The Tate Ministry of Melody Land Christian Center
introduces Miss Corrie Ten Boom, speaking in a
special service that was held on October 1st,
1972.
The title of Corrie's message here is, The
Door of Repentance.
In 1844, there was in an old home
in Harlem, a watchmaker who started a prayer
meeting for the Jews.
That was so unusual that my father told
it to me.
Now, it is not unusual when Christians pray
for the peace of Jerusalem and for the
blessings of the Jews, but in that time
it was something very unusual.
That old man was my grandfather.
He came together with his friends every week
and they prayed and they prayed for the
Jews and for the peace of Jerusalem.
Hundred years later, in that very same house,
grandfather's son, four of his grandchildren, and a
great-grandson, they all were arrested because we
had saved Jewish people.
That was a divine but not to understand
answer on prayers for Jews.
My father often was warned.
They said, when you have always Jews in
your house, you will end up in prison.
And then he always said, if that will
happen, I am too old.
But if that happens, it will be an
honor to me to give my life for
God's ancient people, the Jews.
And that's what really happened.
He died after 10 days.
Now you know a little bit about the
beginning of that terrible happening in my life
that I became a prisoner together with my
family.
Once in heaven, we will understand and see
God's side of the embroidery.
God holds the key of all unknown, and
I am glad.
If other hands should hold the key, or
if he trusted it to me, I might
be sad.
The very dimness of my sight makes me
secure.
For groping in my misty way, I feel
his hand.
I heard him say, my health is sure.
I'm going to give a message to the
children of God here tonight.
I told yesterday that I asked a lady
if she was a child of God, and
she said, sure I am.
I go every Sunday to the church.
And I said, a mouse born in a
biscuit tin is therefore not yet a biscuit.
And to be in the building of a
church does not make you a child of
God.
Then she said, but my parents were fine
children of God.
I said, but God has no grandchildren.
And I tell you, if you are not
quite sure that you have received Jesus as
your savior, then do it tonight.
It is still time.
And I can tell you, when you come
to Jesus, those who come to him, he
will in no way cast out.
You are very welcome.
You are welcome into the everlasting love God
has for his son.
And the very moment that you are a
child of God, then there is a tremendous
work for you to do.
Perhaps you say, but I do not quite
understand that, that being saved, to have forgiveness
of sins.
I can tell you, when I was in
that very difficult experience of a prison, when
I was four months in solitary confinement alone,
then I learned.
I learned more than before.
The class of that school was very difficult,
but Jesus stood in front of the class.
And that is why I learned so much.
I was questioned.
I was brought before a judge, and he
asked me many things.
He asked me about my childhood, my certificates,
my spare time, and I told him all.
When he asked me about my misdeeds, I
did not tell him all.
He has known about eight Jews that I
had saved.
And praise the Lord, there were many, many
more.
But when I told him about my life,
I also testified to my faith, and I
told him about Jesus.
And the Lord used that questioning to touch
his heart.
And I experienced that, when there came a
moment that he showed me papers found in
my house.
And I had already found that he was
so kind.
It was as if he became a friend
instead of an enemy.
But he had to do his duty, and
he said, These papers are found in your
house.
And there, to my horror, I read names,
addresses, and particulars that could mean not only
my death sentence, but the death sentence of
my family and friends.
And there were several addresses of Jews who
were not yet found.
I was so afraid.
And he said, Can you explain these papers?
I said, No, I can't.
I felt so miserable.
But he knew how dangerous the papers were.
And because he became a friend, he had
become a friend, he would help me.
And he took the papers, turned around, opened
the door of the old stove, and threw
all the papers into the flames.
How happy I was!
And when I saw these flames destroyed, these
horrible papers, were so dangerous for my friends,
my family and I, it was as if
for the first time I understood what it
means when you know that Jesus at the
cross has carried the sins of the whole
world.
And when we bring our sins to him,
he casts our sins into the depths of
the sea.
And it is not in the Bible, but
I believe he put a sign, No fishing
allowed.
He really, he does, he destroys our sins.
What a joy!
And you who have received the Lord Jesus,
or will receive this evening, for the first
time, Jesus, you can bring your sins to
the Lord Jesus, and he will cast them
in the depths of the sea, he will
destroy them, and they are gone.
And you have forgiveness, and then the Lord
cleanses your heart with his blood.
And a heart cleansed by the blood of
Jesus, he fills with the Holy Spirit.
And that same moment, you are called to
obey a word that the Lord has said
in Acts 1, 8, where the Lord Jesus
said, You will have power after the Holy
Spirit has come upon you.
And go and make to my disciples, bring
the gospel in Jerusalem, in Judea, and over
the whole world.
Every child of God is called to bring
the gospel over the world, and also you
who are a babe in Christ of five
minutes old.
I was once in a prison in Bermuda.
I like to work in prisons.
I know how to feel behind the door
that you can only open from outside.
And I talked with a man who was
sitting there in a cell, and the door
were barred doors, and that man had a
red rag on the back of his uniform.
I asked the guard, has that man tried
to run away?
He said, yes, how do you know that?
I said, I have been a prisoner in
three prisons, and when we tried to run
away, we also got a red rag on
the back of our uniform.
He said, that poor man is a murderer,
and he is sentenced to whipping.
And he was so afraid for that whipping
that he had tried to run away.
Poor fellow, now he has had a double
portion.
He was sitting there in the corner of
his cell, and I prayed, Oh God, give
me to find a way to his heart,
and Lord, make him your child.
And I said, hi, have you had the
whipping?
Yes.
I said, was it bad?
Yes.
I said, now do tell me, did they
bring you into a hospital afterwards?
No, it wasn't as bad.
He stood up and came to the door.
He thought, was it that strange lady who
asked such questions?
I said to him, did they treat your
wounds?
Yes, he said, they rubbed them.
Then I asked, is there hatred in your
heart?
He said, hatred?
My whole heart is full of hatred.
I said, that I can understand.
You?
I said, yes, I.
And then I told how there was hatred
in my heart when they whipped my sister
because she was too weak, too frail, too
shuffle sense.
But I told him, there happened a great
miracle.
Jesus had brought into my heart God's love.
And through that love, all the hatred disappeared.
And I said, and the Lord will fill
your heart with that love.
And I showed him the way of salvation
from the word of God.
And how I prayed, for you must always
have the horizontal and the vertical connection when
you bring someone to the Lord.
And that man said yes to Jesus.
A yes that was so important that the
angels rejoiced.
Just like they rejoice when you say yes
tonight.
I shook hands with him, and I prayed
with him.
And then he said, have you another five
minutes?
I said, yes, why?
He said, in the third cell at the
other side of the corridor is a man
in great darkness.
Please tell him also of Jesus.
A babe in Christ of five minutes old,
and he had already a burden for souls.
How old are you?
Have you a burden for souls?
I went to that man in the third
cell, and I prayed, and I claimed his
soul, and I showed him the way of
salvation, and also that man made his decision
for the Lord Jesus that brought his name
in the book of life.
And before I left the prison, I said
to the murderer, say, I must tell you
something, that was good that you sent me
to the man in the third cell.
He had also received Jesus as his savior.
And then the murderer looked around to me,
and he shouted over the corridor, Hi, brother,
what will it be
for you when you enter a beautiful city,
and the saints all around you appear, and
many of the people will tell you, hi,
brother, hi, sister, you invited me here.
Then you will know that you have not
lived in vain.
To win souls for Jesus Christ is the
most important work that a child of God
can do.
At the cross, at the cross, where I
first saw the light, and the burden of
my sins rolled away, it was there by
faith I received my sight.
All the love that drew salvation's plan, all
the grace that brought it down to man,
all the mighty gulf that God did span
at Calvary.
In the concentration camp we were not allowed
to have a Bible, but I had my
Bible hidden under my dress.
And when on the back of my, on
my back under my dress, and when we
entered, I prayed, Oh, God, send now your
angels, and let they surround me.
For Lord, if they find my Bible, they
will take it away, and we need it
here.
But then I thought, angels, yeah, they are
helpers, but they are spirits, and a spirit
is transparent, and these people may not see
me.
So I said, Oh, God, make your angels
today untransparent.
You can pray very unorthodox when you are
in great need.
But God did it.
God did it.
And when I stood there, and they searched
the woman before me, and after me, my
sister stood behind me, then I knew the
angels around me are untransparent.
Oh, what a joy.
And then we came in that prison, and
it was so dirty, so terrible dirty, and
the first thing we experienced was that it
was full with lice and fleas.
And then she said, Corrie, you must thank
God for everything.
I said, Can you give thanks for fleas
and lice?
I can't.
And she said, Yes, I can.
And she thanked God for the fleas, and
I could not do it.
But do you know what happened?
We experienced that guards and officers would never
come into our room because they were afraid
to get lice and fleas from us.
And that is why we could give twice
a day a Bible message to the people
around us.
God can use also fleas and lice.
Hallelujah.
Do you know that what the Lord said,
Go and bring the gospel, that it is
for all of us here.
The Lord Jesus has said, Like the Father
has sent me, so I send you.
Perhaps some of you say, Yes, but I
am not healthy enough.
I am not strong enough.
Now don't say, I am not young enough,
for I am not young enough too.
I am 80.
But I can tell you, I am very
happy that I may bring the gospel in
many places.
But I was in Russia, and I came
in a room of a lady, a woman
who was very ill.
Her feet and hands were ill.
Only one finger she could move.
And she was sitting there on her bed,
and she was typing out with that one
finger, books of Billy Graham, of Watchman Nee,
and my books.
And she typed that out from the morning
till the evening, with the one finger she
could still use.
I was so amazed.
She did it till the last day of
her life.
Some months ago she died, and her husband
told that she had done this work till
the day before she died.
I was so sorry, and I said to
her husband, I am so sorry that your
wife is so ill.
And he smiled.
He said, Do you know that the secret
police knows that in our room there is
only a very sick lady who has sick
feet and hands?
And they think she cannot do any harm,
and they never come into our room.
Is that good?
God used that sickness that they were protected
against the people of the secret police.
Oh, what a joy is it that we
have not to say, I am strong enough,
I am good enough to be used.
I must tell you that I have experienced
when I am not strong enough, when I
am not able to do it, when then
my inability meets God's ability, and then really
miracles happen.
I was in South America, in Argentina, and
I came into a room in a hospital,
and there were people in iron lungs.
There had been a terrible epidemic of polio
there, and I had never seen such a
thing, so I was so downhearted.
Oh, was that terrible to see people in
an iron lung?
And I had only one wish, to go
somewhere in a corner and cry.
And a nurse said to me, please, will
you come to speak with this man?
That was a man not in an iron
lung, but he was on a bed that
went up and down, up and down.
When his legs were up, then he could
breathe out.
When his legs were down, he could breathe
in.
And I said, Lord, you know that I
am not able, I cannot do it.
And when I say to the Lord, I
cannot do it, he gives always the same
answer.
He said, I know that already a long
time, but I am so glad you know
it, for now I can do it.
I said, all right, Lord, then you do
it.
And I stood there and I talked with
that man.
And I saw that he was a Jew.
And I told him about Jesus.
And I said to him that Jesus was
a Jew.
His divine side was that he was God's
son, but his human side was that he
was a Jew.
And when you receive Jesus in your heart,
you will be a completed Jew.
And I told him that Jesus said to
everyone, come unto me.
And I was so happy when I saw
that in the, that on the face of
that man came a joy.
He could not talk.
The only thing he could, he could write.
Then I showed him my embroidery.
I said, oh, when I see you here,
not able to speak and so ill, then
I think of this side of the embroidery.
But God's side is beautiful.
And I showed him the beautiful side of
the embroidery, the crown.
And then he took a little paper and
he wrote, thanks God, I am already seeing
the beautiful side.
Oh, what a miracle.
I said, thank you, Lord.
I was not able, but you were able.
And the next day I went again to
that hospital.
And I went to that room and I
said to the nurse, can I speak with
that man?
And she told, five minutes after you had
left, that man winked me.
And I went to him and he wrote
down, for the first time in my life,
I have prayed in Jesus' name.
And that moment that man died.
Oh, what a miracle God had done through
me on a moment that I could not
do it.
And the Lord can do it through you
and through me because he is able.
I was in Brazil and I visited prison.
And I was with a whole team.
And one lady was a good singer and
the other played a little organ that they
had taken with her.
And they all did something.
But one woman said, I cannot speak and
I cannot sing or play, but I do
every week something.
And she had made a big, a huge
cake.
And she said, every week I bake that
cake and then you will see what I
do with it.
And after the whole service was over, we
spoke for a huge group of women.
This woman came with her cake and it
was as if all the prisoners were sitting
a little bit more upright.
Oh, now comes the cake.
And she made little pieces of cake and
every piece she made in colored paper.
She understood what colors mean for a prisoner.
And I saw that there was an atmosphere
of love and joy that was in that
prison through the work of that simple lady
who could not do anything else but baking
a cake.
Just ask the Lord.
Lord, what can I do?
And the Lord will tell you what you
can do.
I will never forget the last day that
I was in Ravensbruck.
I was called out.
I heard when we had all, every morning
from 3.30 till 6.30 to stand
on roll call.
And when I came to stand there, I
heard that they shouted 66,730.
I said, that's my number.
And the other prisoner said, ah, that means
that you are sentenced to death.
But I went forward three days before Betsy
had died.
And I thought, now they will shoot me
and I go to heaven and I will
see Jesus.
And I will see Betsy.
And I was not sad, I was glad.
But when I was standing there, next to
me was a girl that I had never
seen before, a Dutch girl.
And I said, oh Lord, now this is
the last day of my life.
Lord, I claim the soul of this girl.
I had three hours the time to tell
her the way of salvation.
And I could pray with her and tell
her that Jesus loved her and had died
at the cross for her sins.
And that girl accepted the Lord Jesus as
her Savior.
And I said, thank you Lord, this is
now the last one I can bring to
you.
She was not the last one.
What a joy that there are many more.
See, but do you know that when you
will be a real worker for the Lord,
that there must be a trust in the
Lord.
We are not able, but He is able.
I will never forget when I was in
Cuba.
And oh, it was so difficult there.
Ellen and I were there the first day
and we tried to find Christians and we
could not find anyone.
And that night, both Ellen and I, we
were afraid.
We said, Lord, how can we work in
this, in here, in Havana?
And then we opened the Bible.
And just when we opened the Bible, we
read this word.
It was Acts 18, 10.
Do not be afraid, but go on speaking,
and let no one silence you.
For I myself am with you, and no
man shall lift a finger to harm you.
There are many in this city who belong
to me.
Oh, what a word!
We could just praise the Lord.
And the next day, we found an address.
And it was an address of a minister.
And when we entered, we found that the
ministers of whole Havana had come together for
an assembly and talking things over.
So at one moment, we had all the
churches of Havana together.
What a joy!
That is a great thing.
We can trust the Lord.
And He is able.
But we must be sure that the channel,
our channel must be wide open.
I have already spoken about forgiveness.
If you are bitter, if you have hatred,
don't think that the Lord can use you
to bring the message of love of God
in Jesus Christ to others.
I heard once Rubeus Moseley say, when you
are sitting on Peter's chair and you are
no Peter, you Peter out.
And I learned something.
I heard of a pickpocket here, and he
said, I was a very good pickpocket.
I stole every week 50, 60 watches.
But now I am a Christian, I steal
only 5 or 6.
No.
We have to be holy.
We have to be clean.
And John Bunyan, I like that little poem,
and I have said it yesterday, but there
are more people now than yesterday.
John Bunyan said, Run, John, run, the law
commands, but gives us neither feet nor hands.
Far better news the gospel brings.
A bitch will fly and give us wings.
Isn't that good?
When the Lord says, Be good, love your
enemies, be clean, then He gives us wings
through the Holy Spirit.
For the fruit of the Holy Spirit is
love, and goodness, and kindness, and everything we
need to be good, clean channels of streams
of living water.
And that is good in this time, for
the enemy is very busy.
I heard of a boy here in this
town.
He was in a college, and he had
to have speech lessons.
And then the professor said, Now, you must
all go to the drama tonight.
And they went to a drama, and it
was so dirty, that the boy felt that
his soul became dirty.
And suddenly he stood up and ran away.
And he came outside in the campus, and
he threw himself in the grass.
And he said, I was laying there in
the grass, and I looked at the stars.
And I saw in the stars a little
bit of the beautiful creation of God.
And I said, Lord, my soul is dirty.
Will you cleanse me with your blood?
And he was cleansed.
And he could go home so happy.
And don't forget, my friends, that there is
the blood of Jesus available to cleanse you
from all sins.
But we must stand on victory ground.
And that is possible, because Jesus is victor.
Now it was a long time that I
had worked over the world.
And then there came a time that I
was ill.
And the doctor said, Now you must take
a year vacation.
You may call it a sabbatical year.
If you don't do it, then this is
the last.
But if you take a year vacation, then
perhaps you can live and work another ten
years.
I said, I must talk with the boss.
And I said, Lord, is that from you?
And the Lord said, Yes, that is from
me.
And I took a year vacation.
And I went to a home in Uganda.
And I had, together with my friends, I
had arranged it for missionaries and workers in
God's kingdom to have vacation.
And now I could go myself there.
And it was a joy to be there.
Oh, don't think I didn't do anything.
But there were many universities and prisons and
churches and clubs around.
But never I did more than three meetings
a week.
And I slept every night in the same
bed.
Can you understand what that means?
I had really slept in more than thousand
beds before.
And I loved it.
But then came the end.
And now it was first of November and
that was the end of the sabbatical year.
And we were just asking the Lord for
His schedule.
It is not so when we make our
schedule that we make it and then ask
God's signature.
No.
We ask God what is your schedule and
then we write our signature.
And the Lord made a very good schedule.
Four months in Africa, two months in America,
four months in East Europe behind the Iron
Curtain.
But I was not happy.
And when I was alone I said, Lord,
I am now so old I think I
stay here in Uganda.
And Lord, I will work also hard as
you like me to make me work.
But Lord, I will sleep every night in
the same bed.
And I was so happy.
And there came a minister, a dark minister,
colored man.
And he came to me.
He said, Oh, Corrie ten Boom, we are
so happy that you come to Burundi.
For, you know, five years ago you were
with us and you told us about what
Jesus had been for you in prison.
And we thought it was beautiful but it
did not say so much because we had
never been in a prison.
But since that time we have had war,
civil war.
I have been two years in prison.
And every word that you have said has
been a comfort for us.
And now we are happy that you come
again.
But I was not happy.
I said, Oh, do tell me, what kind
of a church have you?
What is the message that you have to
bring to the church, to your church, without
hesitating?
One moment he opens his Bible and he
read the beginning of Revelation 2.
Write this to the angel of the church
in Ephesus.
He said, that is the church of Rwanda.
These words are spoken by the one who
holds the seven stars safe in his right
hand and who walks among the seven golden
lampstands.
I know what you have done.
I know your powers of endurance, how you
have suffered for the sake of my name
and have not grown weary.
But I hold this against you, that you
have lost your first love.
Remember them, how far you have fallen.
Repent and live as you lived at first.
Otherwise, if your heart remains unchanged, I shall
come to you and remove your lampstand from
its place.
When that African read that, I knew that
is not the message only for Ephesus or
for Rwanda.
That was the message for Corrie ten Boom.
More than 20 years before, I came from
a concentration camp, very ill and very weak.
But I was interested in two things.
First, to tell the people about the reality
of Jesus' victory.
And I was interested to win souls for
Him.
That was 20 years ago.
And now I was interested in my bed.
And I knew it.
I had lost my first love.
Potentially, there came joy in my heart.
Except you repent.
Repent.
And I saw that the door of repentance
was wide open.
And the only thing that I had to
do was repent of my losing my first
love.
And I repented and the Lord forgave me
and cleansed me and filled me with the
Holy Spirit.
And did I get back my first love?
No!
Far better!
The Lord filled my heart, not with my
first love, but with the love of God
through the Holy Spirit.
And I went to Africa and to America
and to East Europe.
And the love of God was my strength.
See, why did I tell you?
The Lord told me that I have to
tell you this tonight because there are here
people who have lost your first love.
And I have a joyful message for you.
The door of repentance is wide open.
Repent.
Come to the Lord.
And He will give you back your first
love.
No, far more!
He will fill you with the ocean of
God's love in Jesus Christ through the Holy
Spirit.
Hallelujah!
What a Savior!
Amen!
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you.
That this is far more true than I
can tell in my Corrie ten Boom English.
You can speak to the people.
And I praise and thank you, Lord, that
the door of repentance is wide open.
And we have only to confess our sins.
And you are faithful and just to forgive
us.
And you will fill us with the Holy
Spirit so that we can love our enemies.
So that we can be used as wide
open channels of streams of living water And,
O Lord, I pray for all the people
here in this hall that when they enter
the beautiful city and the safe all around
them appear that all of them will hear
by some or by many it was you
that invited me here.
Hallelujah!
Amen!