My Story #19

 

My Story #19:

In the 1960s, Bro. Clarence Walker, pastor of Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, asked the church to hire the men in the Lexington Baptist College Trio. The church paid each one of us $30 per week. Even then, it was difficult to live on that pay, but somehow we did it; and I don't remember ever missing a meal or having a place to live. God is good, and he touched the hearts of his people to make this possible.

Bro. Bob Jones was then what they called "Bro. Walker's Helper." He helped Bro. Walker (who had had a stroke) to go to funerals and help in many other ways. Bro. Demas Brubacher and Bro. Robert Carpenter helped with the Ashland Avenue Baptist paper and did other things around the church, also.

My job at times was to sit across the desk from Bro. Walker and watch him choose one letter out of many, many letters that had come in from the readers of the Ashland Avenue Baptist paper. He would slowly open the envelope and read the letter aloud. Then he would turn to me and say, "Now, Bro. Wolfe, write a letter to this dear sister (or brother) and tell them . . ." I would take his words in shorthand, which was not hard to do, because he spoke in that slow, southern talk. Then I would take the letter and his dictation to a typewriter and type out the letters, prepared for him to sign to be sent out to each individual to whom he had written.

Not only did I think it a high privilege and honor to be able to do this for my pastor, but I was humbled by his teachings that were inserted into each letter that he wrote. He was a very wise and practical man. I am still thankful for this wonderful opportunity.

 

 

The End Of Our Conversation

    The End Of Our Conversation
    Dr. Ronnie W. Wolfe – January 21, 2021

Hebrews 13:7  Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Two Lives To Live

    There are two lives that each of us must live. There is the life that now is and that which is to come. We all must acknowledge that, just as surely as we live in this life, we shall also live in that fixed, unchangeable one beyond the grave, that which sits eternal in the heavens.
    But that second life is not the same for everyone. There are two places in that realm. One is for those who reject the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for the ungodly, and one for those who have been touched and captured by the wonderful grace of God, granting repentance to that one and giving him faith to trust Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection. However, this is not the main subject of this writing.
    Today we consider the end of our conversation, as our text mentions. Those who are over us, who watch for our souls, and who speak to us the word of God, have an end to their conversation, and this end for them is a much more notable end than those who do not have the burden of leading a people to the word of God and instructing them in the ways of the Lord. Their conversation is their way of life, and that way of life is one which should be imitated by all of us (to follow it). We are to watch the manner in which these rulers conduct themselves in life and notice their faithfulness to the word of God and to their obedience to it.
    We must also note the strong exercise of God’s grace in their lives with their strong faith in Christ and dependence upon God for their sustenance and boldness in their preaching and their manners, which is a result of their profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Because of their profession and their sustenance in grace, they will truly remain faithful to the doctrine of faith, to teach it and to live it as it is taught in Scripture.
    The end of their conversation should also be noticed at the end of their lives, to see that they have been at peace under unusual and even extraordinary stress of the continual care of the local churches and its many problems. Those who are faithful end their lives in peace, satisfaction, and expectation, having put their confidence in God rather than men. One can tell much about a man at the time of his death. Is his faith real? Does he die in security and expectation? Is he fearful? A man who is steadfast in his faith will die with ease. This we all must follow (or imitate) in order to have a gracious end of our convesation.
    When we all come to our death, how will it be in our conscience, our disposition, our expectations? Shall we enter that deep, dark shadow of death with a divine expectation, that Christ will be waiting to welcome us into God’s presence, or will we be doubtful of the veracity of our faith and worry that perhaps we have not carried on the exercise of our lives (our conversation) in a way that is produced by our strong faith in Christ? How will we die?

Two Deaths To Die

    What will be the end of our conversation? Which way will be travel upon our exit in death? Will it be hell, or will it be heaven? Those two roads follow after death, and every person on earth must travel one or the other; there is no uniting the two, for one is far distant from the other. One leads away from God’s loving, caring, and assuring presence and the blessings and benefits of his divine presence; and the other one leads toward God’s many mansions where we shall abide forever.
    What is the end of your conversation? Where is your life leading you? In your first birth, you began to travel down the road to destruction, for we all are sinners and are born in rebellion against God; so we must be born again in order to comprehend something about a new life that will lead us to a divine and pleasurable end; and, when death comes, there should be no fear, for God will be with those who are born again and love him with their whole being.
    Our conversation on earth will also bring either rewards, given to us for our good works on earth, or to a loss of rewards, thinking that we had rewards that we do not really have. These rewards that we have mounted up on earth, which are not sanctioned and done by the Holy Spirit, will be lost in eternity. We only think we have them, but these will be burned up by God’s spiritual fire.
    How will your life end? Your second birth is extremely important for salvation, and your conversation as a believer is also extremely important, not for salvation, but for the benefit of serving the Lord Christ and of the benefit of receiving rewards from God to be placed at the feet of Jesus, showering him with praise and giving him the glory for our conversation, because it is he who has made our righteous life possible; and it is his persuasion through the word of God that keeps us faithful to him.
    Let us be faithful to him who called us and separated us from our mother’s womb and has called us to his salvation and saved us by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Then we shall have a good end of our conversation.


The Conversation Of These Pastors

    Their Ways Are Unmovable

    A good pastor has a way that is unmovable, which implies that he cannot be easily removed from his steady path toward the true doctrines of the Scriptures and his insistence on a holy and righteous life as much as in him is. No one can move him away from his duties or his dedication to his Savior. God has so set his feet in the righteous path that he can hardly leave that path, because he has become wont to do the things that he is called to do.

    Their Backsliding Is Impracticable

    To backslide is completely out of their wont of life, their standard of living, their strong desire to please Jesus in their conduct, their study, and their preaching. It would be, in their mind, too impracticable (or out of their normal practice) to sway away from their divine duties to enjoy sin for a season.
    This is not to say that these godly rulers do not or cannot swerve to do evil, for they most assuredly can; but God is their guide and their support, and they must take a giant step backward to a lesser demeanor to turn into sin again. Some preachers do just that, but it is a hard undertaking to walk away from a God who is the believer’s anchor, who holds him fast with his love, strengthens him in times of temptation, and who supplies his needs. Certainly it can be done but not without hard effort both spiritually and physically. This must be a giant step for those who are truly born again and who are genuinely called to the ministry. Chastisement should certainly bring him to his senses and charge him to return to his duties joyfully, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

    Their Love Is Fierce

    A genuine preacher of the Gospel has a fierce love for God and his Savior, Jesus. He cannot with a cavalier attitude turn from God to serve either the law or the lost world. One who has been brought up out of the miry clay and set on a solid rock can hardly turn again to the sand of the world’s passing luxuries to be put again under the yoke of bondage.
    The love of Christ constrains this preacher. He can hardly not love the Lord in return. The love of God is that which has caused this preacher to love God initially, and that love will sustain him throughout his life.
    So vain is the preacher who will forsake the great blessings of being in favor with God and man and turn to serve the beggarly elements of the world. Sad is that preacher who will forget that he has been purged from his old sins and turn from that great grace that saved him and called him, and turn to enjoy sin for a season. He is a pathetic man who will do this. I say, hesitatingly, that it is nearly impossible to do, though some do it (or it seems they do). Some, no doubt, are reprobates (I cannot tell which ones) and will turn away and never return, because they have never tasted that the Lord is good. They have never been touched by God’s grace and have not come to the acknowledging of the truth that they might be saved ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. How pitiable is that preacher!

    Their True Faithfulness

    How thankful should we be for those preachers who have fought a good fight, who have kept the faith! How appreciative should we be of those preachers who stay with the stuff and preach the wonderful words of life as we listen to the beautiful words of Scripture resounding from their lips and refresh ourselves with the fresh waters of the infallible words of God, preserved for us to hear from a God-called man who has surrendered to be faithful!
    Yes, they are redundant, as they should be, and we should listen to those words and love to say, “sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life.”
    There is no more peaceful and secure knowledge than to sit in a congregation of God’s people and listen to the words of God as they are preached to us by those who have given themselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word and have studied to show themselves approved of God, workmen that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. This preaching, this exhortation, this exegesis, this blessing is beyond the song, the fellowship, and the appetite. The word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him, the Savior with which we have to do, spoken of by those precious preachers of Scripture.
    And when they are dead, these preachers, we shall long remember their words, their tone of voice, their facial expressions, their command of the subject, their sincerity in proclamation, and their seriousness of duty, their tears and frowns; for they, no doubt, have a necessity laid upon them, and woe is unto them if they preach not the Gospel.
    Then, may they lie there in their graves with that ever-sounding voice from beyond; for, as Abel of old, they are dead, yet speaketh. Their hearers will long remember their words and sorrow, many of them, that they had not followed their advice from God’s word; and many will rejoice that they did believe the word and imitate the conversation of these rulers who were faithful so that they would have a good end of their conversation.

 

"Short Day"

I read somewhere on Facebook that today is SHORT day. Well, I am short on a lot of things.

Short on money

Short on memory

Short on time (maybe)

Short in stature, and maybe in statue

I have read shorthand many times and still do.

My life is short lived

I have many shortcomings

Sometimes I am shortsighted

I am actually wearing shorts (sorry)

So, I will shortly be leaving the earth to go to my long home.

I will pass through the skies in short order.

I am sure that in heaven I will not be short changed.

So, remember "the time is short" (Romans 9:28)

Don't sell yourself short.

If you are saved through faith in Jesus Christ,

you may be short on perfection, but Jesus Christ is long on forgiveness.

So long; see you shortly!

 

 

My LBC Story #18

 

My Story #18:

Sometimes my memory goes back to those days when the Lexington Baptist College Trio would travel to Michigan to attend revival meetings and conferences. Those were hard but glorious days. We met many wonderful people, sang our hearts out, preached, and listened to some of the most wonderful sermons.

Many churches and pastors could be mentioned here, but some would be passed over, so churches will not be mentioned here. Those of you who know the trio (and quartet) will remember the days when we met you and enjoyed fellowship with you.

These children have now grown up, and many of them have fond memories of these meetings and the encouragement we received from being a part. I pray that these young ones who have grown into adulthood have continued to serve the Lord with gladness. I know many who have.

 

 

My LBC Story #17

 

My Story #17:

I will never forget a wonderful woman in Lexington, Kentucky, who took in some of the men students of Lexington Baptist College. Her name was Mrs. Ledford. When I first moved into her house, she lived right at the end of the Ashland Avenue Baptist Church parking lot. The college classes met in that building, and her location made it easy for us to get up and get to class in just a few moments, simply walking across the parking lot and into the building.

Mrs. Ledford cooked our evening meal for us, and there were usually four or five boys living in her house. She was a marvelous cook and immaculate in her cleanliness. I especially remember her cleaning the burner wells on the stove often. They always shined like pure silver in my mind.

Mrs. Ledford was known well at the church, and she was active in the church. The boys who lived in her house esteemed her highly and listened to her many stories about her husband, who had passed away.

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit her in the nursing home in her elder years, for which I am thankful to this day. She is not easy to forget!

By the way, this wonderful woman is the grandmother to Tanya York, husband to Bro. Hershael York. Hershael and Tanya have been close friends of mine since both of them were very small children.