Well, let's unite just briefly in a word of prayer together. Let's seek the Lord. Our Father and our God in heaven, we come into thy presence through the Son, the Son of God, the one who loved me and gave himself for me. We come, Lord, with our hearts solemnized into this place of public gathering. We come with thanksgiving upon our hearts for all that grace did in the life of our dear friend and sister, Mrs. Linnistrong. We pray, Lord, now as we come to worship thee, Thou wilt assist us by the Spirit and grant, dear God, a rich sense of Thy presence among us. Even as we gather in this place of public worship, we offer prayer through the Savior's precious, wondrous, and holy name. Amen and amen. On behalf of the Strong Family Circle, let me take this opportunity just to thank all who have joined them for this service of thanksgiving for the late Mrs. Glenna Strong. Whether that is in the house of God or whether you're watching online, we welcome you in our Saviour's holy, precious and lovely name. I know that your presence here at this service, and for those who did make it to the committal service, your expressions of genuine sympathy in recent days, I know have been a tremendous comfort to them as a family circle. As the minister of this congregation, I want to, on behalf of the elders, the committee, the church family to extend our sincere Christian sympathies. First, to Glenys' husband, Ralph, for the last 55 or 52 years. Brother, we're praying for you in this time of your sorrow. To Glenys' children, Katrina, Ewan, and Glen, as well as to her son and daughter-in-law, to Nigel and Ella, Atlantis' grandchildren, to Scott, Timothy, Madison, Cameron, Amanda, Michael, we express to you our sincere Christian sympathy. Expressions of sympathy are also extended to all of the Strong family and the McNeill family members who are present with us today, as well as to friends and to neighbors who knew Mrs. Strong. We assure you of our prayers in coming days. May the God of all comfort be pleased to grant to you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. It was Solomon who said in Ecclesiastes 7 verse 2, it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his heart. Today as God has brought us in his providence and sovereignty to the house of mourning by which we are reminded of God's sovereignty in death as well as in life. I pray that the reality of our own day of death, the sureness of the final judgment and the greatness of God's unending eternity will cause our hearts to be solemnized at this service of thanksgiving. We want to lift our voices in praise to God in the singing of our first hymn on the order of service. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned on unclean. And I want to say that you are not to drag this hymn. Okay? Glennis was my organist for ten years and one thing that she detested was the dragging of hymns. And so we're not going to drag the hymn out so we're still singing it at four o'clock. Okay, so let's sing to the glory of God. And if you're a Christian, you lift your heart and praise to God. I stand amazed in the presence. And I think we should stand as we sing this hymn. Let's worship God as we sing to God's praise. Let's stand and let's have good singing now. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be! How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love to me! Forbid was in the garden He drank not my will but thine He had no tears for his own Agrees but swears drops of blood for mine How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. I came from the world Let's sing it now. How wonderful is my Savior's love for me! He took my sin and my sorrows, He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary, And suffered and died alone. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is thy Savior's love for me. His face I at last shall see. Twill be my joy through the ages, To sing of His love for me. I'm marvelous, I'm wonderful, And my song shall ever be. Let's seek again the Lord in prayer. Let's just commit the service of thanksgiving to our God in prayer. Let's seek the Lord, our gracious and loving Father, through the wondrous name of Jesus Christ. One of whom we've been singing about, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, the very Son of God. We now, by faith, enter into God's immediate presence through our mediator and our advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. We rejoice in redemption, that which we've been singing about this afternoon. We thank thee for the song of the redeemed. We rejoice in those O God, who know the Savior, and who can sing from a heart that has been saved and regenerated by the Spirit of God, we come now into thy courts and into thy presence, acknowledging that thou art God, and beside thee there is no other. We acknowledge that thou art sovereign, in life and in death. Lord we're very aware that such a meeting as this was not on our schedule for this week and yet God in his wisdom has taken to himself the soul of our dear friend and sister, Mrs. Glynis Strong. We thank thee that she is with thee. She's with Christ, and for that it is far better for her. Lord, she's left this world of sin and sorrow and sickness behind. She's entered into the joy of the Lord. She's heard the well done of God. She's entered into her eternal reward. She's won the crown. She wears the palm of victory. She looks upon the face of her Saviour. We bless thee that she has taken on His very likeness. She's with the spirits of just men made perfect. She sings as she never has sung before. She worships as she has never worshipped before. And we rejoice in this. We thank Thee for the day and the hour when she came to faith in Jesus Christ. We thank Thee, Lord, that Thou didst reveal Thyself to her in the Gospel, that Thou didst show her her lost and sinfully state, that Thou didst show her her need of a Saviour, that Thou didst bring her to express and to cast and embrace herself and embrace the Christ of God in the Gospel. We thank Thee, Lord, that it wasn't just a date in the calendar Lord, but we thank thee that it was a life lived to the glory of God. We thank you for the service that she gave to thyself and to the church of Jesus Christ. We rejoice in all of the lives that she touched and ministered, those lives that she maybe knows nothing of. And yet, Lord, we think of the words in the Revelation, that their works do follow them. They rest from their labors, their earthly labors. but their works do follow them. We pray that thou wilt answer unanswered prayers that she offered in the name of Christ. Lord, that thou wilt come and work by your Spirit. We thank thee for the family. We thank thee, O God, for a husband who loved Glenys dearly. Thank thee for the 52 years that thou didst give to them. of married life. Thank you for the children that thou didst gift into the home. We pray, O God, for each and every one that thou wilt comfort them in their time of sorrow. And, Lord, we pray, as we thought around the grave, we thank thee that we sorrow not as others who have no hope, but we sorrow, Lord, in hope to know that those who know thee will be reunited with those who die in Christ. on our own day of death. Pray, Lord, that thou wilt speak into hearts this afternoon and grant, dear God, even a blessing from heaven. Pray for the Spirit of God to be very evidently among us. And may the power of God be upon the Word as it is brought to our attention. And so answer prayer and continue now to be with us. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious and worthy and holy and wonderful name. Amen and amen. Over the last number of days I know that words of comfort and expressions of sympathy have been given to the family circle, whether that's through text message, maybe a sympathy card, a telephone message, but no greater place could we turn to for comfort than to the Word of God. Romans, we're told, and concerning the comfort of the scriptures and what comfort we find therein. And so I want to read just a number of portions from the Word of God. Turn to John chapter 14 first of all. These are words that the Savior said to his disciples, let not your heart be troubled. Ye 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 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 saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give on to you, not as the world giveth give I on to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And then words that the Apostle Paul would write to the Roman believers. Romans chapter 8 in the verse number 31. What shall we then say to these things? If God before us Who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again. who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And then I read from the book of the Revelation, The chapter 21 where we read, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true. And he said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things. I will be his God, and he shall be my son. That's often where the preacher stops reading. But in faithfulness to your soul, I must read the next verse. But the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." May our hearts be solemnized as we consider the Word of God as it has been read in our hearing this afternoon. The family have provided a tribute and I want to read it out and I want to thank the members of the family for their cooperation and their input with regard to this special tribute for our dear friend and their dear mother, wife and grandmother. It reads as follows, we as a family would like to express our sincere thanks to Dr. McBride and the rest of the medical staff of both Resharken Health Centre and Causeway Hospital for their care and attention that they have given to mum over the last number of years as her health has regressed. We'd also like to thank the Reverend Stewart for his help today and for the support that he has given to both mum and dad. Thanks also to Andrew McMullen, and the staff for helping us sort today for his care, professionalism and the attention that he has given to all our queries and requests. Thank you to Clare for playing the organ. Aunty Glynis would have wanted you to help today and we appreciate how hard it has been for you to do that. She was just telling me that she was one of her students and we certainly do acknowledge that today. Thanks also to Jackie and her team for the tea which is waiting for everyone after this service. We haven't even begun to process what life is going to be like without the wee woman but it has been a comfort to read all of your kind messages and cards and comments and hear your memories of her. She was small, but she was a determined woman, or as we would always say, that's the wee Thra MacNeill coming through. I didn't write this. But I concur. We want to thank God for giving her 72 good years and for allowing us to be part of some of this. She had a lot of patience, she kept us all right and especially dad for the last 52 years. She did everything, paid all the bills, filled in every form, made sure they were on time for all their appointments. She made sure his shirt and tie matched and that he had one left shoe and one right shoe every Sunday. She cooked him fish for his dinner every day, even though she couldn't eat a drop of it herself. Her love of music has been mentioned a lot over the last few days. She taught a lot. of you to play the piano but never managed it with the three of us. She probably knew that it was pointless for we didn't put in the practice. Although Glenn, I believe, can play a few lines, I don't know if he'll give us any rendition this afternoon. She loved training choirs and could pinpoint the poor soul that was not singing in tune from 10 pieces and they would get the look. I'm sure there are many tales to tell of the choir practices from Ballymunny Church, not to mention the practices of the mass choirs that she led at both the 40th and the 50th anniversaries of the Free Presbyterian Church. She was immensely honoured to have been asked to take on that role, and like with everything, she wanted it to be perfect. She even made them change the seating arrangements in the Odyssey, as it was then, so that the choir sections would be able to blend better together. She used her musical talents in singing as well. Many of you remember her singing in the Ulife Quartet with Pearl and Moira and Christine. They sang together Church's Missions and numerous concerts with the Reverend McCrae and the Reverend Fred Greenfield. There were many laughs and many mishaps on their travels, but they all just wanted to share. the message of the Savior's love. Mum and Pearl kept on as a duet for a few more years after this, but we haven't been able to get them to give us one more rendition. Mum knew her voice just wasn't as strong as it used to be, and nothing but perfect would have been allowed. She helped Katrina, Vivian, Don and Sharon when they started up their group and was always on hand to suggest a few hymns, writing an extra verse of a hymn or to point out what needed to be improved. She helped Nigel when he started out singing too. And even when he was down with Crawford Bell to record his first album, Mum stopped him more times than Crawford Bell did and made him sing the verse all over again. She loved playing the organ here in Portland, Owen. And we knew it was a good way of telling if she was in a bit better health or not. She knew she really wasn't well if she didn't make it up the aisle and onto the organ still on the Lord's Day. She played many Sundays with her eyes closed. Her double vision meant that she couldn't even see the music in front of her, but she didn't need it anyway. It was all up there. She kept telling us she was going to retire, but the day never came. She was a devoted wife, a godly mother, and the world's best grandmother. We only knew after her and dad had gone home about the money she had slipped into the grandkids' hands each and every time she saw them. That's the kind of grandparents you want. So it is. It gave her great joy to see them and to listen to their stories and to just spoil them rotten. They usually got more presents from granny than anyone else at Christmas and on their birthday. She said she was allowed to spoil them because that's what grannies are for. She would even put on shin guards and stand in nets while Scott and Timothy played football in the garden, which took her back to the days playing school hockey, wearing her brother Billy's football boots. She had quite a few jobs over the years. She started work in McKelty's opticians in Ballymena. And if you handed her your specs, she could tell you from the lens what your prescription was. For a time after she was married, she worked in the office of McAdeary's in Ballymoney, taking a break to have the three of us. When we were a bit older, she came back to work doing the accounts in the office work for Getty and Gilmer, Clark's contractors in Kilray, and finally in Campbell's chemist in Ballymoney, where she formed great friendships with the girls that worked there. The only other job we can remember having was a music teacher on a Monday in the independent Christian school. Like in every other school, a music period was seen as less work and I don't think mum's lessons were any different. She just enjoyed getting the keyboard plugged in and singing with the different classes. She finally stopped working to look after her parents in their final years in Recharkin. Mum was always active from keeping the house in order as well as running after three children, one in particular with a wooden spoon, but we'll not mention any names who that was, the big yin. She wasn't afraid of getting her hands dirty. but she was afraid of the frogs when she was filling a peat bag or 200 in the moss. Even after taking a long time to recover from an operation when she broke her tailbone, missing the office chair one day and falling straight onto the concrete slabs, she showed her strength and spirit and sense of humour. She soldiered on, as she used to say. There's a lot that we could mention that she did over the 79 years and I'm sure There will be many memories come back to us in the days and the weeks ahead, but I know that she was loved. We know she was loved, and was loved by not just us, but by all of you gathered here today. She's resting in the arms of her Savior, and we wouldn't want her to be anywhere else. I just hope that everyone here today will be able to sing with her in God's choir in the sky. Well, we appreciate that fitting, and that's much heartfelt tribute provided by the family circle. Can I just add my own words of tribute? My memories of Mrs. Lenna Strong go much further back than the 10 years in which I have been the minister of this congregation. My first recollection of Glynis Strong is whenever she came with the other members of the New Life Quartet to sing at my home church in Macrafelt many years ago. As a young boy just sitting in the pew, I was always intrigued with the musical instrument that Linus was strumming away on. I'd never seen one before in my life as the ladies sang together. I was too young to sing in the 40th anniversary of the Free Presbyterian Church in the King's Hall, but I was old enough to sing at the Whitefield Choir. where Glynnis was the choir master. And as the family have said, only perfection would have sufficed. I remember whenever the voices came together for the very first time in some of the practices, bringing together the sopranos, the altos, the basses, the tenors. And I was sitting in the back seat in Macrofelt, and I remember saying, that sounded great. Glenys was behind me. I realized it didn't sound great. I got the Glenys look and I got the Glenys tongue. She said, nonsense. And there was a lot of practice still needed to be done. Glenys became the organist of this congregation during the ministry of the Reverend David Linden. No better, no more faithful organist could a minister have and Linus Strong. She could play. She could play. So much so that people would come early to the church services just to hear her ministry at the organ. I would be walking down the aisle having preached some particular text, some particular topic, but Linus just didn't play any old thing. Glynnis played something that was fitting, suitable. And then she would say, did you hear what I played? Did you hear what I played? And I did. It just married together with the message that I had played. You see, she saw it not as a job. She saw it as a ministry. Never a cross or a fractious word passed between me and my organist. That can be rare. Ministers and organists can have a very interesting relationship. But I must say that my relationship with Mrs. Strong was outstanding. Never a word was ever passed between us. You know, she hadn't been playing as regular as she once did, but a few months ago she said to me at the door after the Sunday evening service, I think I'll give it a go again on Wednesday night. I said, no problem, Linus. I'll just let the girls know and you play away. And she played away that night. I'm sure she had her eyes closed. The vertigo and all meant that she just simply played it from the head. What a blessing it was just to see her once again at the organ. Now she did say to me privately on a number of occasions, you know, Reverend Stewart, I'm thinking about retiring. I never took any notice. I simply took no notice of it. Went in one ear, went out the other, because I knew that it would kill her not to be able to play. It would have killed her not to be able to play. And so we just left the door open to her. Whenever health permitted, her place was to be at the organ of this congregation. There are people in the congregation that are more faithful than the minister, the caretaker, and the organist. And Linus Strong was a faithful organist and a faithful attendee. During COVID, I'm sure we can all remember back to then, Linus would have came to play on the Wednesday night. It was just myself, her, and Ralph. And after I had preached and we had put down the stream from the church, I just said to them, we'll pray together. We'll pray together. What a blessing to hear Glenys pray for her family, her daughter, her sons, her grandchildren, praying that they would know Christ savingly and that they would walk with God. What a blessing that was, just us three. at the throne of heavenly grace. Today, Glynnis enjoys the worship of heaven. I think she was an alto. I'm getting the nod from Pearl. Well, if there's an alto section in heaven, it has gained a member. Gained a member on Tuesday, and now she sings as she never sang before. She sings the song of Moses and off the lamb. Her seat is empty on earth, but her place in heaven is forever occupied. She's with her savior. She has seen him face to face. Now she would be terribly embarrassed about everything that has been said about her. so I say nothing more but simply I want to draw your attention to the Word of God for a few moments and read a number of verses from the book of the Revelation and this time from the chapter number one and I want to read from the verse number one. he sent and signified it by his angel on to his servant john he bear record of the word of god and the testimony of jesus christ and of all things that he saw blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy and kept keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand john to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from him which is, which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and that made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, Let him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall weal because of him. Even so, amen. I am Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the ending saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come. The Almighty. Amen. Let's briefly bow in prayer together. Our Father, we thank Thee for precious memories. We rejoice, O God, for the fact of Thy dear servant who came and put her trust in Christ. And we thank Thee, O God, that she enjoys now full salvation. She's entered into heaven itself. And Lord, as we are on earth, we come no longer to eulogize the dead, but we come to evangelize the living. Help us in this task, I pray. May I be faithful to my charge. as a minister of the New Testament. And may, dear God, I do what Linus would have wanted me to do in preaching the everlasting gospel. I pray this in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen. As I traveled towards the Causeway Hospital on Tuesday morning to be with the Strong family, I found myself thinking about this day, the day of Mrs. Strong's funeral. You see, the news that they had relayed to me on the phone was not the news that certainly I didn't want to hear, and certainly they did not want to relate to me as the family. Doctors had done all that they could, and it would only be a matter of hours until Glynnis would pass into the presence of her Savior. As I drove towards the hospital, I came to think about Glynnis' love of music, and I found the Lord bringing and drawing to my attention words that we have here in the opening chapter of the book of the Revelation. The words that were drawn to my attention were words that the Presbyterian minister by the name of Arthur Tappan Pearson would take and place into his hymn with harps and with viols. As the Apostle John begins to write this book, he opens with this sublime doxology. Unto him who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. It was those words that Pearson employed in the course of that hymn when he wrote, Unto him who hath loved us and washed us from sin, Unto him be the glory for ever. Amen. I want to take the words off the verse number five as my text. Today I want us to simply consider the anthem of the redeemed. the anthem of the redeemed. You know why many consider these words to refer to what the glorified saints sing around the throne of God and it may well be that these words make up part of that praise. Others believe that this is not a song which John heard, but rather a song that wailed up in the heart of John as he thought about all that God had done for him in Christ. It is not a song which came down from heaven, but rather a song that ascended to heaven from earth. This is the anthem of all who have been redeemed. This was and this is Glynnis Strong's anthem. As we consider the words of this anthem, we have to say, first of all, what a person the anthem speaks of. What a person the anthem speaks of. You see, the redeemed, they do not sing about themselves, not like the music artists in the world today. They sing about themselves and their problems and their difficulties. No mention is made of Abraham or David or Peter or John in this anthem, though these men were heroes of the faith, but rather, in this anthem of the redeemed, they sing about only one person and what a person he is. Our text makes it clear that the same songs is centered on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto him who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Who is the him at the end of the verse number five? Well, his identity is given to us in the opening words of the verse, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him, unto Jesus Christ, who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins. Reference to our sins being washed in his own blood. And the verse puts to bed any doubt as to who John is referring to here. Because Peter informs us in 1 Peter 1.19 that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. The sharing of blood in order to redeem sinners from their sin was done by only one person, and that person was the Lord Jesus Christ. It was that person that Glynnis Strong fell in love with as a sinner whenever she came to faith in Jesus Christ. She was only young. She started playing the organ in Resharkin at just 15 years of age. Before that, she had become a Christian. She had understood that she was a sinner. She understood that she was in trouble with God. She understood that she had transgressed God's holy and righteous law. And she came to understand that the only one who could save her from her sin was the Lord Jesus Christ. And there was a moment, a time, a day, an hour, when Glynnis Strong fell in love with this person. This one washed away her sins in his own precious blood. This person of the anthem, really this book, the book of the revelation, is a revelation of this very person. Note the opening words of the very book itself. It says the revelation of Jesus Christ. Many people believe that the book of the revelation is all about the last days. eschatology last things and they do the book does reveal that but if that's all what the book of the revelation is to you i'm sorry you have missed the very thrust of it because it's not a book that reveals eschatology it is a book with regard to the revelation of jesus christ the king of kings the lord of lords the redeemer of God's elect people. And this particular verse that we're considering gives us some details about the person that they sing off and the redeemed sing off in this anthem. Notice that the one that the anthem centers upon is described in verse number five as the faithful witness. This title, the faithful witness, refers to the Saviour in His prophetic office. He is the prophet of whom Moses will speak of in Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, the faithful and true prophet of Jehovah. He is the faithful witness to God and of God to His people and our faithful witness before God as our righteous advocate with God the Father. Not only that, but he is described in our text as the first begotten of the dead. It is a title that refers to our Redeemer's priestly office. If he is the first begotten of the dead, then he must once have died. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and he rose again for our justification and when he rose as our head and represented if he entered in to the holy place once having obtained eternal redemption for us he is described here as the prince of the kings of the earth. It refers to the Redeemer's kingly office. By virtue of his finished work, the God-man has been made sovereign king over the universe. He is the king of kings and he is the Lord of lords. Who is the one that the redeemed sing of in this sublime anthem? It is none other than Christ the Redeemer. It is he who has assumed the offices of prophet, priest, and king for his people. In those offices, Mrs. Strong came to meet him. For as her prophet, he showed her through his word that the only way to God was through faith alone in his dear son, Jesus Christ. as her priest. She comes to meet him in that office, for as her priest he died for her sins on the cross of Calvary. And I better say it right, because she didn't like people saying Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. And there he paid the price of her redemption. He met her one day as king, and the moment she trusted in Christ, He ruled over her and governed her from the moment she put her faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I wonder today, have you met the Lord Jesus Christ in those offices? Have you met Him? Have you come to Him? Have you received Him as your prophet, your priest, and your King? Can you say His prophetic word, I have believed, His priestly sacrifice for sin I have received. His kingly government have I submitted to myself. You see, today Mrs. Strong enjoys the bliss of heaven, not because she was a faithful wife, not because she was a devoted mother, not because she was a loving grandmother. She comes to enjoy the bliss of heaven because she repented of her sin and she believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. She believed that Christ in his life and death and resurrection did all that was necessary to bring her to glory. And she would say, meet me at the throne. Meet me around the throne of God. As we consider the words of this anthem, we say in the second place, what a passion this anthem speaks off onto him that loved us, loved us. The love of God is the most wonderful and the most comforting truth for any mind to contemplate, especially when it comes to God's love for his people. God's word has much to say about God's love. John 3, 16 reminds us of God's love. It's a giving love for God so loved the world that he gave. His only begotten Son. Isaiah 63, 9 reminds us that God's love is a redeeming love. In all their affliction, He was affliction, and the angel of His presence saved them. In His love and in His pity, He redeemed them. God's love is an eternal love. Jeremiah 31 verse 3 reminds us of that. The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. It is a drawing love. Hosea 11, 4, I drew them with cords of a man and with bands of love. It is an unmerited love, the love of God. Hosea 14, 4, I will love them freely, or as the word says, I will love them without a cause, for mine anger is turned away. The love of God is an inseparable love. We read about it in Romans chapter 8, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Like the Apostle Paul, Mrs. Strong could say that the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. I note that it is God's love for us that this anthem focuses on, onto him that loved us. That's the focus, his love to me, not our love for him, but his love for me. What passion, what love God had for his people, a love that was publicly displayed for us at the hill of Calvary. Romans 5 verse 8 reminds us of this. But God commendeth his love toward us that in while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. One of the amazing things that we see in this anthem is that God loved his people before he washed them. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins. Love was the cause of the washing, not washing the cause of the love. He loved us before He washed us. Oh, the marvel of God's salvation. Oh, the mystery of God's grace. Oh, the magnificence of God's mercy. He loved us before He washed us. Can you say that He loves you? Can you say, as Paul said, that Christ loved you and he gave himself for you at the cross of Calvary? God has no greater way of showing you his love than the way he's already shown you. He gave his best when he gave his son to die on the tree. He gave his son over to wicked men who had beat him and who had spit upon him. he would crucify him. What greater love than God's love for sinful mankind. The hymn writer put it well, Jesus' love, precious love, boundless, pure, and free. O turn to that love, weary wandering soul, Jesus pleadeth with thee. In the third instance, what a pollution or what a plague the anthem speaks of. Our text here mentions man's greatest problem, for John refers in verse 5 to our sins, our sins. Sin is a word that has fallen out of fashion these days. People speak of their shortcomings, their character flaws, some unwelcome personality trait that they possess, but not too many people talk about sin. What is sin? The Bible defines sin as the transgression of the law. Whose law? God's law. The scriptures of truth make it clear on more than one occasion that we enter this world as sinners. Ecclesiastes 7.20, for there's not a just man on earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Romans 3.23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 1 John 1 verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. By nature, by practice, We are sinners, we find ourselves thereby polluted, plagued by sin. Sin's contamination runs deep. It reaches into the heart, right into the human soul, your soul. Note that John speaks of our sins in the text, because that's most important, because before you will know the absolving of your sins, you must first acknowledge your sins, your sins, your sins. We must first own our sins before we know the pardoning of our sins. I wonder, would you be willing to own your sin today like Glynnis did those many years ago? Would you be frank and honest enough to confess that you're a sinner in need of God's salvation? What makes today just that little bit easier for this family circle? It's the fact that Glynnis realized she was a sinner. She trusted in the one who died for sins on the cross, and having died in Christ, she is now with Christ. But what about you? What about you today? A family member, a friend, a neighbor, a work colleague, what about you? How will you die? Will you die with your sins forgiven? If you die in your sin, where Christ is, you will never ever be. He said that where I am ye cannot come. Make sure you die with your sins forgiven. Make sure you die as one who's been reconciled to God. In the fourth place we think about the purging the anthem speaks of Christ is said to have washed us from our sin. Sin is that which defiles the heart the soul and the mind of the sinner. In Revelation 21, 7 we're told, nothing that defileth will ever enter into heaven, and thus for any of us to enter into the holy city, we need to have sins defilement washed away, and the blood of Jesus Christ does that. Listen to the words from the evangelical prophet Isaiah. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as well. So effective is the purging away of our sins by Christ that scarlet sins are made as white as snow and crimson crimes are made as white as wool. The extent of the purging is highlighted to us in that word washed. He's washed us from our sins. In the original, it literally means to bathe the entire person. It's a different Greek word than a word that would be used simply for sprinkling, or just simply the washing of hands or of feet. It's as if the entire person is bathed, entirely washed, and that's the wonder of God's salvation. When God purges away our sins, he takes them all away, past, present, future sins. What a purging in this great anthem. He's washed us from our sins. Are your sins washed? Mrs. Strong had her sins washed away. And today she enjoys the fullness of salvation that became hers the day she walked the Calvary Road and had her sins purged away. I know that it was her prayer for many years that all of her family and friends and neighbors would come to know the cleansing away of their sins. Make this funeral service that day. Finally, we consider what a price. What a price the anthem speaks of here. So deep is sin's stain that only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse it away. Our text speaks about washing away of sins in his own blood. Water cannot wash away sin. Holy anointing oil cannot wash away sin. Tears of regret and remorse cannot wash away sin. Nothing, I say nothing but the blood of Jesus can wash away your sin. 1 John 1, 7, tells me that the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Nothing less than the shed blood of incarnate deity was sufficient to secure the sinner's redemption from sin and the washing away of sin. Fanny Crosby, the hymn writer, was aware of the necessity of the blood of Christ for our redemption, and thus she penned the words, redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever I am. What a price, what a price was paid by the Son of God to secure our redemption from sin, the bloody sweat of Gethsemane's garden, the callous smiting by Sanhedrin members in the high priest's palace, the shameful disrobing and the crying of Christ by Roman soldiers in the judgment hall, the merciless scourging of Pontius Pilate at Gilbatha, the cruel affixing of his body by nails to the cross at Golgotha, the pouring out of divine wrath for sin in the darkness of Calvary. What a price. But he was willing to pay the price of our redemption. It's no wonder then that the saints sing about Christ. It's no wonder that those in glory sing about Christ. The price of redemption has been paid And all that is left for you to do is to receive the benefits and the blessings that Christ secured for you by his death upon Calvary's cross. May you enter into those very blessings as you place your hope of heaven and your hope of glad reunion with mother, grandmother, friend, neighbor, wife, in Christ alone. Christ alone. What an anthem the redeemed sing. Unto him who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. I trust that you can say that Christ loved you and that Christ loves you and that your sins have been washed away in His blood. If not, this day is a day that you can, if you would only walk the road of repentance and exercise faith in Christ and in Christ alone. May the Lord bless His Word to our hearts as we think about the anthem of the redeemed. Let's unite in a short word of prayer together. Our gracious and loving Father, we thank Thee that, O God, today we can remember Calvary, that which our sister sang so often about, the cross, the love of the Savior. We rejoice, dear God, that she now beholds Him, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And she lifts her voice in glory to God. And she sings on to him who loved me and washed me from my sin in his own blood. Be glory forever, amen. We pray that others will join the ranks of the redeemed on earth so that whenever death will come, there will be that glad reunion. who answer prayer and take thy word and apply it with power. We pray our prayers through the Savior's precious worthy and holy name. Amen and amen. Before we sing our final hymn, could I just say that the family would love to have you stay for tea after the service. That'll be served in the church hall. Our church hall is quite confined and so if you want to go into the church hall and then bring your food back in to here into the church building that is fine you can do that. If we could encourage you just simply not to take food upstairs if that's possible. There are some 50, 60, 70 seats in the church hall. It will not accommodate everyone. But the family, I believe, they'll go with me after the service is concluded. We'll get them in first and then you can join them in the church hall. We're going to sing a final hymn of praise and as we sing that hymn, We're so glad to have Reverend Maxwell with us today. Reverend Maxwell is Katrina's minister, pastor, and he's going to close in prayer. He's going to give thanks for the food that is provided. But we'll sing this hymn to the glory of God, and we trust that you'll sing it well. What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer? And let's stand to sing and worship God. Thank you, Claire. Let's stand to sing. What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer? There is no more for heaven now to give. my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace. To this I hold my hope is only Jesus, for my life is wholly bound to his. O as strange and divine I can sing, all is mine, yet not I, but for Christ in me. The night is dark, but I am not forsaken, for by my Son, the Saviour, He will stay. is My sin has made me free, and Jesus now and ever is my King. All the chains are released, I can sing, I am free and alive, I'm free. Then regret it, I love thee, Father Jesus. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus. Oh, the glory evermore to give. Oh, when the praises from me fill my ears. I'd just like to thank the family and the Reverend Stewart for the opportunity of being able to share here in this very special service this afternoon. I've known Glynis for quite a number of years as well. And it's through that aspect of her music and her interest in music that I got to know her. I was just checking our visitor's book and she was in our home on the 27th of September. 1992 for supper after service. So that's over 30 years ago. She'd been with us before that. It was just her and Pearl were with us on that particular occasion and Katrina and Lynn were there as well. And so it is lovely just to have this opportunity and look back over all of these years and thank God for her wonderful ministry. and the blessing that that was. To me personally, I love music. Her harmonies were so wonderful, weren't they? And as I said to Katrina, well, they're even more perfect today and how wonderful that is. And we have a wonderful song to sing about, haven't we? The song of the soul set free is a beautiful song, a wonderful song, a song of such victory and triumph, and for that we thank God. We'll just pray together as we close our service this afternoon. Our loving God and Father, we do want to thank you this afternoon for the privilege of being here in God's house, in your presence, and listening to the Word of God. We thank the Lord for the wonderful hope that we find in the message of the gospel. We thank the Lord there's hope for life, there's hope for death, and there's hope for eternity. We thank you, Lord, that this hope is outside of ourselves because in ourselves we would feel. But Lord, we thank you that our hope is that eternal hope that we find in the one who gave himself for us upon the cross of Calvary and died for us, that he might give to us life and life eternal. We thank you, Lord, for that day when you saved Glenys by your wonderful grace. We thank you, Lord, for the song that you put in her heart that day, the song, Lord, that she continued to sing until traveling days were done. And oh God, we just gather, Lord, today and we thank you for your comfort and your grace to this dear family over these days where they were plunged rather unexpectedly into these days. And yet, Lord, we marvel to see God's grace and God's strength. We thank you for prayer that you've been answering for them. We ask, O God, today also that they will continue to know the sustaining grace of God. Lord, that you'll surround them with your arms. May they know something of God's presence with them. And oh God, that hope amidst tears, amidst sadness, amidst loss, Father, that the hope of the gospel will continue to shine and to realize, Lord, that one day we can meet again. in the glory. We commend Lord Mr. Strong to you today. We ask, O God, that you'll especially meet with him, strengthen and comfort him. Remember Katrina and Ewan and Glen. Remember all of the grandchildren and all of the sorrowing family circle. And pray that today, Lord, they'll find great comfort from your word and, Lord, from your presence and from the great hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We thank the Lord for the food that has been prepared for us. And as we fellowship together, we give you thanks for it and pray that together we might enjoy fellowship over these refreshments. And may your blessing be upon us and for the days ahead for this family, we pray that you'll continue to strengthen and encourage and help them. In the Savior's name we pray. Amen. . . ¶ ¶