God did not give us a spirit of
fear, but of love, strength and specialness.
Where is it?
Who can tell me?
My emoji is 1 for 7.
I could not find it.
And let's turn to that.
I often memorize a verse and then forget
the address.
In this New American Standard Bible it says,
for God has not given us a spirit
of timidity, but of power and love and
discipline.
God has not given us a spirit of
timidity, but of power, of love and specialness.
I will speak a little quieter, that helps
my voice.
After Nigel's announcement, I realized that there is
enough volume in these speakers.
Just be completely quiet.
I think this is one of the verses
God wants you to take with you very
deep in your heart as you go from
here.
I want to talk to you about victory
over fear.
A number of people have shared that they
are afraid.
Maybe going to the ship and you're afraid
of getting seasick.
Now that's a legitimate fear.
I've seen people so sick on ships that
they wanted to commit suicide on the spot.
Of course, there's a little bit of problem
on the doulos in that you don't sail
very much.
Very short distances, generally.
So it's all over very quickly.
And it's difficult to get sick, in port,
though some have managed it through various mental
gymnastics.
But other people's fears, of course, are much,
much greater than this little thing.
You know, it's hard sometimes for people to
be honest about their fears.
And often it's an area of great hypocrisy
and great phoniness among Christians.
Because we all feel the dedicated Christian is
the courageous, tough, afraid of nothing, man or
woman, launching into the work of God.
Because we all feel the dedicated Christian is
the courageous, tough, afraid of nothing, man or
woman, launching into the work of God.
Especially the missionaries.
And some of you, when you go back
to your home church, they look at you,
wow, here's a real disciple, a missionary.
They take on invading hordes of cockroaches with
their bare hands.
Without a flick of the eyes to squish
one under your thumb.
And if in a desert, difficult situation, to
eat it in order to survive.
And if in a desert, difficult situation, to
eat it in order to survive.
So always have your salt and pepper with
you.
But the fact is that many missionaries are
actually very fearful people.
I've had great struggles in my Christian life
with fear.
I don't think we should talk a lot
about our fears and dwell on our fears.
That's not good.
But sometimes it's encouraging and helpful to just
really be honest about some of your fears
and some of your struggles and then pray
together with someone for the victory and for
the deliverance that God can give.
Some have shared the fear of failure.
This, of course, won't be anything new on
OM, failure.
A brother shared with me today that he
thought a particular experience he had was a
failure.
I had never thought of it that way.
I pray that you will understand that in
God's work, failure so often is the backdoor
to greater victory and greater success in your
Christian life.
Don't be afraid of failure.
Do the best you can in God's strength.
Leave then the results with Him.
And, you know, if God sets us free
from this fear of failure, we're going to
pray better, we're going to feel better, we're
going to witness better, we're going to relate
to one another better, and I just pray
that if any of you are yet in
the grip of some fear, especially this fear
of failure, that tonight, by faith, you may
take a stand against it.
And I pray that any of you who
are still in the grip of this fear
of failure today, may open up and submit
to God and surrender.
Put yourself first on this verse.
I emphasize this verse in the Bible.
I believe it is so important and good
to learn such verses by heart.
I quote the scriptures.
And, you know, most of the problems that
we have are very common to large numbers
of Christians.
I beg of you, don't magnify your problem.
Don't allow the intimidation, the intimidation methodology of
Satan to get you to believe that you're
a special kind of sinner.
The Bible says there's no temptation given you
that isn't common to man.
And God is able to give you victory
over that temptation.
I've had people come to me to share
at times some really, what they thought was
a really big problem.
Sometimes it's taken them time to say what
they wanted to say.
And they've been amazed when my answer has
been, do you realize I've got that same
problem?
I wonder if you'd pray for me.
You know, I speak on many different subjects
all over the world to God's people.
I don't have, you know, just one message.
And it's certainly not just missions.
But I find today, so often the message
that brings the most response is when I
just share openly and deal with this whole
area of honesty.
A lot of people have shared with me
that they feel Christian leaders by the way
they speak, give false impressions as to what
they really are like in their personal life
and in their family life and in every
secret area of their life.
But sometimes I think especially as Christian leaders
we find it a little difficult to rip
the mask off and to really say it
as it is.
In fact, sometimes we as Christian leaders are
deceived people who no longer even know what
the real issues are in our own lives.
And if in these coming months you learn
to be more honest about yourself, more objective
about yourself, it will be a great victory
for the Kingdom of God.
There are a number of verses that burn
in my heart this evening, especially from the
book of Philippians.
That can help you deal with fear.
For example, that verse that says, I can
do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.
I think it's in chapter 4, verse 13.
Maybe I can just read it in this
new translation I have here.
I can do all things through Him who
strengthens me.
And we have many Bible studies, don't we?
And we study these verses.
How many of us really believe that verse?
Other people have shared that they're really afraid
of this book selling.
It isn't a fear of book selling.
It's a fear of people.
It's a fear of rejection, even a simple
rejection at the doorstep.
And I have experienced that rejection many times
and do not find door-to-door work
super easy.
But the problem isn't book selling.
That may be part of it.
Fear of what people will say.
Fear of rejection.
Some people may have a fear of offending
a person.
Einige Leute haben vielleicht Angst, jemand anderem auf
den Fuß zu treten.
Someone else may have the fear that they
will turn somebody off and they will end
up further away from Christ than when they
started.
You know, if I didn't believe that God
could overrule my mistakes in the evangelistic work,
I think I would be paralyzed from ever
doing it again.
Some of the greatest evangelists of all times
have made some big mistakes and have done
some very foolish things even 20 years after,
much less in their first year of training.
But I pray that if you are having
struggles on the doors or in any aspect
of the work, you're not experiencing the victory
and the grace, that you'll be honest enough
to talk about it to your leader and
to seek a solution together with someone.
Others have shared that they have a fear
of relationship problems.
They've had a lot of broken relationships.
And they're afraid that they're going to get
on a team and that they're going to
somehow be the, you know, irregular person we
talked about yesterday and the whole team is
going to suffer because of them.
I think that's a normal struggle for many
people.
And I just know that God can give
victory over that fear.
Many people on OM enjoy that team life
and enjoy living together with other people and
are greatly stimulated in their faith and their
vision through that experience.
They are, yes.
You know, it's especially difficult to be a
team leader.
I wonder if all the team leaders could
just stand up, if you know who you
are.
Some of you don't know yet.
You're right with the team.
You're the team leader.
Just stand up.
Women?
Any more women?
Some of them get appointed later on.
And I hope that we will pray for
these men.
There are many more.
You can sit down.
I hope that we will pray for these
men and women.
There are many more.
Because in counseling team leaders in the last
27 years and I have led many teams
myself, I have this little word for the
team leaders.
With you, it's impossible.
Isn't that encouraging?
It's impossible.
No matter what you do, somebody doesn't like
it.
You serve them a particular kind of food,
somebody doesn't like it.
You let them sleep a little longer, somebody
doesn't like it.
You get them up earlier, somebody doesn't like
it.
You have a one-hour study program, somebody
doesn't like it.
You have a ten-minute study program, nobody
likes it.
And of course, you get such a range
of people on your teams these days.
It used to be maybe three Frenchmen, a
couple Americans, a couple English, maybe one or
two Swedes, you know, four countries.
Now you've got a team, ten people, one
Korean, one Argentinian, one Brazilian, one Chinese, one
American, one German, one Frenchman, one guy, you
can't figure out where he's from.
And sometimes when I read articles on anthropology,
I read one some time ago, a real
heavy article on missionary anthropology, I thought, we
in OM are completely bananas, we're completely crazy.
Here we are wanting to launch into nations
like Pakistan and communicate cross-culturally, but it
takes massive cross-cultural communication even to talk
to our own team.
And we seem to get a wide range
of political viewpoints on OM these days.
We get people who have actually voted for
Ronald Reagan, fellowshipping with someone who belongs to
the anti-nuclear club of West Germany, fellowshipping
on the same team.
And of course, when we think of how
some of our countries really are not getting
on with each other very well, and yet
here we are lumped together in this mobilized
pressure cooker.
And I believe this, above all else, should
just cast us upon God.
And cause every one of us to determine
to be patient, tremendously patient with our leaders,
with the pastors of the churches we work
with, and with one another.
Without that patience that God alone can give,
this thing can become an ugly, chaotic mess.
And yet here is the beautiful thing.
If you fail in the area of patience,
and you maybe hurt somebody on the team,
God has the answer to that.
The brokenness that we've been talking about these
days.
The repentance, the humility, the great problem in
OM is not when somebody sins, not when
somebody does something impatient on the team.
That, of course, is a problem, and it's
wrong.
The problem is when people refuse to apologize.
They throw aside that beautiful little message of
Calvary Road.
They throw it aside as if they've never
seen the book.
And pride, that's what it is.
Pride causes them to dig their heels in
and say, I'm not going to apologize.
Let him come to me.
He owes me an apology.
And if he apologizes to me, I will
definitely forgive him.
After all, I know that forgiveness is a
basic truth in the Bible.
Every one of us here is going to
be tested this year in the area of
the pride factor.
Very few will escape that kind of testing
this year.
And I say this.
I don't believe it's an exaggeration.
Without the emphasis in OM on brokenness and
the cross and Jesus reigning and ruling in
the heart in a practical way, I don't
think we could ever, ever do what God
wants us to do.
I believe there's been some powerful ministry from
many different people along these lines, so I'll
not tarry there any longer.
We're warned about having even a root, allowing
even a root of bitterness in our own
hearts.
And I want to ask you this question.
I want you to answer it tonight to
yourself.
Do you have anything against anybody, anywhere?
Somebody that maybe really walked on you?
Somebody who maybe really rejected you?
Someone that hurt you?
Someone that did the worst possible thing you
can think of?
Maybe he lied to you and ran away
with your fiance?
Or something ten times worse?
The Bible has a clear message.
As Christ has forgiven you, you must also
forgive him.
That doesn't mean the memory will be erased
from your mind.
Don't be surprised by old memories that pop
into your head.
That's as human as anything that can happen
to you.
I often get memories right back from when
I was even ten years old.
I used to get in a lot of
fights with my fists.
Some of those fights and the hatred that
spewed out of my temper and my mouth,
it's almost like it happened last week.
But when it comes, I deal with it
immediately and let it go under the cleansing
blood of Jesus Christ.
You know, there are certain people that you
think, well, they do have a hostility problem.
People like George Verwerf.
He has a hostility problem.
That's pretty clear.
To use a stronger word, because I'm a
Christian, before we're saved, what would be called
hatred, after salvation, comes out in a more
subtle way as just sort of hostility.
And I just so thank God for the
victory he can give in this area.
But some of you don't appear to be
hostile at all.
You don't have this volcanic problem of wanting
to really get a hold of somebody by
the neck.
You are very gifted at repressing that hostility
down into your stomach or some other part.
You might never shout outwardly at someone, but
you'll feel it and you'll repress it.
And often that does more damage to your
health than if you let it out.
You don't want to do either one, of
course.
I feel often as Christians, we are very
naive and very idealistic about our emotions and
what to do with them and how to
handle them and what's right and what's wrong.
And we've got to deal with that.
That's why my goal for the last three
years has been to get every OMer to
read that powerful book Healing for Damaged Emotions
by David Siemens and the second book Give
Up Your Childish Ways.
And hundreds, I believe, have been blessed just
within OM through those two powerful books.
That's why I have particularly praised two English
books on healing of damaged emotions and other
topics in this area.
As we gather around the Lord's table, let's
realize there is victory in Jesus Christ.
There is healing in Jesus Christ.
There is forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
There's renewal in Jesus Christ.
There's victory over every form of fear in
Jesus Christ.
Why is this victory?
Because of His precious blood.
Because of His Word.
Because of His death and resurrection.
And when Satan comes moving in on you
like a flood, you have to learn how
to claim the power of the blood of
Christ.
You need to learn how to use the
Word of God, the sword of the Spirit.
You need to learn how to stand on
His promises.
You need to know how, at that moment,
to be sure you're filled with God's Holy
Spirit.
Most of you have stood to your feet
sometime in the last three, four months and
asked God to fill you with His Holy
Spirit.
Most of you have done that.
Some of you experienced great power and deliverance
last Friday night.
Many of you have had some heavy experiences
with the Lord during these weeks, months.
And you know that now, the main thing
isn't the crisis, it's the process.
And you know that now, the main thing
isn't the crisis, it's the process.
The daily process.
What about tomorrow?
It's a terrific transition day tomorrow.
In OM, you've got to learn how to
redeem the time and survive transition days.
In OM, you've got to learn how to
use these days of transformation, of moving on.
When you put your luggage in the wrong
place, you'll never see it
again.
And I pray that when you wake up
tomorrow morning, you'll by faith stand on His
promises and claim the mind of Christ, which
is yours by His grace.
That even on a practical level, you may
experience the reality of the mind of Christ
delivering you from fear and enabling you to
function more effectively as a person in this
great testing ground.
We saw a film about thinking.
And to survive on OM and in God's
battlefield, you've got to keep the brain turned
on most of the time.
Some people say, oh, but we're so tired.
You know, many men have had to fight
the greatest battles with less than two hours
sleep in the previous two days.
I don't recommend that, but history shows it's
taken place.
Man just sailed across the Atlantic Ocean alone
in a balloon.
He hardly did any sleeping for all the
days that he was in the air.
One man in a balloon.
Just happened last week.
Nah, we're not going to do that to
you.
If we do that, we're going to put
at least two in the balloon.
And actually, we believe very strongly you should
get a good night's sleep every night.
And the Word of God even speaks about
that.
There is victory over fear.
A lot of people now have fear of
the future.
People are always asking you, aren't they?
What's your long-term plan, man?
You know, everybody at 19 years of age
has got to have a long-term plan.
If the Lord has given you a long
-term plan, praise Him.
Be ready to see it disappear.
If you don't know what God's full plan
is yet for your life, that is nothing
to feel guilty about or to think you're
some kind of a weirdo.
You get what God wants to give you
this year in terms of character and holiness
and discipline, and He'll lead you the next
step by next August or next September or
whenever.
And a lot of people have written to
me, especially the women.
And their fear is that they're not going
to get married.
And we don't talk about this too much
in OM because it wouldn't be really spiritual,
would it?
You know, I had that fear when I
was 19.
And I, at night, after I read my
Bible, I would grab my pillow and say,
Oh God, nobody's ever going to marry me.
You had the same fear.
Ich hab die gleiche Angst gehabt.
But you know, this is what the Christian
life is all about.
Trusting God.
We don't know what the future holds.
We trust God.
Most of you don't know yet who you're
going to marry.
Some of you got some ideas in the
last couple of weeks.
But you don't know yet who you're going
to marry.
Leave it with God.
Some of you have been thinking today.
You've got some plan in your head today.
You've had your eye on somebody.
You've been in much prayer about this.
And you know what this social policy says.
And well, you never really agree.
It's not really mature, is it, this social
policy?
But you know, we discovered about the last
night at the conference.
Sometimes five minutes of impatience has caused many
months of heartache and grievous situations.
And wise is the young Christian who knows
not to act on impulse but to wait,
to wait upon God.
And to get God's clear direction and go
ahead.
And that usually doesn't happen as quick as
most people sometimes.
And then some people have a tremendous fear
of death.
It's actually quite normal.
Because no matter how much faith you have,
you don't know what lies behind death's door.
You say, yes, I do know.
That's right.
You know by the mind of faith what's
behind death's door.
I know by faith.
And struggle with the fear of death is
a very normal thing even for the most
dedicated believers.
And as one who has struggled often with
this, I thank God that I can put
this totally, absolutely in His hands.
I know that when I die, whatever is
there, I will be with God.
And we can say as the Apostle Paul,
by faith some of us not easily to
live is Christ and to die is gain.
But yes, we are a victorious people.
We are a praising people.
We are washed with the blood.
We are set free by His power.
And as Romans 8 says, we're more.
We're not just conquerors.
We're more than conquerors.
Let's live in the light of this.
Let's exhort one another along this road during
these coming months.
And I believe this is our inheritance in
Jesus Christ.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank You for this great inheritance
we have in Your Son Jesus.
Father, we thank You for this great inheritance
we have in Jesus Christ, Your Son.
Father, we thank You that You can deliver
us from the grip of fear.
Father, we pray that You will set people
free tonight.
By Your power and by Your grace.
Just pray Your own private prayer.
By faith to break that chain of fear
that may be gripping Your life in any
area whatsoever.
Maybe something else completely different from what I
mentioned, but it's not too much for God.
Will You purpose, right now by faith, to
cast every care upon Him because He cares
for you?
Some of you have worry about your money
that hasn't come yet.
There's half a dozen things you could be
worrying about tonight.
Will You obey God?
Cast every care upon Him.
He cares for you.
Will You do that right now?
In Your own prayer?
You pray Your own prayer.
Father, You have set us free and we
are free indeed.
And we worship You because You have not
given us a spirit of fear, but of
love and of power, discipline and of a
sound mind.
We stand on Your Word.
We appropriate this truth by faith.
And we believe that we can do all
things through Christ, Your Son, who strengthened us.
We pray in His precious name.
Amen.
Peter is going to come and just lead
us as we just have this final breaking
of bread and worship together.
Let's turn in our handbooks to number 65,
Jesus, the name high over all in hell
or earth or sky.
This is the name that deals with all
our fears, the name of Jesus.
Number 65, let's read.
Our experience is a person, Jesus Himself.
And the really important facts are that He
died 2,000 years ago.
It wasn't just a spiritual phenomena, it was
a physical act.
He went to a cross.
We praise God that He didn't stay there.
Death couldn't keep its prey when it came
to Jesus our Savior.
He tore the bars of death away.
And up from the grave He arose.
We want to try and put as much
as possible, everything else, out of our minds
for the next few moments.
We just want to think of Jesus Himself.
He's worthy of the absolute commitment of our
minds.
To help us to do that, I just
want to read some scriptures to you.
I suggest that rather than turning to them,
you just close your eyes and try and
meditate on these words.
They're all from the Old Testament, they're prophetic
words.
And they speak of the agony, the suffering
of the Lord Jesus.
I'll read in English, and I'll ask Clarence
to translate as well.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?
All who see me mock me.
They hurl insults, shaking their heads.
He trusts in the Lord.
Let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him, since he delights in
him.
Many bulls surround me.
Strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths
wide against me.
I am poured out like water.
And all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax.
It has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a pot's
herd, and my tongue sticks to the roof
of my mouth.
You lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evil men has encircled me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.
People stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them and cast
lots for my grave.
See, my servant will act wisely.
He will be raised and lifted up and
highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled
at him, his appearance was so disfigured.
Beyond that of any man, and his form
marred beyond human likeness.
So he will sprinkle many nations.
And kings will shut their mouths because of
him.
For what they were not told they will
see, and what they have not heard they
will understand.
Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender
shoot and like a root out of dry
ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract
us to him, nothing in his appearance that
we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a
man of sorrows familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces,
he was despised and we esteemed him not.
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried
our sorrows.
Yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten
by him and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon
him.
And by his wounds we are healed.
Maybe I can just read that fifth verse
again.
He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon
him.
And by his wounds we are healed.
Let's remember the Lord Jesus for a few
moments.
You lead out in praise and thanksgiving for
all that he's done for us.
Lord Jesus, we want to thank you for
taking our place upon that cross.
We should have been there, but you took
our place.
And we really want to lift our hearts
in praise and thanksgiving this evening.
Lead us just for these few moments that
we have in a worship which will gladden
your heart.
In your name we pray.
Amen.