Funeral Dale Thomas

Dale Thomas

This morning we honor the life of Mr. Dale Thomas. It’s a difficult day and one that is accompanied with sorrow. But we do have the comfort of knowing where he is. He is with the Lord.

Most of you have known Mr. Dale for longer than I have. I’ve known him for a couple of years now. But I have known him long enough to learn a few very important things. I’ll share some of those things with you now.

Mr. Dale loved his wife. He was a good husband. I was told that Mrs. Brenda was the only girlfriend he ever had. He waited for the right one. I believe they would have been married 48 years this year.

Mr. Dale loved a good joke. He had a sense of humor. That is a key to having a happy marriage and a happy life. He loved to hear a good joke and he loved to tell a good joke. He might even tell you the same joke twice. He was kind of like me in that he would laugh at his own jokes as well.

Mr. Dale loved this church. If you wanted to know information about the history of this church all you had to do was ask Mr. Dale. If he didn’t know the answer he would find it out. In terms of knowing the history of JSBC it will be impossible to replace Mr. Dale.

He wasn’t just concerned about the history of the church, He was burdened about the future of it as well. He was among those at the church who believed changes needed to be made to ensure a future.

If at all possible, he attended every service. If he wasn’t here early you knew he wouldn’t be here. Many times when I walked into the sanctuary he and Mrs. Brenda would be the only ones in here on Wednesday nights. It was hard to beat Mr. Dale to church.

Whether it was SS, morning worship, PM worship or Wednesday night, he was here with Bible in hand ready to worship the Lord.

He loved the Word of God. Mr. Dale was always very attentive to the teaching of God’s Word. He enjoyed teaching himself. I am told that there was no doubt he studied when he taught. He wasn’t one of those folks who just read from the quarterly. He took serious the teaching of God’s Word.

It would be impossible to list all the ways he served the Lord through this church. He was a faithful church member.

Whether it was:

Serving as a deacon

Teaching SS

Locking and unlocking the buildings

Coming on Saturday evenings and turning on the heat/air

Serving on a committee

Sending cards to visitors or members

He was faithful.

One of the things my wife spoke about concerning Mr. Dale was his prayers. Even before he passed she had mentioned to me several times that Mr. Dale prayed the most humble prayers. He certainly did. It was clear he had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Mr. Dale loved his children. It broke his heart when Chris passed away. By God’s grace he and Mrs. Brenda were able to persevere. I know that he and David had a very special relationship.

When a parent passes away, it hurts. There is a hole left in the heart of the children. On this side of eternity you never get over it. No parent can truly be replaced, a good parent certainly cannot be replaced. I don’t think we ever get over the death of a mom or dad. We get through it by God’s grace, but we don’t get over it.

There is never a good time for us to lose someone we love. God gave Mr. Dale 78 years. But that was not enough for his family. They wanted more. But God in His infinite wisdom knew what was best.

There is nothing worse than watching a person you love suffer. The sudden passing of Mr. Dale prevented that from happening to him. We aren’t plagued with memories of him being hooked up to tubes, struggling to breathe or even praying for the Lord to take him as I have witnessed in people through the years.

Mr. Dale knew where he was going when he passed and he didn’t want to endure any unnecessary suffering on his way to his heavenly home. Mr. Dale went to heaven quickly. As much as that hurts us we can rejoice with him that so many unpleasant experiences and memories were avoided.

Mr. Dale:

Loved his wife

Loved a good joke

Loved his church

Loved the Word of God

Loved his children

But more than any of that, he loved the Lord Jesus.. He trusted Christ for the forgiveness of his sins and he sought to live his life for His glory on this earth. In loving the Lord he did the greatest thing he could do.

I want to share with you some passages out of the book of Philippians 1:21-24.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

When Paul wrote those words he was in a roman prison. He had no idea if he was going to be executed or released. Paul no doubt had been thinking about the possibility of his death.

He summarizes the situation by saying “to live is Christ but to die is gain.”

In other words, if he lived he would live for the glory of Christ. If he died he would go to heaven. In Paul’s mind it was a win-win situation for him.

That doesn’t mean it was easy. He said he was struggling with what he wanted to happen. Of course, all of that was up to God. But Paul himself was struggling whether he would like to die or live.

He said it would be better for those who loved him if he lived. He would continue to teach them how to live for Christ if the Lord allowed him to live.

On the other hand, it would be better for him if he died.

There would be no more:

Stonings

Beatings

Hiding from those who sought to kill him

Imprisonments

There would be no more suffering.

I want to focus on a little phrase in these passages. Paul said it would be “far better” if he died. Not just better, but far better.

It would be far better for him because he knew Christ. Death only ends human suffering if the person who dies knows Christ. A person who does not know Christ enters suffering at death. Therefore it is far worse to die than it is to live if a person is not saved. I want to make that clear before I proceed.

Paul was saved. When he died the following things happened:

When he died he immediately went to the presence of the Lord.

There was no soul sleep- that wouldn’t be better.

There was no purgatory- that would not be better. He didn’t cease to exist-that would not be better.

When Paul closed his eyes on this earth he opened them in heaven. He saw Christ. This didn’t happen because Paul was a super saint. It happened because of the work of Christ on the cross. What happened to Paul when he died is the same thing that happens to every believer at death.

Mr. Dale had a difficult day on June 11. He required a lot attention that morning. He was moved from a hospital room to a hospice room. But something very glorious happened on that day as well.

After he was moved from a hospital room to a hospice room he made one final move. He was moved to heaven. After some very difficult days he opened his eyes and he saw the Lord Jesus Christ.

He saw the One who:

Loved him

Died for him

Sustained him all these years.

When he died all his suffering died as well. It was far better for Dale because he experienced life. Mr. Dale had been growing weaker for some time. He didn’t complain so you might not have known it. But on June 11 2021 Mr. Dale experienced a strength like he has never experienced. He didn’t enter heaven with the weight of a body that was failing him.

He has no pain

He isn’t struggling to find the words he wants to say

His hands aren’t shaking

When he died he received the reward of the Lord.

Nothing we could give him on this earth could compare with the reward of the Lord. The rewards of the Lord do not fade. They cannot be stolen. They are ours forever.

He has a home in heaven.

He has crowns to cast at the feet of Jesus

He has the family of God.

Even now as we speak Mr. Dale is likely having conversations with people in heaven. He is more alive than we are. He is touring that great city whose builder and Maker is God. He is not alone. He is not lonely. He is not confined in any fashion or form.

It is a glorious day for Mr. Dale. It is a gloomy one for us, but it is a glorious one for him. It is far better, as Paul said.

It is far better because he is experiencing what it ultimately means to be saved.

God saves us to be with Himself. We cannot enter the presence of the Lord as unredeemed sinners.

We have all willfully broken the commands of God.

Because of that we stand in danger of the judgment of God.

Christ came to redeem us from our sins by taking our place of punishment on the cross.

If we:

Believe Jesus is who the Bible says He is

Repent of our sins

Cal on the name of the Lord

We will be saved. We will be made new creations. We will be prepared to enter heaven one of these days.

Too often when we think of salvation we only think of this world. Ultimately salvation is to prepare us for the next world. Salvation prepares us for own funeral. Salvation prepares us to be with God.

Salvation means that death will be better for us than life on this earth. Mr. Dale has experienced that. His faith has become sight.

If he were here he would encourage you to give your life to Christ. He would tell you it is worth it.

We will miss Dale. But those of us who know Christ will see him soon. We will experience what he has already experienced.