MY BRETHREN
"… my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it", Luke 8: 21.
"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies", Rev. 3: 13.

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Jeremy Ng shared:

If there was one word to describe Dorothy Elizabeth Rainbow, or Betty, as she preferred to be called, it would be the word “selfless”. Betty was never one to put herself first, and always made it a point to ensure that those around her, and especially those whom she loved, were comfortable.

If the other person was happy, a big smile would appear across Betty’s face… for her, one of her sources of happiness was the result of helping another person find theirs.

Together with her late husband, Gordon, both were great friends of mine and of my family. We routinely and religiously visited them each and every week, and we were always welcomed (if not encouraged) to visit even more often.

In this particular instance, “more” could never be “enough”. There was no such thing as too many visits, and they both likely would have been ecstatic if I had decided that I would move in with them.

I have fond memories of spending much time with the Rainbows over my childhood and teenage years. To me, they were mentors, a source of inspiration and support, but also a third pair of grandparents to my sister and me.

Betty took care of us before we could take care of ourselves. She raised us, taught us kindness and respect, she always supported us unconditionally, and was always there if we needed someone to confide in or a shoulder to cry on.

Betty was a great chef, and an even better baker. Anyone who knew her looked forward to her refreshments and always helped themselves to seconds, something I think Betty took pride in, though she would never say it out loud.

In no particular order, Betty loved cookies, pancakes, flowers, long walks, knitting, dominoes, ice cream, crosswords, good conversation, and… oh did I forget to mention, that Betty loved cookies.

In more recent years, Betty was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, eventually forgetting where or even who she was. But it seems she always remembered me, she still celebrated our successes together, and perhaps most importantly, she always remained positive and hopeful.

Despite the diagnosis, Betty always sought to help others, even when she needed help herself. One summer, we took on the ambitious project of digitizing approximately 45 photo albums taken throughout her many years of life… one by one she helped to take each photo out of the album, waited for me to scan it, and then carefully returned it back to its spot.

Countless 2-hour long Saturday sessions later, I am pleased to report that our project was completed. As a result, many friends and relatives of the Rainbows have been able to access these wonderful memories and it is certain that they will be preserved for many years to come.

Last week, my mother and I had the privilege of visiting Betty a couple days before she passed away. Betty found it difficult to communicate with us, but nevertheless, I think she was happy to be able to see us. While it is difficult to say goodbye, I am glad for her sake that her suffering in her last few days was relatively short and her death was a peaceful one.

Betty’s kindness will never be forgotten. Her signature reply, if asked about her plans for the day, was simply “Being good.”

And good you were, Betty, to Gordon, to me, to my family, and to everyone else whom you touched over your lifetime.

Daniel Soukoreff shared:

I got to know Betty from my visits to Gordon. She had, as you know, a “gentle spirit”, “an excellent spirit”. She reminded me of a sister we had locally, Mrs. Pollock.

One time we brought an unbelieving relative to a preaching. He didn't mention the preaching afterwards, but pointed to Mrs. Pollock, who's face shone with joy, and said: ”Whatever that woman has, she has something!” So, that's what I want to talk about today: Sorrow and Joy.

“But we do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are fallen asleep, to the end that ye be not grieved even as also the rest who have no hope” 1 Thessalonians 4:13

The context is, there were some that had died and others had said that the Lord had come already. He was just reminding them that just before the world heads into and plunges into the great tribulation, the great time of judgment, that the saints have this wonderful hope and it's a sustaining hope. I trust each one of you has this hope.

But He says here “But we do not wish you to be ignorant brethren concerning them that are fallen asleep to the end that ye be not grieved even as the rest who have no hope.”

So, this verse touches on some very important points. First, he did not wish them to be ignorant. We would not have anyone here today ignorant of the great hope of every Christian, the great hope of every believer that Christ is coming again.

He says here “concerning them who have fallen asleep”. This is one of the great things we can say regarding our sister, Betty, that, yes, death has come in, but death for the believer is referred to time and time again as those that have fallen asleep, not permanent. It's just for a while.

Betty's spirit goes immediately from this world into the presence of Christ, “which is very much better”. So, she is asleep “in Christ”. May that be a comfort to our souls that Betty is “asleep in Christ”.

One day, when this glorious coming of Christ happens, her spirit will be united to her body. She will have a new body and then we, with her, will be united to Christ forever.

But then it says “that ye be not grieved even as the rest who have no hope”, it doesn't say, “be not grieved.” There are false doctrines that say, if you believe in Christ you should not be grieving at all. I remember once, someone, very unhelpfully, said that to a brother, I knew, while he was suffering the loss of his wife. We grieve, surely we do! The earthly, natural link we had has been broken. We feel the broken link.

The Lord Himself has put His claim in for our sister. His claim outweighs our claim, but He would have us gladly surrender our claim. The Lord has acted and taken Betty to be with Himself, but we do grieve, the link has been broken.

We have the hope that one day the link will be restored in Christ in glory. But for now the link is broken. Then it says “we do not sorrow or grieve even as also the rest who have no hope.” Well, it's a very sober thing.

We were at a funeral of a dear sister locally, and she had had cancer and physically her life was going down, weaker and weaker. But spiritually she was gaining strength, stronger and stronger. It was truly amazing, and people witnessed how she was sustained right to the very end.

And it was a wonderful thing that Betty was sustained right to the end spiritually.

So, we were at this burial and there was a lady from India there, and this was the first Christian burial she had been at. She noticed that people did weep and they were sorrowful, but she noticed that there was also a sense of victory and a sense of joy. She was grieving with people who had a hope, and that made all the difference!

Now men hope for things in this world, but our hope is in the word of God. Our hope is based on the work of Christ, on these great and precious promises, on the precious blood of the Saviour.

The hope that the believer has is solid, and we can see that in the Scripture. The Lord Jesus fulfilled over 350 promises. So, we have good reason and evidence to put our hope in Christ. And we have the witness of the Spirit of God within ourselves.

But it speaks here of “those who grieve without hope”, that is a very sober thing and I would like to address that. If there is someone hearing who has not trusted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. You think of this great matter of sin, going to bed every night carrying your sin, matters that you cannot set right.

Think of the day that you have to stand before God, and you have to face God with the matter of all your sin-nature and your sins. You think of men and women going to bed bearing their sins and waking up in the morning, especially these days, when the world is in such chaos.

Can one look out in hope that you will have a job in the future, that your bank, your security, your government will be there? Everything in the world around us is being shaken. Why? That “that which cannot be shaken may remain.”

And, dear hearer, that which cannot be shaken is that which is built on the Rock. That which is built on Christ. And Betty had that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it shone in her face and in her life, and she had hope. So, there are those who have hope and there are those without hope. So, that was the part about sorrow, I wanted to speak about.

Now, I would like to speak about rejoicing. I would like to turn to Philippians 4:4-7:

“Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known of all men. The Lord is near. Be careful about nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses every understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts by Christ Jesus.”

So, today we do sorrow. The dear Ng family that has cared for her: Kee, Lucy, Jeremy and Rachel, and others I can see on the screen here, they do sorrow, they knew Betty, they loved her and as it is, the more you love someone the more you feel the sorrow. And we respect that, and honour that, and we thank the dear Ng family for their care for our dear sister Betty.

In this chapter we hear these words: “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.”

And you ask, “who is writing this section of Scripture?” It's the Apostle Paul. And where is he? Well, he's in prison, he is in the most limited circumstances. Is he in the prison justly? No, he was put there through the false charges of the Jews, jealous because he spoke the Word of God and he could have been very angry about his limitation.

He didn't say he was a prisoner because of these unfair Jews or unfair Roman authorities. He said: “I'm a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ.” What a wonderful thing! How can we rejoice? The Apostle Paul shows the way. He took every circumstance, everything that came into his life, he took from the Lord's hand.

Well dear believer in Jesus, are you taking everything, am I taking everything from the Lord's hand? The Apostle Paul had learnt in whatever circumstances, if “abounding, how to abound”, if he was abased, he learnt how to abase and in all he took it from the hand of a loving Lord.

So, today I believe we can take the homegoing of our sister from the hand of a loving God. Recently, the Lord took my brother, Greg, last July, he was 59. We sorrowed, but we see now it was actually the loving hand of God. So, I believe that we can rejoice. And it tells us what we can rejoice in, look at this verse, we can rejoice in the Lord, that's a wonderful fountain to find, that's a wonderful spring to prove, that's a wonderful source of joy that will never fail you right to the end.

Have you found that wonderful spring, that wonderful source of joy in the Lord Jesus Christ, who lived that wonderful life here on earth? Who offered Himself, went all the way to the cross, who laid down His life, who was rich but who for our sake became poor, that we, through His poverty might be enriched.

He bore your sin on that tree, He bore my sin in His body on that tree. And if our sins were too great for Him, the Lord Jesus would have remained in the grave. And as the Apostle Paul says, “if Christ be not raised we are yet in our sins.”

But, hallelujah, Christ is out of death, Christ is living today! Christ is not only out of the grave, He is ascended, He's at the Father's right hand. He's in a position of power, a position of blessing and today is a day of grace. This will soon end, but He's available now.

Oh, dear hearers, He's available to you! And, it's an ascended Christ who's appealing to you today, that you trust Him, that you trust His work, His precious blood, today!

Christ is in glory, Christ is on the other side of death and even the writer here knew something of what was on the other side of death. Most religions you have to trust it and hope that after the end it's true.

The Apostle Paul was actually taken up to the third heaven and came back and witnesses as to the substantiality of heaven, that Christ was there. You see, the only Jesus that Paul knew was a Jesus who is out of death.

“Blessed” the Lord said, “they have not seen and have believed.” There's a blessed portion for you, what is substantial, what is obtained in faith. Oh, what wonderful things, what realities these are, and Paul, the writer of these verses, knows what he is talking about. And, every believer knows it and Betty knew it, and Betty lived it.

Knowing and having this link with Jesus, brings about change in a person's life. If there's no change, there's been no life given. If there is change you can see that the person has the life of Christ. And there was evidence in the life of Betty of change. One of the evidence we saw that was in Betty's life, was this gentleness.

I have just been thinking about this gentleness, and this excellent spirit that was seen in Betty's life. What is this gentleness, or moderation, as the note in the Bible says. It's the loving consideration for others, control over one's spirit, meekness, patience, yielding, features you see in the life of Christ. So, as having a link to Christ brings out features of Christ.

The Apostle Paul speaks of the meekness and gentleness of Christ, that's something that should speak to us today. Meekness means something strong under control. There is a time to be angry and when it had to do with the rights of God, Christ definitely was and stood His ground.

I think of a dear older sister, Mrs. Ballard. She was hospitable, she was meek, generous, but when it came up to matters of the truth, matters that would harm the young, she was there solid as a rock standing for the truth. So, this thought of gentleness and meekness includes standing for what is right.

So, it says “let your gentleness be known to all men.” It isn't something I put on for my closest friends, but something I have in mind for all believers, all men, this gentleness of spirit. And the Lord knows how effective that is.

You know about the woman caught in adultery. You know the condemnation the religious authorities were bringing down upon her and the gentleness of Christ – both, grace and truth. They were hoping He would go only grace or only truth so that they could nail Him.

Well, the Lord exhibited grace and truth. He graciously dealt with her, “neither do I condemn thee.” But then His love of the truth and love for what is right came out and He said, “go and sin no more.” So, the Lord Jesus beautifully displayed truth and grace.

Well, do you do that? Dear believer, it's so important that there is both sides. That we exhibit grace towards men and that we also exhibit truth. To tell them truth as to their condition.

You see, it's no good not telling a person they have cancer when they do have cancer. And there's a lot in Scripture trying to get us to deal with this sin-nature. Not only do we do sinful acts, but we have this nature that just loves to sin.

Scripture is like a mirror to get us to see ourselves. As you go through the commandments. You break the commandments, I break the commandments, and it helps us deal with this matter of sin.

A doctor spends 80% of the time explaining about how you have the cancer and the results of its course untreated. The scripture and the Holy Spirit would come and bring conviction of sin, if you have not trusted the Lord Jesus.

You need to see first that you are a sinner, estranged from God and that you need a Saviour, that you have this cancer of sin. Death itself which we are dealing with is a result of sin. Sin is worse than death because sin brings death.

So, the doctor brings the cure. So, if you're convinced you have cancer you're very interested in what is the cure.

And that's why we can rejoice today, because even today, even an unbeliever, today, you can trust the Saviour and find this joy, this life transforming work of Christ and by the Spirit's power, the strength to do what is right. So, often in our life we knew what was right, but to do what was right was so hard, so we didn't do it or did what was wrong because it was easier.

Well, God knew that too. Some years ago our neighbour was converted and said: “If I knew how wonderful it was to have the Holy Spirit I would have become a Christian a long time ago.”

What a wonderful thing it is, we put our faith in Christ, then there is a work of God that the Spirit can link on with. So, in this verse we rejoice and it's in the Lord and it produces change in our life, our gentleness towards all men then it says, “The Lord is near.” I believe this is speaking of the soon coming of the Lord, and if that truth has weight with us that too affects our lives and our behaviour. Knowing that the Lord is soon coming is a purifying hope.

Then it goes on to this wonderful refuge that every believer can go to, every time that troubles come, that sorrows come. This is another reason why we can rejoice. It's the refuge of prayer. What a wonderful thing! We can actually go into God's presence.

It says here: “Be anxious or careful about nothing!” Oh, you think of it, we do fear, we are anxious, these things come in, and these wonderful fear-nots in the Word to our souls as believers today.

We were looking the other days at the 'fear not' with Abraham and thought, what a good way to go forward in the new year.

It says in Genesis 15: “Fear not.” Abraham was anxious, he had just come back from recovering Lot, he had just been challenged by the King of Sodom.

The great Abraham, the man of faith, he had fears and the Lord said; “Fear not.” Then he thought, what will I do for protection? And the Lord said,”I am thy shield.

Do you realize that the believer that has faith in God has divine security as his shield, oh what a wonderful promise that is. You are worried about running out of resources? The Lord says, “I am thy exceeding great reward.” It says here: “Don't be worried but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.”

And then He says, as doing that, you come into another blessing: The peace of God. You've put everything in God's hand and then “the peace of God which surpasses understanding shall guard your hearts and thoughts by Jesus Christ”.

What a wonderful thing, now our hearts and thoughts are protected. That's where the enemy works: in our affections and in our thoughts. But putting it all in the Lord's hand and trusting Him, our affections and our thoughts are guarded, and we have this wonderful peace.

Well, may this be a reality to each one of us. May this be a reality to each hearer, that we not only know the sorrow and we do grieve, but that we might know what it is to rejoice and “rejoice in the Lord always”, and in case you didn't get it, he says: “And again I say, rejoice.”

At the burial, Seng Kee Ng shared:

”But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1Thessalonians 4:13-18

Daniel Soukoreff shared:

I took up Gordon's theme verse in Psalm 30:5:

"For a moment is passed in His anger; a life in His favour; at even weeping cometh for the night, and at morn there is rejoicing."

What a blessed thing it is to know the favour of God.

But because of man's fall into sin, there is not the favour but "the revealed wrath of God from heaven upon all impiety" Romans 1:18

"For the wages of sin is death; but the act of favour of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 6:23

So eternal life in Christ is viewed here as the great act of favour of God toward the repentant sinner.

Then the apostle connects all blessing and favour with the believer's position in Christ: "he has taken us into favour in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:6

What then would characterise a person who was in God's favour? In this Psalm David tells others of his wonderful God and he worships God.

This marked Gordon, too, he preached on the street for years and he loved hymns and Christian poetry--the worship side.

Jeremy Ng shared:

Gordon Rainbow was certainly someone who would not go unnoticed. Wherever he went, he made his beliefs, preferences, and those he loved, clear to everyone and anyone he met.

Prior to his passing Gordon had been my lifelong friend, having met my parents before they married and knowing both my sister and I since birth. Growing up, I saw him as somewhat of a grandfather figure but more importantly as a mentor to me.

I fondly remember the many times Gordon and Betty invited us to sleepover at their condo as kids, go on day trips, attend meetings, or simply just spend a meal together.

As Gordon got older, it was apparent that we had become very good friends. Though he was less capable of doing his day-to-day activities, I know he greatly appreciated that I was able to help him out. To him, if he needed help with anything, the first step to the solution was always to call Jeremy.

When Gordon and Betty moved to Bethany about 10 years ago, my sister and I enjoyed visiting them both on a weekly basis. The routine was almost always the same: first we would go for a walk outside and visit Bethany residents, have lunch together, and finally we would play dominoes in the afternoon, before doing it all again the following week. Gordon insisted that his dominoes partner was always Rachel, and he also insisted that if his team won it was due to his experience and skill, while if Betty and I won it was simply a fluke.

Last week, I had the privilege of spending the night before his passing by Gordon’s bedside. He made it clear to all of us who had visited that evening that he was at peace with the fact that he was leaving soon, and looked forward to being with the Lord. He was also able to say his final goodbyes and tell us all that he loved us that evening.

Throughout the first half of the night Gordon would open his eyes and glance around the room every once in a while, at which point I would hold his hand and he would briefly look at me and smile before closing his eyes again to rest. Around 3AM he opened his eyes for the last time, and seeing me get up, his last words were “Are you leaving now?” to which I replied “No, I am staying with you for the whole night”. I am not sure if he understood my reply, but he seemed to be at ease after that time until he passed away later that evening.

I think one thing that we can all admire about Gordon is how sharp he was up until the day he passed away. At 84 years old, I think we all can only wish to be half as ambitious as he was as even a few weeks before his passing, he spoke with me about the work he planned to do on his website, the appointments he wanted to make with his healthcare providers, and even discuss with me while he believed I would be most satisfied with a career as a pharmacist as opposed to any other kind of health care provider.

As I conclude, I just wish to share that I am so thankful to have had the privilege of knowing Gordon, and I am also thankful that his period of suffering was both short and as painless as possible.

As a child I once told Gordon and Betty that I considered them to be my second father and second mother. Gordon never forgot about this, frequently reminding me throughout my adult life that I would always be considered his first son, and as much as he expressed that I meant the world to him, he most certainly meant the world to me.

I certainly admired Gordon’s knowledge of the scriptures, thus I end my speech with two verses of the Bible I have thought about the most over these past few days...

“Then Job arose, and rent his mantle and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshiped, and said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1: 20-21.

"But I am pressed by both, having the desire for departure and being with Christ, for it is very much better, but remaining in the flesh is more necessary for your sakes..." Philippians 1:23-25

I think Gordon had truly contemplated and come to understand this scripture in the years that I knew him.

Gordon felt a deep desire to be "with Christ" to leave the flesh, with all its aches and worries; but because he cared for Betty and for those around him, for those he once walked in fellowship, and even for guests of his website.

But he was content to stay, giving as much as he was able each day.

The Lord completed his part, and fulfilled what he was given to do subject to God's calling him up, rather than longing for a call for his own ease.

The call always comes, and we can rest "having confidence of this very thing, that he who has begun in you a good work will complete it unto Jesus Christ's day." I know Gordon felt this was true about us all.

Jesus once took a rest on the stern of a ship, when the ship was suddenly rocked by a furious storm, and the disciples on the deck feared for their lives.

There will always be storms: we may be challenged by evil, or by illness, by feeling our own limitations, or sometimes people will be called away from our lives before we are ready to let go of them.

But Jesus is at rest, not just because he already knows the storm won't bring harm or he's just teaching his companions a lesson--those, too, are true--but we should remember Jesus is truly confident in the direction the ship is headed.

And we can be in the good of that confidence, especially once we hear him say, "Peace; be still."

The burial took place on July 7, 2009, in Centerville, MA. Sadly, because of the great breakup since 1959, there were few who could be present.

• Friends and contacts from earlier years took part including: J. Victor Congdon, Robert Howell and the aged Ben Taylor.

Andrew was not on the internet but had a keen interest in 'My Brethren' and made a number of valuable contributions and suggestions: