wages paid, propitiation won. I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost. Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.
But by such love, my life is not my own. My praise, my all, shall pay for Christ the Lord. His robes for mine, such anguish none can know. Christ, God's beloved, condemned as though he's fall. He has the I am cursed and left alone.
I, as though he embraced and welcomed, I cling to Christ and marvel at the cost. Jesus forsaken, but estranged from God. But by such love, my life is not my own. My praise, my haul, shall be for Christ alone.
Well, Erin and I go back a long way. When I was administrator at Alamance Christian School, he was in elementary school. and I had the opportunity of coaching his older brother. Affectionately known as Zach. Uh when he was in high school.
Psalm 86, 5 says, For you, Lord, are good. and ready to forgive. and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. You, O Lord. or a God full of compassion and gracious.
long-suffering and abundant in mercy and truth. In Aaron Zachary's life. Cancer was a severe mercy from the Lord. Let me read that again. In Aaron Zachary's life.
Cancer. was a severe mercy from the Lord. Severe mercy from the Lord sounds like a contradiction. It was severe because it ravaged his body. It was mercy.
God's means of mercy. because it caused Aaron to get serious about his standing before God. Beloved, his birth. was ordained by God to be on Sunday. December 6th.
1981. In Psalm 139, David wrote, Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were written. The day's fashion for me when as yet there were none of them. Speaking of God, Job 12 verse 10 states, in whose hand is the life of every living thing. and the breath of all mankind.
For forty three years after his birth, the days appointed for Aaron's Aqua were finished. He breathed his last breath, and quietly slipped into eternity. on Monday June night twenty twenty five around four thirty p.m. Earlier, you heard Aaron's voicemail testimony at the close of Christie's family reflections. I'd like to share some history.
with you from the past several weeks that led to that recording. And I pray that it will cause others to reflect upon their standing before the Lord. In sharing this, let me make it very clear that I believe that God used several people to bring Aaron to realize his need for Christ. I know that his dad shared numerous verses with him at Aaron's request. And as a pastor, I want to share my encouraging experience with Aaron.
Several weeks ago I visited him in the hospital at Chapel Hill. Other folks were in the room. and it made it awkward to ask him about his standing before God. I knew from years past that Aaron had heard the gospel numerous times. As a child, and later as a teen at Beacon Baptist Church.
Years passed, and I had little interaction with him prior to his diagnosis of cancer. I also knew. That like every one of us to varying degrees, Aaron struggled in some areas during adulthood. I believe that folks who were present that night in that hospital room could sense that I had a desire to talk with Aaron privately. And I believe providentially they stepped out into the hallway.
I shared 1 Corinthians 15, 4, 1 through 4 with Aaron. It reads as follows. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received, And in which you stand, by which you also were saved, if you hold fast the word I preach to you. unless you believed in vain. For I delivered you first of all that which I also received.
That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Upon reading this to Aaron, I said, Aaron, That's the gospel. in a nutshell. As God the Son, Jesus became man. Lived a sinless life so that he could pay for the sins of all who placed their trust in him.
His resurrection from the dead demonstrated God's approval of his sacrifice. The scriptures that I read to you make it clear. Those who believe that Christ died to atone for sin. that he was buried, that he rose again, will be saved. although I could not know Aaron's heart.
Aaron's response was encouraging. I left, knowing that the gospel seed had been planted once again in his mind. God would give his chosen increase, indeed. As time will tell. Iron was a trophy of God's grace.
His conversion was the answer to prayers of numerous Christians. That said... I believe that the best way that he can be honored today is by sharing the gospel that he professed to believe. Doing so does two things. It offers up glory to God for His grace.
and it makes Aaron's memorial service an instrument of righteousness that points others to Christ. Please look at the back of your program, if you would, just for a few minutes. Your response to these verses could impact you for eternity. The word received in verse 1 means to accept or acknowledge the gospel with a mind. Likewise the words in which you stand.
mean to be of a steadfast mind, one who does not hesitate, does not waver. Beloved Aaron's voicemail message evidence confidence. that he would see his saved loved ones again in heaven. In verse 2, The word believed means to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to place confidence in. It refers to saving grace and saving faith in Christ.
The sobering words in vain Point to mere head knowledge that's not assimilated into the heart. You know the facts about Christianity. but you've not assimilated them. In other words, this false belief fosters the sugar pill of shallow religion without saving relationship with Christ. I hadn't interacted with Aaron for years.
For all I knew, he was self-deceived into thinking just attending Beacon Baptist Church, just attending Alamance Christian School would settle things. And toward the end of his life, he confessed that he realized this was not true. It took more. Romans 10, 9, and 10 states, If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with a heart one believes unto righteousness, with a mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus involves declaring with personal conviction that He is God the Son, who became to man, lived a perfect life so that He could die to atone for the sins of those who place their faith in Him. Believing in your heart that God raised him from the dead is to embrace in the very core of your being that Christ was victorious over sin and death, that through his resurrection God demonstrated satisfaction with his payment for sin. It involves your mind, your will, and your emotion. Your mind acknowledges the truth of Christ's perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. This knowledge is critical, folks, but it's not enough.
You can know that you need food. to sustain life. and starve to death with it right in front of you if you p refuse to partake. You're well. submits to Christ as Lord and trusts in Him alone for salvation.
It results in choosing to keep His commandments out of love for a sacrifice on your behalf. Keeping His commandments doesn't determine your salvation. It displays that God has done a work in your heart. Finally, your emotions embrace the gospel with genuine sorrow that leads you to repent of your sins. It also makes you grateful for God's long-suffering.
Mercy and grace. I've said to Rick as we've taught numerous times, what if? What if? In the providence of God Aaron had died. A month ago.
I shudder to think. God and His grace allowing him to live as long as he did was a severe mercy. Because he came to Christ. I want you to fast forward. to the past two weeks.
I kept in touch with Brick concerning Aaron, and texted Aaron to assure him we were praying for him daily. On Monday of last week, I told Rick that I was going to send the first to Aaron each day. Rick told me to include him, so that he could read the verse to Aaron. It was not a coincidence. that I sent Joshua one nine Have I not commanded you, be strong?
and of good courage. Do not be afraid. nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Friends, this verse that I sent was sent on the same day that Aaron was beckoned to heaven. we can have the blessed assurance That the time of our departure from this life is determined by our Creator God, when He beckons.
Nothing can keep us here. Not only does he decide when we die, he also determines where we will breathe our last breath. Regardless of how we leave this world, We will leave it exactly when, where, and how the Lord has determined it will happen. But he warns us. Do not boast about tomorrow.
For you do not know what a day may bring forth. Praise God for the grace that enabled Aaron to hear the gospel and respond with saving faith.
Now there may be some here today who say, I've tried Christianity, it just didn't work for me. It didn't give me the peace and the hope that you're talking about. Friend, my response to that is you don't try Christianity. You don't try Christianity without the indwelling Spirit of God that is given by the grace of God. Through faith in the Son of God, you will never know the peace of God.
I close by reading 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18. It's written to believers. And it captures the hope that makes a Christian's memorial service different from those who have no hope. Paul wrote, I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep or died. lest you sorrow as others who have no hope, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
Even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, We shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore, comfort one another with these words. God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. Today, we praise God by his own confession of faith, Aaron. Zachary will be of that number. Take your hymnal and in closing we're going to sing another song on it's number 494.
494. All the way, my Savior leads me. What have I to ask beside? Can I doubt his tender mercy who through life has been my guide. You'll find it at number 494, and if you're able, please stand.
We'll sing us in close. Although my Savior leads me, for I'm who has inside, and I come with mercy to the light that's in my life. Let me peace in my star, near my faith in injury and dwell. Oh, I know what air before me, Jesus to with all things well. For I come for me falling, Jesus to with all things dwell.
Always my Savior leads me, Jesus joining that I dwell. Give me grace for every. Through endless angels, Jesus led me all the way. This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way. Please remain standing as we depart.
