IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO LEARN THE GREAT MEN OF THE PAST

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MARK YE WELL AND TELL


Psalm 48:12-13, “Walk about Zion, and go round about her:
tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that
ye may tell it to the generation following.”
Zion was another name for the
city of Jerusalem. Sometimes it meant Mount Zion, Temple, or the entire city of
Jerusalem.
Israel was going into captivity
that seventy-year period that is mentioned so often. They were in captivity to
the Babylonians. When they left their beloved Temple had been destroyed, their
walls had been torn down, their palaces were destroyed, their high towers were
decimated, the entire city was leveled, and God had warned the previous
generation of this impending doom. 
He told them it would not be long until the
palaces are leveled. Thus, God said to them I want you to mark ye well and
tell. I want you to look at the palaces carefully, the Temple carefully, the
high towers carefully, the walls carefully, and the entire city carefully. It
will not be long until the bulwarks, or walls, are destroyed and leveled so I
want you to learn all you can about those bulwarks. It will not be long until
the towers are destroyed.
God is saying to the fathers and
leaders mark ye well and tell. Learn all you can while you have the bulwarks,
towers, Temple, palaces, and city. Learn all you can about Jerusalem, Zion,
palaces, bulwarks, and high towers. Why? Because in captivity you will have
children born and they will not know a thing about Jerusalem, Zion, Palaces,
bulwarks, Temple, and high towers. 
Mark ye well and tell! Fathers, mothers,
pastors, and teachers must examine carefully to be able to tell the next
generation of the greatness of what they possessed. God is saying I want you to
be able to tell about them, the wonders of the palaces, the magnificence of the
walls, and about the importance of the towers. Mark ye well and tell the next
generation!
Many of you reading this have
never heard nor knew some of the greatest men of God of the 20th
century. Dr. John R. Rice was one of those men who rocked the traditional
Baptist world with his pen. I surrendered to give my life to full time service in 1972 at a “Sword of the Lord Conference” hosted by the Grace Baptist Church of South
Bend, Indiana under the preaching of Dr. Jack Hyles and Dr. John R. Rice. I cut
my teeth on the preaching and teaching of these two men of God.
Dr. G. B. Vick was another of
these men of God. He pastored the world’s largest church at one time. I
traveled to Detroit to attend his services. I had the honored of shaking his
hand and spending a little time with him. I saw the Temple Baptist Church of
Detroit in its heyday.
Dr. R. G. Lee pastor of the
Bellevue Baptist Church of Memphis, TN, was one of those great men. I heard him
preach often. He preached at Hyles-Anderson College and I was able to spend
some time with him. He wrote a hand written letter to my dear wife who hosted
him. My wife was Dr. Wendell Evans’ secretary at Hyles-Anderson College. I was privileged to be able to
have lunch with him and visited his church often.
Evangelist Lester Roloff was one
of those influential and unusual men of God you would ever meet. He was a
resurrected John the Baptist with his special diet. He called me at 2 am on a
Monday morning and TOLD me he would be preaching in my church on Monday and
Tuesday night. I loved that man! 
He was amazing for he could preach at Bob
Jones one day, Tennessee Temple the next day, Piedmont the next day, and finish
up at HAC the next day. He would get a standing ovation at all four. People
would travel hundreds of miles to hear him preach against TV and they all owned
two a piece.
Dr. Jack Hyles was the man who
gave to the past generation the most complete church ministry in history. He
actually built the first mega Sunday school in America and was recognized for
such by Dr. Elmer Towns. Dr. Hyles’ church ran an average of 20,000 in
attendance in all of his Sunday schools. In actuality he built hundreds of
Sunday schools that fed the church attendance. 
All of this was as a result of
personal soul winning and baptizing great numbers of converts. I believe that
the man of God who was a composite of all of the other great men put together
was Dr. Jack Hyles.
Dr. Curtis Hutson was a great man
of God who built the largest church in Georgia at the Forrest Hills Baptist
Church outside of Atlanta. He later became the successor to Dr. John R. Rice as
Editor of The Sword of the Lord periodical and conducted hundreds of citywide
campaigns.
B. R. Lakin was a wonderful down
home pulpiteer. He was a true southern evangelist. I not only was honored to
hear him but I was able to spend time with him.
Dr. Bill Rice was one of the most
charming and dynamic evangelists that ever lived. Dr. Ford Porter was a giant
prayer warrior. There were others like Hyman Appleman, Oswald J. Smith, Oliver
B. Green, etc. plus many who will in the history books of fundamentalism.
The sad part of this is this
generation knows hardly anything of these great men of the past three decades!
I think it would be to our benefit to study these great men and especially a
Dr. Jack Hyles. So many of you reading this never knew John R. Rice, Bill Rice,
Lester Roloff, B. R. Lakin, G. B. Vick, Ford Porter, Hyman Appleman, Oliver B.
Green, Oswald J. Smith, Jack Hudson, Curtis Hutson, Carl Hatch, Lee Roberson or my favorite
Dr. Jack Hyles.

I made no apologies for the Longview Baptist Temple was a product
of Dr. Jack Hyles. I studied Dr. Hyles, his life, his ministries, and his
principles. All though I never thought of myself in his league I can and did
attempt to put into practice those principles he taught into LBT.

I make no bones about it I am
proud to declare to be a rock ribbed, Hell-fire, damnation, sin hating, King
James only, independent, premillennial, and temperamental Baptist preacher! I
clam proudly my heritage and I refuse to disassociate myself from the
principles of a Dr. Hyles.
Mark ye well and tell it to the
next generation is the plea from God himself. I constantly impressed upon those
at LBT to learn what built LBT and what built this movement. Mark ye well and
tell the next generation.
God is saying to his people in
the 48th Psalm the day is going to come when you will find the walls
leveled, palaces destroyed, towers broken down, Temple torn down, and you need
to learn everything you can about the bulwarks, towers, palaces, and Temple.
While you and your people are in captivity and there are no walls you can
relive what you learned in your mind and tell it to the next generation. Mark
ye well and tell!
While you are in captivity and
there are no such towers you can tell the next generation about those towers,
or bulwarks, or palaces, or Temple. You at least will be able to tell the next
generation what it was like and what made the greatness happen. God wanted them
to keep their eyes open and learn like many of us have learned from Lester
Roloff, John R. Rice, Bill Rice, B. R. Lakin, G. B. Vick, Lee Roberson, Ford
Porter, Jack Hudson, Curtis Hutson, Carl Hatch, and Jack Hyles. Mark ye well and tell!
The best thing this generation
can do is to study those who have preceded us and the principles they used that
allowed them to be used of God. Mark ye well and tell! We must be influenced by
their greatness.
Dr. John R. Rice’ love,
compassion, and conviction ought to be influencing this generation. Dr. Bill
Rice’s humor, wit, and charm ought to be influencing this generation. Lester
Roloff’s walk with God, faith, and fearlessness ought to be an influence felt
in this generation. R. G. Lee’s mind, vocabulary, and sermons ought to be
studied by this generation.

Dr. Ford Porter’s prayer life ought to be studied
by this generation. Dr. G. B. Vick’s administrative abilities, organizational
skills, and art of delegation ought to be an influence to this generation.
Evangelist Oliver B. Green’s pungent spirit should be examined by this
generation. Hyman Appleman’s evangelistic spirit should be an influence to this
generation. That is why men like Dr. Jack Hyles ought to be studied and their
principles incorporated into the ministries of this generation. Mark ye well
and tell!

LESSONS FROM THESE GREAT MEN OF GOD
·     
They were
personal soul winners
·     
They were
personally holy men
·     
They were
local church
·     
They were
ecclesiastical separatists
·     
They were
independent minded
·     
They were
budget conscious
·     
They were
King James only
·     
They
baptized great numbers
·     
They
started churches
·     
They were
mission minded
·     
They
loved and reached the poor
·     
They were
filled with the Spirit of God
·     
They were
very courteous
·     
They were
generous with their money and time
·     
They were
unselfish

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