WEBVTT 00:00:06.379 --> 00:00:10.800 In light of the passing of Brother Ernie, it 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:16.420 only seems right for us, I think, to rejoice 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:19.960 a little bit today and remember him and to honor 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:23.780 him for his service. I don't know that I would 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:31.620 call this a sermon. It is what it is. But I think 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:35.579 that God has been good to us. at Enterprise Baptist 00:00:35.579 --> 00:00:38.840 Church by sending us Brother Ernest Whittington 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.820 to pastor this church for so long. I'll tell 00:00:41.820 --> 00:00:43.780 you, I guess I'll tell you a little bit about 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:46.759 him today for those of you who do not know who 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:50.200 Brother Ernest Whittington was. He surrendered 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:52.399 to the ministry, I believe he was in his 30s 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.500 when he finally surrendered to the ministry and 00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:57.439 he began to preach. And he preached in California 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:00.920 for years, for many years, across many churches, 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:04.469 planted churches, and was very successful. and 00:01:04.469 --> 00:01:07.450 his work for the lord he was from liberty from 00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:10.810 this area born and raised here grew up here and 00:01:10.810 --> 00:01:13.829 uh he retired he retired from the ministry when 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:16.890 he was about 65 and decided that since he was 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:20.170 retired that he was ready to come back home so 00:01:20.170 --> 00:01:24.230 he and miss betty moved back to liberty uh planning 00:01:24.230 --> 00:01:27.349 fully to retire well it just so happened that 00:01:27.349 --> 00:01:30.769 about the same time that they moved back to liberty 00:01:31.420 --> 00:01:34.359 And Enterprise Baptist Church was also without 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:37.019 a pastor at that time. And so he was recommended, 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.939 well, maybe Brother Ernie. You know, he's a retired 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:42.640 pastor. He could fill in for us until we get 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.140 somebody. Of course, I was young at this time. 00:01:45.180 --> 00:01:49.280 This was in 1995 when he came. And he came to 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.260 fill in, and he filled in for 20 years. He never 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:58.579 left. And in that 20 years' time, I suspect he 00:01:58.579 --> 00:02:00.700 visited most every house in Ament County, and 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:05.980 I'm not exaggerating there. It is no telling 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:10.139 how many hundreds of thousands of miles that 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:13.259 he put on his cars just going to see people, 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.520 people that were sick, widows, people that were 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:20.280 lonely, church members, just for no reason, just 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:24.219 going, just going to see people, going to check 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:27.530 on his flock. And he was... As good a shepherd 00:02:27.530 --> 00:02:31.449 as God has ever sent to this earth to watch over 00:02:31.449 --> 00:02:35.229 his flock. And he, man, he got started early, 00:02:35.349 --> 00:02:37.729 too. I don't, for those of you, if I come see 00:02:37.729 --> 00:02:39.750 you, I don't get started as early as he did. 00:02:41.050 --> 00:02:43.129 He'd get up 3 o 'clock in the morning to start 00:02:43.129 --> 00:02:46.189 his day. And so by 6 o 'clock, he was three hours 00:02:46.189 --> 00:02:48.169 in. He was ready to go. The day had done started. 00:02:48.770 --> 00:02:51.169 So he'd show up at 6 o 'clock. He'd come to my 00:02:51.169 --> 00:02:53.629 grandma's house about 6 o 'clock on his day mornings. 00:02:53.789 --> 00:02:56.080 And she didn't get up at 6 o 'clock. But she 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.460 did for Brother Ernie. And she'd say, oh, I got 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:01.139 to get up tomorrow. Preacher's coming tomorrow. 00:03:01.740 --> 00:03:05.360 And I suspect she wasn't the only one that had 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:08.580 changed their schedule. But he never stopped. 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:11.460 He was bam, bam, bam, one house to the next. 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:13.340 He was in the Air Force. Miss Betty said that 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:16.099 he still drove like he was in the Air Force. 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.539 He said every once in a while, or she said every 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:21.400 once in a while, the tires on his car would actually 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:23.319 touch the ground. He was just kind of skimming 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:29.860 across. And he just had a heart for people. He 00:03:29.860 --> 00:03:33.099 had the Lord's heart. He was not judgmental. 00:03:33.099 --> 00:03:36.520 He was gentle. There were certainly plenty of 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:40.520 times in my life, late at night, you know, I'd 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:43.180 be having this like spiritual crisis or whatever 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:45.680 you choose to call it, you know, a battle, a 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.460 struggle. You know, even as a teenager, I'd, 00:03:48.460 --> 00:03:50.280 you know, call him at midnight and he'd say, 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.199 you know, come on, come on over. wake him up 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:57.120 from a dead sleep, but he wasn't angry about 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:00.020 it. He would sit down and we would talk and he 00:04:00.020 --> 00:04:02.900 and Miss Betty would advise me and guide me and 00:04:02.900 --> 00:04:05.580 kind of help me to settle down from whatever 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:09.120 struggle it was. And I know that I'm not the 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.439 only one that could tell that story. I suspect 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:13.939 there are many of you that sit on that couch 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:18.660 and he, through the Holy Spirit, was able to 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:25.439 minister to you. You know, there are very few 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:30.040 people in my lifetime, very few. Well, actually, 00:04:30.139 --> 00:04:32.160 it may only be a list of one, to be honest with 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:35.000 you, and it might just be him. He might be the 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.660 only one that I can look at and say, that's a 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:45.220 man of God. And so we are grateful today that 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:48.519 he got to be part of this church. He came to 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:53.819 this church and he brought a lot of love. And 00:04:53.819 --> 00:04:57.860 I am 100 % convinced that Enterprise Baptist 00:04:57.860 --> 00:05:01.040 Church is what it is still to this day because 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:04.220 of the love that he had and the impact that he 00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:07.019 had. And I would probably not be here today. 00:05:07.139 --> 00:05:10.000 He was very encouraging to me at a young age. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.300 I shared this in Sunday school. I'll share it 00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:16.819 again. He saw in me, for whatever reason, I still 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:19.889 don't know. that he really felt like God was 00:05:19.889 --> 00:05:22.370 going to use me in the ministry. And he really 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:25.050 encouraged me in that way and gave me lots of 00:05:25.050 --> 00:05:28.050 opportunities. As a teenager, even, who in the 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:32.290 world would give up their pulpit to a 14 -year 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:35.269 -old kid to preach the word? Who knows what a 00:05:35.269 --> 00:05:39.529 14 -year -old kid's going to say? But yet, he 00:05:39.529 --> 00:05:41.449 would tell me, you know, I think God's going 00:05:41.449 --> 00:05:45.509 to use you. If you ever want to preach, if there's 00:05:45.509 --> 00:05:47.870 ever something on your heart, You tell me. He 00:05:47.870 --> 00:05:49.509 said, I don't care if it's the Sunday morning, 00:05:49.569 --> 00:05:54.509 if it's that day, and I'll let you preach. That's 00:05:54.509 --> 00:06:04.550 pretty incredible. And I'm sorry. So he was an 00:06:04.550 --> 00:06:08.050 instrumental part of my life and in your life 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:11.810 too. But praise the Lord, his legacy has not 00:06:11.810 --> 00:06:16.100 died with him. The impact that he has made, the 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:19.459 people's lives that he has touched, the souls 00:06:19.459 --> 00:06:21.959 that he has led to Jesus Christ, people that 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:25.660 otherwise would have been overlooked. They would 00:06:25.660 --> 00:06:29.060 have been judged by other people as, you know, 00:06:29.060 --> 00:06:32.000 a lost cause or, no, you don't need to go see 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.740 those people, Brother Ernie. Didn't make a bit 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:37.360 of difference. Did not make a bit of difference. 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:40.199 Didn't matter if he was on your porch drinking 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:43.300 a 12 -pack. It didn't matter if you were on your 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:45.800 porch singing a gospel song. It didn't matter 00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:48.459 if you were black, white, Cuban, Asian. It did 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:53.779 not matter. Did not matter. He saw a sheep in 00:06:53.779 --> 00:06:56.600 need of a shepherd. And he was a good shepherd. 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.439 And we picked these couples. The scriptures, 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:02.240 if you've got a bulletin, you can look up there, 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.879 Adam, or if you don't, you can look at your Bible. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:09.600 These are a couple that I think exemplify. the 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:14.860 man that he was and the pastor that he was. Hebrews 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:19.339 chapter 13, verse 7 says, Remember your leaders 00:07:19.339 --> 00:07:23.259 who have spoken God's word to you as you carefully 00:07:23.259 --> 00:07:27.660 observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their 00:07:27.660 --> 00:07:31.199 faith. Boy, what a good scripture. You talk about 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:34.699 observing the outcome of their life. If you want 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:36.839 somebody's faith to imitate, you look at his 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:39.959 life. He didn't just tell you what to do. He 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:42.420 showed you what to do. He didn't just preach 00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:45.579 the word of God. He lived the word of God. And 00:07:45.579 --> 00:07:49.860 he is worthy of our honor today for his service. 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:56.279 1 Timothy 5, verse 17. It said, Let the elders 00:07:56.279 --> 00:08:00.060 that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:05.160 especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. 00:08:05.790 --> 00:08:09.009 And he labored in the word. He labored in the 00:08:09.009 --> 00:08:14.509 word. I do not know a soul who read the word 00:08:14.509 --> 00:08:17.870 of God more than him. There are very few people 00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:21.490 that wear out a Bible in a lifetime. And he would 00:08:21.490 --> 00:08:23.930 wear out a Bible. In a couple of years time. 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:27.110 I mean I'm not exaggerating. If you knew him 00:08:27.110 --> 00:08:29.990 you knew that. And it was a very specific Bible 00:08:29.990 --> 00:08:32.590 that he wanted to use. Very specific. A very 00:08:32.590 --> 00:08:35.950 specific Bible. A very specific edition. And 00:08:35.950 --> 00:08:38.889 it had gotten hard to find. Because I would have 00:08:38.889 --> 00:08:41.570 to try to find it for him. Over these last 10 00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:43.429 years he'd wear it out. He'd want another one. 00:08:43.529 --> 00:08:46.929 And that's exactly the one he wanted. He wanted 00:08:46.929 --> 00:08:50.610 that particular year. That edition. That everything. 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:53.320 And, man, they were getting harder to find and 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.279 more expensive. But, man, I always was able to 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:58.360 find one, praise the Lord, somewhere, some way. 00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:00.779 I was always able to find one on eBay, use one 00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:04.039 or whatever it may be, old stock, turn up somewhere. 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:06.980 And he'd get that one, and he'd wear it out too. 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:10.100 And, you know, even toward the end of his life, 00:09:10.120 --> 00:09:12.940 as his health had declined, he still would try 00:09:12.940 --> 00:09:15.700 his best to read and understand God's Word. But, 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:20.920 man, his Bible was just completely worn. out. 00:09:20.920 --> 00:09:24.840 Every page of it, every page of it was worn out. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:26.879 You know, some of our Bibles, if we're honest, 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:29.720 some of the pages are still stuck together. You 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:31.539 get to some of them books like Habakkuk or something, 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:33.200 you don't read much. You flip them through the 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.120 other pages, still kind of when you pull them 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:37.840 apart. There was none of them pages in his Bible. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:42.080 They weren't there because he read every one 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:46.120 of them again and again and again and again and 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:51.929 again. What a beautiful example. There's a lot 00:09:51.929 --> 00:09:56.929 of examples that he left for us. But I can tell 00:09:56.929 --> 00:10:00.789 you this, without a shadow of doubt, he would 00:10:00.789 --> 00:10:03.490 not want to say any good word about him today. 00:10:04.289 --> 00:10:09.389 No way. Not at all. But he don't get to say anything. 00:10:09.490 --> 00:10:14.230 We do. So it's good that we get to rejoice. And 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:17.149 I think that we should honor those who have gone 00:10:17.149 --> 00:10:21.669 before us. and been an example to us and we rejoice 00:10:21.669 --> 00:10:25.049 we cry uh because we have these stories and these 00:10:25.049 --> 00:10:27.769 memories and god was so good to us to give him 00:10:27.769 --> 00:10:31.710 to give him to us and we rejoice today because 00:10:31.710 --> 00:10:35.809 he has been so ready to go and see his lord for 00:10:35.809 --> 00:10:39.309 a long time ever since his wife passed he he's 00:10:39.309 --> 00:10:41.629 been ready to go and he'd tell you that you know 00:10:41.629 --> 00:10:43.830 back before his mind began to decline he was 00:10:43.830 --> 00:10:47.409 he was ready to go and the only thing that kept 00:10:47.409 --> 00:10:52.700 him that kept him going as long as it did was 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:55.480 you guys, was this church. It gave him something 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:58.899 to do. It gave him something to look forward 00:10:58.899 --> 00:11:04.980 to. And he prayed for you often. Even in these 00:11:04.980 --> 00:11:08.240 last years, when his mind wasn't sharp, his prayer 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:12.879 life was still strong. And the words may not 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.539 have come out, but God knew the heart. regardless 00:11:17.539 --> 00:11:21.159 of what he said. And he would pray weekly for 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:24.720 everybody in this church by name. I mean, this 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:29.360 is incredible. And what a beautiful example that 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:34.299 he's given us. And so today, I don't think we 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:36.720 could have done anything but just rejoice in 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:38.899 him and sing his favorite song, praise the Lord. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:45.779 But I'll tell you this. What he would want me 00:11:45.779 --> 00:11:55.000 to say today is what I'll say now. And that is 00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:01.879 that Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you today. 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:05.419 He died on a cross so that you could be forgiven 00:12:05.419 --> 00:12:11.960 of your sins. Doesn't matter who you are. It 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:15.059 doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't 00:12:15.059 --> 00:12:18.860 matter what your sins are. God cares about you 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:24.059 this morning. Jesus Christ died on a cross so 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:29.500 that your sins could be forgiven. If you would 00:12:29.500 --> 00:12:32.700 just turn to him, if you would just repent of 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:36.299 your sins today, if you would just ask him to 00:12:36.299 --> 00:12:41.000 forgive you, you would find peace. You would 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:47.059 find grace. You would find joy. Jesus has paid 00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:50.840 the price for you this morning. Have you trusted 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:55.240 him? That's the message that he would want you 00:12:55.240 --> 00:12:58.879 to know. That's the message that he preached 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:04.740 with his words and preached even greater with 00:13:04.740 --> 00:13:11.139 his actions. We thank God for Brother Ernie. 00:13:12.330 --> 00:13:15.049 We thank God for the impact that he had in our 00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:20.769 life. But our greatest rejoicing today will only 00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:24.129 be surpassed by the angels in heaven. They are 00:13:24.129 --> 00:13:27.950 rejoicing in his presence. And let us rejoice 00:13:27.950 --> 00:13:33.789 in God today. Let us rejoice in Brother Ernest 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:36.909 Whittington. We don't praise him today. He don't 00:13:36.909 --> 00:13:39.970 want any praise. He was humble. He was last. 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:43.460 But the scripture says those who are last shall 00:13:43.460 --> 00:13:48.379 be first. And today he is first in the kingdom 00:13:48.379 --> 00:13:54.980 of God. Let's pray. God, we thank you for these 00:13:54.980 --> 00:14:00.299 good words that just remind us of who Brother 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:03.039 Ernie is, that he was such a faithful servant 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.879 to preach and teach your word, to live your word 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:10.799 out, to be an example. Dear Lord, we thank you 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:16.779 for letting him be part of our lives. We thank 00:14:16.779 --> 00:14:21.299 you for the impact that he's had. So many stories 00:14:21.299 --> 00:14:25.740 in this room, in this community, God, that we 00:14:25.740 --> 00:14:27.659 can all share today. And I thank you, dear Lord. 00:14:27.740 --> 00:14:31.600 It's an honor that I get to be one who gets to 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:37.080 share some of these stories today. So we rejoice, 00:14:37.299 --> 00:14:40.519 dear Lord. We thank you that he's at home with 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:45.399 you. And we thank you you gave him to us for 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:47.899 these few years that we had him in our little 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:51.700 community. I pray that you'd be with his family, 00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:53.580 that you'd be with his kids and his grandkids 00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:56.700 and his church family and friends, dear Lord, 00:14:56.840 --> 00:15:00.399 that you would just wipe away these tears and 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:05.139 bring joy to our heart, dear Lord. But most importantly, 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.350 God, I pray for... Anyone that might be here 00:15:08.350 --> 00:15:10.649 today, anyone that might be listening online 00:15:10.649 --> 00:15:14.929 today, dear Lord, maybe their life is a struggle 00:15:14.929 --> 00:15:18.549 and it's full of pain and heartache and just 00:15:18.549 --> 00:15:22.470 they feel the weight of that, dear Lord. Pray 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:25.309 today that they would know more than anything 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:29.149 else that Jesus loves them. That they would know 00:15:29.149 --> 00:15:30.769 today if they would just seek you, if they would 00:15:30.769 --> 00:15:33.129 just come to you, dear Lord, and ask for forgiveness. 00:15:34.690 --> 00:15:38.179 God, that you would... Put your grace upon them. 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:41.379 So I pray that if there are any that do not know 00:15:41.379 --> 00:15:44.120 Jesus, that they would bring their burdens and 00:15:44.120 --> 00:15:46.700 that they would cast them on him today, dear 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:49.179 Lord, that he would take those burdens from them, 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.059 that they would ask for forgiveness, that they 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:54.179 would repent of their sins, that they would trust 00:15:54.179 --> 00:15:57.279 in Jesus Christ who gave his life on a cross 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:00.200 for them. I pray that they would experience that 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:04.620 peace and the mercy and the grace and the joy. 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:07.559 that comes along with the love of Jesus Christ. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.240 I pray for each one of us in this room and all 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:15.340 the ones that have been able to sit under the 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:17.740 preaching and teaching and leadership of Brother 00:16:17.740 --> 00:16:22.659 Ernest Whittington for all these years. God, 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:25.000 he has followed the example of Jesus Christ. 00:16:25.100 --> 00:16:27.440 He has run the race. He has finished, dear Lord. 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:31.340 And we rejoice in that. But God, just as he followed 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:34.059 the example of Jesus, so he has left that example 00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:38.980 for us. So let us not forget his kindness and 00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:43.779 his gentleness and his compassion. Let us emulate 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:49.240 that, dear Lord, that we may seek to be a tenth 00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:51.759 of the man that he was, dear Lord, in our life. 00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:54.909 to make this world a better place. God, let us 00:16:54.909 --> 00:16:57.750 remember the ways that he comforted us and let 00:16:57.750 --> 00:17:02.330 us comfort others in those ways. And I ask these 00:17:02.330 --> 00:17:05.190 things in Jesus' name. Amen.