From this important area of Britain that now
has this glorious bridge so that everybody can
rush up and get here much quicker, even
though it seems that there's not as much
traffic as they once envisaged.
It always encourages us to read about some
of these things since we've also, in our
bridge building around the world, have sometimes miscalculated
the problems and what was involved.
I'd like to just pray once again and
ask the Lord to help us.
Before I do that, I would like to
say a word about some of these books.
I get so excited when I come to
this ship and just see the Christian books.
Some of them, whenever I come here, I
see books I've never seen before.
I don't know if you know about all
these books, but in your position in Christian
leadership, I think you want to know about
books that you can recommend, that you can
use in your ministry.
There are two books that I have especially
been recommending in the last two years, one
of them only in the last year.
Unfortunately, they keep putting the price up.
But this one is called Healing for Damaged
Emotions.
I don't think I exaggerate when I say
that about 50% of the people that
come on OM, young people, OM is many
things.
It's a long-term missionary fellowship, but the
bigger sector is short-term training.
A lot of these young people who come
for training have serious emotional difficulties or damaged
emotions.
That's why in our work we've had to
give a lot more time to counseling, to
listening, to really helping young people.
I don't know if I'm sure in the
ministry you've discovered an increasing number of young
people today have been raped in their homes.
That's just one of, say, 15 factors that
we would find in society today on the
increase in our counseling with young people.
Often many young people open up within OM,
the context of the OM team and the
fellowship and the counseling, many of them open
up and share their problems for the first
time in their life.
Quite a few homosexual young people, for the
first time after hearing our teaching on the
subject of sex in the Bible, have opened
up and shared that they had a homosexual
problem.
Others have shared, like one young girl, that
she'd been raped 15 times by her grandfather.
People in our society, you know this probably
better than I do, they hurt him.
There's no way we can hustle him off
on an evangelistic campaign.
We've got to stop, we've got to listen,
and we've got to somehow, in some cases,
see if they're even ready for this kind
of work.
Quite a few people we actually encourage to
go back to their own home area, try
to get counseling, try to get some roots
and build within their local church before coming,
especially on a one or two year program.
Anyway, I got sidetracked there because I'm actually
just trying to talk about this book on
healing for damaged emotions by a pastor, a
man who'd been a pastor for 30 years
or more and who I believe brings a
biblical perspective to this important subject.
His follow-up book is just published, Putting
Away Childish Things.
Reprogram old behavior patterns that are holding you
back.
Two absolutely brilliant books.
And I would consider it almost worth coming
here to Hull just to push in and
mention these two books.
I've had more people lately thanking me for
introducing them to these books.
And so I'm happy to mention them to
you.
There's another book along similar lines, Where Is
God When It Hurts?
A book you can give to somebody when
they're hurting, when they're having problems emotionally.
Where Is God When It Hurts?
Also, very balanced way, deals with the problem
of suffering.
There's a lot of easy answers about the
problem of suffering.
And personally, I'm not very satisfied with many
of them.
We had one group in the United States.
One church alone took a strong position.
I don't know if you read the book
God Wants You Rich and Other Enticing Doctrines.
That's another American export that's coming your way.
Prosperity doctrine.
If you're spiritual, you will prosper.
You can get rid of that Ford Escort,
get a Rolls Royce, or, you know, something
that's really going to bring glory to God.
That's the way they talk.
And this doctrine is going to come in
heavy in the next few years.
It's already here.
And there's a book against it called God
Wants You Rich and Other Enticing Doctrines.
And in this one church where they had
very extreme views about healing in America, 52
people dead in one church, many of them
children.
We don't always hear that side, or if
we do, we don't like it.
But I believe we need balanced material on
this subject of suffering.
And that's one of the books that may
be a help.
Edith Schaeffer's book Affliction is another brilliant book.
And that's Love Covers, a book about how
we can love and respect one another even
when we may not agree.
Are all the Christian leaders in Hull and
this area all in agreement with each other?
I rather doubt it.
I've been around the country now 22 years.
I haven't found it yet in any single
area in the entire nation.
And we don't have to be.
We don't have to all be in agreement
on every little jot and tittle.
But we can respect one another.
We can learn to love one another.
We can learn to compassionately disagree instead of
arrogantly, impatiently, in the flesh disagree, which so
often gets into God's work.
At least it has at times into ours.
And so I commend Love Covers.
I commend to you Celebration of Discipline.
Again, you may not agree with every line.
This man comes from a unique background, not
so well known among Christians, Evangelical Christians.
But 95% of what you read here
you'll just be thrilled.
I think it's one of the most beautiful
devotional books that I've ever read.
Celebration of Discipline.
And the book we use in our leadership
training.
We had a leadership training course in Birmingham
two weeks ago.
We had 800 enrolled.
We turned over 150 away.
We had 1,300 in the meetings in
the bull ring.
There are a lot of young people who
are in responsibility in their Christian unions, in
Sunday schools, in youth groups.
They want some training.
They're making mistakes.
They're already suffering from the pain of trying
to be a Christian leader because they're in
youth leadership.
And we believe that one of our specialties,
and we're still learning ourselves, is training young
people.
And we use this book in our leadership
training.
Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Saunders, the former leader
of OMF, now known as the, formerly known
as China Inland Mission, now known as OMF.
So there's some books I'd like you to
look at.
Putting Away Childish Things and Healing for Damaged
Emotions, Where Is God When It Hurts, Love
Covers, Celebration of Discipline and Spiritual Leadership.
And I think if you get those books,
when you look back on this particular conference,
you'll be able to say it was worth
it just to get some of these key
tools.
Many of us dream about going back to
seminary for one or two years.
I'd like to go back and get some
more formal education.
I only had about four years after secondary
school, two in universities, two in Bible college.
Not enough.
Well, not so simple now in my particular
situation.
But you know, I find through reading, through
regularly listening to lectures on cassette tapes, that
I have the privilege of ongoing education.
And it is so stimulating and so challenging.
And there are so many beautiful books.
And many times the cream of what people
are saying in these various institutions, it's all
put in books and with a little discipline,
especially now with a cassette tape.
I hope you look at some of the
cassette tapes we have.
I was before accused of being a bookworm.
Now people are accusing me of being a
tapeworm, which is a little embarrassing for my
wife.
But the Lord is merciful.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for Christian books.
We thank you for the way you are
working through books.
The way often when we're not exactly sure
what to say to a person, we can
share something and then give them a book
that can be used of your Holy Spirit
to meet their particular needs.
Lord, we rejoice.
We rejoice.
You have called us into this great work,
whether it's preaching the Word locally or carrying
the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
We're together.
We're on the same team.
We belong to the same body.
Whether we've got an American accent, an English
accent, whether we're from China, Russia, or India.
If we're born again, if we're your children,
then we're on the same team.
We thank you for this privilege.
Help us, Lord, as we just look into
the Word together now.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
I want you to turn to the book
of Acts.
I think it may be announced in the
program that I was going to speak on
world vision and I will do that this
afternoon.
But God, by His Holy Spirit, has put
something on my heart, especially for you and
your situation.
After all, it's great to talk to you
about world vision, but you've got whole vision
and you've got a particular task here.
Our burden, even as you come for these
days, is that you may receive something here
that is exceptionally relevant, or at least very
relevant for what you're facing right now.
It's been my joy all over the world
to be able to share with Christian leaders.
It's not easy for me.
I think I would easily cop out and
say, let me speak to just ordinary people,
young people.
These Christian leaders, let me mainly learn from
them for another ten years and then maybe
I'll speak.
But somehow in a very unpredictable way when
I was just a young Christian I kept
being thrown to share my testimony with Christian
leaders.
And if that was true when I was
19 and 20, now that I'm in these
great mid-years.
Boy, some of you look like you may
be in the mid-years.
Isn't it great?
The mid-years, it's a mid-year crisis.
All life's a crisis.
But I find it so stimulating.
My son is getting married on Saturday.
Boy, we've got another free room in the
house.
We're praising God that he's moving on to
higher ground.
Pray for the wedding.
It's a very formal English wedding and quite
a formal reception.
Everything is really organized.
We have our sort of OM receptions if
it's an OM marriage.
Just anybody come bring your own food.
This is a proper reception.
It's in a hotel and every guest's name's
on a card.
Of course, mainly it's done by the bride's
wife so it's not much problem for me.
But every day somehow this week my wife,
what did I say?
My bride's parents.
Bride's parents are organizing it.
But every day last week my wife's been
exhorting me about my manners.
And she seems to feel that I may
blow it on Saturday.
So, just pray that I may somehow be
well-mannered.
Not eat too fast.
I hear it's going to take several hours
sitting in the same place.
I was asking my future daughter-in-law
whether I could bring my tape recorder and
an earphone.
She wasn't so happy about that.
I didn't.
The Lord is good.
And He ministers to us through all the
various changes in life.
Midlife.
I'm looking for those senior citizen days.
That's ahead.
But we gotta be patient.
Gotta be patient.
Acts chapter 20 is where I would like
you to look just
to take a quick look at some of
these important statements by the Apostle Paul.
Verse 19.
Serving the Lord with all humility of mind
with many tears.
We're talking now about the ministry.
Serving the Lord with many tears and trials
which befell me by the lying and weight
of the Jews and how I kept back
nothing that was profitable unto you but have
shown you and have taught you publicly and
from house to house testifying both to the
Jews and also to the Greeks repentance repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ and now behold I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem not knowing the things
that shall befall me there except that the
Holy Spirit witnesseth in every city saying bonds
and afflictions await me.
When I was a young Christian I took
verse 24 as one of my sort of
life verses.
I like to take them all but this
one really jumped out of the word to
me when I was a young believer I
think I was 18.
None of these things move me.
You long to be able to say that
problems in the church misunderstandings suffering things going
wrong none of these things move me.
I need to say that I got a
few problems none of these things move me
neither count I my life dear unto myself
so that I might finish my course with
joy and the ministry which I received of
the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of
the grace of God.
May every one of us be able to
go from here renewing our commitment to that
kind of biblical ministry and then it talks
about some of the other burdens that were
on the heart of the apostle Paul feeding
the flock of God.
It's a great chapter.
Study it.
Preach on it.
Then I want you to go over to
Acts 23.
The title of this message may not say
this on the tape because they have everything
all advanced planned here.
It will probably say World Vision 1.
But the title of this message is The
Conspiracy.
Now since there are a couple of thousand
of my tapes floating around the world it's
hard to come up with new titles.
But here's a new title.
Though I did share this with pastors in
Swansea a couple of months ago and with
a few pastors in Pakistan because when the
Lord gives me a burden and a particular
message and I had never preached in this
way up until some months ago then I
like to share it in many parts of
the world not just keep it to Swansea
where I first gave these thoughts.
The Conspiracy.
What was the conspiracy?
Verse 12 in chapter 23.
And when it was day certain of the
Jews banded together and bound themselves under a
curse saying they would neither eat nor drink
till they had killed Paul.
Imagine that.
Imagine getting home tonight a little note on
your door.
Dear pastor several of us have met together
and we have decided we are not going
to eat until you are dead.
Now some of you feel you have got
a few problems in your church but I
dare to say if you had that problem
it may make that little controversy in the
choir look small.
There is a conspiracy.
It goes on to say there in verse
21 but do not thou yield unto them
for there lie and wait for him of
them more than forty men who have bound
themselves with an oath that they will neither
eat nor drink till they have killed him.
And now are they ready looking for a
promise from thee.
I don't know if you have ever preached
on this text.
I am strongly convinced that there is a
conspiracy a definite conspiracy brewed in hell against
you as a Christian leader.
And I think it's incredibly important number one
we don't overemphasize this we don't want to
all go out of here neurotic.
And I don't believe in giving a lot
of attention to the devil.
Someone once said every one look at Satan
take ten looks at Jesus.
Or was it one look at self take
ten looks at Jesus.
Both are true.
And in our work we're a little bit
wary of all the big flood of books
lately about Satan.
And you know some people are seeing demons
in every bush.
And if you sneeze they want to cast
out a demon of cold.
But you know this is what I'm talking
about this morning.
We don't want to go to the other
extreme.
Because Corinthians says very clearly be not ignorant
of Satan's devices.
And what I share with you this morning
is not something that I have looked for
or sort of purposely researched.
It's something that I've had to face in
29 years of ministry.
Now let me share just briefly my own
testimony because I think most of us were
a little bit new to each other.
And it's not been my privilege to come
to Hull very much over the years.
Though I was in Hull, never forget it,
the day that Nixon resigned.
You remember that day?
It's hard to believe it's more than a
decade ago.
And I was preaching in Hull.
I remember I came across the ferry.
We didn't have any sophisticated bridge.
Came across from the other side by ferry.
I was coming up from Ipswich.
Tremendous ferry.
Looked like something out of a museum.
I think somebody came to me recently and
asked me if I wanted to buy that.
They think George Ford, big shipping tycoon, buys
and sells, wheeling and dealing in ships.
The next ship I hope to go into
is one from my grandson in his bathtub.
But my son says that's several years off
yet.
But I was in Hull the day that
Nixon resigned.
And I as someone who knew Nixon, not
personally but just knew about him and followed
him, I just wept.
I just wept in front of that TV
screen right here in Hull.
But I haven't been here very much.
And so maybe I could just share a
little of my testimony.
My grandfather is from across the water in
Holland.
He was an atheist.
My other grandfather from Glasgow, he was drunk.
My parents were not believers though they had
a little bit of Christianity Methodist.
We went to a little Reformed church, sort
of a community social club.
I even became the president of the Young
People's Fellowship, the assistant to the pastor.
But I was lost.
I didn't know what salvation was.
I didn't know people had to be converted,
especially Americans.
We were a religious nation.
I mean, God had organized us more or
less, we thought.
And I was deceived.
You know, you can be religious and lost,
the most desperate state to be in.
And a dear woman came into my life
who believed in prayer.
One of the things I'd like to emphasize
today, reemphasize something you already know and have
preached on.
God works through prayer.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christian leadership,
if you neglect your prayer life, you're going
to pay big.
And if you neglect the prayer ministry in
your church and if you neglect the prayer
meeting in your church, your church is going
to pay big.
I warn you on the basis of several
hundred verses.
This woman did not neglect prayer.
She had been praying for the secondary school
near her home for 15 years that people
would be saved and sent.
That school became the birthplace for this whole
ministry.
An unknown woman.
Fifteen years of prevailing, persevering prayer.
We know so little of that today.
This is the day of instant results.
But you know the long-term results are
going to take or demand long-term prayer.
Asking you shall receive.
Be not weary in well-doing you shall
reap if ye faint not.
We long to see a breakthrough in this
area of England.
I'm aware that even comparing this area of
England with other areas that this is a
needy mission field that God has put you
in.
Praise the Lord for your ministry here.
If you need some prayer I can't promise
much but I'd be happy to receive a
feedback paper from you.
Take out a piece of paper.
Put my name on it.
My name is George.
And give me some prayer requests because I'd
be happy to pray for you.
This lady not only prayed, she sent me
a gospel of John through the post.
And I read this and it prepared my
heart for a one-night meeting of Billy
Graham in New York City.
I didn't even know what an evangelist was.
And among my circle of friends, believe me,
we were not in Billy Graham's camp.
But somehow some people got me on an
old bus and I got to that meeting.
And I heard the gospel.
I heard that Jesus Christ died for me.
I heard there was a need to repent.
Billy Graham emphasizes repentance.
He does not preach an easy beliefism message.
You don't have to agree totally with Billy
Graham to believe that he's an anointed evangelist.
I probably wouldn't agree fully with you.
But I would be more than privileged, you
know, to come to your church or to
minister or to work with you.
And I think one of the problems in
the church, we don't know how to compassionately
disagree.
We just sort of make generalizations and we
make little innuendoes.
And though I don't agree with Billy Graham
on every issue, I don't know the man
that well, I believe the anointing of God
is on him and that with literally millions
of people who are praying, the good will
outweigh any negative factors ten to one.
In all of our ministries there are negative
factors.
In this ship there are negative factors.
No one in the Christian life has arrived
with perfect doctrine, perfect total victory.
We're all learning.
We're all growing.
We all fail.
Billy Graham went to the Soviet Union.
He was put on the spot.
Things got out of context and he was
crucified for that visit.
How would you have done?
I just went to the Soviet Union, very
quiet little visit.
Nobody knew about it.
I didn't find it easy, especially getting out.
And life is complex.
The decision Billy Graham was forced to make
years ago of whether he should work only
with very strong minded American Bible punching fundamentalists
because that's where he started.
That's where Billy started.
Or he should broaden out and work with
a wider range of God's people.
And then where do you draw the line?
God's people.
It's not so simple, at least as I
used to think when I came out of
Bible school when I had all the answers.
Because you know we found in our country
some of the Bible fundamentalists turned up to
be practicing homosexuals.
Some of them are in prison today.
Others are back sleeping in divorce.
See, they didn't all have their act together
either.
And Jack Van Empie, one of our dynamic,
strong speaking fundamentalists in America, he is so
upset with all the fighting in the fundamentalist
camp, all the backbiting, that he has turned
and is preaching a radical strong message on
love and has just written a book about
that.
I don't know if you even know his
name, but if you were an American you'd
know the name of Jack Van Empie.
Praise God there's an increasing number of people
who are saying yes, we believe in Bible
doctrine, but we must have love.
That is the prince of doctrines.
And this means we will at times have
to passionately or compassionately disagree and press on
and perhaps when we get to heaven we'll
get the full score.
Anyway, I went to that Billy Graham meeting
and I was saved.
And that has stood the test of 29
years.
In fact, I can say honestly through much
failure and great struggle and a lot perhaps
not too proud about I have experienced that
reality every day.
Christ in me.
He came in that night.
He has never left me or forsaken me
even when I had flat on my nose.
I went back to that secondary school and
began to share the message of Christ.
We started prayer meetings.
God began to work.
In one meeting alone where I was able
to share my
prayer.
O.M.'s first birthplace was back in that
ungodly secondary school.
It then spread to Mexico.
I went to university and there mainly through
reading I caught a vision more and more
for Mexico and for other countries.
So at nineteen I went to Mexico and
I saw that young people could work with
the churches and could help the churches.
That work has gone on now 25 years.
To make a long story short I went
transferred to Moody Bible Institute where I met
my wife.
I went back to Mexico after graduation then
went to Spain.
From Spain God transferred me to Great Britain
where OM really had its second birth.
OM did not have the name Operation Mobilization
until the summer of 1961.
Some of you know my friend Brother Andrew
God's Smuggler.
This morning you've got Brother George God's Bungler.
And I also went into the Soviet Union.
got arrested by the secret police for distributing
Scriptures and it was really my own ability
to make mistakes.
Finally they thought I was a spy then
decided I was a religious fanatic and released
me.
And I went for a day of prayer
and it was there that day of prayer
two words came to my mind.
I was thinking about Europe I was thinking
about all the hatred that had brought the
war and killed so many 6 million Jews
6 million Gentiles don't think we should ever
forget it even if we do have our
hearts filled with forgiveness and I thought can
there not be a revolution of love the
word mobilization came to my mind can we
mobilize young people instead of fighting killing each
other Germans French British why can't we mobilize
for God and on the top I was
actually when I was younger I used to
climb trees just for change and I was
on the top of this huge tree in
a forest in Germany and it was there
that these two words came to me as
I was praying in a day of prayer
and fasting operation mobilization and I came down
shared this with a brother who was with
me and we went back to Madrid where
I was living Madrid Spain where my first
son was born and I shared this with
some Spaniards a plan to mobilize European young
people to serve the church on the continent
and they went for it what a miracle
they had their doubts about me about this
whole thing they went for it they took
over the work in Spain I meanwhile had
met two young men who came from England
and told me of the green pastures of
the British Isles among God's people and in
March of 62 I came to Britain for
a short visit and I've become really the
founding country of OM to any great degree
and is still the base for our international
headquarters there in London our British base is
in Manchester God gave us 200 young people
that summer in answer to prayer there was
no big publicity God gave us 900 the
next summer we made a lot of mistakes
but because we were reading a lot of
good books we were having input from a
lot of good Christian leaders we set up
a board of directors in Manchester of godly
men who counseled us and kicked us and
urged us to stay on the straight and
narrow path we learned from our mistakes and
God taught us something about spiritual leadership discernment
spiritual balance problem solving relationships dealing with people
motivating people and all kinds of other things
which are written about in our leadership material
in our different manuals and in our many
different books and so it's through these 29
years in about 50 different nations that really
this message had its birthplace I preach about
500 times a year I'm trying to cut
down it used to be 900 and people
say well when do you prepare I said
my whole life is preparation for the next
message now that doesn't mean I don't have
formal preparation I do tapes studies outlines notes
I have a whole you know reams of
outlines notes and messages more than I'll ever
preach I don't know if we're going to
have preaching in heaven but if we don't
I don't know what I'm going to do
with some of these messages but some of
you are in the same church for 10
years you got a greater opportunity you got
to really expand your mind to just keep
serving them up with new meals I just
pray you don't serve them up with any
heresy in the attempt to keep giving new
things I love to talk to you about
sensitivity in preaching because I think sometimes we
feel as preachers we feel intimidated by the
intellectual he wants a certain style message he's
sitting there with his six gun we feel
intimidated by the fellow over here who's read
all the heavy challenge about exposition you know
really the only real preaching is expositional preaching
you know as if we're all going to
be reincarnations of John Stott or Stephen Ulfran
and then you got somebody else down here
he's into psychology and he wants he wants
a little more psychology a little practical psychology
and then you got this guy over here
he's just finished reading Andrew Murray's book on
the blood of Christ and he's writing in
his notebook how many times you mentioned the
blood of Christ in your message and you
know I don't know how preachers even stay
sane when they're in a church more than
a few years no wonder they want psychology
but you you keep praying you keep reading
the word you keep preaching the best you
can leave the rest with God you're never
going to make everybody happy and when somebody's
unhappy you go invite them over for a
cup of tea take them out for fish
and chips or a Big Mac whatever you're
into up here as McDonald's got this far
they've got this motto every man with a
burger in his belly and they are moving
a lot faster in many places than the
church of Jesus Christ and we've got the
word of God it really rebukes me that
these people are more committed to spreading their
fast food philosophy than we are spreading the
gospel of Jesus Christ I don't want to
get into that now there is a conspiracy
brothers and sisters you are on the hit
list I heard after World War 2 they
discovered a list of British people who were
up for annihilation if Britain had lost the
war I will tell you maybe you weren't
on that list maybe you were a little
young for that you
may be you will read his writings the
greatest gift needed in the church today is
discernment so we are not ignorant of his
satan's devices we realize as it says I
think in that same passage that sometimes even
comes as an angel of light look at
Ephesians chapter 6 a passage I'm sure you
have studied and maybe even preached on verse
11 put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against
the wiles the old authorized version wiles of
the devil strategies of the devil different translations
have a different word this is real this
is real we haven't got time to read
this whole passage look at verse 12 we
wrestle not against flesh and blood it's not
the people in your congregation it's not that
fellow who doesn't like you it's not the
deacon's wife who doesn't appreciate the great ministry
God has given you we don't wrestle against
flesh and blood we wrestle against principalities against
powers against the rulers of darkness against spiritual
wickedness in high places it's because to some
degree as a young Christian I began to
understand this I remember a student being a
student at Moody somebody gave me a little
booklet the perils of the victorious life ever
read that booklet I tell you God used
that I saw because I I was very
committed to Christ and his kingdom I was
at least classified by most as very zealous
I was already in leadership and I saw
in this booklet the higher you go in
Christian leadership the greater the fall when you
go down and I changed my strategy and
I started to develop a strategy for survival
I learned how to pull back I learned
how to relax I learned more how not
to carry all the burdens I learned how
to handle criticism misunderstanding innuendos intimidation and how
to really draw what I needed from the
word of God and from the Lord himself
rather than often trying to get so much
from my brothers and sisters and I thank
God for his word I thank God for
great books that I had the privilege of
reading before I was 21 I thank God
that in his sovereignty I sat under the
ministry of Alan Redpath when he was a
pastor of Moody Church in Chicago because here's
a man I believe that has proven himself
as a servant of the Lord and as
a soldier of the Lord and was a
great influence together with other men in my
life yes we wrestle against spiritual wickedness in
high places that's why it says put on
the whole armor that's why we're told verse
16 to take the shield of faith where
with we can quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked what are some of these
fiery darts let me be specific what are
some of the specific fiery darts that I
have seen over these years the enemy using
against Christian leaders I don't want you to
dwell on these things you can put them
in your little list you can realize that
they are real you don't have to dwell
on them let me quickly give them to
you what time do we have to go
to lunch here's our man he'll tell us
okay we want to have a few minutes
for questions the first fiery dart that I
see everywhere I go is the fiery dart
of pride I've seen just in watching the
thing in Britain here these twenty two three
years I've seen men I remember one great
evangelist hit Britain wow soon it was great
publicity he was an anointed man you know
when you're anointed and you're seeing souls saved
and your church is growing and people are
saying oh thank you pastor God's using you
in my own heart and you help families
come together that's great you want to be
encouraged in the ministry you're not waking up
each day oh lord in the name of
Jesus give me another failure today you know
we don't want people we don't want people
praying this way we want to you know
we want to do the right thing we
want to see people saved and and with
all of our efforts in that direction there
will be still enough enough failures you know
I saw this man get puffed up I've
seen church fellowships get puffed up I see
some denominations right now getting puffed up they
got all the answers some of the newer
groups some of them don't like to be
called denominations you know if you're a movement
of 50 or 60 or 100 churches and
you got your own doctrine you got your
own conferences and you got literature and video
tapes and all this and you come out
and say we're not a denomination you know
you need to go back and get your
definition straightened out what is a denomination and
I speak honestly I long to see the
older line denominations and the newer movements that
are coming into being whether they call themselves
a denomination loving one another fellowshipping together history
is repeating itself the tensions and the struggles
we have in the church today aren't new
history repeats itself some people are happy in
their older churches they press on in their
older churches some more by temperament and personality
than by doctrine though it all gets interspersed
they want to get and join something new
don't be bitter against somebody that has left
your church to join something new because even
if they have done the wrong thing what
good is that bitterness going to do you
say the lord bless you lets talk together
in a few years and you know some
of these people are coming back into balance
and there is more fellowship others are going
extreme that's sorry others are pulling the blinds
down and building the walls and taking on
a sort of exclusive position this makes us
sad we pray it's not biblical it's not
right but there's no reason to be bitter
we keep loving our weapon is calvary love
we keep forgiving we don't wait for people
to come to us I don't know if
you do this if you do you're in
trouble somebody hurts you in your congregation or
in your group so basically you're hurt but
you say if they come and apologize I'll
forgive them is that your method no it
shouldn't be you forgive them even as it's
happening even as he walks out the door
of your study and slams it behind and
maybe murmurs something against you you just say
Jesus though it's hard it's painful calvary love
just calvary love and you forgive and if
they come back and apologize praise the lord
that's water above the glass the glass is
full with the love of Christ the glass
is full with the forgiveness of Christ and
if they come back and apologize and put
things right that's water over the glass it's
wonderful I hope you have it but don't
remain bitter if you don't get it satan
uses pride people overreacting to each other godly
men can get together who love Jesus Christ
and when strong things are said pride ego
locks in even to the most godly man
and ugly things can be said at that
moment that people will not easily forget and
if you have this cockeyed idea that great
men of god don't sin or don't get
in the flesh I would challenge how much
you have really been around this treasure is
in earthen vessels let's beware of hero worship
let's beware of putting a man up to
a place where we think he can do
no wrong or he cannot sin because then
later we get so overwhelmed we get so
disappointed when we see some of our men
of god getting into carnality and division and
confusion yes the fiery dart of pride is
one of the most difficult of all the
fiery darts that will be thrown by satan
in this conspiracy that he has to destroy
you and me don't just think this attack
is against well known famous christian leaders no
no I've just been reading a book by
Campbell Morgan preaching there in Westminster chapel it's
interesting he said things what 80 years ago
that basically the same thing needs to be
said today he warned people about becoming infatuated
with big numbers he was preaching to a
big audience at that time and he acknowledged
as a humble servant of the lord that
there might be at that moment greater blessing
down the road in some little chapel with
40 people we are neurotic about numbers we've
got a neurosis for success we read too
much psychology and not enough from the book
of acts and the epistles and you get
people looking for the perfect church I often
meet these young people I really believe we
need new testament churches my church is not
a new testament church what do you mean
by that you want a new testament church
which new testament church are you thinking of
let's turn to corinthians most of the epistles
were written as correction to error and sin
and carnality and every kind of other thing
in the churches and I'm sure if you're
in a normal situation sometimes you face problems
because people are expecting so much from you
as a christian leader they read this book
and that book some of the books don't
always paint the nice picture we read about
some of these saints have gone on to
be with the lord they look so really
and then they compare you with those saints
but they're living with you they've seen you
jump in your car drive down the road
and hit somebody have you ever had a
car accident great christian
leaders out of the past they look like
great inspiring saints they see you as
a christian leader they compare you with those
saints they look and then they compare you
with those saints great out of the past
they look like great inspiring saints they see
you as a christian leader they compare you
with those saints they look they compare with
those you with those saints they
compare you
with those saints with those they compare with
those you they compare you with those saints
they compare you with
those saints they
compare with those saints they compare with those
saints they
compare with those they compare with those saints
Satanic counter-attack to the present evangelistic thrust
in Drapery.
I am for this thrust, but I fear
sometimes we go into the battle with a
bit of a naive mind.
We need more prayer.
We need to prepare now for what we're
going to do with thousands of people who
make professions of faith.
I know people are preparing.
I know a lot is being done.
Glory, hallelujah, but we need to do more.
And there's nothing more important than your own
personal armor.
Your own personal family.
Is your relationship right with your wife?
I'm not talking about it being perfect.
Marriage is God's graduate school.
It's part of God's great, great training program.
This is emphasized in Mr. Bilheimer's amazing book,
Don't Waste Your Sorrows, which I'd love to
see every family studying together.
Satan is going to attack your family.
If he can't get at you through your
wife or your wife through you, he'll go
through your children.
I have one 19-year-old, one 21,
and one 23.
It's taken more energy, more wisdom, more strength,
and more prayer to rear those three children
than to coordinate operation mobilization for 27 years.
And I have given equal importance to it.
And I believe it's one of the reasons,
the bigger reason is God's pure mercy, sovereignty,
and answers to prayer, other people's prayers, that
my own three children are following Jesus Christ
today.
Satan is going to attack your family.
Don't let it destabilize you.
Do you know that term?
Your son maybe someday walks in and you
finally find out he's on drugs.
What are you going to do about it?
Overreact?
Say something really stupid to him at that
time?
Forgive the term.
Project onto him a triple ton of guilt?
Or are you going to try to work
with him?
Love him.
Find out why he's on drugs.
See if there's a way you can help.
I'm only using that as an illustration.
But, you know, if you don't think there
are quite a few children of pastors and
Christian leaders who are on drugs or alcohol
in excess or something else along that line,
again, you know, you can't be living very
long.
And if these things happen in your home,
in your family, or something more wild, something
more difficult.
The pastor of my hometown church, his son
was caught in a gangster move and he
was in prison.
His wife in a few years shriveled up
from cancer.
His other daughter was in a double divorce.
I thank God I never have been able
to fully understand that man, but I love
him and he is still going on for
Christ.
He is a wounded man, but he is
not down and out.
And this is my message.
Whatever happens in your family, in your church,
in sort of the ring of being a
soldier of Jesus Christ.
Paul said, I don't beat the air.
I, you know, hit straight to the target.
Whatever may happen, whatever may go wrong, I
pray don't allow yourself to become discouraged or
depressed or down.
You've all watched boxing.
What's the key in boxing?
It isn't, well, you must never fall down.
No, the key is if you fall down,
you get up.
Many a man who's been down three or
four times won the fight.
It's normal as a Christian leader to be
knocked down once in a while.
It may be criticism.
It may be a domestic crisis.
It may be a personal failure.
It may be something in the area of
purity, for example, with your eyes, or maybe
with some magazine that someone slipped under your
nose almost unaware.
It happens.
Sit down on British Rail, and there's a
five-pound pornographic magazine that you would never
buy.
There it is sitting in front of you,
and you might not get instant victory.
One of the great Christian magazines in America,
a Christian leader without using his name, was
willing to confess his ten-year battle with
lust.
An unbelievable article.
The response to that article was the greatest
of any article they've ever published.
It was a very straightforward article.
I think the best leadership magazine I know
today, it's a little expensive, is this magazine
produced by Christianity Today called Leadership.
It was in that magazine.
Yes, the fiery dart of impurity will be
used by Satan against you.
Maybe it hasn't happened yet, and it may
not happen for a few years.
Many Christian leaders have told me that the
area where they saw their friends get in
trouble and where they were in trouble themselves
is a lack of wisdom in the counseling
ministry.
Men having an ongoing private counseling session with
other women, especially attractive ones, and who's the
one that can define what's attractive and not
attractive?
And again and again, counseling sessions have turned
into impurity.
Now with so many men of God telling
us the same thing, isn't it about time
we turned on up here and just avoid
ongoing private counseling sessions with other women?
If you talk for ten minutes in the
corner of the church, that's not what we're
talking about.
If a woman comes in with a burden
and you have to answer questions, that's not
what we're talking about.
Though that's where of course it can begin,
and you need wisdom from stage one.
But when you arrange to meet privately, again
and again with a woman, if you're a
man or vice versa, you're asking for trouble.
And I've seen it all over Britain.
Why can't we get more women into the
ministry of counseling other women?
Nothing is the total answer.
And I will not judge a man who
disagrees with me on this point, you know,
who compassionately disagrees.
And all these things, you're the one who
decides.
I can't decide for you.
But I just give that as something really
to think about.
It's Billy Graham's policy.
In fact, he will not go anywhere with
another woman unless his wife is with him.
Now he is, you know, he is under
target.
In California, they had a group of gangsters,
and we know America is a more gangster
-ridden place than Britain.
And we got the mafia and we got
a lot of other things.
But there was a group in California that
were blackmailing ministers.
They would send beautiful women to their homes
for counseling.
They studied each case.
The women arrived when the wife was away.
Tears in their eyes.
Pastors invited them in.
And many, many cases, these men were seduced
into bed with these women.
Right behind them, I'm not making this story
up.
It was also in the press.
Right behind them came the cameras.
Pictures of these men in bed with these
women.
Can you imagine the blackmail money they got
out of those ministers?
Praise God, the police quickly caught up with
this, and they were put out of business.
Why do I mention this?
Because I think it just shows how unscrupulous
the enemy is.
He will try anything.
He knows if you have any weak link
in your armor in this area of impurity,
and he will try to use some little
area to just somehow nail you to the
floor.
And I think we need to restudy what
the Bible says about sex.
There are over 500 verses in the Bible
on the subject of sex.
We cannot be silent on this subject.
We need to have, especially if we're vulnerable
in this area, and I know I am
personally vulnerable, we need to have people we
can share with.
We need to stand together.
We need to pray for one another.
One evangelist here in this country, when I
was preaching to a group of evangelists, shared
with me that he'd just been in adultery
with a woman in one of his campaigns.
And we united in heart.
And he said the next time he was
tempted, he was going to phone me.
And you know that man, this is now
years ago, has never again phoned.
His wife knows about it, their marriage is
held, and God is mightily using him.
We need one another in this area.
We need honesty.
Better to lose your reputation and keep your
sanity.
Not that I think we need public confession
of difficulties in this area.
Private sin maybe needs private confession.
Firstly to God, the one and only who
can forgive.
But then maybe for growth, for therapy, for
further strength, we can share it with another
brother.
There are many, many people hurting in this
area.
So many.
Every time I give an invitation for recommitment
to Christ, and I get feedback, I have
people write down on the paper what it
means.
Every time, two out of ten would be
difficulties in this area.
And often as well with Christian leaders.
Praise God for forgiveness.
Praise God being knocked down is not the
end of the road.
Praise God that His Word can strengthen us.
There is holiness.
There is sanctification.
It's an ongoing process.
There might be the crisis, but if the
crisis isn't followed by a process, it will
be an abscess.
Do you think because you're filled with the
Spirit, and because God is mightily using you,
you can't be tricked into one of these
satanic booby traps?
Don't be foolish.
One evangelist in America left nine women pregnant
in one campaign.
We're dealing with things that many of us
are naive about, because perhaps we're locked into
just a small world, and we're not counseling
a lot of these other men.
And, of course, we feel we've got enough
problems with our own congregation, much less get
involved with a couple hundred Christian leaders around
the world, as I've had to do over
these 29 years.
I've had 14,000 personal letters as a
result of just one of my books.
Many of these letters from Christian leaders in
difficulty.
Corinthians says, Be not ignorant of Satan's devices.
I wish I could talk to all of
your wives on how a wife can help
a husband stay free from some of these
fiery darts.
There are a lot of practical things we
can learn as we read, as we grow,
and as we stand firmly on God's Holy
Word.
The third fiery dart, I believe, is unbelief.
I believe it's normal that fiery darts of
unbelief are going to come upon your soul.
Are the heathen really lost?
That's been a big struggle for me.
When you're committed to world evangelism, Muslims, Hindus,
Buddhists, and you spend a lot of your
life living out there, there's something in you
that just says, I don't want to believe
these people are lost.
I don't think that's wrong to think that
way.
We're human.
Some of the members in your congregation are
struggling with this, even if you're not.
It's a tough theological issue.
There are some things, personally, after accepting God's
Word, and there's a book on this subject,
God, is it fair on the book table?
I have to leave it with him.
I can't figure out exactly what hell is.
I can't even figure out exactly what heaven
is.
Sometimes, if I'm not to get dragged into
an avalanche of unbelief and end up overthrowing
the Christian faith, then I have to come
back to the basics.
You know one of my basics really helps
me?
I believe in God.
When I graduated from Bible school, I had
a much wider doctrinal position.
Now, sometimes, my main doctrine is I believe
in God.
Now, don't worry, my good evangelical friends, I
don't remain there.
That's my survival tactic when I'm under pressure.
I come back to the basics, and then
I move out.
I believe in Jesus Christ.
I believe in His Word.
I believe in His atoning death.
I believe He's coming again, and I build
out from there.
But, you know, sometimes I just can't take
all this on.
Heaven, hell, second coming, eschatology, hermeneutics, you know.
I just say, Lord, help!
I go off to the woods for a
day of just singing and praising and worshiping
and just get back to the basics.
I believe in the God of creation.
I believe that God created all these galaxies
and all these worlds.
I believe God created me, beautiful, amazing intricacies
of the human body.
And then I build out from there.
Though I've had the fiery darts thrown at
me in ways when I thought I would
never go another day, every time the Lord
has brought me out of it.
And I was helped by a man of
God who said this.
He said, Great faith is not made in
the absence of doubt.
It's made as we battle through.
And if you're having struggle with the Christian
faith, I'd love to write to you.
Don't think it's unusual for a Christian leader
to struggle with the very basics of the
Christian faith.