I said earlier, when Merle came
up the steps this morning, he said to me, how gracious, how
good our God is to have taken our brother to glory. And I responded, how gracious,
how good our God is to have given him to us for so long. And Mark Henson reminded me when
he came in, the last words, Brother Bob heard me speak. I got a call
yesterday morning from Shelby about 20 minutes till nine. I
was on my way to the services at Ashland and said that Sally
had called her and taken Bob to the hospital and she was going
to meet the rescue squad and meet Sally and take her to the
hospital. And for some reason I knew immediately that this
would be the last time, and the Lord was going to take it. So
I announced to the folks at Ashland, when I got up to preach yesterday
morning, I'm going to have to leave immediately after I get
done preaching. Brother Bob Pontzer has been
taken to the hospital, and I don't expect him going to come home.
at least not to his home over on Jefferson Avenue. And a little
teary-eyed, I said, it's not that I mind Bob dying. I don't. Oh, no. Happy for him. I just
want to get home and say goodbye to him. I don't miss that. And
Mark reminded me, though I didn't get back here for that, oh, what
a good goodbye. The last point of my message
to you Tuesday night, was found in Romans chapter 8. And I want
us to look at it this morning. When Mark reminded me of that,
I knew I couldn't preach what I prepared for this morning.
And I won't do much preaching this morning. I want to talk
to you, our family. I preached to you Tuesday night, if you'll
recall, on our light affliction. And my last point was our afflictions
are light. in the light of the glory that
shall be revealed in us. And I noticed what Martin did.
He said, I saw Bob take Simon by the hand and they smiled at
each other and nodded. Let's look at that text. Romans
eight, we'll begin at verse 16. The spirit itself, God, the Holy
Spirit, beareth witness with our spirit. He testifies within
us, and he does this in one distinct way, giving us faith in Jesus
Christ. Faith is the evidence of things
hoped for. Faith is the substance of things
not seen. Faith is the testimony of the
Spirit by which He bears witness with our spirit, telling us that
we're the sons of God. When God, the Holy Spirit, gives
you faith in Christ. The gift of faith enables you
and causes you to look to God through Christ your Redeemer
with joy and peace and no longer with dread and fear. It is faith
in Christ, trusting Christ's blood atonement, trusting Christ's
perfect righteousness that causes a sinner to be able to lift his
heart to heaven and call God my Father. The Spirit bears witness
with our spirit. that we are the children of God. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons
of God. And beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. For when we shall see him, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Read on. And if children, if we're God's
children, then we're heirs of God. If we're God's children,
we're God's heirs. Now watch this next line. And
joint heirs with Christ. Joint heirs with Christ. I don't think it's quite possible
for us to get a grasp on the fullness of that statement. It's
not really possible for human beings to be joint heirs of anything. You can possess something yourself,
you can possess something with someone, but you can't both fully
possess something. But the scripture declares that
we who are gods are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What has God
given his son? Because of his obedience unto
death as our substitute, the Lord God has given the God-man,
our mediator, Jesus Christ the Lord, all things. All things. He who sits yonder
on the throne of God in human flesh is a man who earned all
things. He possesses all things from
everlasting as God. He possesses all things from
everlasting as our covenant surety. And as our surety, He earned
the right to possess everything so that all the glory He now
enjoys as a man in heaven with power over all flesh, He who
sits on the throne of God, that glory He has given us. He said, the glory I've given
them, that you've given me, I have given to them, John 17, 22. So
that the very glory that the triune God heaped upon Christ,
the God-man, because of his perfect righteousness, his perfect satisfaction
of divine justice in his death, he gives to all God's elect in
him, because we're really one with Christ. We're really one
with Christ. Shelby and I are married, we're
one. But if you can't tell we're two,
something's bad wrong with you. We're two different people, but
we're united in marriage. That's an illustration of the
marriage we have with Christ. This hand is part of this body,
but you can obviously see the hand is somewhat distinct from
the rest of the body. So that's an illustration, it's
part of the body. But we are one with Christ. as Christ is
one with God. Really and truly one with Jesus
Christ. His obedience to God's law was
our obedience. His death was our death. His resurrection, our resurrection. His exaltation, our exaltation. One with Christ. Now read on.
We're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that
we suffer with him. It is true we suffered with him
when he died as our substitute. We suffered in him all the fury
of God's law, justice, and wrath. When Noah was in the ark with
his family, Noah and his ark never felt a drop of rain, were
never terrified by a bolt of lightning. They were safe in
the ark. But all the fury of God's wrath
poured out on all the earth, fell on Noah until the flood
was completely done. It just didn't touch him. He
was in the ark. So when Christ died, all the
fury of God's law and justice and vengeance and wrath fell
on us. But bless God, it never touches
us. We're in Christ Jesus. He absorbed
it all. But when he says that we suffer
with him in this passage, he's talking about suffering in this
life. Believers here suffer because of our testimony, because of
our faith in Christ, because of the gospel we preach. You
can't. It's impossible for you, men
and women. It's impossible for you, boys
and girls. It's impossible for you, young and old. to confess
the gospel of God's free grace to family, friends, and neighbors
that we believe and preach in this place and not suffer for
it. Folks will laugh at you. Folks will get mad at you. They
won't speak to you. They'll talk bad about you. That's
part of it. That's part of it. We also suffer
in this world as all other people do. Whatever other people suffer,
we suffer. We live in a world of sorrow
because we live in a world of sin. We get sick and we have
pains and we have sorrows and we have difficulties just like
everybody else. But oh, what a distinction. We suffer with Christ. with Christ. I don't mean to
suggest that our Lord suffers in glory. No, he doesn't. But
I do mean to tell you that he is a high priest who suffered
everything on earth we suffer, felt everything on earth we feel,
and now he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Touched
with the feeling of our infirmity, so that he is able to succor,
able to help with compassion, them that are tempted, them that
are tried. Now, look what it says. If so
be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. Glorified together as a body
of believers, glorified together with Christ our Lord. Glorified
with him. seated with Christ in His glory,
possessing His glory, enjoying His glory as that which is really
ours. Now what's the next line? For
I reckon, I've done some calculating. All of my family, mathematicians,
Shelby, a brilliant mathematician. Faith and orderly grace and will
and dove, all mathematicians. I have a tough time with two
and two. But I've done some reckoning. And I've done some good reckoning.
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, whatever
they are, whatever they are, whatever they are, are not worthy to be put in the
balances. They're not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. The glory that shall be revealed
in us. Last night, sitting in the easy
chair, Shelby and I talking a little bit. about Brother Bob, his life,
his influence, his influence on our lives, his joy, and then
the Savior's joy. Bob Potts, sir, was an exemplary
man, an exemplary man. Faithful, oh, how faithful, a
faithful friend. There's not a young person in
this congregation, not a young person in this congregation,
whose life was not affected as a child growing up with Bob Thompson. Not one. Not a person in this
congregation who's ever had a need, if Bob was aware of it, that
you didn't know. Bob was aware, caring for you,
and do everything he can to help you in your need. faithful man.
If you would like to have a definition of the word deacon, get a picture
of Bob Ponce. That's what one is. Until he
was not able to be here, many of you don't know this, until
he was not able to be here from the time that I became his pastor,
that's 34 years ago, Bob was here on this property almost
every day, at least several times a week, just looking to see what
needed to be done. He's just always here. Most of
the time, I didn't even see him. He'd just come in, go around,
take care of whatever needed to be done, look to see what
needed to be taken care of because he cared. He was a faithful man,
faithful man. Thoughtful, caring, oh, my soul. He and Sally, hospitable, opened
their houses. to people as preachers come and
ask me, no, stay with Bob and Sally, stay with Bob and Sally.
And not occasionally, not a few, but everybody, stay with Bob
and Sally. This is really true. Folks who come here and visit
this church family from all over the country always ask me, about
Bob and Sally Ponson. I don't know of a one that's
ever been here who didn't, because Bob and Sally always greeted
him, always greeted him, always made him feel welcome, always
made him know they're welcome here, delighted to have him here.
I recall, what's my brother's name out in California? Joe Truck. Bob Miller, Brother Bob Miller,
drove out here twice. He was driving a truck before
he had an accident and not able to drive anymore. He drove out
here twice and drove a long ways off to be at his services, and
both times I was gone. Bob took him home, drove him
around town, showed him around places, and he just got to be
free. They'd met him a long time before I met him. That's the
kind of man he was, faithful, faithful man. But above all else,
Bob recognized himself, a sinner saved by God's free grace. And
he wanted others to know that grace, that God, and that Savior. And now he's entered into glory. Shelby and I were chatting last
night, as I said, and we were talking about his joy and then
the Savior's joy. What joy? Our God has at the
reception of his children into heavenly glory. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 2.
Verse 9. It is written, I have not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man. No eye has ever seen it. No ear
has ever heard it. And in your highest imaginations, in your loftiest thoughts, in
your most spiritually minded condition. It's never entered
into your heart. Watch this. The things which
God has prepared for them that love him. Oh, the glory of heaven. She said, how can we even think
about that? I said, OK. OK. Skip, did you ever try, when
your girls were growing up, or you and Sandy were younger, or
maybe now when you're a little less than young, to do something,
purchase a gift, make something, that when you presented it, your
daughters or your wife or little babies would just be overwhelmed. Can you imagine giving someone
that you dearly love something that big, just something so shockingly
delightful that they are utterly overwhelmed? Can you imagine
the joy you'd have? Can you imagine? That's not even
close to a comparison. The Lord Jesus God, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, in the person of His darling Son, our Savior,
brings His children into glory one by one and causes His children
to enter into a glory that is shockingly delightful. Shockingly delightful. indescribably,
unimaginably delightful. And this was the joy set before
him for which he endured the cross, despising the shame. This
is not entered into the heart of man, but look at the next
line, but God hath revealed them to us by his spirit. He's revealed the fact of it
to us by His Spirit in His Word. He revealed the fact of it to
us by His Spirit in the gospel of His grace. He's revealed to
us that these things shall take place. We have to wait to glory
to find out what it is. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. After Mark said what he did and
reminded me of this text in Romans 8, I immediately began to think
about the glory that shall be revealed in us. And I recognize
all I can do is just identify some facts for you. Some facts
that I hope will cheer your heart. Some facts that I hope will make
you anxious for glory. Some facts that I hope will set
our hearts upon heaven. In Ephesians chapter one, three
times, three times, the Holy Spirit tells us that God's whole
scheme and purpose and work and operation of grace, in eternal
predestination, in election, in adoption, in redemption, in
providence, in effectual calling, in the irresistible grace and
power of God, in the saving of our souls. His whole purpose
is that He be glorified. He did this to the praise of
His glory, to the praise of His glory, to the praise of the glory
of His grace. Now this I know, this I know. That glory, which our dear brother
now enjoys, is the glory of his father's
everlasting purpose for him. Can you get that? Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Why on earth do you reckon it
was that Bob Pontzer had polio as a child? Why do you reckon it was that
that man hobbled around on crippled legs all his life, Bill? Why
on earth? Such a fine man. And he was.
Why did your dad hobble around on twisted legs all his life?
Why? Why, when he jumped off that
train out there, did he crush those two knees? Why? Why? Why? Why did the railroad arrange
it so they changed crews without stopping the trains? Why? Why,
when he got on that railroad, they moved him place to place,
place to place, here and there, everywhere, until he got here
and crushed his legs? Because God determined from eternity
that he hear the gospel of his free grace and that he be prepared to hear
it by all those things involved in his life that made him prepared
to hear the message. That's why. That's why. That's
just a little bit that I know. That's just a little bit that
I know. All things work together for to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose. And here's His
purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. The purpose of our Heavenly Father
before the world was, was that every chosen son loved of God
from eternity, every chosen daughter loved of God from eternity be
conformed to his darling son. Made to be exactly like That
one who is called the last Adam, in whose image the first Adam
was made. Made to be exactly like Jesus Christ, God, our Savior,
in the flesh. Made to be exactly like Him.
So that as He is, so are we in this world. And as He is, now
our brother is, not only as we are, but now without sin. He now has found fulfilled in
himself the purpose of his heavenly father, to present him in glory, in the perfection of righteousness,
in the perfection of life. This is dying. This is dying. You understand
that? This is dying. This isn't life. This is dying. Brother Bob has
entered into life. Life. The perfection of manhood. The perfection of life in Christ
Jesus. All right, turn over a few pages
to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. Our dear brother has now entered
into the glory of his heavenly Father. And he's entered into
the glory of his blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's begin reading at verse
21. Paul's telling us about life
in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit. He tells us to submit
yourselves to one another in the fear of God. Verse 22, wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For
the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head
of the church. And he's the savior of the body.
Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives
be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Now
watch this. that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. Why did the son of God take on himself our flesh perform perfect righteousness
for us, suffer all the horrid wrath of God for our sins when
he died upon the cursed tree. Why did he do that? Why? That
he might present me to himself without any spot of sin or wrinkle
of infirmity. or anything like it, wholly and
without blemish. Wholly and without blemish. Yonder is our brother. I suspect
he hears me. I just throw that in for what's
worth. I suspect he hears me right then. And he's wholly. without blemish, with no sin. No sin in his being. No spot, no stain, no corruption. None, none. If Bob told me once,
he told me a hundred times, oh brother now, my temper's always
got me in trouble. Not anymore. Not anymore, not anymore. No
spot. And no wrinkle. Brother Rex said
as he came up to the last step, he said, well, Bob's not hobbling
anymore. He's not hobbling anymore. Santa
said he's walking on two legs now. I have no way to imagine
the glory I'm talking about. I'm just telling you this is
the glory of Christ's redeeming work. Turn to John chapter 16. John chapter 16. by the arrangement of God, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, the God-man Jesus Christ has all preeminence. But let us never imagine, never
think, never fail to realize that the work of our everlasting
salvation is the work of the triune God, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. God the Father purposed our eternal
salvation. God the Son purchased it for
us, and God the Holy Spirit performs it in us. Now there's no real
distinction between the works of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, because all three are involved in all three works.
But those things are particularly described that way in the book
of God for us. So we can get some appreciation
for what the triune God has done, is doing, and shall do for us.
Now look here what our Savior says about the work of the Holy
Spirit. I know we live in this I can't say what I think about
this religious age. It's utter nonsense. It's charismatic. Clap your hands and wave and
dance and shake yourself and fall out on the floor and speak
in tongues and visions and dreams and all that. It's satanic. It's hellish. There's nothing
of God in it. Nothing of God in it. I don't care who's involved
in it. There's nothing of God in it. But the work of the Holy
Spirit is distinctly described here in the book of God. Look
here in John chapter 16, John 16 and verse 13. Our Savior says, when He, the
Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth. He won't make you fall out on
the floor, He'll guide you into all truth. He won't make you
dance in the aisles, He'll guide you into all truth. For He shall
not speak of Himself. He shall not speak of Himself.
But whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. And He will
show you things to come. He shall glorify Me. For He shall receive of Mine
and shall show it unto you." God, the Holy Spirit, comes to
chosen sinners in regenerating grace and giving us faith in
Jesus Christ, shows us the sword. He reveals Christ in you. He
reveals Christ in you. This is one reason. We don't
try to talk you into making a profession of faith. I don't twist anybody's
arm, try to get you to do something, try to get you baptized, try
to get you to join the church. If I can talk you into religion,
Mark, somebody else can talk you out of it. It's just that
simple. That's not God's salvation. No, no. Salvation comes when
God the Holy Spirit reveals Christ in you. And if he reveals Christ
in you, you know he's revealed Christ in you. You don't need
me to tell you about it. You don't need me to tell you
what to say, what to do next. Christ is revealed in you and
revealed in you, you believe it. Now, my brother, with all the triumph
of church and glory, has the glory of God, the Holy Spirit,
revealed in him as we can't imagine. He sees Christ face to face. He sees Christ face to face. Imagine that. Yes, a physical
vision. But remember, the body he has
now is not his resurrection body. That's coming later. This is
a spiritual body. This is a spiritual experience.
What about seeing him face to face? Seeing him face to face? You know what? I don't know. I just don't know. I really don't
have a clue. But I'm certain it includes this. To see is to apprehend. To see
is to know. To see is to have understanding. And now he understands. He understands who Christ is,
what he has done, why he did it. He understands all his purpose. So that he has no tears, no sorrows, no regrets of any
kind. No tears, no sorrows, no regrets
of any kind. No, no. he understands God's purpose. And he is beginning to know what
he will growingly know forever. Our God only does wonderful things
from beginning to end. Wonderful things. We will naturally In time, remember some things
that we did maybe hurt him, disappointed him, caused him some pain. And we'll regret that. He has no regrets. He sees and understands God indeed. Our Savior has done all things
well, all things. So all the pains and sorrows and difficulties
of marriage and of raising four children and all the ups and
downs and hard times that welded your hearts together. Those things
that caused you so much tears are now occasions of joy to that
man. Occasions of joy. For this too
is the work of my God for me. One more thing. Turn to Philippians
chapter three. Philippians chapter three. Paul spoke of this whole work
of God's salvation, God's great grace, as finally culminating
in that which shall be to the praise of the glory of God's
grace. Oh, the glory of His grace. Brother Bob has entered into
the glory of grace. Philippians 3 verse 9. Let us
start at verse 7. What things were gained to me,
those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ and be found in him. not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his
death. See, grace inspires in every
heaven-born soul some common desires. We long for perfect, uninterrupted
communion with Christ. Most of the time, most of the
time, Curtis, you're a young believer.
most of the time we spend in the valley. Once in a while we have a mountaintop
experience, but most of the time we walk around children of light
walking in darkness. God sends darkness in the The
beast and the creeping things of the night are all around us.
Most of the time, we're in the valley. Don't have any mountaintop
experiences. Now, I know religious hucksters
will tell you otherwise. Children of God, you folks who
have gray hair, been around for a while, you tell me if that's
not so. That's just the way it is. But oh, how we long for perfect,
uninterrupted communion with Christ. The saints in glory now have
it. Believers, every child of God desires utter, complete,
total consecration to God. I want my life with every breath
consecrated to my Redeemer. If you're gods, I know you do. But I struggle with that all
the time, all the time. Brother Bob Potts was one of
the most inspiring examples of faithfulness I've ever known.
I asked Sally yesterday, I've said this a number of times since
he lost his leg a couple of years ago. I've said several folks, I'll
guarantee you it takes that man from the time he gets up to the
time he gets here three hours to get to a surface. And she
said, that's just about right. Got to get up, get cleaned up,
get dressed, get a leg on, get in the car, get over here, get
out of the car, get up that handicap ramp, and be here. And he was
about one of the first ones here every time, three times a week. If he wasn't here, it's because
he couldn't get here. Faithful, faithful, faithful.
And yet, a man lamenting his faithfulness, as I do mine. Soon,
we shall enjoy total, utter consecration to God. And believers, every believer,
oh, every believer, every heaven-born soul, longs for complete conformity
to Christ. conformed to his image, conformed
even to his death, conformed to the will of God in all things,
conformed to submission to God in all things, conformed to Christ
in the perfection of holiness, in the perfection of righteousness,
in the perfection of grace. That's called glory. That's called
heaven. That's called eternal life. If
you would have it, believe on the son of God. Believe on the
son of God. Oh, may God give you grace to
believe on his son. Amen. All right, take the hymn
book, if you will. And let's turn to number 236,
I believe it is. If you need a hymn book, Amazing
Grace, How Sweet the Sound That Saved a Wretch Like Me. Yes,
number 236.