Apostolic Lighthouse
Why Are We Here? - Bishop John Scheel (Friday Morning Anniversary Service)
- Thank you brother Samson, it's a great thing to be here. And I'm still rejoicing over last night. I enjoy that youth choir so much. Sometimes you know the history. Some of these old one God songs. Sometimes people that pick cotton all day long or chop cotton and then preached at night, worked in the altar every bit. It's the latest we were here last night without an air conditioner and had a time. But they built the foundation that we're on. And I love this beautiful church. You can be seated for a few minutes here. And the Sanctions are some of my best friends. But I won't God to show up, don't you? Praise God. He's got exactly what we need. And I appreciate these folks as I said so much. And we've got several here this morning from the church where I prayed through to the Holy Ghost 63 years ago. And you know, sweeter gets the journey every day. There's nothing like this. And you're going to be tested and you're going to be tried. And sometimes you get like Jonah was when he prayed to die. But you can make it. And I'm telling you what, this is the greatest life there is. I tell the home church at home and BB all the time. If I knew there was no heaven and no hell, I love the crowd I'm running with and I love the lifestyle that we live and what we can have. Praise God. So we appreciate them so much and all of you. I'd like to ask both of the brothers Sampson's to stand right quick for just a moment. Just stand up and praise God. There you go. What about your wives? Where are you? There she is, stand up so they see. Now what about their families? Standing right quick, the ones that are here. Won't you just stand up? Praise God. All right, you can be seated. But what I want to talk to you for just a little while about is this. Now I remember years ago preaching at St. Charles Arkansas and Brother Buddy Looper, my pastor said, "Don't get up there and tell them people "everything you know tonight. "We're going to eat catfish after this service." So praise God and I'm not going to do that, I hope. But I want to read in Jeremiah chapter 37 and verse number 17. Jeremiah 37, 17, "Then said a guy, the king sent "and took him out and the king asked him secretly "in his house and said, 'Is there any word from the Lord?' "And Jeremiah said, 'There is.'" Let's everyone pray. God, we love you and thank you for your presence that we've felt here today. Thank you for this choir and all the preachers that have testified. Thank you, O God, for that message last night. And God, we ask you, Lord, Jesus this morning, help us to see that message come into fruition. Right here today, God, send the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Oh, God, open the lips of clay as I endeavor to preach your word. Oh, God, encourage your people uplift those with fallen arms, strengthen the feeble knees, stir the loss, bless your church in Jesus name, praise God, you may be seated. Then the king asked him secretly in his house and said, 'Is there any word from the Lord?' And Jeremiah said, 'There is.' I want to challenge the preachers of this church and the rest of you can hear it too. With this question, why are you here? 23 years of blood, tall tears, tomorrow just a little cliche from the leader of England during World War II. But I'm telling you today that God took a chance on us and God didn't do that for nothing. He had an ultimate goal in man. Romans chapter 10 verse 13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Now we know what preaching is. I was doing a school of accreditation in New Orleans one time and a famous, I guess, TV preacher I never saw him on TV. They live real close to an apostolic preacher. Oh, I know them. Said those apostolics can really preach, but we hadn't really preached until you put it in an action. And then when you think of a God that just set the big dipper and the little dipper, if the sun moved just a few yards closer to us, it would fry every one of us. And if it moved away from us that same distance, we would all instantly freeze to death. Just think about a God that made black cows give white milk, turn it and make yellow butter and smeared on a biscuit. A God like that uses preachers and has in the past somebody walked up last night and showed me a picture of brother Charlie Wickliffe. And I don't know what you thought about him, but he said he couldn't read his name in box car letters. But I want you to know people over in town prayed through under that guy's preaching. God chose the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Preach till they didn't have a dry three of them. Preach till their hair was hanging in their face. That's what we need today. Why are you here? Not to be something we're not. 'Cause you know by the lumps in 23 years, there's places if you hadn't had your mind made up of you or never made it, you said, God, I can't and you wouldn't have. You say, how do you know that? 'Cause I've been to enough jail services. Almost every time I've ever been, and there's a lot of them back in the 70s and 80s. Somebody was there, I used to have a Holy Ghost. One of my parents was a preacher. My brother went to church. But some way they didn't make it. And the denominator folks said, that'll show you right there, there's nothing to that. That's not true. I'm telling you, there's some obstacles. And I know there's more saints and preachers here today. But the Bible said, how shall they preach? Except they be sent. As it's written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah, say it, Lord, who have believed our report. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Some of those old time preachers, I remember when people looked at you skeptical if you finished high school. This apostolic way's come through a lot of things. But think about it. They preach, sweat, 'til they can pull water out of their shoes. Hoop and holler. My mother, I got the Holy Ghost when I was very, very young and my mother sharpened her ax and started in. And she thought me like a circle saw for 40 years. Finally, some ladies talked to her in the hospital. They cleared out their physical therapy. My son said, Daddy, you know them women worked on her. I said, well, I understand that's a possibility, but I also know that she will not do it. He said, well, I'm gonna take off work and a little rock and I'll be there. And I'll baptize her if she'll let me. So I'll stay back. You just don't understand if you don't know. I've been cursed, fussed at, and she used to say when we'd get ready to pray with the food after church, she didn't go to church. She stayed there. She said they've heard that screaming and hollering for two hours you need to eat. That's a mildest thing she said. And I won't say the other, you wouldn't let me preach anymore. But she got stirred up. And I'll never forget she got baptized in the hospital therapy in Jesus' name. She got out of the hospital. She went back to the nursing center where she was. And the ladies visited her. Now I hardly ever give a little personal testimony, but I wanna let you know about this. And I'll never forget we had Saturday night service at the time and we went to see her and everything was doing fair. I got home which is less than a mile from the nursing home before I had time to sit down, had just opened the door. The nurse said you need to come back and the Georgian founder, my daughter and son-in-law, had gone to see his sister in Texas. And so I drove back to the nursing home. The nurse grabbed me and hugged me and said, your mama is gone and I couldn't believe it because you know what the scripture says. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. It doesn't matter if you've been baptized so many times every turtle in the pond knows your first name. You're gonna have to have the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the Bible evidence of speaking in other tongues. So I stepped out in the hall and called my baby girl and told her and said, we'll come right back. I said, no, it's Saturday. They won't let us make arrangements till Monday. Just stay, do your weekend visit and come home. We talked about all of that. Now you understand, I had driven from my house, talked to the nurse, talked to my daughter and I walked back in the room, mama's still laying there cold and dead, pronounced dead by the medical officials. But she had a little drool on her mouth. I said, wipe that off and the nurse wiped that off and she said, it came to and lived two weeks and they prayed her through to the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues. (congregation applauding) If you're preaching and people are discouraging you, let me tell you how to solve that. Put your shoes on. Go on back to church and preach this truth. I'm telling you the message of holiness, the message of Acts 2.38 will work if we'll let it work. That's why you're here. That's why you're a preacher. God's got some folks in love that are gonna go to hell if they don't hear our voice. (congregation cheering) I love this scripture that talks about how beautiful are the feet of them that have heard and preached this truth. Now, when I think of feet, I think of bonions, corns, hammer toes. Why would the scripture say that a preacher had pretty feet? Some of them after church, they slipped their shoes off, you can't hardly stay in the room with them. (congregation laughing) Some of them washed their feet before they went to church. And some of them, what still believes in it, got their feet washed at church. Beautiful feet. Webster says that feet is the lower extremity of the leg that is in direct, direct contact with a ground in standing or walking. You know, people say, well, that preacher's just mean. If he's telling you how to stay out of hell, he's the best friend you've got. (congregation cheering) (congregation cheering) If I go to sleep and my house gets on fire, don't get out in my front yard, clean up with my house and play ring around the rosy, come and beat on my window until I say, who is it? Tell me what it's gonna take. Listen, friend, if you've got a preacher, they're human, just like you are. We all make mistakes, but I'm here to tell you that you'll never make the city without a preacher. This place is privileged to have the samples. You say, well, they got you up here preaching, you're supposed to say that. Let me tell you two things I'll face God with. If I didn't believe what I'm telling you, the first place I wouldn't be here by choice. In the second place, I wouldn't cover up a lie for them. I'm telling you, you see 'em when they've already got the victory. I'm dancing and shouting. I remember watching Cadum's little boy, Jack's great camp meeting. He'd get a hold to his grandma's hand and let her out and I'll just dance. You know why? 'Cause they got the victory. But I promise you, and I don't know them as well as some of you do, there's been many nights at that man, and that man has cried because they needed more finance. They cried because people were fighting them. And I'm not talking about yesteryear, I'm talking about every day. And if you're here today and you got to preach it, preach it as truth, the same thing holds true for them. Do you know why the devil knows if he can put their lights out? Yours will go out because you can't make it without a preacher. When I look at this definition, it says that it's a lower extreme that touch the ground directly in standing a walking. See, the devil will send wind. He'll send people to say, "I love you, I love you, I love you." And all the time they're getting ready to poke in the back, well, they're not. Then, as a preacher, you got a choice. You can act up, act like a pure, stupid idiot and be lost yourself. Or you can just say, "You know what, I may have corns. "I may have hammer toes "from wearing my shoes too little. "Lord, God, I may have age spots all over my ankles "and have to get somebody to coat my nails "because I'm so fat I can't reach my feet." But remember this preacher, your feet is the one that's touching the ground directly. When the devil comes at you, why are they beautiful? They're beautiful because that's our chance. That's our only chance. Thank God for a preacher that'll stick his feet in the mouth and say, "I'm not moving. "I'm not changing. "I'm not washing out. "I'm not compromising. "I'm not giving up. "I'm gonna stand." And then one morning we'll say, "Well, I'm gonna go down there and watch him stand." But that day he says, "Hey, I put my slippers on. "It's probably gonna make my corn grow. "But come on, we're going forward." How beautiful are the feet? You know why? Because a preacher's feet hit the ground directly. I'm telling you don't know how many arrows that a preacher has saved you from. I say if the two and seven says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bring us good tidies that publish peace, that bring good tidings of good, that publish a salvation, that saith undesired, thy God reigneth, it may look easy to you. But when you come to preacher and tears in your child and your tested in that preacher, pat you on the back and says, "Come on, you can make it. "That's worth everything." The Bible said here in Isaiah that they're on top of the mountain, their feet's touching the ground directly because they're getting ready to zoop up. Joshua 5 and 13, and it came to pass when Joshua was at Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Or thou farce, or for our adversaries." And he said, "Nay, but as the captain of the Lord "am I now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and saith unto him, "What saith my Lord unto his servant? "Why are you here because somebody's gonna need a word "from the Lord?" And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot. "Preacher, you might say, "Good Lord, "I can't take my shoes off. "Everybody'll know where I'm setting." But you know what? Pull him off in half, God said. Loose thy shoe from off thy foot. The place wherein thou stand us as holy. And Joshua did so. Listen, friend, don't just look at your preachers, just the preacher. My dad went to the Methodist church till the day he died. But the old Methodist church we went to had a bell that you wrote. And he was a game board and worked all night sometime, but he went to church. And he sat on the back seat and did wind his arm up in that old bell room. And one day they told me this. He went to sleep and his arm fell and he roamed the bell. What do you say? We need to get serious about this. Yeah. We're in Holy Ground. You talk about, I don't know how many million years it'll take us to thank God for meetings like this. Oh God, I remember I was about to quit and somebody preached to me. I've just about to throw in the towel. And Sister Samson started singing one of those songs and they got to shout and I decided to get in. I had a man one time that went to our church and he said my mother would just beat me to death for everything I did. That was old days. And said some days I'd go home from school and she'd say I didn't hear anything, but I know you did something, I'm gonna whip you for that. So he said I decided I'd just get the blessing to go with it. She'd go make me leave it anyway. So you'll remember that in eternity. I was just about to throw in the towel and the man that had his foot on the ground stood firm and led me. He walked, he might've had corns on his toes, bunions on the side of his feet or hammer toes or age spots, but he stayed in leadership and showed me the way to go and what to do. Listen, we are here to keep you out of hell and you need to understand that. Most of you that studied in history probably heard of Henry Ward Bichor. He was a famous preacher in the 1800s, but he was kind of hard-headed. Did you know no show of hands? Preachers can be hard-headed. And guess what? Sometimes they're not right. But guess what, they're more right than you are or you'd be doing their job and they'd be doing yours? You need to understand how valuable. I know we're here for 23 years and I have no doubt that this church loves their preacher. This is amazing for all the things that you've been through, but you need to understand and love your preacher. Jesus, one time when the apostles, some of them was fussing, they gathered for the last passover with him before the ascension and he eased up from the table, got a pen, and guess what? He started washing their feet. And somebody that just won't lack a ledge, I doubt they're called to start with if they are, they're riding for a foul. He came to Peter and he said, "You can't wash my feet." He said, "Guess what, if I don't, "you have no part or lot with me." And his humans do, his mother extreme, said, "Well, just give me a bath. "I want it all." A lady came and washed Jesus' feet. I don't know if his feet stunk or not. But the Bible tells us that a woman brought her an alabaster box of ointment. That speculation that this was one he cast the devils out of. I don't know that I could prove that today, but I know she had a reason. And she brought that alabaster box that was worth 200 pence. You say, "Well, what's two dollars?" That wasn't two dollars, friend. You just trace it through the New Testament. A penny was a day's wages. And she didn't say, "Well, "I'll just do a little bit 'cause that's expensive." The Bible said that she broke that alabaster box. There was no turning back. You need to be willing to give your life for the leadership of this church. Don't come up and tell them all the garbage that people say about them because they certainly could legally ask you, "How did you know that?" Sometimes listening is just as wrong as talking. You need to say, "Hold it, that's my preacher." Why are we here? We're here to help you be saved. And if we preach the truth, then we'll save ourselves whether you go or not. First thessalonians 5 and 11, wherefore comfort yourselves together. And edify one another even as also you do. And we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you and are owe you in the Lord and admonish you. As I was telling you about Beecher, he was in school and the teacher made a little talk and then he asked some questions and he called on different boys in the class. One of them told him just verbatim, he said, "I didn't say it, sit down and shut up." And he just looked and sat down and shut up. He did that to four or five. There was one boy standing, Henry Ward Beecher. He said, "What'd I say?" He told him, he said, "That's not what I said, sit down and shut up. What did I say?" He just told him again. He's probably from Missouri, records. (congregation laughing) Yeah. And after four or five times, the teacher backed up and took a run at him and he just squared off and stood there. And just before we got to him, everybody thinking he's fixing the knock his lights out, he laughed and said, "I'll tell you what, every last one of you is a mess 'cause you didn't stand." But this guy stood. That's exactly what I said. And y'all knew it in your mouth's out because somebody hollowed at you. (congregation clapping) You know what? You need to stand behind these guys on this platform. (congregation clapping) I remember down south, the people do this. This man came to the preacher's house and he was wanting to hand out. And he said, "Where do you go to church?" And he said, "Oh, I don't go." He said, "I just feel God when I'm out here in nature and by the water in the woods." But I need money for my light bill. He said, "Well, I'll tell you what you do, go ask nature for it." Somebody said, "Well, they ought not to be doing this. Jeremiah 3.15 and I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." The Bible said in Ephesians 4 and 11, he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the edified of the body of Christ. Let me challenge these pastors in every preacher in this building. Matthew 24, 43, who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord have made rule over his household to give them meat and do season. Put it out there. Some of them may say yet they might be like the young girl that she thought she was pretty boy. And there's no body as beautiful as somebody that's ugly as a mudrail fence and thinks they're pretty. She couldn't wait to get to Hollywood where she could be a movie star. She came home and said, "Do we have potatoes and beans again tonight?" But one day she saved up enough, she got on the bus, got to Hollywood and nobody would even talk to her. That went into hours and hours went into days and she had barely anything to eat. She got at the bus and headed home. And they said, when she walked in the door, said, "Mama, you got any taters and beans I'm starving." You need to realize that a preacher that'll preach to you, God put them in the position and they're in. (congregation applauding) James 1-9, let the brother of low degree and rejoice in that he's exalted. But the rich in that he is made low because as the fly of the grass, he shall pass away. All days, preachers, are not sunny days. All days are not sunny days, but guess what? This too shall pass. Judges 18-3, when they were the house of Micah, they knew the voice of the young man, the Levite. And they turned in thither and said to him, "Who brought the hither and what make us thou in this place? And what has thou here?" And he said unto them, "Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and it hired me and I am his priest." And they said unto him, "Ask counsel, we pray thee of God, that we may know what our way, we shall go, shall be prosperous." And the priest said unto them, "Go in peace, behold the Lord is your way, wherein you go. Let me challenge you this morning. Treat your preacher right because he's gonna bring you the word of the Lord. You're gonna be rewarded. Stay with it. In closing, I want to share a true story with you. Everybody knows, that's of any age at all, where there were when 9/11 happened. But one of the heroes of that infamous day, was a port authority police officer named William Jamero. He was willing to go into the danger to save others, and he was buried alive when the building collapsed. He was one of the very few that eventually was rescued. But here was his story. He said he had a vision of Jesus Christ, who gave him courage and strength to keep on living, to wake for his rescue. Are you in the throes of a horrible trial? Oh, I came by this afternoon to tell you, keep on living. It's not gonna stay like this. That buried egg. There was another hero was retired Marine Sergeant William Thomas. He was in prayer and was inspired to go to ground zero. And when he got there, he just felt the nuts to go to a certain area, to move debris. And he's the man that uncovered William Jamero. God worked on both ends of the line. Listen, you talk about a team. You guys have got an Olympic team here. It's gonna be interesting to see what will happen. I appreciate you so much for your attention and privilege to speak to you. God bless you.