Ruth Patterson Funeral Service

The Truth Network Podcast is playing now. Well, on behalf of the family, I want to thank all of you who have come to this service today, a cold December day at a busy time of year, but we have gathered because we remember the life of Ruth Patterson, and we thank the Lord for that life. Our gathering today is going to be a time to say a good many things about our dear sister, but more than anything else, it's going to be a time to give praise to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who saved her by His grace and made her such a vibrant blessing to so many others. So we will begin with a word of prayer, and we will continue to worship the Lord together. Father, how thankful we are that we know the Lord Jesus Christ, how thankful we are for the clear testimony of Ruth Patterson, that there's no doubt in our minds that she was indeed a true follower of Christ, one who has been born again by the Spirit of God.

And therefore, O Lord, we are confident that she is rejoicing in your presence. But Father, we know that there are those who feel a void in their heart today, and we pray that you will minister to those. Give them the peace that passes all understanding. Fill their hearts with the joy of the Holy Spirit, the joy that only you can give to those who are sorrowing. And Father, may everyone hear sorrow, not as the world sorrows with the hopelessness, but O Lord, may everyone cling to Christ and sorrow as those who do have hope. And bless this time together to the honor of our Savior, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. There is a hymn we're going to sing together as a congregation.

It's on the back of your bulletin. I didn't ask if you wanted me to lead this song, but I will. Did you have somebody else planning to do that? Pardon? I will do that.

We didn't talk about every element. You don't want me doing it. All right. Well, let me say, we're going to sing Shall We Gather at the River. I'm not sure that everyone understands what river is being referred to here, so let me read a few verses from Revelation 22. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. When we sing Shall We Gather at the River, we're talking about gathering in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's stand together and sing this testimony of our faith in him. Let's sing this testimony of our faith in him. Let's sing this testimony of our faith in him. Let's sing this testimony of our faith in him.

Let's sing this testimony of our faith in him. Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land, I'm kind of homesick for a country to which I've never been before. No sad goodbyes will there be spoken, for time won't matter anymore. Beulah Land, I'm longing for you, and someday on thee I'll stand. There my home shall be eternal. Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land, I'm looking now across that river where my faith is gonna end in sight.

There's just a few more days to labor, then I will take my heavenly flight. Beulah Land, I'm longing for you, and someday on thee I'll stand. There my home shall be eternal. Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land. Beulah Land, Beulah Land, Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land.

Amen. It was not long before our Lord would hang on the cross that he gathered with his disciples. And as the news began to sink in that he was going to die and was going to be separated from them, their hearts were troubled.

They were shaken by that news, even though so shaken actually that they did not apparently hear all the rest of the news. He said he was going to be crucified. He also said that on the third day he would rise again. But they heard the first part very clearly. The last part they didn't quite catch on to, really didn't believe it until he finally showed himself to them bodily after the resurrection, and then finally it sank in. Yes, he died, but even more glorious, he rose again from the dead.

But in preparing their hearts for this separation, he said to them, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. And if I go and prepare a place for you, then whether I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, We know not whether thou goest, and how can we know the way?

Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. That is our comfort.

That is our hope. Just as Christ was telling his disciples, Yes, we shall be separated for a time, but we shall be together forever. So for those who know the Lord, when death comes, we shall be separated for a time.

But we look forward to the day when we shall be with the Lord and with our Christian loved ones forever and ever and ever. Well, as Ruth's pastor for nearly 40 years, I looked back in the records and saw that Pat and Ruth became members of Beacon in 1984. So if she had lived just a few more months, it would have been 40 years that she was a member of this congregation. And so I have a lot of warm memories of Ruth, and some of them have to do with Ruth as a person, and then others have to do with Ruth as a Christian, and those are the most important ones. But there's no particular order here, but when I think of Ruth Patterson, one of the first things that comes to my mind is she was one whale of a cook. I'll tell you what, she knew her way around the kitchen, and she produced some of the most delicious food that you ever sank a tooth into, and she had quite a reputation as a cook par excellence. When I think of Ruth Patterson, I also think of someone who was extremely friendly and outgoing. She could strike up a conversation with anyone. She could talk with intelligence about nearly any subject. She really was a very intelligent woman and very outgoing and such a blessing because so many people are shy and reserved and almost afraid to say anything, particularly if it's in the presence of people they don't know, but that is the very opposite of the Ruth Patterson that I knew.

She would strike up a conversation with anyone. The third thing that comes to mind about Ruth is that she was a partner. You can't really think of Ruth without thinking of Pat. They were a team. They did everything together. They enjoyed life together. They planned activities together. They planned outreach to people together.

They were just a match. The Lord had put them together, and they really were so well suited for one another, and they were a team, and Ruth was a wonderful partner to her husband who went to be with the Lord about 10 years ago now, and she has survived him all of these years. Well, another word that comes to my mind is industrious. She was a hard worker. She grew up at a time when everybody was expected to work, and she had learned to work. She had a work ethic, and she kept that all throughout her life. She was filled with industry, and then one other thing that comes to my mind when I think of Ruth is jewelry. She did like her jewelry, didn't she?

She had more bracelets on one arm than anybody I've ever seen, but she wore them well. It suited her. It suited her bubbling, outgoing, effervescent personality, and I thank the Lord for those memories, but the memories that are most important are the ones that have to do with her relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and when I think of that side of Ruth, the first thing that comes to my mind is the Bible. She was a lady who loved the Word of God and studied it often. When she and Pat first came to Beacon, it's because Ruth, and probably Pat as well, but Ruth had been listening to some preachers on the radio who had a different style of ministry than what she had grown up with and what she was accustomed to, and the Lord had in her life. The Lord had used other ministers to preach the gospel to her and to point her to Christ, but she was listening on the radio to men who were what we call expositors.

They just opened the Bible and explained what it said, and she created or acquired an appetite and a desire for that, and that's what we endeavor to do here, and so she came, and we had a happy relationship for many, many years. I also am so thankful for her hospitality. She really had Christian hospitality, and she invited people into her home and used her gift of cooking and also a gift of entertaining. My wife and I, Marty, were in her home on some of those occasions, and we would enjoy a nice meal together, and then Pat would usually have a couple of his buddies there, and they would break out the guitars, and we would just have a good old time together.

There was a big, what could I call it, a big streak of country in these folks, and it didn't hurt a bit. It was lovely, and she invited people into her home. I suppose over the passing of time, probably nearly every member of our church had an invitation into her home because she just loved to be hospitable and to reach out to people.

That was a wonderful gift. That was a wonderful act of obedience, and would to God that all of his people would have that desire and activity. She was an encourager. I was blessed many times by her encouragement of my preaching. I don't think it was all that great, but she somehow did, and she would say so and would encourage me in the ministry of the word, and she encouraged other people as well. When I think of Ruth, I also think of her singing in the choir right back here. She was there, and she was singing beautifully with the choir and radiating the meaning of the words that she was singing.

Some people, as you know, have kind of a bland face, and you can't really tell what's going on inside by what you're seeing on the outside. Ruth, you knew what was going on the inside by seeing what was on the outside. The expression of joy and of submission to the word of God and a proclamation of that word in the singing was just all over her face and added so much to our congregation.

And finally, I think of Ruth. I think of Christian testimony. She was not ashamed of Christ. She was not afraid to talk to others about Christ.

I don't think anybody who met her and talked to her for more than five minutes failed to find out that she was a true follower of Christ, a committed Christian. And that testimony was clear, and it was used of God, and I thank the Lord for these wonderful memories. Sweet are a prayer, sweet are a prayer that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my Father's throne, make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return. Sweet are a prayer, sweet are a prayer, sweet are a prayer. The joys I feel, the bliss I share of those whose anxious spirits burn, with strong desires for thy return. With such I raise unto the place where God my Savior shows his face and gladly take my station there and wait for thee, sweet are a prayer. Sweet are a prayer, sweet are a prayer, thy wings shall my petition bear to him whose trust and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since he bids me seek his face, believe his word and trust his grace, I'll cast on him my every care and wait for thee, sweet are a prayer. Next time we wanted to give the daughters an opportunity to share some memories, and I'll share a few in a minute. Thank you, honey. I have two things to say about Mama. First, this is kind of a joke, it's funny, but I remember asking her many times, Mama, what did you and Aunt Frances do when Grandma was working? And she told me about one time when she and Aunt Frances wanted to go and eat lunch in the field across the road. And when they got back, Grandma asked them, so what'd you do, girls? And they both chimes in, well, we were looking for a good spot and we found a level ground and there was, here's what's the word I want, and there was a cow patty laying there. Lots of work she could have used. There was a cow patty laying there and we just put our stuff down and ate it right there.

I have laughed at her so many times and I still do. But the other thing is so dear to my heart. When I was a little girl, I think I was about five years old, Grandma was keeping us on the weekdays then, and I had measles, mumps, and pneumonia. And she and Grandma got very concerned that something really big serious was going to happen. And for a moment my eyes came open and what I heard was my mother, my mother and my grandma, knelt at the foot of the bed, praying if I wasn't going to get better to please take me home. And that's always been one of the most treasured things in my heart ever. Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord. Am I coming to you? I promise that I would not speak today, but my nephew is going to make me. There's been a couple of things that I've been thinking about for like two days.

And one, I remember Todd being involved with me at the time. You speak of my mother and her perfect cooking. You know where we're going?

I'm ready for it. We were grilling out, but Mother had to cook the hamburger. She didn't let anybody else. She had to do everything else.

She wouldn't let me do anything. Todd came out and he was going to pick up the first hamburger. He did and he stood there and he looked and he said, what is this? She had mixed together blueberries and hamburger and we had to eat it. But it's always been a joke in the family. There's one more really funny story that I must share.

Okay, you're done now. When Mother and Daddy traded cars, it was with a friend of mine that they traded with and she came barreling into the county Ford that day and Mama and Daddy both were soaking wet. They were drowning in water. Her hair was wet. Their clothes were wet. Mother had got the sunroof open and they didn't know how to get it closed and they went through a car wash. So she came back to Harvey like Harvey was supposed to fix her.

But it was just a big joke with all of my friends and her. Mother was the most devoted Christian and displayed that she and Dad were determined that we were not going to fail where that was concerned and we haven't. We love the Lord. Thank you. Todd, Joey. I'll say a couple of things. I wasn't going to talk. I don't like speaking in front of a crowd. I'm going to let Preston share probably some more of the serious sides of things of Meemaw.

I've got three that kind of stand out to me. I can remember being six, seven years old. Meemaw and Peepaw, what we called them. They would go off on these trips and they'd go across the country or take a long trip and they'd have to come home and they'd have to share all the pictures.

Four hours. So Peepaw would get out the silver screen, set it up in the living room with the orange carpet and get the slide projector out and stacks of slides and he'd pop them in and he and Meemaw would start to click through each slide and Joey and Tracy and I would sit there and just wonder how much longer do we have to sit through this. That was pretty funny. We all know Meemaw was an incredible cook and she had her little catering business and stuff. How many times I would go through that little side kitchen where she would do her baking and she would have these sheets of wax paper laid out on the counter where she had made pre-made roses for decorating her cakes. Every time I walked by I grabbed a rose.

I couldn't help it. She never asked me about it. I hope I didn't mess up a cake because I ate too many of her roses. And then the last thing, this was in the later years I guess, towards the end of Peepaw's life. Peepaw did not want animals in the house at all. No cats, no dogs, no nothing. Well Peepaw softened up in his later years and he saw that Meemaw took to a stray cat and it would come around and she would feed it on the back deck and she named this cat Myrtle.

I don't know why. So Peepaw would let Meemaw bring Myrtle into the house and if Meemaw could not find Myrtle or she wanted Myrtle to come into the house she would step out on the back deck and she would yell, Myrtle cat! Myrtle cat!

And she would wait for that cat to come running and it was just an awesome display of Peepaw's love for her and letting her have that joy there at the end. And Pastor Barkman you did a great job talking about Meemaw as a Christian woman. Probably the strongest Christian woman I've ever known and an incredible influence in my life for that.

So thank you for those words. Just as I am with thou what plea, but that thy blood was shed for me and that thou bidst me come to thee. Lamb of God I come, I come just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot to thee whose blood can cleanse each spurt or layer. Of God I come, I come just as I am though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears within.

Without your lamb of God I come, I come. Well I have a few memories of my own to share and I'll try to keep it short. Similar to Todd's memory, I tell people frequently that most kids go to their grandparents and their grandma gives them a bowl of ice cream and I would go to my grandma's house and I'd get a bowl of icing and to this day please give me the corner piece.

I want the icing. Another memory I have, these are not all good memories, this one's not. When I was a teenager, young man, for Christmas, my grandma gave me a pair of pants.

Do you know where this is going? My grandma gave me a pair of pants and they were green. We're not talking dark green, olive green, we're talking bright green. We're talking Christmas green, Santa green and my mother in a teaching moment said when you're given a gift you use it and I was made to wear those pants to school in front of my peers and I will tell you to this day I do not wear green. I remember my grandma catering and I think probably my first paid job ever was helping them with catering and washing dishes afterwards. My grandma and I did share a love for the word of God and talking about the word and talking about Jesus and I still have stacks at home. She would give me albums of cassettes.

They were all cassettes by either John MacArthur and some other guy, I think his name was something like Bartman and so I was sharing with Pastor Bartman before that I've been exposed to his teaching more than he is aware of because she would share those with me. Okay, so I had a birthday. I think I was an older teen. I could have been college, summer in college, I don't know, but I was older and she took me to Olive Garden. It was just she and I. She wanted to take me for my birthday so we went to Olive Garden and my grandma in her funny way, she was incapable of being secretive. So we place our orders and she looks at the server and she holds up and I remember at the time the Olive Garden menu was laminated and huge and she holds it up in front of her face and I hear her telling the server, it's his birthday, can you do that, whatever you do? And what was truly funny was when they came and they gathered around and sang to me, I was fine and she turned beet red. One time they came and visited me at college and they gave me the treat of staying off campus with them and it wasn't a treat. And the next day we're in the car and one of them, I think it was grandpa, said did you get any sleep with grandma snoring? And I'm like between the two of you.

I don't know who won but I lost. More recently, in the last ten years, I discovered that she really liked watching Impractical Jokers. If you don't know what it is, we'll move on. If you do, that probably is a bit of a surprise to you. It was to me.

And I did want to say, it's not on my list, but Joey, I blame you. I was the first grandson, first grandchild and I called them grandma and grandpa. And you, you come along and you decide to change that whole thing for the whole rest of the grandkids. So from that point on, it's me, ma and peepaw. But I don't know them either, grandma and grandpa to me.

So I have called them something different than the rest of the grandkids. So the last memory I want to share with you is it's quite recent. So my grandpa had passed away and there was a caregiver living in the home and I came for a visit and we went to Cracker Barrel. And we enjoyed a great meal and we got to the end of the meal and I saw her do something.

And I was like, what's happening here? And the caregiver goes, oh yeah, she does that every time we come here. She had asked for extra maple syrup and my grandma was a diabetic.

She craved sugar and she was slipping those into her purse to take home later. And the caregiver says, oh yeah, she just pulls that out like a shot and just. An amazing, an amazing woman.

When we sat down, I don't know, seven, eight years ago and talked about this day. Pretty much everything you've experienced, she outlined. It was what she wanted, the songs and this order and everything. And she asked me if I would preach the message for a funeral. And I know how much she thought of you. So it was an honor for me to be asked.

And I questioned her and she said, no, I want you to do this. So as Pastor Bartman said, she loved expository preaching and he described it very well. And in today's world, there are all sorts of flavors of churches, but it seems most of them take something they want to say and go find a little thing in the Bible that sort of supports it.

And they spend their time thinking about the cause they want to push and then try to support it with a little bit of scripture. And expository preaching just says, what does it say? What does the word of God say? And we're just going to say that. We're going to attempt to, as faithfully as possible, explain what God said and not push an agenda, not try to work in our opinions or our thoughts or even our flavor of denomination.

Just what does the word say? And so I'm going to attempt to do that for you today. And I'm going to tell you, I'm going to read this.

I don't love reading a sermon, but I do this out of care and love for you because if I'm not reading it, we'll have to bring in dinner. So Ruth Patterson was an amazing lady and she lived to be almost 97 years old. But even when someone lives to such a rich age as my grandma did, the sense of loss is still felt by those who love her. And while we celebrate her life, there's also this deep sadness in this room.

I want you to know that we're not alone in feeling this sadness. The words I want to share with you today come from the most extensive and famous funeral account that we find in Scripture and possibly the most famous in history. Jesus was dear friends with two sisters and a brother and Lazarus, the brother, had died and the sisters, Mary and Martha, they were beside themselves with grief. And Jesus, actually, just let me read the scripture here.

We'll pick up the narrative of what happened. In John 11, it says, when Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was moved in spirit and troubled. Where have you laid him, he asked. Come and see, Lord, they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, see how he loved him. So Jesus was so moved at the loss of Lazarus and the pain that he saw Mary and Martha going through that he wept.

And he didn't just get teary-eyed. His weeping was significant enough that it prompted those around to realize how much Jesus must have loved Lazarus. So Jesus has felt what we feel in this room today and he understands.

But I want to share with you, as Paul Harvey used to say, the rest of the story. To do so, I want to go back a little bit before Jesus wept. For just a few minutes, I want to walk you through Jesus' view of death contrasted with how we view death and then how Jesus challenged Martha to think differently about both life and death. So earlier in this story, while Jesus and his followers were still in another town, he explained to them that they needed to travel to his friend's town of Judea.

So let's pick up the story at this point, again in John. After he had said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm going to wake him up. His disciples replied, I love how Jesus would intentionally confuse his disciples sometimes.

So they would ask questions and he could teach them. So his disciples replied, said, Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get better. Or basically, he'll wake up on his own. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. You see, because Jesus is God, he does not see death as we see it.

We have this sense of incredible distance and gut-wrenching finality, but Jesus shows that death is really nothing to God. Have you ever been to the site of a house that was being built and the framing was up so you could see where the walls would be, but there were no walls. The drywall hadn't been installed. So you could actually slip between the studs or used to be able to and be instantly in the next room. And then a short time later, the drywall's up and painted and the house finished and being in one room feels so separate from being in the other.

Or maybe you've experienced the opposite when a remodel was being done to an existing home where there had been privacy and complete separation and you can now see and slip from one room to the other through the studs. This is how Jesus, because he's God, views the death of one of his own. It's little more than sleep to him. But it's hard for us as simple sinful humans to see beyond the heartbreak of the moment. Martha demonstrates just that as the story continues and Jesus has just arrived and been greeted by Martha just a short distance from the place where Lazarus is lying in preparation for burial. The story continues in John. Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. And Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

He implied theirs, but he died. You see, Martha believes Jesus is God. She believes he has all power, so much so that she believes if Jesus had arrived before Lazarus had died, he could have healed him of his sickness and prevented his death.

But to her and to us, death feels so final, so permanent. Even though she believes that those who have died will one day live again, and even though she has God himself in the flesh standing right in front of her, she cannot see past the immediate finality of the lifeless body of her brother lying a short distance away. If you know the story, you know that Jesus is moments away from bringing her brother back into the realm of the living. And while most of the time that event is the focus of the story, I want to suggest that the very next words that Jesus speaks to Martha are really the pivotal moment in the story. You see, more than giving Mary and Martha their brother back, Jesus wants to change their perspective, to change their perspective on life, death, and eternity. And by choosing to share this story with us in his word, he wants to change mine and yours.

So here it is, are you ready to have your perspective changed? Here's what comes next in the story, reading from John. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?

Yes, Lord, she replied, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who has come into the world. Jesus understands that what bothers us even more than the pain of losing a loved one is how that loss raises those human fears of our own mortality. We tend to not think of death more than when we're at this event that we are here at today. And while it's uncomfortable to talk about, Jesus knows how observing death reminds us that we too will die.

And he wants Martha and you to understand that there is a change of perspective that can happen that completely dissipates that fear. He tells us that he is life. He tells us that a deep recognition and submitting to who he is absolutely guarantees life after death. And to reiterate that he doesn't even see death as anything more than sleep, he says that if you believe in him, you pass from one life to another better life and that you really, in his words, never die. Notice that when Jesus asks her if she believes this, she does not simply say, sure, I believe. But she shows that true belief is deeper than just stating, sure, I believe in Jesus. It's understanding and embracing that you as a sinner without him will not experience the life he talks about. His words. Martha says, I believe that you are the Messiah.

That's the one that was promised. The son of God, a term used in those days that meant that she believed he was fully God who has come into the world. A reference to the prophecy saying that he would come to die for our sin. Now, Jesus' words here can seem confusing. When he says the one who believes in me will live even though they die and whoever lives believing in me will never die. That can be confusing.

Here's what's so fascinating. We think we are alive and will someday die. The scripture says we've got it backwards. It says we're dead and need to be made alive. We are the dead and need to be made alive. In Ephesians 2, the Lord explains that you were dead in the trespasses and sins, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he has loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together in Christ. You see, if you've never been made alive in Christ, you're a walking dead man, unable to please God and destined to remain that way forever. But Jesus comes along and says, I can take your dead life and make you alive. If you find yourself dead today, but feeling drawn to coming alive in Christ, turn away from yourself to him.

Boot yourself off the throne. Confess him as the Lord of you. Ask him to bring you to life. In this story, Jesus communicates two things to Mary and Martha and wants us to grasp these as well. First, he wants Mary and Martha to recognize that death has so little sting when you know him as the resurrection in life. And second, he wanted to give a visual of his desire to take dead lives and make them alive. So he did that by raising Lazarus.

He wanted to show that he's in the business of making the dead alive. And if you realize today that you are dead and need to be made alive, he stands ready. So as we sit here coming face to face with death, with all the sadness and sense of finality and not just the death of Ruth Patterson, but as you sit here facing the prospect of your own death, do you sit here with hope or dread?

Do you sense that you are dead inside? Jesus changed the way Mary and Martha looked at life and death, and he wants to change the way you do as well. He wants to bring you to life. He offers you life. Just as he asked Martha, he asks you, do you believe in me as your own resurrection in life?

Ruth Patterson did. And so she sleeps. Grandma, sleep well. We'll see you very soon when we wake up in Jesus. Grandma knew what she was doing when she asked Preston to preach her funeral as one of the finest funeral sermons I've heard.

It was excellent. Thank you, Preston. Well, it's my joy and responsibility to conduct the committal service, which instead of being done at the graveside as it normally is, is going to be conducted right here because of the circumstances, the weather, and both daughters are in a condition that going to the cemetery and even being able to travel from the car across the ground to the graveside would be virtually impossible. And though I had chosen to read some scriptures from John chapter 11 at this point, that's already been done and done so well. So I will read the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and then after I have read these, I'm going to step down and have a prayer of committal. Paul said, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep. See, Paul called it sleep just like Jesus called it sleep. What we call death, he called sleep.

That you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also, which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him? For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep or not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words. If you know the Lord and die, go to sleep in Jesus, then your soul will be immediately with the Lord. Your body will go in the grave as this one will, but not to stay there.

That's temporary. If you are still living upon earth when Jesus returns, and he could return at any time, then your body will be changed from an earthly body into a heavenly body just like that, from what Paul calls in 1 Corinthians 15 a terrestrial body into a celestial body, or what we might call our natural body, the one we are born with, into a glorified body like Jesus had when he came out of the grave. It's a mysterious thing. It was the body that went into the grave, and yet there was a great change that took place. It was now a body that would never die, never decay, never get disease, never experience any pain. It was a body that would now live eternally, and that's the kind of body all will have who know the Lord Jesus, and that will take place at the time of Christ's return. And so at this time we know that Ruth, along with all those who have died in Christ, in a spiritual state, for man is both physical and spiritual. He's both body and soul spirit.

In a spiritual state is with the Lord, and that's not a bad thing at all, but there's more coming because Jesus died not only to save our souls, but also to redeem our bodies, which live under the curse and do die physically because of sin. But he came to raise those bodies, and we shall live forever with him, soul and body joined together eternally with the Lord. And so therefore it's not a bad thing, not a sad thing really, to commit the body of a believing loved one to the ground. In fact, Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 said it's kind of like a farmer planting seed. He plants that seed with the expectation that something better than that one little kernel is going to come out of the ground, out of that seed.

It will come out with a stalk, it will come out with leaves, it will come out eventually with hundreds of more seeds like the one that went in the ground. What goes into the ground must, however, die first. It has to decay and die before this life can be brought forth, but when it comes forth it's going to be connected with what went in the ground, but it's going to be so much better than what went in the ground. And that's the hope of those who know the Lord. Father, we have heard words of life today. We have heard words of hope. Our hearts have been thrilled as we have rehearsed again in our minds the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ who has power to raise the dead, the spiritually dead, and yes, to raise the physically dead. And so Father, it is with great joy, great comfort, great expectation that we will commit to the ground, the body of this here saint of yours, awaiting that glorious time when Christ returns and the dead in Christ shall rise and we shall be forever with the Lord. Father, minister to every heart according to the need we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.