Faithful Until The End
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Introduction
“Which one are you?”
These were the very first words Buck ever said to me. I was their to pick up his daughter, Angie for a date. His statement begs the question, “How many guys was Angie dating at the time?” But we’ll leave that for another time.
And to say that buck, back then, was an intimidating man, was an understatement! I was shaking when I first met him! He had good reason to be intimidating! It was his job to protect his children and wife. And he did it well. He not only protected them but he provided for them as well.
Alexandra, his oldest grandchild said that this was one of the things she admired most about her grandfather. He faithfully went to work for some thirty years in a brutally hot foundry, not because that was a job the he loved and one that fulfilled him, but he went to work faithfully because he loved his family!
Buck was a faithful guy!
He was faithful to his wife, Trudy for 55 years...
I did learn that while he and trudy loved to play games together, when she started beating him in any particular game, he would no longer play that game with her. And to top it off, he would accuse her of cheating.
He was faithful to his brother, Steve...
Sleeping in the same bed as kid inevitably lead to a late night fistfight
And Buck was a bit of a tattletale - “Steve smokes!”
He was faithful to his children, their spouses and especially to his grandchildren...
Bill’s badge pinning as a state trooper
Making countless trips to MN to spend time with Hollie and her children
Driving up to West Branch to watch soccer games and theatrical presentations.
Taking the grandsons fishing, bowling and teaching them to golf and train hunting!
He didn’t particularly like shopping with his granddaughters, but he would make sure Trudy spent the exact same amount on them as he did on the boys.
Family trips to Michigan’s Adventure.
His sense of humor was unparalleled.
Mason and a dollar bill
Jonah and Olivia both mentioned his amazing poetic prowess - "red squirrel red squirrel shake your bushy tale, red squirrel red squirrel-BOOM! Shot you out of a tree!!"
His trademark laugh - “Who, who, who, he, he, he
All of the grandkids have the same memory of grandpa and his passion for the conservation of his air conditioning in the summer - He would passionately yell from the
He was faithful at his work...
He was faithful to his friends...
He was faithful to his churches over the years... Hospitality
He was faithful in his prayer...“Thank you for the good things we heard in church this morning. We thank you for all of our loved ones in their different places and we thank you for Jesus, who is our hope for the future.”
And, most importantly, He was faithful to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And, I will tell you something about Buck. He bristled at the idea of what we are doing today. He didn’t want people to stand up and go on and on about him. About how wonderful he was.
What he did want for this service is that we would go on and on about his Savior, Jesus Christ.
I want to make something perfectly clear this morning.
What is the Biblical Solution?
What do the hearers need to know?
Main Textual Idea:
Main Idea: Buck was a faithful man only because of his Faithful God!
And he love God with all of his heart! When Buck was just 5 years old he trusted Christ as his savior. His parents had become followers of Christ when he was 2 and in the three intervening years, their faithful witness had a profound effect on his little heart. Interestingly, he wasn’t baptized by immersion until just before he married Trudy!
Transition:
5 years old and baptized just before you c
Mom and dad got saved when he was 2
Buck heard the message and believed and continued to faithfully believe what God says about himself. Listen to the prophet Isaiah...
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Isaiah
In this passage the prophet is writing to the Children of Israel, who are in captivity because of their stubbornness and refusal to listen and obey the Word of God. Isaiah is writing to remind and encourage them that God is still in charge.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard?” Of course they knew! Of course they had heard! But we often need to be reminded of the truth about God!
And what is it about God that Isaiah reminds them? Four powerful truths!
The LORD is Eternal!
The LORD is Creator!
The LORD is All-Powerful!
The LORD is All-Knowing!
Buck was saved by his faithful God!
They Prophet goes on to remind the Children of Israel that this Eternal Creator who is all knowing and all powerful is ready, willing and more than able to give His inexhaustible power to the exhausted! Look at verse 29 and 30...
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
No doubt the Children of Israel were exhausted under the tyranny of their Babylon captures. No doubt they were ready to give up and give in. This is why Isaiah is writing them! To encourage them to never give up! To never give in! But instead to tap into the only viable source of spiritual energy available to mankind! God Himself.
God is not stingy with His empowerment! This text says He gives His power to the faint and to those who have no might!
This text says He gives His power to the faint and to those who have no might!
Spiritually speaking, this is all of us! Prior to salvation we have no spiritual might or vitality. We are weak and incapable of producing anything that will release us from our captivity. We are desperate and in need of rescue because we are all ungodly! Yes, I said all!
We, like the Children of Israel, reject the whole counsel of the Word of God. We desire to live under our own authority and wisdom. We are not interested in having anyone tell us what to do, especially the God of the bible. And so, we are enslaved by our own sin. Prisoners of our own desires. Incapable of our own deliverance! Desperately weak and sick.
But God desires something different for His rebellious and treasonous creation. He desires for us to be released from our miserable condition. He desires for us to be free from our captivity to sin.
And he solved this problem through the person of Jesus Christ!
The God / Man! Jesus...
The second person of the trinity
The eternal one,
The creator, the all-powerful, the all-knowing God of the universe became a man and lived completely sinless life among us yet was punished as a criminal,
The all-powerful,
The all-knowing God of the universe became a man and lived completely sinless life among us yet was punished as a criminal,
Brutally beaten and hoisted up on a cross.
And it was there that God the Father poured His wrath out on His sinless son so He might not have to pour it out on you!
Romans 5
He died, was buried and rose again on the third day beating death and providing you the way to eternal life!
This is the Gospel! This is the truth the Apostle Paul shares in...
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Buck learned this at a very early age and continued to learn it over the course of his Christian life. Sin, of which we are all inflicted by and guilty of, causes our weakness and inability to live up to the standards that God has set forth in His Holy Word! And it is only by faith in the Son of God that we have hope of being rescued from the impending wrath of God!
Remember what Isaiah said?
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
But even in the midst of captivity, God promises strength and vitality not from within ourselves, but from Himself.
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No one is immune! No one can escape the ravages of sin.
And even though Buck, back in the day was a virile, man’s man, the curse of sin and its physical implications would eventually catch up to him. His weakness became obvious years ago...
At 51, Buck had a massive stroke and the doctors removed a third of his cerebellum. None of us thought he would survive. But, by God’s grace, he did. After his recovery, I was giving a testimony about this and told everyone the Buck now only had half a brain. He stood up in church and said, “Yeah, well, I’m keeping up with you!”
A year or so later he had a kidney transplant (thanks to his daughter, Hollie)
He was a diabetic and had a host of other physical challenges...
He was slowly, incrementally wasting away! This happens to all of us. Some faster than others, yet it is our reality.
Yet, no matter the physical setback, he continued to grow in his faith! this is the mark of a genuine believer.
Just as Paul says in...
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
This was Buck’s testimony. He continued to read the word, he continued to grow in Christlikeness. He was not perfect and he had his challenges, but their was a continual and consistent pursuit of Jesus throughout the course of his life. He was faithful because his God was faithful!
But their is a stark reality for those who are not followers of Jesus...
For those that reject God’s offer of love and redemption there is no might, faintness, exhaustedness and eventual eternal separation from God in Hell...
2 Co
But look at the promise in verse 31...
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah
At five years of age and for the next 70 years, Buck waited on and for the Lord. But in this life, his strength didn’t renew, in fact it ebbed away.
And I will tell you that death is not sweet and natural. Death strips away any vestige of dignity we might have. That is what happened to Buck. The once strong man with strong opinions was left helpless, all but naked on his bed.
But then at 1:52am Sunday morning as he took his last breath on this side, he was welcomed on the other side. And his strength was renewed by the power of the Lord! He mounted up from this earth and flew like an eagle into the next! When he landed there and saw his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ he ran to Him without growing weary! And he and Jesus walked together and the glorious reality is, Buck will NEVER grow faint again!
We don’t get better in this life. We just don’t. We are all heading to the same, inevitable conclusion - Physical death.
The question for you this morning is this. Will your inevitable conclusion be spiritual death as well? It doesn’t have to be. Buck settled this question 70 years ago at the age of 5 years old. With the faith of a child, he turned his young life over to the Lord for His safe keeping.
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
And God was faithful to grow him and change him into the image of Christ over the course of his life.
Olivia said of her grandfather - “He taught me the importance of being steady and strong in your salvation; I had never once seen his faith in Jesus waver.”
This is one of the reasons we do funerals. They are not for the dead, but for us, the living! Certainly we celebrate the life of Buck, but his death also causes us to reflect on the eternal destiny of our own!
This is one of the reasons we do funerals. They are not for the dead, but for us, the living! Certainly we celebrate the life of Buck, but his death also causes us to reflect on the eternal destiny of our own!
One day you will face the reality of death. You will cross over to the other side and see God face to face. For some, like Buck, this will be a glorious experience. For others it will be a terror! Let me be blunt like Buck was. Not everyone goes to heaven.
There are only two possible eternal destinies for you, Heaven or Hell. And heaven is not obtained by the good you do, but by the good done for your through Christ. Faith in Christ alone, by grace alone is your only hope! If one doesn’t repent and, by faith follow Christ, the only alternative is an eternal separation from God in hell.
I know for a fact that if Buck were to have the opportunity to come back and speak to you, he would beg you, he would implore you to trust Christ alone. When its all said and done, this is the most important thing for you!
Ladies and gentlemen, Friends and family of Buck Veltman, this is the hope of believers in Jesus Christ. Only believers in Christ will enjoy this future reality.
I know for a fact that if Buck were to have the opportunity to come back and speak to you, he would beg you, he would implore you to trust Christ alone. When its all said and done, this is the most important thing for you!
Won’t you turn to Christ today? It’s not too late while you are alive!
“Which one are you?” Were the first words Buck ever said to me. If He were to ask me that question again today, I’d proudly say, I’m the Son-in-Law of Buck Veltman - One of the most faithful men I have ever known. And I have the privilege and great joy of knowing his faithful God as well.
And his God isn’t just faithful to him. He is faithful to me as well.
I pray you do as well.
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