"It is with keen anticipation that we come before You this morning with a feeling of confidence and trust and security knowing that You never make a mistake. You do all things well. Therefore we lay aside any doubts or fears or misgivings. With confidence we stand in Your presence covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. You said one day you would present us spotless before the throne and we have come to know even now because of our Intercessor and our High Priest our faith being in Him You look upon us as being fit for heaven right now. We want to say thank you for this and the knowledge of it, which has become more real in these past few years. Lord thank you for the wrath, the condemnation and judgment which was lifted from us and placed upon Your own Son that we do not have to bear it. Therefore we enter into the Holy of Holies with a freedom that man never had before. And today we want to thank you for this privilege that we have as we have gathered here for one of Your precious saints that You chose to take home. One whom you had anointed greatly and mightily and yet so many times as he had said I am but a man, just a vessel that God is using. So unto You is the glory and the praise and the honor forever and forever. Thank you for the strength that you are giving moment by moment. So Jesus what can we say, we love you and we thank You. In Jesus name Amen."
I think this Scripture that the Apostle Paul shared with Timothy is so befitting and speaks so much of Pastor Buck and these last few months especially. 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Phillips Translation. "As for me I feel that the last drops of my life are being poured out for God. The time of my departure has arrived. The glorious fight that God gave me I have fought. The course that I have set I have finished. I have kept the faith, the future holds for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the true Judge will give me in that day. And not of course only to me but to all who have loved what they have seen of Him." And I think that very well describes these last few months especially, the message is out, he felt that he was finishing and winding up what God wanted him to do. And truly that's exactly what happened. Bowed his head and the Lord took him home. We are happy because he right now is so happy and complete.
Pastor Roland H. Buck was born June 13, 1918 at Everett Washington and lived the early years of his life there. He attended North West College at Kirkland Washington and entered the ministry in 1939. He married Charm Jacobson on June 13, 1942 in Seattle Washington. Pastor Buck pastured churches in Granger and Yakima Washington and Gooding Idaho before coming to Central Assembly of God church in Boise in 1950. At the time of his death he was Pastor of Central Assembly Christian Life Center in Boise and was a member of the general council of the Assemblies of God. His book, Angels on Assignment has been the number one bestseller in the Christian book category each month since August 1979. The first printing of 525,000 has been sold out. And another 125,000 are presently being printed. Over a million copies have been sold in all. His worldwide speaking engagements included Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, the Philippine Islands and many, many radio and television appearances throughout the United States. Surviving him is his wife Chairman Buck of Boise, three daughters; Sharon White of Boise, Chairman Arnison of Spokane and Marylyn Buck of Boise. He has one son Ted Buck living in Boise. Three brothers Alfred Buck of San Diego California, George Buck of Fresno California and the Reverend Walter Buck of Spokane Washington. Three sisters Dorothy Garcia of Everett Washington, Margarite Ward of Yakima Washington, Gladys Willoscofe of West Germany and he also has 6 grand children.
The personal influence of Pastor Buck in my life cannot be calculated. Maybe I'll never know it. But he made God much bigger to me than I've ever seen Him. He showed me the meaning of praise as he expressed himself with great depth. He took something out of my vocabulary that formerly had been part of me and that was the words I can't, and he helped each of us say I can, I can, I can. And we are. He demonstrated to me the value of people, of each person, the value that God places on that person and he demonstrated it by showing me the value that he placed on each individual. He always had time for us, each of us. And our problem was his problem because God was concerned about what we were concerned about. He showed me the possibilities of what God can do through a man or a woman who surrenders their life to Him. He was a man who was the most consistent in life and words that I have ever met. In sum I would like to say it wasn't what Pastor Buck said, it wasn't even what Pastor Buck did. But it was what Pastor Buck was. And he was a man's man, he was a pastor's pastor and above all he was God's man.
Hebrews 11, "Now faith means putting our full confidence in the things that we hope for, it means being certain of the things that we cannot see. It was this kind of faith that won their reputation for the saints of old and it is after all it is only by faith that our minds accept as fact that the whole scheme of time and space was created by God's command. That the world that we can see has come into being through principles, which are invisible. Verse 15, all these whom we have mentioned maintained their faith but died without actually receiving God's promises. Though they had seen them in the distance they hailed them as true and were quite convinced of their reality. They freely admitted that they lived on this earth as exiles and foreigners. Men who say that their eyes are fixed on their true homeland. If they had meant the particular country they had left behind they had ample opportunity to return. No. The fact is that they longed for a better country all together. Nothing less then the heavenly one. And because of their faith God is not ashamed to be called their God. For in sober truth he has prepared for them a city."
They sing, "It is well with my soul." The choir sings a song that meant a lot to Pastor Buck. They sing, "Come to the Life Giver." "Behold the Lamb," is sung also.
We're standing on holy ground today. I'm sure that everything that has happened up to this moment is just exactly the way my brother Roland would want it to be. And I'm not going to put it even in the past tense because we haven't lost him. We know where he is don't we? We are encompassed about with a great cloud of witnesses and he is part of that cloud. Very busy, very happy, egging us on. I could just hear him now saying all right now sick him. I want you to know that this is holy ground and I do not feel really worthy hardly of untying my brother's shoes. I feel very honored at the privilege of standing here today.
This platform has become a forum of one of God's very good friends and one of His most productive mouth pieces that has declared rich and supernaturally conceived, life changing truths. You attest to that fact, this church full of people whose lives have been changed through the life and through the lips of this low-key unassuming brother of mine. Father of these beautiful young people who have sung and directed the choir and blessed us through this beautiful man God has chosen to touch not only an entire city but far beyond the borders of this city. The influence of this life through tapes, publications, platform ministry across the length and breath of this nation and around the world, the influence of this life is awesome in its outreach.
Now I know that we're not here to make people forget Jesus, the very thing that epitomized my brother Roland was the fact that he always wanted to stand aside and let people see Jesus. And we want to do that today and yet it is very difficult for us to talk about Jesus without talking about Roland because they were very close. They walked very close together. My brother's life was intertwined with the loveliness of Jesus Christ. I would like to say to you dear friends that Pastor Roland Buck was somebody extra special not only to his wife, family, church and community. But I feel that he was very, very special to God. He was very special to God. God had chosen to use my brother in such a way that those of us who knew him the best just had to stand in awe maybe almost a little envious at times but in awe. Jimmy Swaggerd just yesterday received his magazine the evangelist and I was captivated by a little sentence that Jimmy Swaggerd printed concerning Roland's tapes. He said, "I listened to the tapes with wrapped attention and a tremendous stirring in my heart. I sensed I was in the presence of Almighty God." He said, "The things that have happened in this life are probably one of the greatest miracles of the twentieth century." My brother had the joy a year in a half ago of preaching the spiritual emphasis week at North West College. I would preach the first morning, he would preach the next night. The President came out with a line that I thought was a classic concerning my brother. He said, "Young people we've had two different kinds of people here this week." He said, "One of these men have kept us on the edge of our seats and the other has kept us on the edge of eternity." You know why my brother was keeping people on the edge of eternity, that's where he lived. He was living in two worlds at the same time and he just got closer to the other world than this world and God said, "Hey there's no point in you going back."
I'm so delighted that before the Lord took him home he received from his peers the recognition that was long over due. I'm so thankful for that. I feel that the cycle had been completed and what happened to my brother Roland is what should have happened. God is perfect in his timing. My brother lived right up to the ninth degree until the Lord took him home. He was sitting in his office sharing Jesus with a lady. He got her through and he said to her why don't you just look up now and smile at Jesus and then he sat back and smiled and his two angel friends came and said now come on let's get on to phase two. For the Christian death is precious in the sight of the Lord. That word precious means He places a high value on them. So precious is their death that He watches over them every moment of every day to prevent it.
We are living immortal lives until our work is done. I believe that Pastor Buck was immortal until his work was done. And then he moved into glorious eternal immortality. Here's what God said about us in Isaiah 27:4, "I the Lord do keep it," concerning his church and individuals, "I will water it every moment lest any hurt it." There is no weapon formed against His people that shall prosper. The man who walks with God is walking very close and is immortal till his work is done. There is an appointed time I believe when God has accomplished His good work.
I never saw Roland in a situation he couldn't handle. Our times are in His hands and Roland's times were in His hands. God had scheduled every moment of Roland's life. He knew all about Tuesday of this week. I'm not so sure that with the kind of a life that Roland was living kind of going in and out going through the veil and back and through the veil and back. I'm not so sure if we analyzed his journals I think that probably he knew about Tuesday too.
When we walk with Christ and we're led by His Spirit, when we possess His life as Roland did until that day comes we can say to whatever would cast a shadow on our lives you have no power against me except it was given you of God. I asked him one day "how in the world do you keep going like you do." He said, "Well the Lord just kind of moved my own heart over to one side and connected me to His heart."
No doubt there are times in each of our lives when we feel that we've accomplished our mission. Peter had this experience one time in his life. He was left in prison, right up to the night preceding his execution and then he was delivered. Probably one of Roland's angel friends delivered him. Paul was stoned one day and left for dead but God had other plans, he had more books to write, more churches to plant, more lives to touch. That's kind of the way it was with Roland. He's had several other times in his life when he probably thought his time had come. I remember he suffered a very smashing coronary. But God told him that His plan was good and then he said it will be accomplished. And I believe that that plan has been accomplished. He was like Enoch, he walked with God and he was not for God took him and he's there.
One little thing that touched me, I was in the Evangel bookstore a couple days ago in our city. Beside me there was a table stacked with a couple hundred books entitled Angels on Assignment. And the Holy Spirit whispered in my heart and reminded me that though he is dead in our human parlance, though he is dead yet he speaks. And Roland's voice is being heard again and again. Do you know what the word the Holy Spirit dropped in my heart was? That his ministry rather than dying is exploding. And God only knows the end result. Some of the things that combine that make the passing of a Christian a glorious triumph some of the fragrant memories left behind.
He met God at a very early age. Roland never played church. We have a bundle of happy memories. Spiritual things were always important to Roland. The theme of his life was that God cared about people. The going home of a Christian is precious because the hope of a Christian is realized. Roland said, "When your time comes to leave this earth don't worry about it because heaven is not a drag. If things get bad here don't worry about that either, God wants us to make the most of our lives while on this beautiful earth to live for Him and to be happy. Eternity is not going to be a long drawn out existence; it is not some long boring extension of time." He said, "It's not time at all, it's just a glorious experience of being. God also allowed me to see loved ones who had died. Then he let me see believers who were passing from this life. I saw their families in heaven being alerted by the angels that a loved one was coming home and for them to ready themselves to welcome them. Paul referred to these people as having heavenly bodies. This clarified for me another eternal dimension. They were identifiable and appeared exactly the way they looked here minus the cares and the hurts and the other problems. They were constantly experiencing tremendous joy and excitement and happiness. For heaven is a place of continual discovery about the beauty of God."
Some time around two o' clock on Tuesday I could just sort of see some of the excitement that went on in heaven. Somewhere around that gate was a fine young man about 29, my son Jack. Word got around heaven, "hey uncle Role is coming home." And I could see Jack running over to get my father, Roland's father and mother, and saying, "hey come on let's meet Roland." Faith has become sight, hope has been fulfilled. Now he's in the throne room. Many times he sang that song, "that will be glory for me," and now he is singing this is glory for me right now. Why should we sorrow except from the one dimension, which is human? Roland is home and his mission is accomplished.
The Hallelujah Chorus is sung.
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