Dr. R. G. Lee, 1886-1978, Biography –
http://www.swordofthelord.com/biographies/LeeRG.htm .

____________

“Payday Someday” | Dr. Jonathan Akin

I grew up listening to sermons by Adrian Rogers who was the longtime pastor of Bellevue Church in Memphis. In fact, since 1927 only four pastors have led Bellevue and I have had the opportunity to hear all four speak (Robert G. Lee [1927-1960], Ramsey Pollard [1960-1972], Adrian Rogers [1972-2005], Steve Gaines [2005- present]). I actually got to hear Dr. Lee preach this sermon in 1975 at Bellevue and I attended his funeral also at Bellevue. Above is the complete sermon and below is a portion of the transcript.

Dr. Lee originally published the following message in 1926. It is said that he developed it following the suggestion of a deacon at a prayer meeting in 1919 and that he preached it at least once a year at his home church. All total, it is related that he preached the message 1,275 times.

Dr. Robert G. Lee was the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee for thirty-two years. During his lifetime he was a strong leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, known as a preacher’s preacher, and was highly respected among his peers. This sermon has been accepted as a classic by all that have heard and read it, and through its message, the Lord still speaks to mankind. We at Carl Graham Ministries hope you get a blessing from this message written by the prince of preachers.

___________________

Part 4 of transcript:

Am Alarming Appearance

“The word of the Lord came to Elijah.”

Thebrief journey from Samaria to Jezreel is over. The restlessly prancing and easily panting horses are brought to a stop outside the gate to the vineyard. Strong hands of ready servants hold the fiery horses by the bits; the hands of servants open the gates; the bodies of the obedient servants bow courteously as Ahab enters the vineyard. Naboth is dead, and the coveted vineyard is now Ahab’s through the “gentle scheming” of the queen of his house.

Perhaps Ahab, as he walks through the garden, sees Naboth’s footprints in the soil. Or he sees Naboth’s pruning hook among the vines. Perhaps in a corner of the vineyard is a seat where Naboth and his sons rested after the day’s toil, or a well where sparkling water for the vines in time of drought.

And even then, out yonder somewhere God is talking to Elijah, his prophet whom we introduced to you a bit ago. And this is the record: “And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD!” (I Kings 21:17-19)

And while Ahab strolls among the vines that Naboth tended, what is it that appears? Snarling wild beasts? No! Black clouds full of threatening storm? No, not that. Flaming lightning which dazzled him? No! War chariots of his ancient enemies rumbling along the road? No! An oncoming flood sweeping things before it? No, not a flood. A tornado goring the earth? No. A huge serpent threatening to encircle him and crush his bones in its deadly coils? No, not a serpent. What then? What alarmed Ahab so? Let us follow him and see.

As Ahab went walking through the rows of vines, he begins to plan how he will have that vineyard arranged by his royal gardener–how flowers will be here and vegetables yonder and herbs there. As he converses with himself, suddenly a shadow falls across his path.

Quick as a flash Ahab whirls on his heels, and there, before him, stands Elijah, prophet of the living God. Elijah’s cheeks are swarthy; his eye is keen and piercing; like coals of fire, his eyes burn with righteous indignation in their sockets; his bosom heaves; his head is held high. His only weapon is a staff; his only robe a sheepskin and a leather girdle about his loins.

To Ahab there is an eternity of agony in the few moments they stand thus, face to face, eye to eye, soul to soul! “And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” (I Kings 21:20) His voice is hoarse, like the cry of a hunted animal. He trembles like a hunted stag before the mouths of fierce hounds. Suddenly his face goes white. His lips quiver.

And Elijah, without a tremor in his voice, his eyes burning their way into Ahab’s guilty soul, answered, “I have found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.” Then, with every word a thunderbolt, and every sentence a withering denunciation Elijah continued: “God told me to ask you this, Hast thou killed and also taken possession? Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs lick thy blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity…. And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin!”

And then, plying other words mercilessly like a terrible scourge to the cringing Ahab, Elijah said “And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel! Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.”

And with these words making Ahab to cower as one cowers and recoils from a hissing adder, Elijah went his way.

Payday Someday

Yes, the evil spoken by Elijah did come. Payday came as certainly as the night followed the day. Let us note how it came, and when.

Consider how it came to Ahab! God spoke, and God said that the king’s life was forfeited, and the lives of all that could succeed him on the throne, whatever their age. The destruction that had fallen on the preceding dynasties of Jeroboam and Baasha would fall upon Ahab’s. They were not even to have decent burial, God said. Those that died in the city the dogs should eat, God said. Those that died in the field, the buzzards should eat, God said. Queen Jezebel herself, sometime, somewhere was to be a feast for dogs, God said.

Ahab entered into league with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. In disguise, Ahab entered the battle against his old Syrian enemies. At Ramoth-Gilead a random arrow mortally wounded him, so that his chariot was filled with blood. (I Kings 22:34-35) And they took his body to Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor, according unto the word of the Lord which he spake (I King 22:38) God said it–and it was done.

So did Ahaziah, Ahab’s son, and Joram meet violent deaths. We know. Now consider Jezebel, and when her payday came. We learn as we think of her death that “the stag followed by hungry hounds with open mouths is far more happy than the woman who is pursued by her sins, that the bird taken in the fowler’s net and laboring to escape is far more happy than she who has woven about herself a web of deception, that yon eagle beating against brass bars is far happier than the woman whose sin stares at her from dark rooms at midnight, and that the wild animal caught and suffering in the jaws of a steel trap is far happier than he who carries a guilty conscience in his bosom!”

“And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it.” Pause. Who is Jehu? He is the one who, twenty years before the events of this chapter from which we quote, rode down with Ahab to take Naboth’s vineyard, the one who throughout those twenty years never forgot those withering words of terrible denunciation, which Elijah spoke.

And who is Jezebel? Oh! The very same one who wrote the letters and had Naboth put to death. And what is Jezreel? The place where Naboth had his vineyard and where Naboth died, his life pounded out by stones in the hands of ruffians.

“And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace who slew his master?”

Pause again just here. “Had Zimri peace who slew his master?” No, “there is no peace saith my God to the wicked.” “And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? Who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. And he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trode her under foot.

And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter. And they went to bury, but they found no more than her skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel!” (I Kings 9:30-36)

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“This is the word of the Lord which he spake by his servant Elijah!” Yes, and from this we learn the power and certainty of God in carrying out his own retributive providence that men might know that His justice slumbereth not. Even though the mill of God grinds slowly, it grinds to powder; “and though his judgments have leaden heels, they have iron hands.”

When I see Ahab fall in his chariot and when I see the dogs eating Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel, I say, as the Scripture saith, “O, that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments; then had thy peace been like a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea!” And as I remember that the gains of ungodliness are weighted with the curse of God, I ask you, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?” And your labor for that which satisfieth not?”

Related posts:

Dr. R. G. Lee, 1886-1978, Biography –
http://www.swordofthelord.com/biographies/LeeRG.htm .

“Payday Someday” | Dr. Jonathan Akin

____________

I grew up listening to sermons by Adrian Rogers who was the longtime pastor of Bellevue Church in Memphis. In fact, since 1927 only four pastors have led Bellevue and I have had the opportunity to hear all four speak (Robert G. Lee [1927-1960], Ramsey Pollard [1960-1972], Adrian Rogers [1972-2005], Steve Gaines [2005- present]). I actually got to hear Dr. Lee preach this sermon in 1975 at Bellevue and I attended his funeral also at Bellevue. Above is the complete sermon and below is a portion of the transcript.

Dr. Lee originally published the following message in 1926. It is said that he developed it following the suggestion of a deacon at a prayer meeting in 1919 and that he preached it at least once a year at his home church. All total, it is related that he preached the message 1,275 times.

Dr. Robert G. Lee was the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee for thirty-two years. During his lifetime he was a strong leader in the Southern Baptist Convention, known as a preacher’s preacher, and was highly respected among his peers. This sermon has been accepted as a classic by all that have heard and read it, and through its message, the Lord still speaks to mankind. We at Carl Graham Ministries hope you get a blessing from this message written by the prince of preachers.

___________________

Part 2 of transcript:

The Pouting Potentate

“He came to his house heavy and displeased.”

Naboth’s quick and firm and final and courteous refusal “took all the spokes from the wheels” of Ahab’s plan and desires. The stream of his desire ran against a barrier that turned it aside and changed it into a foiled and foaming whirlpool of sullen sulks.

“And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezeelite had spoken to him, for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.” (I Kings 21:4)

What a ridiculous picture! A king acting like a spoiled child, impotent in disappointment and ugly in petty rage. A king whining like a sick hound. A king pouting like a spoiled and sullen child. He went to bed in the middle of the day, and “turned his face to the wall,” his lips swollen with his mulish moping, his eyes full of cheap anger fire, his heart stubborn in its petty rebellion.

T

HE WICKED WIFE

“but Jezebel, his wife!”

When Ahab would “eat no bread” his servants doubtless went and told Jezebel. What she said to them we know not. What she said to Ahab we do know.

Puzzled at the news that her husband would not eat and that he had gone to bed when it was not bedtime, Jezebel sought him out in his room. She found him moaning and peevishly petulant, having refused to eat or to cheer up in the least. At first, in a voice of sweet concern, she sought the reason of his choler. In sweet and anxious concern, she asked “Why is thy spirit so sad that thou eatest no bread?” (I Kings 25:5).

And then, as the manner of women is unto this day, her hand sought his brow to see if he had “temperature” or if some other ailment other than a “sad spirit” had laid hold upon him. Then he told her, every word full of petulance and mopish peevishness as he spoke: “Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money, or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it; and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard!” (I Kings 21:6)

“Are you not the King of this country?”, she chides bitingly, her tongue sharp like a butcher’s blade. “Cannot you command and have it done?”, she scolds as a common village hog who has more noise than wisdom on her words. “Can you not seize and keep?”, she cries with reproach. “I thought you told me you were king in these parts! And here you are crying like a baby and will not eat anything because you do not have courage to take a bit of land. You! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! You the King of Israel, and allow yourself to be disobeyed and defied by a common clodhopper from the country. You have been more courteous and considerate of him than you have of your queen! Shame on you! But you leave it to me, old dear! I will get the vineyard for you, and all that I require is that you ask no questions. Leave it to me, Bo!”

“And Jezebel, his wife, said unto him, dost thou not now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise and eat bread, and let thine hear be marry, I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite!” (I Kings 21:7)

Ahab knew Jezebel well enough to know assuredly that she would do what she said she would do. So he came out of his sulks, slowly, as a turtle drags itself from the slime, and asked her how she was going to do it. She tickled him under the chin or pecked him on the cheeks kissingly with lips screwed into a tight knot, and said “That’s my secret just now; just leave it to me, Honey!”

Now, let us ask who can so inspire a man to noble purposes as a noble woman? And who can so thoroughly degrade a man as a wife of unworthy tendencies? Back of the statement “And Ahab the son of Ormi did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him” (I Kings 16:30) and back of what Elijah spoke, “Thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord” (I Kings 21:25) is the statement explaining both the other statements: “Whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.”

She was the polluted reservoir from which the streams of his iniquity found mighty increase. She was the poisonous pocket from which his cruel fangs fed. She was the burning pit wherein his sulphurous cruelties were born, I suppose that Ahab considered himself the master of his wife, but it was her mastery over him that stirred him up to more and mightier wickedness than his own heart was capable of executing.

Let us come to the next terrible scene in this tragedy of sin.

A Message Meaning Murder

“She wrote letters.”

Jezebel wrote letters to the elders of Jezreel. And in these letters she made definite and subtle declaration that some terrible sin had been committed in their city, for which it was needful that a fast should be proclaimed in order to avert the wrath of Heaven.

“She wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim fast, and set Naboth on high among the people, and set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying Thou didst blaspheme God and the king; and then carry him out and stone him, that he may die.” (I Kings 21:8-10)

The letters being written, they must be sealed; and the sealing was done, as all those matter of letter writing and sealing were done, by rubbing ink on the seal, moistening the paper, and pressing the seal thereon. And when Jezebel had finished with her iniquitous pen, she asked Ahab for his signet ring; with that ring she affixed the royal seal. “She sealed them with Ahab’s ring!” When Ahab gave it to her, he knew it meant crime of some sort, but he asked no questions.

Moreover, Jezebel’s deeds showed that when she went down to market, as it were, she would have in his basket a nice vineyard for his husband when she returned. She said to herself” “This man Naboth has refused my honorable lord on religious grounds, and by all the gods of Baal, I will get him yet on these very same grounds.” She understood perfectly the passion of a devout Jew for a public fast; and she knew that nothing would keep Naboth away. He and every member of his household would be there.

“Proclaim a fast!” Fasting has ever been a sign of humiliation before God, of humbling one’s self in the dust before the “high and lofty One who inhabiteth eternity.” The idea in calling for a fast was clearly to declare that the community was under the anger of God on account of a grave crime committed by one of its members, which crime is the be exposed and punished. Then, too, the fast involved a cessation of work, a holiday, so that the citizens would have time to attend the public gathering.

“Set Naboth on high!” “On high” meant before the bar of justice, not in the seat of honor. “On high” meant in the seat of the accused, and not in the seat to be desired. “On high” meant that Naboth was put where every eye could watch him closely and keenly observe his bearing under the accusation. “And set two men, base fellows, before him.” How illegal she was in bringing about his death in a legal way! For the law required two witnesses in all cases where the punishment was death. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he be put to death” (Deut.17:6). the witnesses required by Jezebel were men of no character, men who would take bribes and swear to any lie for gain.

“And let them bear witness against him!” in other words, put him out of the way by judicial murder, not by private assassination. “And then carry him out and stone him that he may die!”

A criminal was not to be executed within a city, as that would defile it. Thus, Christ was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem! We see that Jezebel took it for granted that Naboth would be condemned. And so one day while Naboth worked in his vineyard the letters came down to Jezreel.

And one evening while Naboth talked at his cot-tage door with his children, the message of murder was known to the elders of the city. And that night while he slept with the wife of his bosom, the shadow of death was creeping toward him every hour. The message meaning murder was known to many but not to him until they came and told him that a fast had been pro-claimed–proclaimed because God had been offended at some crime and that his wrath must be appeased and the threatening anger turned away, and he him-self, all unconscious of any offense toward God or the king, set in the place of the accused, even “on high!”

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