Participants: Pr. Lyle Albrecht
Series Code: RIN
Program Code: RIN000022
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01:00 I want you to open your Bibles now, please, to
01:02 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 01:07 And I'm going to talk to you for the next few minutes about 01:10 the experiences of the apostle Paul. 01:11 He's one of my heroes. 01:15 Apostle Paul probably understood righteousness by faith in Jesus 01:19 as well as any Christian ever before or sense 01:23 with the exception, of course, of our Lord Jesus Himself. 01:27 And he had some tough times. 01:28 He had some discouraging moments and some hard days. 01:34 Problems. 01:35 If you think you've had a bad day or bad week or 01:39 annus horribilis, take a listen now as I begin to read. 01:45 2 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning with verse 24. 01:50 2 Corinthians 11:24-29 01:57 "By the Jews, five times I was whipped with 39 licks. 02:05 Three times I was beaten with rods and one time I was stoned. 02:11 I've suffered shipwreck, I was a night and a day in the deep. 02:16 I've been in so many travels, in perils in the waters, 02:19 in peril because of robbers and thieves, perils because of my 02:23 own countrymen, perils from the heathen, perils in the city, 02:28 perils out in the wilderness, perils in the sea, and 02:30 perils because of my own brethren. " 02:33 And I want to say, by the way, that those are the worse kind; 02:38 the difficulties that come to us from the saints. 02:41 We'll say more about that in just a little bit. 02:44 In verse 27, he said, "I've been so tired, 02:46 I've been in pain so often. 02:48 I've been hungry, I've been thirsty, I've fasted on 02:51 so many occasions, I've been cold and almost naked. 02:54 And besides all of these things that come from the outside, 02:57 there comes upon me every day the care of my churches. 03:01 Which member is weak and I'm not weak at the same time? 03:04 Which one is offended and I not hurt as well?" 03:08 So the apostle Paul had a pastors heart and a great 03:11 care for his people. 03:13 And those cares caused him pain and heartache and anguish 03:18 and suffering and hunger and thirst and shipwreck 03:22 and beatings, ad infinitum. 03:27 I don't want to compare myself entirely to the apostle Paul. 03:32 I'm certainly not the kind of theologian that he was, 03:35 nor the preacher for that matter. 03:37 But he was an evangelist and I certainly relate to that 03:40 side of his ministry. 03:41 And Peggy and I relate to some of the problems that he had. 03:46 Along the roadside, the shipwrecks and that 03:49 sort of thing. 03:52 This meeting, ladies and gentlemen, happens to be, 03:54 I looked it up just before I came. 03:55 This happens to be evangelistic meeting number 180. 04:01 And I don't mean 180 meetings, I mean 180 evangelistic 04:06 meetings, crusades. 04:09 We're not suppose to say that anymore because it's 04:11 politically incorrect, but I noticed that Billy Graham is 04:14 still talking about Billy Graham crusades. 04:16 And so I'm going to use it here tonight. 04:17 This is crusade number 180. 04:20 That means we've done 180 of these meetings that have lasted 04:24 at least 4 weeks here in the United States, 04:27 and others outside in addition to all of that. 04:30 We have spent the majority of the past 36 years on the road. 04:36 In this city for a while, in that town for a little while, 04:39 in this village for a time, and over in this big 04:42 area for a while. 04:44 And we've put on the old bus, and before a bus, we pulled 04:48 trailers and we've put hundreds and thousands and thousands 04:52 of miles on them. 04:53 Peggy keeps two maps. 04:56 She's a map maker among other wonderful things. 05:01 One of the maps has a little dot on it wherever we 05:04 have held meetings. 05:06 And that map looks like it has the measles. 05:08 Here and there and everywhere. 05:10 Just from country to country, north to south and east to west, 05:13 and coast to coast, and in between. 05:15 "Yea, we had a meeting there. " 05:16 "You remember when we were there and there?" 05:18 I was talking to our boy on the telephone just yesterday 05:21 about the various places we had been during the spring time 05:24 and the many places they'd flown kites. 05:27 And that's just a few of the places that we have been. 05:31 Peggy has another map. 05:34 And this one, I believe, has as many or maybe more spots on it 05:37 than the one of the places we've had meetings. 05:39 This map shows the many places where we have broken down 05:43 along the roadside. 05:44 And we'll drive just a few miles and she'll say, 05:47 "You remember the time the engine blew up here?" 05:49 "You remember when the water pump went out here?" 05:51 "You remember when the tires blew out here?" 05:53 "You remember when... " 05:54 "Yes, I remember, I remember. " 05:58 And it seems like nearly every time we talk with Peggy's 06:01 mother for an extended period, she'll say to us, 06:04 "Stay humble now kids. Stay humble. 06:07 The world's falling in. Stay humble now if you can. " 06:16 A couple of years ago, well less than that now, we were 06:19 headed for Arizona. 06:20 I'd just put a brand new engine in that old bus that we live in. 06:24 And I paid a lot of money for it, big Detroit diesel engine. 06:28 And it went 327 miles and burned completely up 06:33 without any kind of a warning whatsoever. 06:35 And I called the folks that had sold it to me and they said, 06:37 "That's your problem. " 06:39 And so I had to put another one in it. 06:41 And I had not gotten the new engine in the bus, 06:44 I'd left the bus alongside the road to shop down in Utah, 06:48 and got down to northern Arizona, opened the meeting, 06:50 and guess what. 06:51 The motor blew up in the car. 06:53 We had about $27,000 worth of personal expense 06:57 there in two weeks. 06:59 Yea, we've had our problems alongside the road. 07:02 In addition to that, there has been the separation that we've 07:08 known over these 37 years between ourselves and our kids, 07:16 and our families and our grandkids. 07:20 And the many times we've not been able to be home 07:23 for a celebration, anniversary, or a funeral. 07:33 And when the apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy 07:36 and said to him in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 21, 07:41 "Do your best, come to me before winter. " 07:44 He was the only family the apostle Paul had. 07:46 He referred to him there in that passage as his adopted son. 07:49 And so he said, "Please come to me quickly. 07:52 Because if you don't hurry, the winter storms are going to come 07:56 across the Mediterranean. 07:57 If you don't start soon, I'll never see you again. " 08:00 He was looking in the face of death and he knew it. 08:04 And separation from those that he loved was very real to him, 08:08 and we've experienced a little bit of that. 08:11 Leaving the neighbors and the friends and the church families. 08:14 I just get to know you folks, many of you by name, and 08:17 it's time to move on and move on and move on. 08:24 And so Paul had his problems. 08:26 We've had ours. 08:27 But there were a couple of things that really encouraged 08:30 the apostle Paul. 08:31 And I want to read some of those to you as well, 08:34 and then we'll make some comments regarding that. 08:36 1 Thessalonians, would you turn there with me please. 08:39 Chapter 3 of 1 Thessalonians. 08:41 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 and I shall begin to read at verse 4. 08:47 1 Thessalonians 3, beginning at verse 4. 08:56 "When we were with you, I told you that you were going to 09:00 suffer tribulation, and you know that it has happened. 09:04 And for this reason, when I couldn't stand it any longer, 09:06 I sent to know about your faith, lest by some means the tempter 09:10 come and tempt you and our labors have been in vain. 09:13 And then Timothy came back from you and he brought such 09:17 good news about your faith and your charity, 09:20 and that he brought such wonderful remembrances 09:23 that we share as well. 09:25 We desired so much to be with you and I discovered that 09:29 you felt the same way about us. 09:31 Therefore then, we were comforted in our afflictions 09:37 and in all of our distresses by your faith. 09:40 And now we're able to live if you folks 09:43 stand fast in the Lord. " 09:45 And so there was the thing that encouraged him. 09:47 And I want to say to you folks tonight, 09:49 the best news this preacher ever hears, is after he's left this 09:53 city or this town or that other place and been gone 09:56 6 or 8 months, or a year or 5 or 6, he gets the word, 09:59 "They're still faithful. 10:00 Those people that were baptized, those that came to 10:03 the family, they're still here. " 10:05 And I look around and see a number of you that 10:07 were baptized the last time we were here, and some of you 10:10 the first time we were here a number of years ago. 10:12 And I thank God for you. 10:14 You bring encouragement to our hearts, Peggy's and mine. 10:20 Your faithfulness brings great wonderful encouragement 10:24 and it's far more meaningful to me to hear that the folks 10:28 have been faithful, that they're still part of the program, 10:30 that they're still in church on Sabbath morning, 10:33 that they're still reaching out to their neighbors and friends. 10:35 It means a whole lot more than when once a month 10:38 out check goes to the bank. 10:40 I promise you that. 10:41 It's far more meaningful. 10:43 I've had the happy privilege to be a part of baptizing 10:46 nearly 5000 people now and I never tire of it. 10:50 Everyone is like the first one. 10:53 Every single one is fresh and new and wonderful. 10:56 And now, the down side. 11:07 You, particularly, who become part of the family in the 11:10 last few moments, or days or weeks, or years for that matter, 11:14 are going to be tempted and tested by the devil. 11:18 Going around like a roaring lion, he knows the 11:20 time is short, he's come down with great wrath. 11:22 And he's going to make life miserable for you. 11:25 And you can be quite sure that someone in your extended family, 11:30 maybe an aunt or an uncle, is going to come to you tomorrow or 11:33 next week and say to you, "You mean you joined that Adventist. 11:37 I can't imagine. Have you lost your mind? 11:40 Are you completely crazy, have you flipped out? 11:42 Surely you didn't do that. " 11:44 You stay faithful. 11:48 And if it's not a parent, it might be a spouse, 11:52 or on the other hand it might be a close friend, 11:55 someone you thought you could count on during the 11:57 toughest times, that he may turn on you 12:00 because you've given your life over to Jesus. 12:02 Did you know, my dears, that your righteousness, 12:05 your following Jesus' footsteps becomes a condemnation 12:09 to those who don't want to do it and won't do it? 12:12 Your righteousness your holiness is a condemnation to them. 12:15 Every time they lift the jug, every time they say 12:19 those filthy words, every time they steal a little something 12:22 out of the grocery store, your righteousness condemns them. 12:26 And so your best friend may well turn on you. 12:29 You stay faithful. 12:31 You hang in there. 12:35 And it's one thing when family members and those outside 12:38 of the church family come down against us, 12:40 one thing when the infidels and the atheists and the skeptics 12:43 and the agnostics come against us, 12:45 but it's something else, something far worse 12:48 in my estimation, when the folks inside the church come after us. 12:53 And the devil will use them as well, and you can be sure of it. 12:57 And I'm giving you fair warning right now, right now. 13:01 It may happen tomorrow, it might be next week, 13:04 could be next month, but some church member is going to 13:08 come to you and say, "I heard you became a member 13:11 of the church there. 13:12 I can't believe it, you surely didn't join with that bunch. 13:16 They're the most legalistic bunch, they don't understand 13:19 the gospel, they don't know about righteousness by faith. 13:22 They're so legalistic I can't... 13:23 Look, you come over and join with us over where we worship 13:26 where we're meeting now. 13:27 We're renting a high school, you come and join with us 13:30 and we understand the gospel. 13:31 And we'll bring you from under that cloud of legalism. 13:34 Come and be with us. " 13:35 Listen, you stay right here. 13:38 Right here. 13:43 Don't you tell me we don't understand about the 13:45 righteousness of Jesus. 13:49 The grace of God has forgiven me every lie I've ever told. 13:52 The grace of God has forgiven me everything I've ever stolen, 13:56 taken that was not mine. 13:58 The grace of God has forgiven me every Sabbath I've ever broken. 14:01 But the grace of God is not permission nor license for me 14:05 to go on lying or cheating or stealing. 14:07 That is not another gospel, that is not grace. 14:10 That, my dears, is disgrace. 14:18 So don't you let anyone tell you or try to convince you 14:22 that the folks here are too legalistic or some other such 14:25 nonsense as that. 14:27 You stay right here. 14:29 And then there is the likelihood that there's going to come one, 14:34 church member, from the opposite direction. 14:37 And their attitude is going to be just exactly the reverse 14:40 from those who've said, "You don't understand the gospel. " 14:42 They're going to say, "You mean you joined with 14:44 that congregation? 14:45 Why, they're the most liberal bunch I've ever known. 14:49 Why, they go to shows, they drink coffee, 14:51 they ya da da, they dress like they... 14:53 Blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah. 14:56 You come and join with us. 14:58 We have a group that's meeting over here and you come and 15:01 join in with us. 15:02 We are the Historic Adventist, we're the reformed group. 15:05 You come and be a part of us. " 15:07 No, you stay right here. 15:11 Right here. 15:13 Peggy and I were working over near Salem, Oregon. 15:15 I'm not going to tell you exactly where because you 15:17 might know some of the folks that I'm going to refer to. 15:20 I was out visiting one afternoon. 15:21 The telephone at our home rang and it was a lady 15:25 asking for an appointment with Lyle. 15:29 And Peggy had no idea who they were, 15:31 didn't recognize any names. 15:33 She assumed that these ladies, two, were maybe interested 15:38 and might want to study for baptism or some such thing. 15:41 And so she made for me an appointment the next afternoon 15:44 in the church office at 1:30 o'clock. 15:47 I was there early and a car drove in. 15:50 Two ladies got out and came to the office door 15:52 and I welcomed them. 15:53 They introduced themselves and sat down. 15:58 And within about 2 minutes they began to tear the church apart, 16:01 my church, the Seventh-Day Adventist church family. 16:04 They began to tear it apart. 16:06 "Well the church has lost its way. " 16:08 And one of the ladies, the mouthy one, 16:10 that's, I suppose the best, the most honest way to say it. 16:15 She said, "You're in a position now where you can really 16:17 reach out to a lot of folks. 16:18 You're on television 2 or 3 times a week, and sometimes 16:21 a couple of times a day. 16:22 And you're in a wonderful position to straighten 16:25 things up inside the church and to tell the people 16:28 that the church has now become nothing more than Babylon. " 16:33 I said, "Are you talking about my church?" 16:35 She said, "I'm talking about this Adventist movement, 16:37 the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination. " 16:38 And about that time, I came about that high 16:40 out of the chair. 16:41 And I shook my finger in her face, I said, 16:43 "Lady, don't you ever say anything like that 16:46 in my presence again. 16:47 Because if you do, I'll put you out the door. " 16:53 And she went mouthing on another 2 or 3 minutes 16:58 complaining and whining about how they were the only 17:01 ones that dressed right. 17:02 And by the way, I call that the old Elijah complex, you know. 17:07 You remember when Elijah got discouraged. 17:08 It could happen to the best of us. 17:10 And he went out in the countryside and got down in 17:13 some little grove somewhere out of the sun and began to whine. 17:16 And he said, "Lord, I'm the only one left. 17:18 I'm the only one that dresses right, 17:20 I'm the only one that doesn't go to the movies, 17:22 I'm the only one that doesn't wear all that junk, 17:24 I'm the only one that worships twice a day, 17:27 the morning and evening, I'm the only one that studies 17:29 my Sabbath school lessons seven times, 17:30 I'm the only one that's a vegetarian, I'm the only one. " 17:33 And God said, "Shut up. 17:38 Hush up, man. 17:40 I have seven thousand in Israel alone 17:43 that have not bowed their knee to Baal. " 17:47 So the lady in the office continued to whine. 17:50 I'd given her the warning. 17:52 And in a little bit, she said it again. 17:55 "This church has become nothing but Babylon. " 17:57 And this time I came completely out of my seat, 18:00 and I went around and helped her by the arm out the door. 18:03 "Good-bye. " 18:06 Oh, she had here quotations from those little red books 18:09 that a lot of folks like to put handles on and 18:11 club folks around with. 18:12 And she'd read and quoted two or three. 18:14 And then I said, "Look, I have one also. 18:17 Here's mine. 18:18 It goes like this, lady. 18:19 The church of God on earth, and it's talking about 18:22 this Seventh-Day Adventist movement. 18:25 The church of God on earth, and feeble and defective 18:28 though it may be, is the only object upon earth upon which 18:31 God places His supreme regard. " 18:33 I said, "How dare you speak this way about the object 18:38 of His supreme regard. " 18:39 How dare anybody. 18:43 Now the church has its problems. 18:44 You don't spend 40 years with an organization 18:47 without seeing its flat sides. 18:49 And I have said on more than one occasion that if I had my 18:51 faith in the organization, I would have parted 18:54 company a long while back and gone to work for Bill Gates. 19:00 That'll work, huh. 19:02 You know him. 19:06 But my faith is not in the organization. 19:09 It is in this message. 19:11 And you can fault the organization 19:13 and you can point out the mistakes, and there are 19:15 multitudes of them, but you can't fault the message. 19:21 I've discovered, you cannot fault this message. 19:26 And I have been called to stand before... 19:28 I have been tricked. 19:29 I remember just early in my evangelism ministry, 19:32 and I was green and working in Idaho, imagine that. 19:36 You talk about inexperienced, and no reflection on the 19:40 dear Idaho folks. 19:45 You sure know what I'm doing, don't you. 19:47 I'm trying to keep all of California from moving in. 19:50 That's why I relate and share these kinds of stories. 19:53 But in any event, I was asked one night if I would 19:56 go out to a home. 19:57 The family said, "We have some questions. " 20:00 And I was working alone. 20:02 And so I had them make me a little map. 20:04 And I drove down and I was sure I was at the right place. 20:07 And I went down this lane and there were cars parked on both 20:10 sides of this lane. 20:11 It was a quarter of a mile long. 20:12 I thought, well maybe the guy is in the used car business. 20:14 You know, that's how innocent I was. 20:18 And I knocked on the door and they welcomed me inside. 20:20 And there in the living room and the family room and overflowing 20:24 in the kitchen, kind of an open floor plan, 20:26 there was this whole group of folks that kind of liked to 20:32 fight against the Seventh-Day Adventists. 20:36 And they wanted to get me involved in a debate. 20:39 And they wanted to kind of pick me apart and tear me up 20:42 a little bit and then print about it in the 20:43 little local newspaper. 20:45 And so every time they challenged me, 20:47 I turned to my Bible. 20:49 Every time, I'd open to this scripture, open here. 20:53 And after a while, the leader of the group said, 20:55 "Every time I try to take a poke at you, 20:57 you hide behind that Book. " 20:59 And I thought to myself, that's a pretty good place 21:02 to be, isn't it now. 21:03 Huh? 21:04 Yea, that's why Adventists are known around the world 21:06 as the people of the Book. 21:08 All around the world, the people of the Book. 21:11 And so, you're going to be tempted and tested. 21:14 Now, I want to refer one more time, I want to refer finally 21:18 to the lady who came to visit me over there around Salem, Oregon. 21:24 After sharing my favorite quotation with her from my 21:27 favorite author outside the Bible, I said, 21:29 "Beyond that, I have a verse or two from my very favorite book, 21:34 that I want to read to you. " 21:35 And so I opened this Bible to Romans chapter 16. 21:38 That happens to be the last chapter. 21:40 And I read to her verses 17 and 18. 21:42 And I'm going to read them to you right now. 21:44 Listen up. 21:46 Saying Paul, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren 21:48 to mark those that cause divisions and offenses 21:52 that are contrary... " 21:55 He talking about the church obviously, 21:56 he's writing to the church. 21:58 "Those divisions and offenses that are contrary to the 22:00 doctrines that you before have learned. 22:02 Stay away from them. " 22:04 Is that plain enough? 22:05 That's what Paul said, "Stay away from them. " 22:08 And he goes on to say, "There are such that are not serving 22:11 Jesus Christ but they're serving their own desires and their 22:14 own works, and they're listening to their own speeches 22:19 that come as the result of their simple minds and hearts. " 22:24 That's pretty straight language. 22:27 Pretty plain. 22:28 And so, you folks stay right here. 22:32 I have to be honest with you folks to say to you 22:35 that it's increasingly difficult for Peggy and me 22:40 to leave our easy chairs. 22:44 Mine is a recliner. 22:48 And oh, by the way. 22:51 They have them now for we old folks. 22:54 Special recliners, you know. 22:57 They stand up and you just kind of step back and kind of 23:01 press the button and it'll lay you right down. 23:05 And then you can push the button and it'll stand you up. 23:09 But I read about a fellow who's recliner stand-up chair 23:13 developed a hiccup. 23:15 And he pushed the button and it pasted him against the wall 23:20 on the other side. 23:21 I leave mine unplugged. 23:22 But it's getting increasingly difficult for 23:24 Peggy and me to leave home. 23:27 And when I look out at empty seats, there's a voice that 23:32 whispers in this ear and says, "Why do you do this? 23:34 Man, why don't you go to Boise where the kids and grandkids are 23:38 and on the growing side of the city, hold a meeting and 23:40 raise up a brand new congregation and then 23:42 stay there and be their pastor and you could be at home, 23:45 have your feet by the fire every night. 23:48 Why do you do this?" 23:49 And then another voice says, "If you'd hold one more meeting, 23:53 one more series of lectures, maybe Jesus could come 23:57 one day sooner. " 23:58 And so we'll go on from here to Boise, and then 24:02 to Spokane, and then to Southern Oregon, to Alaska. 24:09 "Be thou faithful," said God, "unto death," 24:13 Revelation 2:10 24:15 "and I will give to you the crown of life. " 24:20 Revelation 3:11, you know I love the book of Revelation 24:23 so I'll share these final verses. 24:25 Revelation 3:11, "Behold, I come quickly. 24:28 Hold fast to that which you have, let no man 24:31 take thy crown. " 24:35 And like the apostle Paul, I recognize I'm getting 24:37 nearer the end. 24:38 I know now that there's a whole lot more water 24:41 that's gone under the bridge than there is upstream for me. 24:44 I know now that there's a whole lot more road behind me 24:48 than there is ahead of me. 24:56 But I, like the apostle Paul, would say first to Jesus, 25:01 and then to all of you, "I've fought a good fight 25:04 by His grace, I've finished the course, and I've kept the faith. 25:09 And henceforth, there's laid for me a crown of righteousness 25:12 which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 25:15 that Day, and not to me only, but to all those 25:18 who love His appearing. " 25:26 I don't regret one mile 25:31 that I've travelled for my Lord, 25:34 and don't regret the time that I've trusted in His word. 25:42 I've seen the years go by, 25:45 many days without a song. 25:48 But I don't regret a mile 25:52 that I've travelled for my Lord. 25:57 I've dreamed many a dream 26:04 that never came true, 26:07 I've seen them vanish at dawn. 26:11 But enough of my dreams have come true 26:16 to make me keep dreaming on. 26:20 I've prayed many a prayer and seemed no answer would come, 26:23 though I've waited patient and long. 26:28 But enough of my prayers have been answered 26:32 to make me keep praying on. 26:36 I've sown many a seed 26:43 that fell by the wayside. 26:46 for birds to feed upon. 26:50 But I've held in my hands enough golden sheaves 26:56 to keep me sowing on. 26:58 I've trusted many friends that have left me, 27:02 left me to weep all alone. 27:09 But enough of my friends 27:13 remain true blue to make me keep trusting on. 27:22 I don't regret a mile that I've travelled for my Lord. 27:28 I don't regret the time I've trusted in His word. 27:31 I've seen the years go by, many days without a song. 27:34 But I don't regret one mile that I've travelled for my Lord. 27:40 Let's pray. 27:41 We thank You, Lord, for this privilege 27:43 to be a part of Your family. 27:45 For those who have just been baptized or reaffirmed 27:48 their faith, I thank You so. 27:50 I pray Your continued blessing upon them. 27:52 They're going to be tempted and tested. 27:54 Give them the strength that You promised, 27:56 "My grace is sufficient, I'll be with you to the very end. " 27:59 And one day soon, Lord, may each of us here 28:02 and every family represented, members of the families 28:05 that are not here, some who've gone to sleep in You, 28:08 others who are miles away, let us all together 28:12 be caught up to meet You in the air and let it be soon. 28:15 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17