Rev. Kenneth Duerr's Funeral Service

Ruth Kelly, the Fitchburg, and two sisters, Marjorie Nixon of North Carolina and Audrey Jester of Virginia, and he also leaves six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He was pre-deceased by his wife of 27 years, Jean Dewar, in 2015.

The Reading of James on Faith and Works

Now, in a few minutes, we will give opportunity for any of you that would like to say a word perhaps of remembrance in honor of him after we read some scripture and have some special music. His long-time friend, Earl Kenney, is going to come and read from the Epistle of James.

Make it up here on this side, please.

Good morning. In 1969, Ken Dewar and his young family came to Fitchburg, and he spoke as a candidate at Highland, and I can remember when he came and he spoke, he spoke with great enthusiasm, great I would almost say charisma.

He was called to be our pastor, but I can remember as a young deacon thinking, and we shared that and kind of laughed about it later, that this charisma, this enthusiasm just couldn't carry on. That must have been just something for his candidating message, but it did.

It carried on his whole life. He loved the Lord. He loved people, and he wanted to share Jesus with anyone and everyone who would listen. The book of James was a favorite book of his. He was not only Ken Dewar and a man of faith, he was a doer of the word, and he wanted good works to follow him.

So I've chosen Faith and Works, chapter 2 of James, verses 14 to the end. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed, but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it?

In the same way, faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one good, even the devils believe and they shudder.

Senseless person, are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete.

And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. And he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

In the same way, it wasn't rehab, the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

May God bless his word to our hearing.

Special Music and Invitation for Remembrances

The choir has a number that they've prepared, and so why don't you come up now and we'll have that piece, please. How beautiful. There is a Redeemer.

I'd like to provide an opportunity for anyone here that would like to say a word regarding.

Pastor Dewar. You don't need to come up here, you can just stand in your place there. We don't want to be too lengthy on any one individual because there might be a few of.

Us.

And so, is there one that would like to say something? Yes.

Amen. Okay.

David Bonanza. Someone else? Yes, sir.

Yeah, he told me recently about being given that Cadillac, I think, and he was talking.

About how he was kind of tormented whether to accept it or not. Didn't project the kind of image perhaps a pastor should have. But some men in his church persuaded him to receive it. Yes, ma 'am.

Yes. Amen.

Thank you. Someone else?

Amen.

Thank you. Yes, Ross. Thank you. Yes, sir. Bill. Bill, yes, sir. Someone else? Yes, ma 'am.

Barry, please.

Yes, sir. Yes, Tim. Yes, Raymond. Yes, Barry. Thank you. Need to move on. We'll ask Alan to come and lead us in the next hymn. Hymn number 435 in your blue hymnal, What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

Philippians 4, 6 says, In everything by prayer and petition, present your request to God. What a friend we have in Jesus. Jesus is more than a friend. He's more than a brother. Please stand. Let's rejoice.

Have in Jesus our sins and grief to bear. What we think to God in peace we often fall. We do not care. We think to God in prayer and temptation. Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged.

Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows bear? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Heavy laden, but with a load of care. Precious Savior, still our refuge.

Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despite forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In his arms we'll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there.

Please be seated.

Colossians 3: Christian Character and the Hope of Being with Christ

Mark, come on up.

Mark Gale is a longtime friend of Ken Dewar. He's going to read a portion from Paul's epistle to the Colossians. Thank you, Mark.

Well, good morning, church. Something that you may like to know is that Pastor Ken and my wife and I became very, very close friends. And as many of you know, Pastor was from Brooklyn, and I was from the Bronx.

And if you know anything about Brooklyn and the Bronx, you know that I don't know how you feel about modern day miracles. But perhaps it could have been one that we all became such close friends. And I'll assure you that there was plenty of Brooklyn left in Pastor Ken Dewar to set straight this wise guy from the Bronx.

So my wife and I are very fond of this portion of scripture because it is the very heart and soul of this humble, faithful servant of God. As you know and has been said many times, he loved his Savior, he loved the church, he loved his family, and he loved you.

Listen closely, and you will hear the ministry and purpose of Pastor Ken Dewar. And I'll be reading this passage from one of Pastor's favorite translations. Colossians 3, beginning in verse 12. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has agreements against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.

Singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Loved ones and friends of Pastor Ken Dewar, he is not in a gorgeous box, beautifully made, adorned with flowers.

He's with his Savior. Praise God and rejoice. Thank you very much.

The Christian Hope of the Afterlife and the Resurrection of the Body

I realize our service is a little bit prolonged this morning. I do have a message that I want to bring us. And I feel compelled to do so because, you know, before me are Ken Dewar's favorite people, right?

Family, friends. And I'd hate to have to give an account to Pastor Dewar one day and not having represented the Word of God rightly before you. So may the Lord help us as we consider these matters. Quite often we hear the words on occasion like this.

I hear it all the time. Well, he's now in a better place. And that's certainly true. We would concur with that pronouncement. If we're speaking, of course, of those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who have salvation.

But I suspect that if most of those who voiced that statement were queried as to the nature of that better place, they might be rather hard-pressed to go into any detail whatsoever. I mean, I imagine it would be all over the map as far as what people think that better place is like or what life is like beyond this life on this earth.

And so I thought it might be helpful for us to consider what the Word of God, the Holy Bible, reveals about the afterlife of those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And with particular, of course, focus upon Ken Dewar and what he is now presently experiencing and what God has promised that he will yet experience.

And so I want us to first consider what occurs with the believer in Jesus Christ, the true believer in Jesus Christ, upon his death. The Word of God teaches us that God made man and woman in his image.

We're special as God's creatures. He made us in his image that we might be like God in some remarkable ways. We are able to show as human beings in a finite way what our infinite God is like. And so we're his image bearers.

Every human being is the image of God. And therefore every human being is to be regarded and treated with dignity and honor because God made him, God made her. Every person is capable of reflecting in a measure what God is like.

And so this understanding of the biblical concept of personhood should shape our thinking, our value system, our attitudes toward people everywhere. People are to be regarded and treated with dignity.

God made every person comprised of two major components. God gave to man a physical body, but God also has given to man an immaterial soul. And so soul and body, oftentimes in the Holy Scriptures the soul is referred to as one spirit, one soul and one spirit.

And that soul or spirit animates the physical body, gives life to the body because life is actually in that soul. And so the body is often described as a dwelling place, a tent in which the soul dwells and manifests true life, the real self.

And so it's through one's soul that we think and feel and relate to others. It's through our physical bodies, however, that we interact and engage the world through our five physical senses. And so we truly live as our souls through our bodies interact with the physical world with other human beings.

And Earl read earlier a passage from James that said, a body without the soul is dead, a body without the spirit is dead. Those two components are terribly important. And so what happened when Ken Doerr passed this last Saturday?

Well, his soul separated from his physical body resulting in his body dying. But the Bible refers to the bodies of believers in their graves as sleeping because of the certainty of God's promise of the future resurrection of the body that God has promised.

One day the Lord Jesus will awaken the bodies of all human beings from the grave, from slumber, enabling them to rise and come before him. The Lord Jesus said to his disciples regarding Lazarus, his friend who had died and was buried for four days, who Jesus was about to raise from the dead, he said, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.

Lazarus was in the tomb wrapped up in grave cloths. And so when Christians die, their bodies become inanimate. Their bodies cease to live, but it's as though they were asleep. They will rise again. That is foundational Christian teaching.

But what of the soul or spirit of the Christian who dies? What happens? Well, the Word of God declares that upon death, the soul is brought immediately into the presence of the Lord. And that's taught in many places in the Holy Scriptures.

In fact, the Old Testament speaks about it in Ecclesiastes 12 .7. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, speaking of the body, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. That's what happens at death.

The Apostle Paul wrote of his preference to depart from this world, this world of pain and suffering, even though he knew that a prolonged life here on earth would be beneficial to Christians whom he could serve.

Nevertheless, he said, my desire is to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And the Christian knows that and believes that, Philippians 1 .23. And in another place, he wrote it even more clear.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we're at home in the body, see, the soul at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased, rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

So the real self, the soul, animates the body and then departs from the body and goes to be with the Lord. Well, what is the state of the soul of the Christian after death upon separating from the physical body and becoming present with the Lord?

What is the state of that soul? Well, I might cite a word from our own church's confession here that reflects historic Protestant understanding of the Holy Scriptures. And it describes what happens when the Christian dies.

And it reflects, we understand, the teaching of Holy Scripture. The bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption, but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence or existence, immediately return to God who gave them.

We just read Ecclesiastes 12 .7 that says that. And then listen to this statement, very important. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise where they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.

Now, in this paragraph, it also speaks about the fate of the wicked, quite graphic terms. The souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day.

And besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none. Beside those two places. By the way, again, this is a reflection of a Protestant statement of faith.

And when it says, besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none, it really is a repudiation of the doctrine of purgatory that the Protestants, of course, declared was not taught in the Holy Scriptures.

But the point being made regarding the Christian is that upon the death of his body, his soul immediately returns to God who had given him his soul. Life comes from God. Well, in the statement that we read, several truths are stated.

And we could reason from Scripture, show support from Scripture that they're true statements. I want to just consider several of these. First of all, we read that the soul of the Christian is made perfect in holiness.

In order to dwell with God in eternity, we need to be holy as God is holy. The Scriptures speak of that many times. This means that we need to be pure from sin, for sin cannot dwell in God's holy presence.

Now, we cannot be infinitely holy as God is infinitely holy, but through the salvation that God gives us freely in Christ, we can become holy in a finite way. Through the salvation that God gives us freely through Jesus Christ, in fact, we must become holy or we'll never be able to dwell with God.

And this can't take place until our souls leave these fallen bodies. Because in this life, in this body, we have this problem of sin. Paul expressed his longing as every true Christian desires to be holy before the Lord, that is, to be able to live without dealing with sinful temptation, committing sinful acts, being delivered from sinful thoughts.

In fact, in this life, Paul knew it wasn't possible for him. Paul, the great apostle, described his own condition. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? He knew as long as he was in this fallen physical body, he was not going to be a holy man to the degree he'd like to be.

But then he affirmed, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 7, 23 and 24. And so when the soul of the Christian is separated from his body and death, he steps over that threshold into a whole new realm of existence.

No longer is he plagued with a guilty conscience, nor does he feel the sting of separation of his soul from God, for he is then holy, as God is holy, even perfect in holiness. And that's one of the wonders of the present existence that Ken Dewar is now enjoying.

He's been made perfect in holiness. But a second truth is made in this statement of faith that reflects the teaching of the Holy Bible. It declares, secondly, the soul of the Christian is received into paradise.

That's interesting. He's gone to a better place. What kind of better place? Paradise. Again, the statement reads, the souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise.

The Lord Jesus gave a glorious promise to the dying thief, who was hanging there on a cross next to him. When this thief repented of his sin and believed on Jesus as Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom, Jesus.

Jesus said, assuredly, verily, verily, I declare to you, today you'll be with me. Where? In paradise. And that was the promise of Jesus to a believing thief. To what was the Lord referring? What is paradise?

Well, the Lord was speaking about a restoration of his people to paradise, which mankind had lost way back in the beginning, back in Genesis 2 and 3, the story is accounted. When Adam and Eve, our first parents, were dwelling in a garden paradise.

And the Lord Jesus was saying that when souls depart from their bodies, those who know him as Lord and Savior, meet him in paradise, as it were. They go to paradise. And so paradise is a reference to a beautiful and expansive garden, a restored garden of Eden, greatly enhanced and expanded, I would think, which is filled with everything pleasant and beautiful.

In fact, our Lord in another place declared to a local church in Revelation 2, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes, I'll give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

We don't have the time. We could turn to Revelation 21, 22 and read about this paradise. We don't have time. But we do know that it must be an amazing, wondrous place, filled with beauty that will astonish the eye and delight the soul.

And so I would argue, I would reason, that our brother Kenneth Dewar is now in this beautiful garden paradise. Can you fathom it? But what is his greatest delight in this place? Well, there's a third statement that is made.

The soul of the Christian is with Christ. That's what makes paradise, paradisal. Again, the confession rightly says, the souls of the righteous being made perfect in holiness are received into paradise where they are with Christ.

Adam and Eve had enjoyed great pleasures in that original garden of Eden. They would labor all day, laboring joyfully, serving God in the garden, again in the midst of the beauty of that place. But the thing they enjoyed most was in the cool of the day, after the day's work, they would hear the voice of God walking in the garden, coming to commune with them.

And then they would commune with God. And we would understand that as a manifestation of the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God from eternity, walking with Adam and Eve in that paradise garden.

They would commune with him. Again, Jesus told the believing dying thief, verily, verily, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. That's what makes paradise, paradise, is to be with Christ.

Kendur is now with Jesus Christ. Perhaps walking with him, I don't know how it all plays out, it wouldn't be too hard for God, but perhaps he's walking with Jesus in this beautiful, serene garden paradise.

Ken is communing with his Savior, whom he proclaimed faithfully throughout his life to us. What else may we say about the state of the Christian upon death? Well, fourthly, the statement says, the soul of the Christian sees God.

Again, the statement we read earlier records accurately this truth, the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness are received into paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God in light and glory.

Now, it's true that now through faith, and then in sight, we'll see God in the face of Jesus Christ, but then probably we will also see, I believe, in some way, I don't know how, a manifestation of the presence of God the Father, I think.

Perhaps it will be as John saw in Revelation 4, when he was caught up to the throne room of heaven. Immediately I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne sat in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he who sat there was like a jasper, and a sardius stone in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald, or perhaps as Isaiah described, seeing God.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple, and then he described the scene, the seraphim, the angels flying about, the train of the robe of God, reflecting the glory and authority and power of God, filling the entire temple room of heaven.

So what is the state of the soul of the Christian after death, upon separating from the Christian body, becoming present with the Lord? Again, this word of our church's own statement of faith declares the biblical teaching clearly.

The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, where they are with Christ. They behold the face of God in light and glory, and then this last statement is quite telling, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies.

You see, going to heaven is not the end of all things. It's not the realization of all of God's promises in salvation. The soul of the Christian who is in heaven, upon parting from this body, is desiring and waiting for the future resurrection of the body.

Oftentimes you'll hear Christians, you know, they'll talk about leaving this life and going to be with the Lord, as though that were the end of all things. It's not. It's certainly a time and place of blessing, but it's not the end of all things.

They're waiting for the full redemption of their bodies. And that's what Pastor Dewar is waiting for right now. Even though he's with Christ, he sees God, he's in paradise, there's still a longing, there's still a desire, because again, true life cannot really be experienced apart from the soul animating a body, a body in which through the five senses can really engage and relate to the physical world.

And God has promised one day that he's going to provide bodies for his people, and that when the Lord Jesus returns a second time, he's going to bring the souls of those with him, and he's going to raise their bodies from the dead, and their souls are going to be reunited with their bodies, and then their full salvation is in joy and complete.

And so the Apostle Paul wrote in one place, we're waiting for the full redemption of our bodies. This is a very important teaching. Paul himself wrote of the blessing of departing to be with Christ. We read about that earlier.

But he didn't just want to exit from this body to be with Christ. He was looking forward to the time when he would have a new body given to him, one fitted for eternity. And so again, to read what Paul wrote, we know that if our earthly house, speaking of his body, is destroyed, we have a building from God.

That's a reference to the new body. A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, for in this we groan. He's describing his life now. Earnestly desired to be clothed with our habitation, which is from heaven.

He was earnestly desiring the glorified body, the same kind of body that Jesus has, when he came forth from his tomb that first Easter Sunday. Paul went on, If indeed have been clothed, we shall not be found naked, for we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed.

He says, I don't want to be a soul apart from a body. I don't want to be as unclothed, but rather further clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now he who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the spirit as a guarantee.

Paul did not want to exist apart from a body. He desired a glorified body, one that God has prepared for his people, that will enable them to dwell with him and with one another in eternity. So the Holy Scriptures speak about salvation, not just of the soul, but salvation of the body as well.

So Romans 8 speaks, We who have the firstfruits of the spirit, we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Eastern philosophy says we need to escape our bodies and have some kind of spirit existence.

No, no, no.

The Holy Scriptures say that we need to escape this fallen body, but to have a resurrected body, a glorified body fitted for eternity. And those that have died and gone with the Lord, and they're with the Lord right now, they have not yet received that blessing.

They're anticipating it. They're waiting for it, as the Scriptures declare the redemption of the body. And so one day the Lord's going to return, and he's going to call forth the dead out of their graves.

And not just Christians, but all people will be raised from the dead. On that day for the Christian, there is a shout that's given out, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting?

Oh, Hades, where is your victory? The Lord Jesus himself declared that he would raise people on the last day, John 6. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he's given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

This is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. The Scriptures teach that God has appointed a day, the last day, when he will raise the dead.

And that day's coming, hopefully sooner than later. So let's lastly, again given the time, let's consider what happens, or what will happen on the day of the resurrection. So very important. In contradiction to a great deal of claims of many sincere Christians who teach about the end times, I would argue the Bible presents a future scenario quite differently than what they espouse.

Frankly, there's a great deal of error, and I think ignorance about biblical prophecy. It's commonly claimed that the resurrection of the dead of the righteous and the resurrection of the dead of the unrighteous will take place a thousand years separate from one another.

But I would argue that the Bible speaks about a single day, a last day, and a general resurrection of all the dead, and then a general judgment of all mankind that are brought before King Jesus as judge.

And on that great day, he is going to separate his people from all others. The Lord spoke of this in John 5. Do not marvel at this. The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, as God defines good, onto the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, as God defines evil in his word, to the resurrection of condemnation.

So on that day of judgment, he'll judge all mankind according to what they've done in this life. Every one of us will be judged according to our works. The Lord Jesus said every idle man, every idle word that men speak, they'll give an account of in the day of judgment.

Paul wrote that we will give, even the secret things of our heart and mind will be brought forth on the day of judgment. Everything will be judged according to our works. But with regard to Christians, those who know Jesus Christ, their works will not condemn them on that day, but rather their works will show forth evidence they were true believers in Jesus Christ.

Those who are without Jesus Christ as Savior will be judged and condemned by their sins, and their works will condemn them. Every law, every infraction of God's law ever committed will give an account of on that day.

No act of injustice throughout all of history is going to go undealt with on the day of judgment. God's going to bring forth the books and set things right, and everybody's going to receive what they deserve.

Except for Christians, they don't get what they deserve. They get glorious forgiveness of sins and salvation freely secured to them through their Savior, Jesus Christ. That's the wonder of it all. We're not talking about self-righteousness here in any way at all.

We're not talking about salvation by works in any way whatsoever. It's salvation by grace, holy and totally. The Lord Jesus spoke of this final judgment in many places in many ways. The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while men slept, his enemy came, sowed tares, or weeds, among the wheat, and went his way, describing the course of this world.

When the grain had sprouted, produced a crop, then the tares also appeared, so the servants of the owner came, said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares? He said to them, An enemy has done this.

The servant said to him, Do you want us then to go and gather the tares up? He said, No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot some of the wheat. Let both grow together until the harvest, and the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

A general judgment separating all mankind. On the same occasion he said, The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea. He gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore, sat down, sorted the good into containers, but threw away the bad.

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. Scary words. And in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then much later, Matthew 25, he said these words, When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he'll sit on the throne of his glory. Speaking of his judgment throne. And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

And he'll set the sheep on his right hand, the goats on the left. And the king will say to those on the right hand, Come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

And he'll say to those on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and the angels. This is Jesus speaking, just before he was arrested.