Keith Grove Funeral

Welcome

Thank you for being here as we remember the Reverend Keith Allen Grove.

A man’s whose legacy is all the things you could hope for:

Faith.

Family.

Service.

Sacrifice.

I am sure that your presence here means more than Kathy and the kids could put into words.

Today is a special honor for me.

This is the first time that I have been the preacher for a funeral for a preacher.

Pastoral ministry is a special thing.

It is so, so hard.

But it is so, so good.

It can treat you bitter.

But most of the time it is sweetness.

It will leave you scarred.

It can make you scared.

But it is one of the greatest privileges and blessing a human could lay their hand on

Keith took up the mantle.

He shepherded souls in the local church.

He helped people die.

He helped marriages.

He helped people fight doubt and discouragement through the preaching of God’s Word.

Today it is a great pleasure to get to help you all remember him.

And it is an even greater pleasure to preach the Gospel that saved Keith’s soul.

Opening Prayer

Lord—You are our shepherd.

Lead us to green pastures and still waters today.

Our souls need your provision and peace.

Give us joy and comfort in the midst of sorrow and grief.

Give us a heart of wisdom that teaches us to number our own days.

Give us strong faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Help us to honor You—Keith’s Savior

Help us to honor Keith—your servant.

In Christ’s name,

Amen.

Scripture (Give brief explanation)

Isaiah 53 ESV

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Song: How Great Thou Art

Eulogy: Family and Friends

Song: Blessed Assurance

Sermon: An Inheritance

Text: Ephesians 1:11-14

Ephesians 1:11–14 ESV

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Introduction

Imagine getting a letter in the mail from a lawyer.

You open it and it informs you that you have a great, great aunt you never knew.

She has passed away and you are the heir in line to receive her massive fortune.

In one moment, you go from a normal person to an abundantly wealthy person.

In a moment, you suddenly have a glorious inheritance on your hands.

What would you do?

Context

This is kind of the way Paul’s letter to the Ephesians reads in the first chapter

Paul is a pastor and church leader writing to a church in Asia Minor in the city of Ephesus

He is giving them reasons for why they should praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

And one of the reasons he gives them is that they should praise God for the inheritance they have obtained

Outline

1. Those who trust in Christ have obtained an inheritance (v. 11-12).

2. Those who trust in Christ are guaranteed an inheritance by the Holy Spirit (v. 13-14).

1. Those who trust in Christ have an obtained an inheritance (v. 11-12).

Four things I want to tell you about this inheritance

This is an Inheritance Earned for Us by Christ.

The inheritance Paul talks about is not one that you could earn on your own

It is not an inheritance that you deserve

In fact we deserve just the opposite.

God

God is the holy and righteous Creator of all things — He made everything. He owns everything. This means He has the right to set the standard for how His creation lives

Since God is holy — He will not overlook sin, the transgression of His standard.

He cannot compromise His justice, and cannot simply wave away wrongdoing as though it never happened

This means that there is gap between a holy God and sinful humanity.

It is not a small one

You cannot bridge it with good works

Man

This is bad news for each of us.

Every human being has sinned against God — willfully, proudly

This is cosmic treason against a holy King,

It leaves every human being guilty before God and deserving of His righteous judgment

The consequences of sin are devastating — spiritual death now and judgment

Eternal separation from God forever

Christ

This is where Christ’s work and earning comes in.

Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who entered human history by taking on human flesh — fully God and fully man

No one else is qualified to stand in the gap between God and man

On the cross Jesus absorbed the full wrath of God that we sinners deserved

He did not just sympathize with us, but took our places and died under the punishment that should have been outs

God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day

Proving everything He claimed

Defeating sin and death

Proving that His sacrifice was fully accepted by the Father

Response

God calls every person to truly turn away from sin (REPENT)

not merely feeling sorry—but a total change of direction

Surrendering the throne of your life back to its rightful King

God calls every person to faith in Jesus Christ (BELIEF)

Not just faith in anyone, right?

Faith in Christ because He is the only One who died for sin and rose again

Those who repent and believe receive forgiveness of sins

They are declared righteous before God on the basis of Christ's saving work

They are indwelled by the Holy Spirit who begins transforming them and making them more like Jesus

More on this in a moment

And according to Paul in v. 11—We also get an inheritance.

What is that inheritance?

It is everything that Jesus died to give you.

A relationship with God Himself

God becomes your portion and your Friend and your Father

Salvation in its fullness

You are saved from God’s wrath and you become His child forever

Eternal Life

You are given abundant spiritual life NOW

A life of worship free from sin and suffering in the AGE TO COME

Heavenly Life

A glorious existence with God in the intermediate heaven

For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord

A glorified existence with God in the New Heavens and the New Earth after Jesus’ return and Final Resurrection

There is simply no good work you can do to earn any of this

It can only be yours in Christ.

We believe Keith has laid hold of this inheritance

He is experiencing the golden blessings of this promise

But it was not because he was a good dad

It was not because he was a good preacher

It was not because he was a good citizen

It was because he turned from his sins and followed Jesus in faith.

This is an Inheritance Reserved for Us in Christ (v. 11)

It is no different for you.

Like Keith, YOU must be united to Christ by faith if this inheritance will be yours

When someone is united to Christ by faith they are:

Ushered into the family of God

You get adopted in and become a child of God

Ephesians 1:5 ESV

he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

You become an heir

Just as the blessings and promises of an earthly father in a will go to his children as an inheritance, the blessings and promises of our heavenly Father go to His spiritual children

And who are His spiritual children?

Those who are IN CHRIST by faith

This is the testimony of Keith’s life

He was united to Christ by faith

Because of that, the blessings of heaven were reserved for him IN CHRIST

This Inheritance was Planned for Us by God (v. 11)

Paul says this inheritance was predestined according to God’s purpose who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

The inheritance is planned. Foreordained.

God’s decision to save a people for Himself and give them an inheritance was not impulsive.

It is not knee-jerk.

It is not improvised.

His plan predates time as we know it, much less our little lives

This means that when it comes to the Reverend Keith Allen Grove, God planned out the great inheritance he is receiving before he spoke the sun into existence.

This is why our Lord’s Word can say:

Psalm 116:15 ESV

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

It is precious to God to give His people what He has promised them from before tim

This Inheritance is for the Glory of God (v. 12)

Why has God chosen to love people and save them and give them an inheritance?

That His name may be praised!

This is what Paul says about the goal of God’s will:

...so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory.

God has done all of this in order to put His:

Power

Majesty

And Holiness...

...on display.

And as his people, like our brother Keith, respond to His grace with praise in this life and the one to come, God gets His glory.

As the angels behold God saving sinners like Keith through Christ, God gets His glory.

And He will continue to get that glory from His redeemed children for all of eternity.

2. Those who trust in Christ are guaranteed an inheritance by the Holy Spirit (v. 13-14)

You might wonder—how do we know that all of this is true?

How can we be sure that WE will receive this inheritance?

How can we be sure Keith is receiving it?

Paul has two responses for you

The Holy Spirit is the God’s Seal for Heirs of the Inheritance (v. 13)

This is actually another reason why Paul says we should praise God in Ephesians 1

Those who do believe in Jesus Christ are sealed with His Spirit

This is both PART of the inheritance and the PROOF or GUARANTEE of the inheritance

When God saves, God gives His Spirit to the one He has saved.

His Spirit dwells within them.

Romans 8:9 ESV

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

If someone has the Holy Spirit, then we know they have union with Christ.

If someone has union with Christ, they will receive the inheritance.

So then Paul says we are sealed by the Spirit (v. 13).

This communicates SECURITY

What force on earth or in heaven or under the earth could break the seal of the Spirit of the living God?

This communicates AUTHENTIFICATION

Like the wax of a king on an ancient document

When we have the Spirit, we know our salvation is real, as well as the inheritance that comes with it

This communicates OWNERSHIP

The seal of the Spirit of God is a sign we belong to God

If someone’s salvation is genuine, it comes with the seal of the Spirit dwelling in that person.

And we will know if this has happened.

Their life will be marked by the spiritual fruit the Spirit produces.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Indeed these things marked Keith’s life

He was a true man of God SEALED by the Spirit

The Spirit’s work in his life served as proof that the inheritance belonged to him

The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that Heirs will receive the full Inheritance (v. 14)

Until we lay hold of the inheritance, it is the Spirit’s work and witness in us that tells us it will all belong to us, to the praise of God’s glory.

The guarantee is only used three times in the New Testament, but each time it is in reference to the Spirit of God

2 Corinthians 1:22 ESV

and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 5:5 ESV

He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

In the ancient world, a guarantee was like a down payment until services were completed. Then the full amount would be paid.

But when the guarantee is accepted, the person doing the work is promising they will finish.

We still do this in the world of contracting.

Understanding that, you can see Paul’s point when he says the Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance.

Once a believer receives the Spirit, He is like a down payment.

And if God gives you His Spirit, it is a sign that He will see to it that you receive the fullness of the inheritance that comes to those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Did those who knew Keith best perceive him as a Spirit-filled man?

I believe this is the testimony of his wife.

I believe this is the testimony of daughters.

I believe this is the testimony of his church members.

I believe this is the testimony of his own mouth.

Well, if Keith was a Spirit-filled man, then Keith is an inheritance-receiving man?

Conclusion

The question is ARE YOU?

Do you believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Have you sincerely turned away from a life of pursuing sin?

Have you sincerely believed in Jesus who died and rose again?

Will you be a Spirit-sealed, inheritance receiving man?

Will you be a Spirit-sealed, inheritance receiving woman?

David Brainerd was a Spirit-sealed, inheritance receiving man.

He was an 18th century American missionary who gave his life to evangelizing Native American tribes in New England and New Jersey during the 1740s.

He lived a hard and short life for the sake of the Gospel.

Here is what he said in talking about his inheritance.

I do not go to heaven to be advanced, but to give honor to God. It is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high or low seat there, but to live and please and glorify God...My heaven is to please God and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and to be wholly devoted to His glory.

David Brainerd

The beauty of the inheritance for David Brainerd was that he would get to continue living for the glory of God.

He was excited about heaven because he was going from worship to worship.

As long he is there and getting to serve God with devotion forever, he is happy.

Reverend Keith went from worship here to worship there

Devotion here to devotion there

This is the great inheritance for God’s heirs—they get to be His forever.

And for those who belong to Him—that is all the riches they ever wanted.

And that is what they are promised.

Song: Amazing Grace

Closing Instructions and Prayer: Pastor Matt

Family exits to Navy Hymn