In light of the passing of Brother Ernie, it
only seems right for us, I think, to rejoice
a little bit today and remember him and to honor
him for his service. I don't know that I would
call this a sermon. It is what it is. But I think
that God has been good to us. at Enterprise Baptist
Church by sending us Brother Ernest Whittington
to pastor this church for so long. I'll tell
you, I guess I'll tell you a little bit about
him today for those of you who do not know who
Brother Ernest Whittington was. He surrendered
to the ministry, I believe he was in his 30s
when he finally surrendered to the ministry and
he began to preach. And he preached in California
for years, for many years, across many churches,
planted churches, and was very successful. and
his work for the lord he was from liberty from
this area born and raised here grew up here and
uh he retired he retired from the ministry when
he was about 65 and decided that since he was
retired that he was ready to come back home so
he and miss betty moved back to liberty uh planning
fully to retire well it just so happened that
about the same time that they moved back to liberty
And Enterprise Baptist Church was also without
a pastor at that time. And so he was recommended,
well, maybe Brother Ernie. You know, he's a retired
pastor. He could fill in for us until we get
somebody. Of course, I was young at this time.
This was in 1995 when he came. And he came to
fill in, and he filled in for 20 years. He never
left. And in that 20 years' time, I suspect he
visited most every house in Ament County, and
I'm not exaggerating there. It is no telling
how many hundreds of thousands of miles that
he put on his cars just going to see people,
people that were sick, widows, people that were
lonely, church members, just for no reason, just
going, just going to see people, going to check
on his flock. And he was... As good a shepherd
as God has ever sent to this earth to watch over
his flock. And he, man, he got started early,
too. I don't, for those of you, if I come see
you, I don't get started as early as he did.
He'd get up 3 o 'clock in the morning to start
his day. And so by 6 o 'clock, he was three hours
in. He was ready to go. The day had done started.
So he'd show up at 6 o 'clock. He'd come to my
grandma's house about 6 o 'clock on his day mornings.
And she didn't get up at 6 o 'clock. But she
did for Brother Ernie. And she'd say, oh, I got
to get up tomorrow. Preacher's coming tomorrow.
And I suspect she wasn't the only one that had
changed their schedule. But he never stopped.
He was bam, bam, bam, one house to the next.
He was in the Air Force. Miss Betty said that
he still drove like he was in the Air Force.
He said every once in a while, or she said every
once in a while, the tires on his car would actually
touch the ground. He was just kind of skimming
across. And he just had a heart for people. He
had the Lord's heart. He was not judgmental.
He was gentle. There were certainly plenty of
times in my life, late at night, you know, I'd
be having this like spiritual crisis or whatever
you choose to call it, you know, a battle, a
struggle. You know, even as a teenager, I'd,
you know, call him at midnight and he'd say,
you know, come on, come on over. wake him up
from a dead sleep, but he wasn't angry about
it. He would sit down and we would talk and he
and Miss Betty would advise me and guide me and
kind of help me to settle down from whatever
struggle it was. And I know that I'm not the
only one that could tell that story. I suspect
there are many of you that sit on that couch
and he, through the Holy Spirit, was able to
minister to you. You know, there are very few
people in my lifetime, very few. Well, actually,
it may only be a list of one, to be honest with
you, and it might just be him. He might be the
only one that I can look at and say, that's a
man of God. And so we are grateful today that
he got to be part of this church. He came to
this church and he brought a lot of love. And
I am 100 % convinced that Enterprise Baptist
Church is what it is still to this day because
of the love that he had and the impact that he
had. And I would probably not be here today.
He was very encouraging to me at a young age.
I shared this in Sunday school. I'll share it
again. He saw in me, for whatever reason, I still
don't know. that he really felt like God was
going to use me in the ministry. And he really
encouraged me in that way and gave me lots of
opportunities. As a teenager, even, who in the
world would give up their pulpit to a 14 -year
-old kid to preach the word? Who knows what a
14 -year -old kid's going to say? But yet, he
would tell me, you know, I think God's going
to use you. If you ever want to preach, if there's
ever something on your heart, You tell me. He
said, I don't care if it's the Sunday morning,
if it's that day, and I'll let you preach. That's
pretty incredible. And I'm sorry. So he was an
instrumental part of my life and in your life
too. But praise the Lord, his legacy has not
died with him. The impact that he has made, the
people's lives that he has touched, the souls
that he has led to Jesus Christ, people that
otherwise would have been overlooked. They would
have been judged by other people as, you know,
a lost cause or, no, you don't need to go see
those people, Brother Ernie. Didn't make a bit
of difference. Did not make a bit of difference.
Didn't matter if he was on your porch drinking
a 12 -pack. It didn't matter if you were on your
porch singing a gospel song. It didn't matter
if you were black, white, Cuban, Asian. It did
not matter. Did not matter. He saw a sheep in
need of a shepherd. And he was a good shepherd.
And we picked these couples. The scriptures,
if you've got a bulletin, you can look up there,
Adam, or if you don't, you can look at your Bible.
These are a couple that I think exemplify. the
man that he was and the pastor that he was. Hebrews
chapter 13, verse 7 says, Remember your leaders
who have spoken God's word to you as you carefully
observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their
faith. Boy, what a good scripture. You talk about
observing the outcome of their life. If you want
somebody's faith to imitate, you look at his
life. He didn't just tell you what to do. He
showed you what to do. He didn't just preach
the word of God. He lived the word of God. And
he is worthy of our honor today for his service.
1 Timothy 5, verse 17. It said, Let the elders
that rule well be counted worthy of double honor,
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.
And he labored in the word. He labored in the
word. I do not know a soul who read the word
of God more than him. There are very few people
that wear out a Bible in a lifetime. And he would
wear out a Bible. In a couple of years time.
I mean I'm not exaggerating. If you knew him
you knew that. And it was a very specific Bible
that he wanted to use. Very specific. A very
specific Bible. A very specific edition. And
it had gotten hard to find. Because I would have
to try to find it for him. Over these last 10
years he'd wear it out. He'd want another one.
And that's exactly the one he wanted. He wanted
that particular year. That edition. That everything.
And, man, they were getting harder to find and
more expensive. But, man, I always was able to
find one, praise the Lord, somewhere, some way.
I was always able to find one on eBay, use one
or whatever it may be, old stock, turn up somewhere.
And he'd get that one, and he'd wear it out too.
And, you know, even toward the end of his life,
as his health had declined, he still would try
his best to read and understand God's Word. But,
man, his Bible was just completely worn. out.
Every page of it, every page of it was worn out.
You know, some of our Bibles, if we're honest,
some of the pages are still stuck together. You
get to some of them books like Habakkuk or something,
you don't read much. You flip them through the
other pages, still kind of when you pull them
apart. There was none of them pages in his Bible.
They weren't there because he read every one
of them again and again and again and again and
again. What a beautiful example. There's a lot
of examples that he left for us. But I can tell
you this, without a shadow of doubt, he would
not want to say any good word about him today.
No way. Not at all. But he don't get to say anything.
We do. So it's good that we get to rejoice. And
I think that we should honor those who have gone
before us. and been an example to us and we rejoice
we cry uh because we have these stories and these
memories and god was so good to us to give him
to give him to us and we rejoice today because
he has been so ready to go and see his lord for
a long time ever since his wife passed he he's
been ready to go and he'd tell you that you know
back before his mind began to decline he was
he was ready to go and the only thing that kept
him that kept him going as long as it did was
you guys, was this church. It gave him something
to do. It gave him something to look forward
to. And he prayed for you often. Even in these
last years, when his mind wasn't sharp, his prayer
life was still strong. And the words may not
have come out, but God knew the heart. regardless
of what he said. And he would pray weekly for
everybody in this church by name. I mean, this
is incredible. And what a beautiful example that
he's given us. And so today, I don't think we
could have done anything but just rejoice in
him and sing his favorite song, praise the Lord.
But I'll tell you this. What he would want me
to say today is what I'll say now. And that is
that Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you today.
He died on a cross so that you could be forgiven
of your sins. Doesn't matter who you are. It
doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't
matter what your sins are. God cares about you
this morning. Jesus Christ died on a cross so
that your sins could be forgiven. If you would
just turn to him, if you would just repent of
your sins today, if you would just ask him to
forgive you, you would find peace. You would
find grace. You would find joy. Jesus has paid
the price for you this morning. Have you trusted
him? That's the message that he would want you
to know. That's the message that he preached
with his words and preached even greater with
his actions. We thank God for Brother Ernie.
We thank God for the impact that he had in our
life. But our greatest rejoicing today will only
be surpassed by the angels in heaven. They are
rejoicing in his presence. And let us rejoice
in God today. Let us rejoice in Brother Ernest
Whittington. We don't praise him today. He don't
want any praise. He was humble. He was last.
But the scripture says those who are last shall
be first. And today he is first in the kingdom
of God. Let's pray. God, we thank you for these
good words that just remind us of who Brother
Ernie is, that he was such a faithful servant
to preach and teach your word, to live your word
out, to be an example. Dear Lord, we thank you
for letting him be part of our lives. We thank
you for the impact that he's had. So many stories
in this room, in this community, God, that we
can all share today. And I thank you, dear Lord.
It's an honor that I get to be one who gets to
share some of these stories today. So we rejoice,
dear Lord. We thank you that he's at home with
you. And we thank you you gave him to us for
these few years that we had him in our little
community. I pray that you'd be with his family,
that you'd be with his kids and his grandkids
and his church family and friends, dear Lord,
that you would just wipe away these tears and
bring joy to our heart, dear Lord. But most importantly,
God, I pray for... Anyone that might be here
today, anyone that might be listening online
today, dear Lord, maybe their life is a struggle
and it's full of pain and heartache and just
they feel the weight of that, dear Lord. Pray
today that they would know more than anything
else that Jesus loves them. That they would know
today if they would just seek you, if they would
just come to you, dear Lord, and ask for forgiveness.
God, that you would... Put your grace upon them.
So I pray that if there are any that do not know
Jesus, that they would bring their burdens and
that they would cast them on him today, dear
Lord, that he would take those burdens from them,
that they would ask for forgiveness, that they
would repent of their sins, that they would trust
in Jesus Christ who gave his life on a cross
for them. I pray that they would experience that
peace and the mercy and the grace and the joy.
that comes along with the love of Jesus Christ.
I pray for each one of us in this room and all
the ones that have been able to sit under the
preaching and teaching and leadership of Brother
Ernest Whittington for all these years. God,
he has followed the example of Jesus Christ.
He has run the race. He has finished, dear Lord.
And we rejoice in that. But God, just as he followed
the example of Jesus, so he has left that example
for us. So let us not forget his kindness and
his gentleness and his compassion. Let us emulate
that, dear Lord, that we may seek to be a tenth
of the man that he was, dear Lord, in our life.
to make this world a better place. God, let us
remember the ways that he comforted us and let
us comfort others in those ways. And I ask these
things in Jesus' name. Amen.