Yeah. Good morning and welcome to Gordon Road Evangelical Church on this day of celebration for the life of Barbara Mary Doust. And we give you a warm welcome. And on behalf of the family, we thank you for coming today and for all your loving expressions of sympathy at this sad time for the family. We welcome friends from Sri Lanka on the live stream and Hannah, your dear daughter from Australia. And good evening to Hannah. We meet again here tomorrow at 11.30 and 6.30. Robin Lacey will be preaching the Word of God, and I will be leading the evening worship. We come to remember Barbara, but also to remember her Saviour. And this is her expressed desire. She commanded me to preach the Gospel, to tell about Jesus and his love for her, and his love for you. So we pray that he will be glorified in our time together this morning. I ask the fellow elder, Colleen Leighton, to lead us in prayer. Thank you. Gracious God, we come before you again to worship, to praise, to make known your name, the glory of your son, Lord Jesus Christ. particularly this morning, remember dear Barbara. Thank you, O Lord, that she was precious to us. Before she was precious to us, she was precious to you. We come to celebrate that fact. We thank you that we do not pray for Barbara because we do not need to pray for Barbara. She, we believe, is with our Savior in heaven, enjoying His immediate presence. But we do need to pray for ourselves, particularly with her family, close family, related family, and many, many friends. We come to thank you for her life. We thank you, Father, for blessing her for so long, through many difficulties and trials of times. We thank you even through those things you brought her. She rejoiced in her garden in Syria. Thank you for the great encouragement she was to many of us. particularly here at Gordon Road, where she worshipped, as often as she could. So I must remember personally the kind things she said to us, the help she was to us, in practical ways, and certainly spiritually. Our loss, in a sense, is heaven's gain. And we rejoice in that. We rejoice in these not just fine words and platitudes. We remember the words of the Apostle Paul, To live is Christ, to die is gain. And it's her great gain, and yea, our great loss. So we pray, Father, for the whole service. We pray for the hymns which Barbara has chosen. She dictated, as Gary said, yea, commanded him to do what he has to do. And we have that clearly written out for us, so we thank you for that. She was purposeful. and a concern for those that she would leave behind. She knew that the heartache that would be, the natural heartache, remember the words of the Apostle Paul, would be sorrow, but not as the world sorrows. As a natural, human, obvious, a problem, a grieving, a sense of loss. And that's our part. But we don't sorrow as those who have no hope. We don't sorrow as those who have no belief in a life after death. We don't sorrow as those who have moved forward to heaven. We rejoice, we sorrow humanly, and we rejoice in the great truths of Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ has said, I am the resurrection and the life. We believe that. He proved it. Dying on our behalf and for our sins and rising again for a third day and survive forevermore. He claimed it and he proved it. And we believe it. as did dear Barbara. So we are sorrowful in one sense, yet we want to come this morning to rejoice. There's so much in which we can rejoice, particularly as we remember Barbara. She was not mean and stingy and poor in her blessing of others. We want to be saying thank you, Father. Thank you for the privilege of knowing dear Barbara. Thank you. We pray now that you will bless us throughout our service, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen. As Colin's already intimated, all these hymns were chosen by Barbara. She set out her service. and she prayed much for it. That would be a blessing to all in attendance. So we'll sing the first hymn to God be the glory, great things he have done. ♪ The glory, great things he hath done ♪ ♪ So lofty the world that he gave us his Son ♪ ♪ Who healed in his life an atonement for sin ♪ ♪ And of man the life gave that all may know him ♪ Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice! O come to the Father! Through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. ♪ To redemption the purchase of God ♪ ♪ To every believer the promise of God ♪ ♪ The vilest offender who truly believes ♪ ♪ That moment from Jesus our pardon precedes ♪ Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory. ♪ Great things He hath done ♪ ♪ Great things He hath brought us ♪ ♪ Great things He hath done ♪ ♪ And great are rejoicing through Jesus the Son ♪ ♪ But we're over a fire ♪ And greater will be Our wonder, our transform When Jesus we see Praise the Lord, praise the Lord Let the earth hear His voice Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. For thou to the Father, to Jesus the Son, and give him the glory where he lives here at home. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. I'm Paul, Barbara's son, so I've just got a few words I'd like to say. Anyone who knew our mother will know that he was extremely organized. So it's no surprise that not only had he planned this service, but had also included a resume of her life to help with what to say. Mum was born on the 28th of February 1937 in Llandudno, North Wales. Her father was an accountant and in 1942 the family moved to Surrey because he got the job with the Ministry of Food. She was very much aware of the war and the planes flying overhead. When the flying bombs started coming over London in June 1944, Mum, her brother Douglas and her mother and put on a train her friend did know. They stayed there with their grandparents for the rest of the war. After the war, between 1948 and 1953, she went to boarding school in Berkhamsted. She loved it there, and made many friends, many of whom remained her friends for the rest of her life. She then trained as secretary of the forest for a year, learning typing, bookkeeping, and shorthand, We would often see her using shorthand, which has certainly added a challenge when we were trying to describe a sample of things that she had written. In 1957, our grandfather was CEO of the Whitefish Authority, and as a result, Mum had the excitement of launching a fishing programme, enjoying the responsibility of being the person saying, my name is ship, and swinging a bottle of champagne on the ribbon towards her hub. Her bottle fortunately smashed, but there was the bottle used by her mother on another occasion, apparently did not. Mum's first job was in a solicitor's office in 1955, where she worked as a legal secretary for nine months, prior to going to Guy's Hospital in London to train as a nurse. She qualified as a state registered nurse in 1958, and later finished her nursing career as a staff nurse. She married her father, Philip, who was a doctor in early 1960. And I was born in December 1960, and my sister was born in December 1960. I was born in December 1960, and my sister here was born in September 1962. Our family moved about a lot due to our father's work, living in eight homes in nine years. These included living in Blackheath, Eastbourne, Eltham, Ashford, Worthing, Littlestone, Bright Harbour, and Leon C in Essex. As a result, Mum became an expert house mover, and this probably helped her fine-tuning her amazing organisational skills. Our parents married, unfortunately, broke down in June 1969, We took this to stay with her parents in public dwells. We were there for two years while she applied for a job she could find with accommodation provided. We ended up in Brighton with mum working as a nurse and receptionist to a GP with free accommodation. She would reference the fact that her salary was only £15 a week at that time. The doctor employed her died after five years, so again she had to look for a job with accommodation provided. She was then appointed as the head of the Mothercraft Baby Clinic, which had a children's nursery too. And she was there for 18 years, until she made an abundance, and the business was sold. She was in her element working there, and gathered some wonderful staff around her, many of whom became great friends too. She said she came to know the Lord in 1977. It was while she was working there. I'll pass the things over to my sister. Following this, Mum moved to Hedgesham, all the way kindly bought a house for her to live in. Mum and the family were extremely grateful for all the help in this way. We were also gladly able to help by providing income for Mum as our child monitor. What a lucky boy Jonathan was, a big granny, as his child monitor. And she also looked after my baby as well. Mum joined the Royal Evangelical Church in 1995, and her faith appeared to grow stronger and stronger as time passed. Friends described her as a prayer warrior, and she also enjoyed supporting the church in various ways. I remember her refreshing her keyboard skills so that she'd be able to play the organ in church. She was also in taxi driver service for many people in the church. Occasionally, she would speak in prayer meetings, and she was also a Gideon Bible Helper, assisting with presentations at local schools. When Child Mindy finished, Mum applied for a job, and became Deputy Head of a Christian Care Home in Eastbourne called the Berry Pumroy. And she worked there between 1995 and the year 2000, when she retired. When Child Mindy finished, Mum applied for a job as a Doctoral Director During her retirement, Mum would collect her grandchildren, Jonathan and Hannah, from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, together with their grandfather, to provide them with delicious teas, and they also supervised their homework. They also enjoyed some memorable holidays all together. She then shared responsibility for looking after her mother Muriel, Douglas, who between 2003 and 2010 took the place and then four weeks on, four weeks off wrote her. So they shared the care of their elderly mother as time went on. So even in retirement, the work carried on for Douglas too. Mother was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in March 2019. And as a role model, she's been in the way she dealt with this. in the two and a half years of college. I was so thankful to be able to take early retirement. Russell? My sister was so thankful she was able to take early retirement from April 2019 so that she could immediately support our mother. Mum had many, many friends and keeping in touch with them was quite a full-time job as I discovered in recent weeks. And she cared for these friends and grew more and more as the years went by. She used to receive in excess of 50 birthday cards and even more Christmas cards, which was lovely. During last year, she started hosting regular Zoom meetings for some of her friends who were born remote. And she brought many friends together doing When I talked to her about whether she should start thinking about passing the baton over to somebody else, she would chuckle and say, I like being in charge. Mom enjoyed some lovely holidays with her family and friends, travelling to Canada, Israel, and also many European countries and holidaying in the UK as well. She loved having friends to stay, cooking was another interest which the family have all enjoyed and benefited from and we still use many of her recipes. Mum was always busy and enjoyed keeping her mind active. She did lots of reading and also completed jigsaw puzzles and even sudoku puzzles even though she said she just liked maths at school. She was always up for a challenge. Most of all, she was an avid Brighton Herbalvian fan. Having attended many exciting and some not so exciting matches with my husband Mike, she kept all the results and she knew all of the players' names and would often discuss results with family members, including Douglas, who is a rival Watford supporter. Everybody, so everybody says how exceptional their mother was. But we know that ours truly was exceptional. How inspirational she was in the way she simply got on with whatever life threw at her, still with a smile on her face. Despite needing to work full-time as a single parent while bringing us up, with us loving, caring, clear guidance, we both feel so privileged to have had her as our mother. We simply could not have asked for more, and Jonathan and Hannah, her grandchildren, did exactly the same. What is lovely is that we know that all of you dear friends and family gathered here today would also recognize this. We felt that it was only right that we should acknowledge this by reading some of the many wonderful things that you have said, which we felt also describe a person we love both more adequately than we could do. So, for example, not only was Barbara fun, she was kind, generous, and reliable. To everyone a friend. I'm sure her deep faith helped her through her illness during the last two years. Someone else. Just a better person, always caring, supporting, listening, smiling and advising. She would be sadly missed. She never had a bad word to say about anyone. Barbara has had a deep effect on so many people's lives, her genuine faith and her care and concern for so many. Barbara was such a positive person and such an encouragement to all she came in contact with, and she would be greatly missed by all those who knew and loved her. Barbara was always eager to help anyone. You could always rely on Barbara. Nothing was too big or too small. She would spend much time in prayer for everyone, as well as playing the organ in church, which she loved to do for the Lord. A fine example of Christian living, and would be sorely missed by so many. To start bringing this to a close, I'd like to thank Gary for conducting the service today, as well as the radio and video service, the whole church for their support, and for Maddy today for organising the live streaming. Most importantly, I'd like to thank my sister for the amazing way that she devoted herself to looking after our mum, during her illness and during her very difficult days. I could never have done anything nearly as good as Alison did. As this service is intended to be a celebration, and I know that all of you gathered here today, as well as many in her theatre family watching online, might like to show our appreciation for what Mum brought to each of us in our own lives, so may I suggest a small round of applause for how she joyfully shared our feelings of gratitude for Barbara in the way that she was part of her lives, as we both also share our gratitude for Barbara having been the outstanding mother that she was. I have many happy childhood memories of my beloved sister and father, who being 33 months older than me, felt the responsibility of looking after me when she held my hand when we walked together to my first school in Hinchley Wood, Surrey during the war. Sometimes running back home afterwards when we heard the sound of an air-raid warning. Also, the time spent with her during many Easter holidays, visiting relatives, back in our birth town of London then, North Wales, having earlier been evacuated there during the war to stay with both our grandparents as well as living in the home of our Auntie Nancy. But later in life I remember Barbara as the same caring person when she was working at Guy's Hospital Then later as the manager of a nursery home. And some years after this, the manager, as I'll look forward to being said, got very pommoroy care home in Eastbourne, from where she eventually retired. But not, I might add, from continuing to serve the Lord. If Barbara made friends with anyone, it was for life. She never lost touch with anyone. of her organizing annual reunions with both those she lived with while she was at boarding school in Bourke County, Hertfordshire, as well as those she worked with as a nurse in London. Barbara was a very persistent prayer warrior, a faithful servant of the Lord she so loved for over 45 years, been a very active member of this church family. Her absence and service will be missed greatly for sure. In everything she did, she did it purely to give all the glory back to her savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose presence she now safely abides. The reading comes from John 11, 1 to 29. I'm reading from the New International Version, of God's will. Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethlehem, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hand. So her sister sent words to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick. When he heard this, Jesus said, this sickness will not end in death, no. It is for God's glory, so that God's Son may be glorified through it. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, let us go back to Judea. But Rabbi, they said, a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you're going back there? Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by the world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light. After he had said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I'm going there to wake him up. His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sake, I'm glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. Then Thomas, called Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb before those. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes Lord. She told him, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world. And after he had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. The teacher is here, she said, and is asking for you. When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Let's sing our second hymn next, please, on the sheet. All the way to my Saviour leaves me. What have I yet to ask beside? Thank you. ♪ When my Savior leads me ♪ ♪ What have I to ask besides? ♪ ♪ Can I doubt this tender person ♪ ♪ Who through life has been my guide? ♪ ♪ Can in His divinest comfort ♪ Hear thy faith in him to dwell, For I know what e'er befalling, Jesus, to hath thrown things well. For I know what e'er befalling, Jesus, to hath thrown things well. Pray, my Savior leads me, cheers his mind in love I tread, gives me praise for every child, feeds me with a living bread. Though my weary steps may falter, and my soul athirst may be, I shall from the rock before Thee Now a spring of joy I see, Gushing from the rock before me, Now a spring of joy I see. Oh, the way my Savior leads me, Oh, the fullness of His love, Perfect rest to me is promised In my Father's house above. When my spirit burns in water, Wings it's flight through the realms of day. This my song through endless ages, Jesus sent me on the way. This my song through endless ages, Jesus sent me all the way. Once again, we thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you for those precious memories of your dear mother. And we connect to those as a family of God here, but they were true to our experience as well. And I commend you both for your love and care for your mother, for your provision of a home for her. She told me often that she was truly blessed to have a home such as this and to have a daughter who's cared for her and loved her, even through those difficult days. So we commend you heartily for your faithfulness and your kindness and love to Barbara. And she was a prayer. She prayed much for us as a church, as individuals, Personally, we can testify to that. And she often says to me, I pray for my family, for Jonathan and for Hannah, daily, daily. That's a challenge for us straight away, to pray for one another daily. And she prayed this simple prayer, that you would know her savior. that you would stand where she stands in faith and belief. And she prayed that for the whole family. And she prayed it earnestly. And that has been her desire. And so, she commanded me. Yes, that's the right word. She commanded me to preach the Gospel this morning. What a privilege. To bring the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to your attention. and to those who are Christians, to encourage ourselves in the gospel. Because Barbara had a love for the Savior. And as we can read on the front of our bulletin here, born again, 1977. What does it mean to be born again? I think a passage which Douglas read to us just now, the story of Lazarus, gives us some inkling, some understanding of what it means to be born again. Now that phrase is bandied about, so are you born again Christians? Bit of a joke, bit of a but for many people. But this is central to the Christian faith. Jesus Christ said to a man called Nicodemus, he was a very religious man. He said, you must be born again. He emphasized that truth. You must be born again. This is essential. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. And that way is by being born again. And the Gospel of John brings these truths out very clearly to us. Right at the beginning of the Gospel of John, Jesus meets a man called Nathanael. Now, Nathanael was a godly man, and Jesus finds him under a fig tree. And we read these words very simply. Philip findeth Nathanael, and said unto him, We have found him, who Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. come and see. And that's the invitation to us this morning. You may have your doubts, you may have your reservations, you may have unbelief, but come and see. Examine this evidence which we're going to present to you this morning. Come and see. Put all those prejudices to one side for a moment and come and see. He goes on to say, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith to him, Behold, and this is right indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathanael said unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. Just by that simple statement, I saw you under the fig tree, Nathanael brings his confession of faith. Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under a fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. So right at the beginning of John's Gospel, we have this, I would call it a bookend. You will see greater things than this. And the rest of Gospel of John, we see seven great signs, seven great miracles, and the raising of Lazarus is that last public sign to the Jews that he was and is indeed the Son of God. Lazarus was a beloved friend of Jesus. And there's a lot of detail which we can't go into, but these details point to us that this is historical fact. This actually happened. There are tender thoughts here. And we read here that Jesus loved this family. So we're talking of a family. We're talking of a man, particularly called Lazarus, but of a family, and a family that are grieving because their loved one had passed away. Now, apt for today, we grieve for a loved one who's passed away. And Mary and Martha send messengers to Jesus. He's two mile off, and messages him who you love is dying, is sick. And she expected the Lord Jesus to come immediately to raise him up. She had that belief that he was able. And we read there that Jesus loved Martha and her sister. and Lazarus. I think that's apt for us this morning. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And God has a love for his people. That love is not distant, it's not far off, it's a love which is intimate. It's a love which is personal. And Barbara knew that love. because she came into the realization that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loved her. And he loved her with an everlasting love. And we can take comfort in that. As a family, as the family of God's people, we can take comfort that Jesus loves us. And he expresses that love in a way which is quite remarkable. But contrary to the sister's desire and wish that Jesus would come straight away, he delays. He delays. And why would he delay? And we're told quite simply, for the glory of God. For the glory of God. And Jesus explains the situation to his disciples. He says in verse 11, these things said to him, and after that he said unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall be well. Albeit Jesus spoke of his death, but he thought that he had spoken of taking a rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Lazarus is dead. And there's comfort in those words for the Christian. When we leave this earthly scene, for a Christian, it's as a sleep. It's a rest. We sleep. This is how Jesus portrays death. It's a sleep. It's a rest. And sleep is perfectly harmless. You go to bed tonight. You lay your head upon your pillow. You don't expect to be harmed, do you? You expect to rest. So, in a sense, death is like sleep. It's harmless. Sleep also comes to us as a welcome relief for hard day's work. When you've labored, Whatever your industry is, or your work, your employment, you become weary. And we need rest. And sleep brings rest. And that's what death is for a Christian. It's a rest. In sleep, we lie down to rise again. When you go to bed tonight, you expect to rise in the morning. Although some are taken in their sleep. What a blessed way to be taken. No pain, no sorrow, no agony, no long delay. Taken. But we expect to rise again. We expect to have your normal routine, to go to work, enjoy family and friends, activities. And we sleep with expectation to rise again. And with a Christian in death, we have that expectation that we will rise again. It's a time of rest. The work of a day is done. Sleep also shuts out the sorrows of life. I don't know all of you here, but I'll tell you one thing I do know. You all have sorrows. We all have worries and concerns. And if you're in that blessed position where you have no sorrows or concerns, friend, that day will come. Health issues, sadnesses, disappointments, But sleep allows us to put those sorrows to one side. Yes, they will be there in the morning. Yes, they may wake you early in the morning, in the early hours. But sleep shuts out the sorrows of life, as does death. Barbara has no more worries, no more pain, no more sorrow. She's at perfect peace. So rest, just sleep. and sleep refreshes us for a new day. For Barbara, that new day is now. She's in the presence of her Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. How can that be? How can that be? So sleep, death is not to be feared. But we do fear death. We can't handle death. Death is difficult. Death is hard. Death separates. And death is an intruder. When God created the heavens and the earth, death was not in his plan. One came, a deceiver, the father of lies, and he deceived our first parents, Adam and Eve. And through that, falling to that temptation, through Satan's deception, death came into the world. Spiritual death. So the story of Lazarus has two lessons. The physical and the spiritual. And Jesus says to his disciples, who they thought Jesus was talking about asleep, he says, Lazarus is dead. And that is true of every one of us. if we're not born again. If we're not born again, we are dead. Oh no, I'm not, I'm alive. I'm healthy. I'm here. But friend, it's the spiritual aspect we need to understand. We are spiritually dead. As Lazarus was dead, so are we dead spiritually to God. We have sinned. Or haven't sinned. Do you believe in God? Do you believe in Jesus Christ as the only eternal Son of God? If you say no to that, that's unbelief. That's a sin. And we've all fallen short of the glory of God. So, the consequence of Adam's sin is that We now have a wage. The wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. What an awful wage. What an awful price. Sin, death is an intruder. Death is not natural. This was not in the plan of God. It's an enemy. an enemy of his creation. And we see here the Lord Jesus Christ overcoming that great enemy, death. And he comes to this man's tomb, to Lazarus' tomb. And Jesus says to Martha, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Have you ever considered why Jesus put that statement in those terms? I am the resurrection and the life. You see, we need to be resurrected. We are dead in trespasses and sin. And Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Martha gives a good Orthodox Jewish response to Jesus' question, verse 23. Jesus said unto her, My brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus says, I am the resurrection. This concept of the resurrection at the last day is now here, in the now, in the person of Jesus Christ. I am the resurrection. And friends, that's what we need. That's what it means to be born again. We are resurrected from death. And it's a work that only God can do. Lazarus could not raise himself. Lazarus had no power. He had no thought process. He had no energy. He was dead. He was buried. He was in a tomb. They were told that when Jesus commanded the stone to be rolled away, Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four days. Corruption, physical decay, had taken on to Lazarus. So Lazarus is dead. And Lazarus is corrupt. We are dead spiritually and we are corrupt. We are corrupt in our attitudes, in our pride, in our arrogance, in our selfishness. in our waywardness, in our unbelief. We are corrupt. This is how God perceives us. This is what Barbara believed. This is what Barbara discovered by God's grace about herself. This is what every Christian discovers by the grace of God, that we are dead in trespasses and sin and that we are corrupt. We have a bias to sin. And yet, Martha, she says, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day. And Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. You're living a life, yes, but it's not life in all its fullness, in all its glory and splendor. It's only when you're born again that we come to the fullness of life. And this is what Martha and Mary were to discover, and the disciples, and what every Christian discovers. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. That's the promise of the Word of God. Then the Lord Jesus asked this question to Martha and to Mary, and I'm gonna ask each one of you this question. Whosoever believeth in me shall never die. Believe us, vow this. Do you believe this? This is the most important point, the most important question that each and every one of us here this morning can contemplate and to think about seriously and deeply. Believe us, vow this. And that prompts a response from Martha. She said unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Is that your testimony? Are they the words you can echo? Yea, Lord, I believe thou art the Christ, the promised one, the Messiah, the one appointed, the Son of God. What an affirmation of faith, which should come into the world. And when she said so, she went her way and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, the Master has come and calleth for thee. The Master has come and he calls for you this morning. The Master, the Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, He was appointed to take away the sin of the world. The Master is come. He's come into your heart. He's come into your mind right now. He's prompting you. He's challenging you. The Master has come. And He called it for you. Now this call is the general Gospel call. This is the good news. This is what Barbara has commissioned me to bring to you. the truth of the Word of God. To read further down in the passage, we read there that, when Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And again we read the shortest verse in the Bible, verse 35, and Jesus wept. And again in verse 38, Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, came to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. And why is Jesus grieving? Because he has sympathy, he has empathy. He has compassion upon those who mourn and those who are lost. He has this sense, this universal vision of destruction that the evil one has brought and the pain and the agony and the grief. And Jesus weeps. He weeps. And he groans in his spirit. And Jesus said, take away the stone. And Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time ye stinketh, for ye have been dead for four days. And Jesus said unto her, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe, thou wouldst see the glory of God? He took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, and I know that thou hearest me always, but because of the people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And right there, as Jesus lifts his eyes up to heaven, He's laying all his reputation on the line. All that he claims to be is laid on the line. I claim to be the son of God. And now, this is the point of testing. Can you imagine the suspense? The tension? All relies upon the next words from the mouth, from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he praised his prayer, not for himself, but for all the multitude around him. For many Jews came to bring comfort to the family. And as we are gathered here this morning, these words are for you. They're for me. And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. Lazarus, come forth. And many commentators say, if he just said the word, come forth, the graves would have emptied. But he mentions the name Lazarus. It's personal. Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead, came forth. And he bowed. with barrels on his hands and his feet and grave clothes. His face was bound with a napkin. And Jesus said unto them, Loose him, let him go. This was no ghost, no apparition. This was Lazarus. And when those words, Lazarus, come forth, were declared, those words echoed around that cave, penetrated that napkin into those dead ears, and his lifeblood began to pump once more. and his flesh was restored, and Lazarus, the man, came forth in front of all these many, many witnesses. And that witness runs down through the course of history today, and it comes to each one of us. What's your response to this message? Two responses. We're told, there are many of the Jews which came to Mary and have seen these things which Jesus did, believed on him. That's one response. The second response is that others went to the Pharisees, to Jerusalem, and they gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees of the council and said, what do we? For this man doth many miracles. If we thus let him alone, all men will believe in him. And then one named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it expedient for us, but one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. Two responses, one of belief, and one of hatred, one of rejection. Those are the only two responses that the human heart and mind can muster. I pray this morning that by God's grace and mercy, that your ears, your spiritual ears, may be opened to these words. For this is the word of God. And we looked at Nathanael very briefly at the beginning of his message, and he believed And through the Gospel of John, there are many miracles and expressions conveyed to the people, many truths. At the end of John's Gospel, you read these words in chapter 20. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name. That's Barbara's desire, that you may have life through this name, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, the mighty Prince, the everlasting Father, this Jesus. whom we commend to you heartily. Don't dismiss what I've said. Think about these things. These are eternal issues. And may we leave this place as a believing people. Amen. We'll sing our next hymn, please. And after that, I'll invite Brother Tim Hemmington At closing prayer, Tim was a faithful friend of Barbara's, and they worked together at a nursing home in Horne, and I thought it would be appropriate for Tim to close in prayer for us. Thank you. When peace like a river tendered my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll. When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well. ♪ Well, it is well with my soul ♪ ♪ For Satan should bow me ♪ ♪ For triumph should come ♪ ♪ Let this blest assurance come true ♪ ♪ He guarded my helplessness late ♪ ♪ And has shed his own blood for my soul ♪ ♪ And it is well, it is well with my soul, with my soul ♪ It is well with my soul. I sing of the bliss of His blood. My sin not in power, but the power Is there to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, It is well with my soul. It is well. It is well. ♪ For thee, dear Christ, dear Christ, answer me ♪ ♪ If Jordan above me shall grow ♪ ♪ The land shall be mine ♪ ♪ For the dead, as in life, I will praise thee ♪ It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. ♪ Our Lord is holy, for thy coming we wait ♪ ♪ The spiring of the grave is our call ♪ ♪ The trump of the angel, the voice of the Lord ♪ Bless and rest of my soul. It is well. It is well. With my soul. With my soul. It is well. It is well. Our Heavenly Father, we come to the end of this service of remembrance and thanksgiving for the dear lady who has been such a blessing to so many here. We pray once again for the family in particular that you will comfort them in the coming days. There will be those days when sorrows will roll over them, but may they be mitigated by the wonderful memories of Barbara and all that you have been to them as a family and to us as a church family. We are very thankful that in so many ways Barbara's life was similar to that of her saviour. Her saviour sought to care and to love and to show compassion to all he came into contact with and Barbara in so many ways emulated his life and we praise and thank you for that. We pray too Lord that the prayers that she prayed throughout her life may yet be answered. We pray Lord that we may be privileged to see answers to prayers that she will not see here on earth. We ask, Lord, that those she prayed for will be born again once more may indeed be experienced and that we may look on with wonder and amazement at your grace to them as Barbara had prayed so faithfully for them. So bless us each we pray now. Take us to our homes after the refreshments in peace and safety and lay upon our hearts those things that have been brought before us. May we ponder them seriously. May we consider too that the day will soon come when we must pass the same way as Barbara has passed, and ask the question, will it be a service of thanksgiving and joy, because the one who now has passed away is with the Lord, or will it be one of sorrow, not knowing where that loved one is? We pray, Almighty God, that you lay these things upon our hearts, and that we may experience as Barbara experienced, the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, We ask these things with heartfelt tenderness to each and every one who is listening in to this service. In a few moments, Lord, we pass into the room behind us for refreshments. We pray your blessing upon them. We thank you for the provision of food. We pray, Lord, that you'll bless us in our conversation and those things that you have provided for us. And we ask all of these things in your name and for your glory. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forevermore. Amen.