Participants: Lyle Albrecht
Series Code: 14SCM
Program Code: 14SCM000023
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00:38 Welcome back to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting.
00:41 How ya'll doing? Great! All right. Still with us 00:44 after how many sermons now? About 18 and one more to go. 00:47 I think this is 19 comin'. Nineteen comin'. 00:51 You've been blessed as we have up here? 00:53 Amen! Absolutely! Praise the Lord for all of these 00:56 men and women who've dedicated their time, 00:58 their time, their abilities to telling the world 01:01 that Jesus is coming back very soon in the clouds of glory. 01:05 You know, one of the things that we've had a tremendous 01:07 time with is music that Bruce Fjarli and his team 01:10 have been leading. We want to thank you, Bruce. 01:13 Don't you appreciate the music with him? Yeah absolutely. 01:16 Amen. All right. 01:20 A real blessing to us. 01:22 And it gives folks... gives you all an opportunity 01:24 to sing a little bit, too - right - 'cause you're 01:26 sitting there. And I know all of you get so full of joy 01:29 you say: "I've got to get rid of some of this. " 01:31 So that helps you. You can sing and join in. 01:34 And to me it's been a big just praise and worship Camp Meeting. 01:39 Yes. And have I felt the anointing of the Holy Spirit 01:41 here - Amen! -tremendously all week. Especially today it just 01:46 seems like. And now that we're coming to the last sermon 01:50 it's almost sad... Yes. You know? 'Cause we've got to wait 01:53 till Fall Camp Meeting now to do this again. 01:56 But we've got a lot to go on and go back and tell our friends 01:59 and everybody that we meet that: "You know what? 02:03 We know Jesus is coming very soon. " 02:05 Amen. And we're excited about that. 02:08 That's very true. And you know, tonight we get to listen to 02:10 Lyle Albrecht. And Lyle is an evangelist 02:14 that... How many of you have seen Lyle on 3ABN? 02:17 All right. Look at there. 02:19 And... He has a couple of series that he's done 02:23 and sometimes we rotate a series. And when we have rotated 02:27 people consistently call and say: "Put Lyle back on. " 02:31 "We want Lyle back on. " 02:34 So we've appreciated his ministry on 3ABN for many, 02:39 many years. His text is Matthew 24:14 02:44 and he feels that must be fulfilled. 02:46 And Lyle was named the Alumnus of the Decade 02:50 from Walla Walla University. 02:52 Wow! Now that's pretty good. 02:54 Neither of the schools that I went to will even acknowledge - 02:58 yeah - that I went there. Yeah. 02:59 It hurts my feelings sometimes you know. 03:04 I'm sensitive and they will not even admit 03:10 that I was a student. After all these sermons 03:12 you've got to get over it. 03:16 Oh wow! Well what a day! 03:20 And you know, the musicians that were here. 03:22 As they left, every one of them said to me 03:26 that they were blessed by being here with our group. 03:30 And you blessed them. 03:32 They blessed you but you blessed them, too. 03:35 And as some of you have guessed by now 03:38 some of these folk that came here we invited here 03:41 they're good friends or Christians but not necessarily 03:43 of our religious persuasion: Seventh-day Adventist. 03:47 But we said: "Man, we just love this! 03:48 We love the songs; we love the people. " 03:50 Thank you for being so friendly to everybody - 03:53 that's right - and be accepting of everybody. 03:55 Because they really love the Lord, and just as they did with 03:58 you but they say: "Whenever you want us back let us know. 04:01 We'd love to come back to a 3ABN Camp Meeting. " 04:04 So we said: "We're going to have you back for sure. " 04:06 Such a powerful way for us to witness to them 04:09 because they have a great impact on people as they visit 04:13 with them. They tell them about this ministry and about 04:16 3ABN and about the message that they hear on 3ABN. 04:22 Well Danny, this is our last meeting. 04:26 I know, I know. It's amazing because 04:30 when you think about eternity that we literally are going to 04:34 be able to have Camp Meeting for eternity 04:35 but we won't get tired there. You don't get sleepy. 04:38 No. But singing the praises of the Lord and being with those 04:42 that maybe we've been separated by death 04:46 for many many years. And being able to spend eternity 04:49 with Jesus. This has helped me I think more than anything 04:53 in the last number of years 'cause you hear a good sermon 04:56 now and then, but to hear all of these sermons 04:58 surrounded... surrounding the fact that Jesus is alive, 05:02 that He's well. He's on the throne ever interceding 05:05 at the right hand of the Father. Yes. It's just so encouraging. 05:08 And I can't wait for the Lord to come back... 05:12 especially as we get older. Yeah. As I mentioned before, 05:14 we realize... You do the math and you say: 05:16 "Lord come quickly. " Some of you guys 05:17 keep getting older. I tell you. It's amazing. 05:19 A few of us do. No comment to that? No, no. 05:24 You know, Danny, one of the great things that I enjoy 05:28 though about Camp Meeting is our afterglow. 05:31 So when this meeting is over historically you've come out 05:35 and led us in some more singing together. 05:38 And we'll have a few minutes right down to sundown 05:41 and we'll spend those last few minutes just having a time 05:45 together. It'll be your turn then to sing. Yeah. 05:47 That's what we look forward to. 05:49 Speaking of singing - yeah - we have some music right now. 05:51 We have a young lady that we both know very well 05:55 and it's Melody... my daughter Melody. Come on out Melody Dawn. 05:59 And we named her Melody in faith God would give her 06:02 musical abilities, and Dawn is the dawn of new music 06:05 in the Shelton family. So God has blessed. 06:08 Glad you're here, honey. Love you and all the babies. 06:10 All right. Thank you. 06:28 They say what doesn't kill us makes us strong. 06:36 And I've heard it's always darkest 06:39 before the dawn. 06:43 But all I know is that God's promises 06:48 are true, and He only wants 06:53 what's best for you. 06:57 We have this hope 07:00 that all hurting will be gone. 07:04 We have this hope 07:07 that all tears will be left behind. 07:12 I know down here life is hard 07:16 and the world is so unkind 07:20 but hold on because 07:23 we have this hope. 07:30 Every one of us has heartaches and trials. 07:38 Just remember we're only here for a short while. 07:45 Sometimes I feel I've had 07:48 more than my share, 07:53 but He won't give us more than we can bear. 07:59 We have this hope 08:02 that all hurting will be gone. 08:06 We have this hope 08:09 that all tears will be left behind. 08:15 I know down here life is hard 08:19 and the world is so unkind, 08:22 but hold on because 08:25 we have this hope. 08:29 And this hope for us 08:33 is Jesus! 08:42 So hold on because 08:45 we have this hope. 09:02 Amen. Amen! Thank you so much, Melody. 09:06 Wasn't that wonderful? Amen! That was wonderful! 09:10 Praise God! 09:16 I'm not exactly sure how I feel. 09:23 Danny was just here and said 09:26 "This is the last meeting. Tonight's the last meeting. 09:29 It's kind of sad. " Then he said: "Here's Lyle. " 09:51 It's true. They told me that camera'd add about 35 pounds. 09:56 It's true. 10:03 I've been invited to be here for Camp Meeting 10:06 on several occasions 10:09 but for the last several years - three or four - 10:13 we have had a grandson or granddaughter 10:18 graduating from church school 10:21 or from academy, and we have been to those 10:26 occasions certainly. Jesus comes first of all 10:29 and then my family. 10:36 By the way, my Peggy... Several of you have asked 10:39 about... She's great; 10:42 good health; beautiful. 10:47 That girl's hung with me for 54 years this July. 10:53 Can you imagine that? 10:55 Yeah... yeah. 11:00 Now I'm going to give you men some advice: 11:02 one thing that has helped our marriage to continue 11:06 has been I give the girl a lot of breathing room. 11:12 Yeah. I've told her again and again and again 11:16 "You're not locked in here. 11:19 I mean, I don't put you in a cage. 11:23 I'm not your keeper. 11:26 The door's open... you're free to go any time 11:29 but if you go I'm goin' with you. " 11:36 And I will. 11:38 She's like my American Express Card... 11:39 I don't leave home without her 11:43 except on rare occasions like this. 11:46 But I'll be back in her arms tomorrow. 11:52 So I alluded a bit ago to my kids going to school, 11:56 and I'm all in favor of that. 11:58 Help them anywhere I can. 12:00 And my appreciation of higher education 12:04 was indelibly impressed upon me by my Idaho neighbor 12:08 Bubba Hyder. And some of you have heard me 12:11 tell stories about him. He was as real as a heart attack. 12:17 He murdered the king's English. I mean he slaughtered it. 12:20 You've heard of double negatives? 12:23 He could use triple negatives. 12:25 They ain't never no mind and no use 12:28 and nothing and... 12:30 One time I said to him: "Bubba, you seem to take joy 12:32 in murdering the English. 12:35 I mean, it's like I've never heard before. " 12:38 Well he said: "I ain't had much education you know, Lyles. " 12:42 Called me Lyles. 12:46 "I ain't had that much education, Lyles, 12:49 seeing how I had to drop out during the third grade. " 12:54 I said: "Really Bubba? You did, really? " 12:57 "Yep. " "Did you get sick? Was that it? 13:01 Did you have to drop out of school to pull cotton? 13:04 What happened, Bubba?" "Oh, no, " he said, 13:06 "it was jury duty. " 13:13 Idaho for ya. 13:17 I was telling Idaho stories somewhere in mid-America 13:23 a while back. Born and raised there... I love it. 13:27 You have to know that. Those of you who've watched over the 13:31 years my programs, you know that. 13:36 I was sharing some Idaho stories, and afterward 13:39 a young lady I assume to be around 35 years caught me 13:44 out in the hall and she said: "I want to go on record 13:48 to tell you I don't appreciate your Idaho stories. " 13:53 And I said: "Well the joke's on me. I am an Idahoan 13:56 and I'm just really kind of putting myself down 13:59 when I do this kind of thing. 14:01 But if I've said anything at all that hurt you I'm sorry. 14:04 You have my honest and sincere apology. " 14:08 "By the way, " I asked, "what part of Idaho are you from? " 14:12 Said: "Are you crazy? I'm from Colorado! " 14:25 Now I was assigned a scripture 14:30 from Matthew's gospel chapter 24. 14:33 And my good friend Jim Gilley alluded to that a bit ago. 14:39 And I know that I'm not the first one to use it 14:41 during this Camp Meeting series. 14:43 I shall be the last, however. 14:49 And when my dear friend Walter Pearson began to speak 14:53 this morning he started off with Matthew 24:14. 14:58 And then he transitioned to another thought that I was 15:01 going to share and I said to myself: "He's going to preach 15:04 my whole sermon. " And I think he would've 15:06 but I prayed him off of it! 15:09 By the way, I listen to him preach still to this day. 15:18 C.D. Brooks. Ummh! 15:22 And I say to myself: "Why do you still try? " 15:29 I'll keep trying. 15:31 The greatest preacher... The great preachers of 15:34 the last 50 years of the Seventh-day Adventist church 15:39 have been our black brethren. Amen! 15:44 And I say that without apology. 15:51 And the highest compliment I think I've ever been paid 15:55 was when I was somewhere down in south Alabama 15:58 and a black lady came to me 16:02 after a sermon. She said: "Brother Lyle, 16:05 you're a reverse Oreo. " 16:13 I said: "What do you mean? " 16:14 She said: "You may be white on the outside 16:17 but you's black inside. " 16:24 Suits me. 16:37 Now I want to talk to you 16:40 about our Lord Jesus 16:44 and the idea of His invitations and His commands 16:50 "Come, " and "Go, " and "Come again. " 16:56 So you have your Bibles open now to Matthew's gospel 16:59 chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapters 17 and 21 17:04 are an answer to the disciples' question: "Lord, tell us 17:07 what it's going to be like just before You come the 2nd time. " 17:10 And Jesus said: "It's going to be like this and this and this. 17:13 And when you see these things begin to happen then know 17:16 that My coming is near... even at the door. " 17:21 Here's one of the requirements He laid down. 17:25 Before He could come He said this... 17:28 chapter 24 and verse 14: 17:33 "This good news about My kingdom 17:37 must be preached in all the world for a witness to all 17:41 nations and then the end will come. " 17:48 "This wonderful truth about My righteousness and My love 17:52 and My grace and My mercy 17:54 has to go to... It has to go to Tennessee, 17:59 and it has to go to Texas 18:03 and it has to go to Iowa and it has to go to Idaho 18:07 and it has to go to India and it has to go to the whole world. " 18:12 So Jesus gives this commandment. 18:17 By the way, that's exactly what it is. 18:18 Some have referred to it as the eleventh commandment. 18:20 And there is another verse that goes with it exegetically 18:23 and hermeneutically and Biblically. 18:25 I don't know what that means 18:29 but the scholars do, and that is the verse from 18:32 chapter 28 verses 19 and 20. 18:34 Of course you know that. Go into the whole world, 18:37 preach the gospel, and do what else? 18:39 Baptize... and then keep on teaching. 18:44 "And lo, I'll be with you to the ends of the earth... 18:48 the end of the world. " 18:50 So He calls these twelve men. 18:54 Very ordinary men they were. 18:58 And I thought this: "You know, if you were starting a business, 19:01 and you had put out in the various public places 19:05 some application forms, and these guys got ahold of them 19:09 and filled them out and then mailed them to you 19:11 or brought them to you, you wouldn't give them an interview. 19:14 You'd say: "Well thank you very much. 19:17 Don't call us; we'll call you. " And you drop it in the circular 19:20 file. You wouldn't have wanted one of them 19:24 but Jesus did. There was Simon Peter, 19:29 the man who cried out... " By the way, not so very long ago 19:31 I preached a whole series of sermons. 19:33 I began to study the lives of the disciples 19:35 for my own spiritual edification. 19:38 I found myself in a little bit of a... Ah, I don't want to say 19:42 depression. Down a bit. 19:49 I'd looked in the mirror. 19:55 And so I'd say: "Well, these men were just men as well. " 19:58 And so I began to study. 20:00 I read through the gospel record through the book of Acts 20:03 and then I read The Desire of Ages 20:06 and the other wonderful things that Ellen White had written 20:08 about the disciples. And then because I was still so hungry 20:12 I went to the Christian bookstore - used book stores 20:15 there in Grand Rapids, MI - and I bought about 30 volumes 20:19 on the lives and times of disciples. 20:22 And what God was sharing with me was so good that I decided 20:25 I need to share it with others. 20:26 And so I've titled that little series The Master's Men. 20:29 There was Simon Peter, the man who cried out loud, 20:34 and there was Andrew, the first home missionary, 20:36 the first foreign missionary. 20:40 There was Matthew... the man from the IRS, 20:43 and there was Thomas... the man from Missouri. 20:48 Had to be "showed. " 20:51 So Jesus takes these very ordinary men 20:54 and He empowers them with the Holy Spirit. 20:57 His disciples... that means He taught them, 21:00 and then after they had been schooled He sent them out. 21:04 That means He apostled them... sent them out. 21:06 "Now I've taught you. Now you go and share 21:08 what I've taught with others. Go... go now. " 21:11 And they went out and they began to turn the world upside down 21:14 for Jesus as the devil got mad. And I want to tell you folks 21:16 when the gospel is being preached still today the devil 21:19 gets mad! He gets mad. 21:22 Now some have been telling me here about what's happened to 21:25 some of my friends... some of my favorite preachers 21:28 and just other friends and how the devil has come down on them 21:31 with illnesses and maladies and death in the families... 21:34 various things. The devil is angry 21:37 when God's Word is being shared. 21:39 And he's mad here during this Camp Meeting, you can be certain 21:41 about that. And if he hasn't jumped on you today 21:44 he's going to do it on the way home. 21:46 So be careful... he might use your wife... maybe... 21:52 Probably not. 21:56 Empowered with the Holy Spirit these disciples went out 21:59 and preached and then they did miracles just like Jesus did. 22:04 Opening blinded eyes and straightening twisted, withered 22:06 limbs and comforting hurting hearts. 22:08 And by the way, when they reported back in Luke chapter 10 22:12 it's quite obvious that even Judas was given this power. 22:15 Remarkable, isn't it now? 22:17 And that says that God will use any man that's willing 22:19 to be used... as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus. 22:26 Exciting! "Take this good news to the world 22:29 and then I'll be back and we'll never be separated ever again. " 22:33 And that, by the way, is what heaven's all about, isn't it? 22:36 Never be separated again. I hold these meetings... 22:39 I've done about 201 of them now. 22:40 They last at least a month. 22:42 Somebody said: "When are you going to retire by the way? " 22:45 And I said: "When I can no longer climb the stairs, 22:47 that's when. " As long as God gives me a voice 22:51 and folks'll listen, I'm going to preach the good news. 22:54 I want Him so to come back. Amen! 22:58 So they went out; preached their hearts out. 23:04 And then He whom they believed was to be their earthly King 23:10 and within a few days or weeks at best 23:12 is crucified, and their hearts are broken. 23:14 Now you imagine with me. They've gone into hiding because 23:18 they are fearful that their own lives are going to be taken. 23:21 And He's in a tomb. Their dreams are shattered. 23:26 Brokenhearted they are. 23:28 And then on Sunday morning 23:34 there comes a voice from heaven: "Jesus, it's time to get up! " 23:38 And the stone is rolled away with unseen hands 23:41 and Jesus comes standing in the portal of the tomb. 23:44 He's alive forevermore! 23:46 But now I want you to notice something: 23:48 there are 101 men. There is a centurion. 23:51 That means he's in charge of 100 Roman soldiers 23:54 and they've been standing through the night trying to make 23:56 sure He stays in there. 23:58 And now they're flat on their backs in the dirt. 24:00 They're paralyzed... but they can see. 24:03 And He just turns and walks away. 24:06 Now... heartbroken on Friday night and on Sabbath. 24:12 And Jesus gets up on Sunday morning and goes to work. 24:16 Oh what a difference a Sabbath can make! 24:19 Amen! Praise God for the Sabbath. Amen! 24:22 So Jesus is alive, and they go out now 24:25 after they've gotten things together with Pentecostal power. 24:29 And they begin to preach again with great, great passion. 24:34 They did it, by the way, without computers 24:37 and without modern technology. 24:40 Even did it without these wonderful microphones 24:43 we're able to have nowadays. I want to share with you 24:44 a little bit of a story. How much time? Oh, I have time 24:47 for this story... maybe another one. 24:49 I have a clock right down here and they told me to watch that 24:52 clock. We had, out in the Pacific Northwest, 24:57 a wonderful Seventh-day Adventist worker of many many 25:00 years. He'd been an adminis- trator, pastor, evangelist. 25:04 And I must say I admired him. He must remain tonight nameless. 25:08 But he was really in favor of a lot of multimedia. 25:12 That's what it was called when it was first used, oh, 30 or so 25:16 years ago. And a lot of my fellow evangelists 25:19 had 17 projectors, 14 slide projectors, 25:25 and three movie projectors and five big screens. 25:31 And this man was really in favor of that. In fact, 25:33 he was producing material to be used in these kinds of programs. 25:38 And I didn't have any of that. 25:43 And some of the folks began to refer to me 25:46 as a suitcase evangelist. Said: "Old Lyle can take 25:48 all of his evangelism equipment in one suitcase. " 25:53 And so this man - this senior worker - 25:56 seemed to enjoy getting me in front of a crowd 25:59 and then kind of ribbing me a little bit 26:02 about not having multimedia. 26:05 And he'd tell me: "a picture is worth a thousand words, 26:07 Lyle. When are you ever going to come into the modern century? " 26:10 And he just needled me and needled me. 26:13 And one day I felt like I'd had enough. And he had me 26:15 in a group of mostly preachers but not entirely 26:18 and he was really kind of laying it on. 26:20 And I kind of "fuzzed up" a little bit and I said: 26:23 "Listen brother, if a man needs a crutch 26:26 he sure ought to use it. " 26:29 But I said: "If on the other hand 26:33 a man can take his Bible and just preach 26:38 and still hold the attention of some of the folks at least 26:41 I don't see what's wrong with that! " 26:43 "Oh, " he said, "I didn't mean to upset you. " 26:45 I said: "Oh, you didn't... much... much. " 26:56 And so here are these disciples now. 26:57 They've gotten it all together empowered with the Holy Spirit. 27:00 But what a commission! What a job! What a responsibility! 27:04 To go into the whole world. But God had put some plans 27:08 in place in advance. He gave them 101 eyewitnesses 27:13 to the glorious truth that Jesus was alive. 27:16 Now here they are, you see: 101 Roman soldiers. 27:19 They're conscripts. They've been drafted from the 27:21 whole of the known Roman Empire. 27:23 It's their job to keep Him in place. 27:25 And all the devil accomplishes now is to put 101 eyewitnesses 27:29 to the truth He's alive! 27:31 Now watch: these conscripts went home 27:35 after their commission was finished. 27:37 They went back to the various parts of the Roman Empire 27:41 and you can be certain that they called in the folks 27:44 from across the street, the folks across the backyard fence, 27:47 and they called in family members: uncles and aunts, 27:49 grandpas and grandmas, and they told them 27:52 "I was on duty. We guarded the corpse. 27:55 We thought He was a nobody 27:57 and I'll tell you: on Sunday morning the world changed! 28:02 He's out there; Jesus is alive! He's out there somewhere. " 28:09 The apostle Paul, before he finished his life, could say 28:13 and he said it as he wrote to Rome and also to the church 28:16 at Colossae, he said: "The gospel has now gone to 28:19 every place that men are known working and living in number. 28:22 It's gone to the whole world. " 28:23 Yeah... and they had no Walter Pearson 28:30 and they had no Mark Finley. They had no 3ABN. 28:33 But they had the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Amen! 28:36 And so Jesus said: "Go, Peter... go. " 28:39 "Go Paul... you go and take Silas with you. " 28:42 And "Go John. " "You go, Andrew. Go, go. " 28:46 And then God's clock struck a prophetic hour 28:50 and God raised up a movement 28:53 called Seventh-day Adventists. 28:58 And He said: "You have a special responsibility now 29:01 in these last days. You have a special message, 29:03 a timely message. Now you go as well! " 29:06 And so James and Ellen White went. 29:11 And then God said to J.N. Andrews: "I want you to go. 29:13 I want you to go over to Europe. 29:15 Oh, you might begin over there in Port Au Peluche among 29:17 the Waldensians. They're honest folks. " And so he did. 29:19 First Adventists in Europe were to be found there 29:23 in Port Au Peluche. We have a church there still. 29:25 Some of you perhaps have been there. "Go. " 29:27 "Go" said God. 29:29 And then as time drew on God said: "It's time 29:35 that I have some additional help... that I give you 29:39 some additional tools. " 29:42 And so he said to a guy by the name of Danny Shelton 29:44 "Get off that roof... put your hammer down 29:46 and go looking for a place where they have 3-phase power. 29:49 It's time to take this thing electronically to the world. " 29:52 Praise God! Amen! 29:55 And by the way, it's not too late to put in a little 29:59 extra offering. You can do that when you leave tonight. 30:01 Nobody'll mind. 30:02 But I want to tell you... 30:03 I'm going to now begin to tell you some thrilling stories 30:07 as a result of this ministry. 30:12 God said... Let me back up just a little bit 30:15 because this is important. 30:18 God said in 1948 to a Seventh- day Adventist book salesman 30:24 we call it colporteur. Can any of you remember 30:26 when they were colporteurs? All right! 30:28 As long as children pray I guess there'll be: "God bless 30:31 the missionaries and colporteurs. " 30:34 They said: "Brother Hayes, I want you to go out in a little 30:35 town of Fairfield, Idaho. 30:38 I want you to go right in the bar 30:41 and sign Walter Albrecht up 30:45 for Voice of Prophecy Bible lessons. Go, Bro. Hayes. " 30:51 And Bro. Hayes went. 30:54 And then years later God said to an evangelist 30:58 by the name of Glen Ofterhar: "Go to Baker City, Oregon. " 31:01 It was only just Baker back then. 31:04 "And take your singing evangelist Sunny Liu with you. 31:07 and I want you and Sunny to go and talk to Lyle Albrecht. 31:11 See if you can't use him to sing for your meetings. " 31:17 "Go. " And then He said to Lyle and Peggy: "Take your 31:21 two little kids and go on over to Walla Walla University 31:24 and do your four years' work there and then go to Andrews 31:27 University. Go. " And so we went. 31:32 And almost immediately God called us into full-time 31:34 evangelism. God said: "Lyle, Peggy: go down to 31:39 Warner-Robbins, Georgia, and rent a school auditorium. 31:44 And we did that. 31:48 We mailed out handbills and posters and all kinds 31:52 of things, but the meeting that night was a bit like 31:58 one Walter Pearson described... you know. 32:02 Look out in a hall that could seat several hundred and see... 32:05 yeah... maybe 20. 32:08 And several of those were church members there from the Macon, 32:11 Georgia, Warner-Robbins, Georgia, area. 32:14 But among the guests there was a man and his wife, middle-aged 32:16 folks, and they were every night, every night 32:18 in the same place. Every night they were there. 32:20 I decided I'd better go visit those folks. 32:23 And I did. I discovered they lived next door to a 32:26 Southern Baptist church. 32:28 And I visited with them. I discovered that Bill Thompson 32:32 was the pastor of the Southern Baptist church 32:35 and my heart sank. "Oh, it's my only interest 32:38 and he's a Southern Baptist preacher. " 32:40 They just kept coming. I presented the Sabbath message 32:43 and I went to visit him. I said: "Brother Bill, what'd 32:45 you think? " He said: "I think it's one of the most beautiful 32:46 things I've ever heard. " 32:50 I preached on the state of the dead. 32:52 I thought: "I'm going to lose him. " 32:54 I went and visited with him. I said: "What'd you? " 32:56 He said: "I think it's the most peaceful, wonderful thing 32:58 I've ever heard. " At the end of those meetings 33:02 I baptized Bill and his wife in the Warner-Robbins church 33:05 baptistery. Amen! And he said: "I must go now. " 33:10 Said: "I've had it too easy up until now. I've got to go! " 33:13 And so he moved back to his home country in central Oklahoma 33:17 and began to hold Revelation seminars. 33:19 And about every month he would write me or phone me: 33:22 "Lyle, where's this article? Where is this scripture? 33:24 Where's that statement? Where can I find this? " 33:28 God said: "Go... Go Lyle, go. " And then He said: 33:31 "Bill, you go... " and Bill went. 33:35 Then because of that experience 33:41 I was invited by my then president... 33:44 I was the union conference evangelist of Southern Union. 33:47 I followed Kenneth Cox there when he went to Mid-America, 33:50 to Central America rather. 33:54 And during that same year that Bill and his wife were baptized 33:58 we baptized two other Protestant pastors 34:02 with very different backgrounds. 34:04 And my then president Al McClure - who later went 34:08 to the North American Division said: "I want you to fly 34:12 in to our Camp Meeting at Southern College 34:15 and tell about this experience of baptizing these preachers 34:19 then we'll raise some evangelism offering. " 34:23 And I said: "Chief, I'm concluding 34:29 down here in Atlanta a meeting on that Sabbath 34:34 and I'm teaching a Bible class at 9:30 AM 34:38 and I'm preaching at 11 o'clock. 34:40 And at 6 o'clock we're going to have a review of what we've been 34:44 teaching and at 7 o'clock we're going to begin to baptize 34:47 about 40 folks. " I said: "I don't see how 34:51 I can be here and bind off this meeting 34:54 and be up at the Camp Meeting at the college. " 34:59 Said: "Lyle, I'll work it out for you. 35:01 I'll work it all out for you. " He said: "I know a man 35:03 who is a pilot. " I said: "Is he a good pilot? " 35:07 "Oh, " he said, "he's an instrument pilot. This man 35:09 has ferried airplanes across the big waters. 35:13 Yes indeed. " Now he said: "Here's the plan: 35:16 you preach on Sabbath morning but instead of going to 35:19 the... " By the way, folks. I have an issue about this. 35:23 You know this if you've been to my meetings. 35:25 We don't in the Adventist churches have potluck... 35:28 we have fellowship lunch. 35:30 And I'll harp on it as long as I have a voice. 35:33 Potluck sounds like you're going to a casino and gambling with 35:35 ptomaine poisoning. We have fellowship lunch. 35:43 So he said: "You don't have to go to that fellowship lunch. " 35:46 He said: "You shorten your sermon a little bit" 35:48 and he said "I'll have this pilot in a car waiting 35:51 and there'll be an airplane out at the field waiting. 35:54 And he'll fly you up there, and you just speak for 15 minutes. 35:59 He'll fly you back. He'll have you back by 6 o'clock. " 36:02 Now Peggy and our youngest - our boy Troy - was still with us 36:06 and they were down in Atlanta. 36:09 And so I shortened the sermon 36:12 to about an hour and a half. 36:20 And I ran out and here was this man 36:22 and a 13-year-old granddaughter. 36:26 And we raced out to the airport 36:28 and he did a quick walk around and then he got in 36:33 and got the microphone and keyed it 36:36 and said: "This is Charlie Fox blah-blah-blah-blah 36:39 asking for clearance for take-off. " 36:41 And there was nothing. 36:45 And he waited a few seconds then he did it again... 36:47 and there was nothing but silence. 36:49 And he looked at his watch and he cranked that airplane up 36:54 and we took off. 36:57 No radio. Now we got up around Chattanooga 37:01 and there were storm clouds. In fact the skies this afternoon 37:04 reminded me of the story that I'm telling you right now. 37:07 Those big old thunder clouds filled with electricity and all. 37:10 And so we had to fly around them and fly around them, 37:12 fly around them. And I noticed, I'd worked Chattanooga before 37:16 that holding meetings in there, and I knew the city fairly well. 37:19 And I saw when we flew by Chattanooga and headed out 37:22 to Collegedale, Tennessee. 37:24 And we got out into that area 37:27 and that pilot began to look for the runway. 37:30 He began to look and he had me looking. 37:33 And he had his granddaughter looking. 37:35 And then he said: "I'm going to have to tip her up. " 37:40 And he tipped that airplane up on this side. I mean, 37:42 he really banked it and we flew around in circles 37:44 a couple of times. And then he banked it the other way 37:48 and we flew around circles that way. 37:57 I said: "I'm getting sick. " 38:02 He said: "But the real problem is 38:05 I'm really sick. " 38:09 I said: "That's a problem... that IS a problem! " 38:17 And by now his granddaughter right behind us is crying: 38:20 "We're going to crash. I know we're going to crash... 38:21 I know we're going to crash. " 38:23 By now it's 3 o'clock. I was to be on the platform 38:26 telling these stories at three o'clock and now it's 3 o'clock. 38:31 Said: "Well I just can't find it, " and he says "I'm getting 38:34 kind of... I don't know where I'm at. " 38:37 And I said: "Well I know where we are. 38:38 I know at least that much. " 38:40 "You turn this thing around, " I said. "I know right how we can 38:42 find the Chattanooga airport. We're going to land in 38:44 Chattanooga. We're going to get out; we're going to get 38:47 a drink of water; we're going to walk around a little bit. " 38:49 And so we did. And so we come back into Chattanooga 38:53 and he's on that radio: "Chattanooga, this is foxtrot 38:57 number 9-er 9-er um, um, um, um. " 38:59 Silence... and so we just dove right in and landed. 39:04 We taxied over to the hangar 39:07 and before we got there there came running out 39:09 a man, and his face was white and he was shaking his fist 39:12 and he was using some language that I won't be able to use 39:14 here tonight. You folks wouldn't understand it anyway. 39:20 And he said: "You crazy... " He said " Do you know what 39:22 you've just done? You just dropped in in front 39:25 of a 727 jet loaded with passengers. 39:28 He had to pull up and go around. " 39:34 And my skilled pilot said: "Sir, I tried to talk to you 39:38 but you wouldn't talk back to me. " 39:40 And this guy reached in and pulled the jack out 39:43 and plugged it in between the seats. "Now, " he said, 39:45 "see if that won't work. " And it did! 39:54 So... so I asked: "Would you mind if we'd get out 39:59 and walk around a little and maybe go in and get a drink? " 40:04 He said: "Don't get out of my sight. " So we did that 40:09 for about a half hour. Now in the meantime you must know 40:12 my Peggy is back in Atlanta 40:15 and they have called from Camp Meeting and said: 40:16 "They never showed up and there's bad weather around. " 40:20 Um-hmm. 40:27 So after about 1/2 hour, and I knew that I had barely 40:31 enough time if we had good weather to get back to Atlanta 40:34 for my baptism program, 40:37 we got in and taxied out. 40:42 And this 727 jet 40:47 was on the end of the runway 40:50 getting ready to leave, and now our radio was working. 40:53 And I heard the pilot of that jet say to the tower 40:57 "Is that that Piper Cub? " 41:05 And the tower said: "Affirmative. " 41:10 He said: "You tell that fool to get on out of here. " 41:12 He said: "I'm not going to move a wheel 41:13 till he's out of my sight. " 41:17 And that, by the way, is the last time I've ever taken an 41:19 airplane ride in one of those little airplanes. 41:21 I fly in the big airplanes when I have to. 41:23 Like I did yesterday; like I will do tomorrow. 41:26 You've heard of flyers that are white-knuckle flyers? 41:29 Kind of when they take off and when they land 41:31 they've got white knuckles? I'm white knuckle all the time! 41:36 I don't really care for it. 41:38 Oh, and besides that my Jesus said this... 41:41 He said: "Low I'll be with you always. " Low. 41:50 And I heard You, Lord. 41:58 And then Jesus said: "Lyle, I want you to go to Sunnyside, 42:01 Washington. Want you to go there and hold meetings 42:04 in the Seventh-day Adventist church. " 42:08 Now there happened to be in Sunnyside, Washington, 42:11 a family that owned one of the largest cattle spreads 42:16 in central Washington. 42:21 The father-in-law of this man who with his family owned the 42:27 spread had been a Seventh-day Adventist medical doctor. 42:32 He had graduated from Loma Linda University 42:34 in the mid 30's. The day he graduated 42:36 he dropped out of the church 42:38 and worked overtime in all kinds of other hospital jobs 42:42 and various things so he could put his family 42:44 through... Ha... is that Marilene? 42:48 No? You're from Sunnyside. Ah, she knows this story. 42:55 If I'd have had my glasses I'd have know you weren't 42:58 Marilene... probably. 43:01 I don't need glasses. A guy saw me... 43:05 He said: "Would you like to borrow my reading glasses? " 43:09 I said: "No sir, but if you'd like to take my Bible and hold 43:10 it against the back wall I'd appreciate that. " 43:17 So Tim Foster... big, rugged cowboy... reminded me of... 43:22 You remember Cheyenne Bodie? You remember that? 43:25 Cheyenne? Clint Walker... Cheyenne Bodie. 43:27 Narrow at the waist, broad shoulders, muscles. 43:30 Tim reminded me of Cheyenne Bodie. 43:32 And quite a gem... a real cowboy. 43:35 His wife had been watching my programs on 3ABN 43:39 and she kept after him: "Tim, sit down and watch this; 43:41 just watch this one program. He's an old farm boy... 43:43 an old logger. I think you'd enjoy it. " 43:45 "I don't have time. I've gotta... " 43:46 Finally she said: "If you'll just watch one time 43:49 I won't ask you again. " "All right, " he says. 43:51 And he sat down and watched and then he said to her at my amen: 43:56 "If that guy ever came here I'd go to every meeting. " 43:58 She said: "Guess what? He's starting here 43:59 next Saturday night. " 44:08 And he was there every night... front row. And his wife 44:15 and his daughter who is an attorney 44:18 and her son, and then another son and a girlfriend 44:24 and also her daddy... 44:28 the doctor who is now 100 years of age. 44:32 On his 100th birthday you may have seen him on 44:33 Good Morning America! He was waterskiing there 44:36 on the family lake on his 100th birthday. 44:40 Dr. Shearer. And so they came to every meeting. 44:44 Dr. Shearer came to many of the meetings and I went out to 44:47 visit with him and get them ready for the baptism. 44:49 And Dr. Shearer was out saddling his own horse. 44:53 Throwing a big saddle up there and I went over to him. I said: 44:56 "Doctor, I know you love the Lord. I know you love this 45:00 family. I know you love this message. 45:05 Wouldn't you like to be in the water with your family? 45:09 They so would love that. " 45:12 He began to cry. And so we baptized 45:17 that whole family: Dr. Shearer and then later 45:22 a son and his wife. God said: "Go to Sunnyside. " 45:26 Then a bit later He said: "I want you to go to Yakima. " 45:30 "Go now... the gospel has to go everywhere. " 45:32 "Go to Yakima, Washington. " And I got there a few days early 45:36 and someone said to me: "There is a lady 45:38 who lives nearby here who watches your program 45:42 on 3ABN television faithfully. 45:44 I mean, she just won't miss. And if she has to be gone, 45:47 she'll record it and watch it later. 45:49 I believe it'd pay if you'd go call on her before the meetings, 45:53 give her an invitation. " I did. 45:56 It was a lovely early Fall day... warm... 46:00 and the door was open but the screen door was closed. 46:05 And as I and the pastor walked up the walkway 46:08 I heard a familiar voice. It was mine. 46:15 She was watching me on 3ABN television. 46:19 And I knocked on the door 46:22 and the lady came to the door and she looked at me. 46:26 Her jaw dropped. Her eyes popped wide open. 46:29 She looked at her television set; 46:31 she looked back at me and she cried out: "Oh Lord! " 46:35 I said: "No, it's just Lyle. " 46:56 Her boy brought the mop and we got her awakened. 47:00 We baptized her five weeks later. God said: "Go... 47:05 go to Yakima. " 47:08 "Go to Sunnyside and then God said: "Go by way of 47:12 3ABN television to New York City. " 47:16 I tried to pull up from my feeble mind 47:20 the names and I failed. Some of you would be able to 47:22 help me, but I don't want you to speak out in my meeting. 47:26 For a young man... You remember the story written in the Review? 47:31 Three young men living together 47:33 somewhere in New York City 47:35 and one of the young men 47:37 loved to watch Lyle on 3ABN television. 47:40 And early and late and in the morning... whenever they put me 47:43 on he watched me I guess. Mid-morning, whatever... 47:46 Three in the morning he watched me. 47:48 And his brothers didn't appreciate it, so he dared them 47:50 to watch too. And they were all baptized 47:52 and now they're doing the Lord's work in New York City! 47:54 Amen! "Go... go so I can come again. " 48:03 By way of technology God took my sermons 48:09 to the Great Lakes Naval Base, 48:11 and one year three medical doctors were baptized. 48:15 God said: "Go... go. " 48:18 Then one day when the work is finished 48:24 He's going to say: "Come... come now. " 48:28 He said: "Come unto Me... come I'll make you fishers of men. 48:31 Come. " And then He said: "Go... go into the whole world. 48:32 Do this job and then I'll come again. " 48:38 I Thessalonians chapter 4 48:42 16 and 17. Oh, how I love the verses. 48:45 "The Lord Himself... " 48:48 But I like to personalize it so I say: "My Lord. " 48:51 "My Lord Himself shall descend from heaven 48:55 with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. " 48:58 Does that sound like a secret rapture to you? 49:00 I think not. No... a trumpet blast awakens the dead. 49:02 The Lord Himself shall come. Voice of the archangel, 49:05 trump of God... "and the dead in Christ shall rise first. " 49:09 My dear daddy may have been the best Christian I ever knew 49:15 and he used to say and pray: 49:18 "I want to be alive when Jesus comes. " 49:23 A few hours before he died 49:28 I told him: "You will. 49:33 He's going to waken you to see the last descent 49:39 on the cloud. I know it! " 49:46 We... us... 49:50 we're still here. 49:54 We're going to be snatched up to meet Him in the air. 49:59 "and so shall we ever be... " 50:04 Wherefore, comfort yourselves... 50:10 one another... with these good words: 50:15 "I will come again. " 50:21 An old preacher whom I love to hear 50:26 once said: "When Jesus comes back, I want to meet Him 50:32 in a cemetery... a certain cemetery... 50:36 and I want to be alive to see certain graves open. " 50:40 And I thought a lot about that in the last few years. 50:45 There's a cemetery on a hill in Baker, Oregon, 50:50 where in 1968 we placed Peggy's daddy. 50:55 Perhaps one of the greatest men I ever knew. 50:58 I was working for him at the time. 51:00 A Caterpillar tractor rolled over on him and killed him 51:03 instantly. We buried him there. 51:07 Six years ago this September I put my boy beside him. 51:12 Two years ago I put my granddaughter. 51:18 Four weeks ago today put Peggy's mother there. 51:28 "I will come again 51:31 to receive you 51:37 to Myself. " 51:39 So shall we ever be with the Lord. 51:49 William Miller - 51:53 Bible prophecy student - 51:58 among others had set a date for the 2nd coming of Jesus. 52:05 1843 firstly, and then 52:09 they changed that to October the 22nd of 1844. 52:12 And He didn't come, and many were so discouraged 52:17 they gave up to walk no more with God's people. 52:24 By the way, as a result of that disappointment 52:27 I am convinced of this: 52:28 there were several things that happened after that. 52:31 The main churches, the big churches, what they used to call 52:33 "the money churches" stopped talking about the second coming 52:37 period. They said: "We took the Bible a literal way. 52:39 It let us down. We don't want to hear anything 52:42 about prophecy, about a literal second coming. 52:44 We want to talk about feeding the poor 52:47 and taking care of folks and doing this and accepting all 52:50 peoples, and modernism was born as a result of the 52:53 disappointment of October 22 of 1844. 52:57 And there was another group. This group said: "We're not 52:59 going to turn our backs on prophecy or on the Bible. 53:02 We're still going to talk about the second coming 53:05 though we've been so discouraged; we've been so 53:07 downhearted; we've been so disappointed. 53:11 It's time that we kind of lift our own spirits if need be. 53:16 It's time that we forget about all this disappointment and all 53:19 of this bad news and we need to come together 53:22 and clap our hands and get happy and bring the 5-piece band in 53:25 and walk on the backs of pews. " 53:27 And fanaticism was born as a result of the disappointment 53:29 of October 22, 1844. 53:31 And while the majority went other ways, there was this 53:34 core group that hung on. And they said: 53:37 "It's true we've been disappointed but the promise 53:39 of Jesus is real. He WILL come again! " Amen! 53:44 And William Miller himself said: "I'm not going to give up. 53:47 Not going to throw my Bible away. " 53:49 He said and I quote: "I have set my mind on another date 53:53 and that is today and today and today till He comes. " Amen! 54:12 When 46 years ago 54:17 I began my public ministry 54:21 had you asked me: "What's your favorite scripture? " 54:27 I probably would have said John 14:1-3. 54:32 "In My Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare... 54:34 I will come again. " 54:39 Some time later had you asked me, maybe 20 years ago, 54:42 had you asked me: "What's your favorite scripture? " 54:45 I might well have said: "Ah, I love that from Romans 54:49 "By grace you are saved... not of yourselves. 54:54 It is a gift of Jesus and the Father, God. " 55:00 You ask me today and I'll be quick to tell you 55:03 while I still love those others I Corinthians 15:51-52. 55:07 "We shall not all sleep but we shall all be? "changed. 55:10 In a moment... in the twinkling of an eye. " 55:12 And I know some of you folk have been to my meetings 55:14 or have listened to my programs have heard me whine and 55:16 complain. And I do more as I get older 55:18 because my body hurts worse and worse and worse. 55:21 My old logger buddy made me go with him about 5 years ago 55:23 to do a logging job. And I had been a logger in my early years. 55:27 And after about three days out in the log camps my body'd 55:31 toughen up and I'd stop hurting. 55:33 But I went and helped my buddy five years ago. 55:36 I'm still hurting! I'm paying for it. 55:38 Yeah... I'm still hurting 55:41 but one day I'm going to be changed. 55:43 I was in a restaurant with my Peggy not too long ago 55:45 and there were three ladies doing the lunch thing. 55:47 And one of them said: "I counted down today, girls. " 55:49 She said: "I looked in the mirror and I saw these crow 55:52 tracks around my eyes I hadn't noticed before. " 55:54 I wanted to turn to her and say: "Hush up, woman. 55:56 An ostrich has walked all over me! " 55:59 And one day I'm going to be changed. 56:01 One day... I have this old, mustard-white hair. 56:04 I look in the mirror and see a rat. 56:06 How would you like to start your day every morning 56:07 you look in the mirror and there's a rat looking 56:09 back at you? If I had beautiful white hair 56:11 like you folks I wouldn't complain much. 56:14 The face I see in the mirror 56:19 more and more is a stranger to me. 56:23 But more and more I see myself becoming 56:26 the man I never thought I'd be. 56:30 One of these days this hair 56:34 is going to go back to its youthful shine. 56:39 And this little place back here 56:44 is gonna have hair again. 56:46 How about that one there? What do you say, brother? 56:49 Amen? Yeah, I thought so. 56:53 I thought so. 56:56 Hey! I'm in this thing to the end. 56:58 I have set my mind on another time: 57:01 today and tomorrow 57:06 until He comes. 57:10 If that's your resolve, 57:14 then stand with me. 57:17 Don't do it if you don't mean it. 57:21 But if you mean it, don't you sit there. 57:25 God bless you. 57:33 See us, Lord? We're not much 57:40 but we're all we have. 57:53 We give it to You unreservedly 57:58 while we wait 58:00 for our Lord Jesus 58:03 to come again. Amen. |
Revised 2015-04-30