<TITLE>02. Par 5-7</TITLE>L-5 And you know, I read a piece of paper the other day in our... article, rather, in one of our local papers. It had the picture of the famous evangelist, Billy Graham, and it said up at the top, "Wearing Thin." And that he had made a statement that (amongst some theologians), that he wasn't a match for us like he used to be, that he believed that some of the Bible really could be not inspired, and a few... Said he might pretty soon, leave the field of evangelism and--and become some... take some kind of offerings for some great college or something on that order. Which to me, I don't believe he said it. I--I got better confidence in a man of God like Billy Graham, than to make a statement like that.
The papers makes a lot of statements that's not true. I don't believe Billy said it. But if he did say it, I would say, that one thing would be, like Billy, would be like it is with many of our other evangelists, and with myself--and I hope you read between the lines what I'm saying--sometimes our zeal burns up our wisdom. We try to go too long, too hard; we get wore down. You get to a place you can't think right. Seems like... Oh, I don't know. Sometimes when I get to feeling like that, I'll just kinda be glad when I hear the trumpet sound. I think it'll all be over. There'll be no more struggles, no more heartache...?... you know what I mean.

L-6 You don't know what it is until you go through it once. I know you can wear down. Jack Coe wore just a little too thin once. And you know what? Tommy Hicks was wore thin, pretty thin, and you know that. Just as soon as he comes from overseas, somebody grabs him here and there. He's had a breakdown.
I know I wore awful thin one time. And I'm getting thin again. But how can you set still when thousands are calling and pulling from everywhere? I thought, "Well, Lord..." Last fall when I come back from Brother Bonn or the Christian Businessmen over on the little time of vacation, I thought, "Well, Lord, I'll just step into the harness and stay until You call me." and just overdone it because of these things. I would rather die in the harness than out of the harness.
So when we're thin, and wearing thin, and so forth, as I've just stated, you get tired. I've... My throat's giving down, but to come into a time like this where we sit in a little gathering... And I wonder if the Lord don't just let us get all tore up sometimes, where He can just mold us, and fashion us, and make us a little different, and bless us, and kiss us on the cheeks, and say, "My child, I'm right with you, and I'll give you just a little encouragement; go ahead."

L-7 Now, I would like to approach a subject here, that I--I know is entirely too much of a subject for me, and before ministers, anyhow, that I'm kindly a little ticklish about approaching it, a little skittish, I should said. But I trust that you'll bear with me till I express my thoughts on a Scripture, that I want to read out of the book of Joel, the 1st chapter, a verse, and the 2nd chapter, a verse: the 4th and the 25th. In Joel the 1st chapter it said:
 That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten;... that which the locust has left has the a... (I beg your pardon, I'm reading it wrong.) That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left... the cankerworm has eaten;and that which the... (I mean) the caterpillar has eaten; that which the caterpillar has left has the... a... cankerworm has eaten has the caterpillar...
I'm all mixed up again, but... Standing here with tears in my eyes and shaking, I... Well, I'll read it again.
 That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten.
And then over in Joel 2:25:
 I will restore unto you...


<A HREF="P3">Next Page</A>