Good evening everybody and welcome to this first
major Mission England meeting of the autumn program.
For those who have been singing here for
a little while, we apologise that we're a
little late in getting underway.
That is largely because we're late in coming
up from the opening of the Christian Bookshop
in Church Street and we're privileged that George
Verver has been here to open that as
well as to speak to us tonight.
It's a tremendous joy to welcome you here
George tonight and we look forward to what
the Lord is going to say to us
through you this evening.
The text which is being adopted in this
autumn in the tour of England which Cliff
Barrows is making, Billy Graham's associate, comes from
Psalm 108 and I would just like to
read those few words at the beginning of
our meeting tonight.
It refers to what God is going to
do in answer to our prayers.
Verse 3 of Psalm 108, I will thank
you O Lord among the nations and I
will praise you among the peoples.
And God is calling us, his people, to
praise him among the peoples.
Not just amongst our own fellowship where that's
relatively easy but out there to give glory
to God for what he's doing in our
lives and let them hear that God is
good.
And then in verse 6, this prayer David
makes, answer my prayer O Lord so that
the people you love may be rescued.
And if Mission England is about anything it's
about expressing love, letting God's Holy Spirit flow
through our lives that the world may see
the love of God and that the people
whom he loves may be rescued.
With that thought in mind let us pray.
Our Father tonight we are assembled in the
name of Jesus and we glorify you for
him.
We thank you that we don't have to
approach you with the sort of attitude which
wonders whether you're there or not.
We approach you in the confidence of Jesus
for he came to show us what you're
like and we thank you that in him
we have seen your love.
Tonight as we share together in worship and
fellowship, as we experience your Holy Spirit flowing
through us, we would ask that you Lord
will come sweeping through our lives, that you
will sweep away the dross which gets in
the way, that you will straighten out the
crooked ways that interfere with our lives and
ministries for you and that tonight you will
speak in a fresh and a clear way
to everyone in this building.
For each one of us Lord is desperate
to hear your voice.
We all need to know that leading of
your Holy Spirit and I would ask that
no one tonight may leave this place without
knowing they've met with you.
We ask this Father in the name of
Jesus.
Amen.
Our opening hymn is number 49.
Great is thy faithfulness.
In the hymns of faith hymn book in
your pews number 49.
Great is thy faithfulness O God my Father
and we can confidently turn to God and
say he is great and he is faithful.
We look at sometimes our human relationships and
we find that they fail us and that
people are faithless but he is great and
his faithfulness is from everlasting to everlasting so
we can stand, we can sing, we can
rejoice and we can let him know that
we agree that he is great.
Great is thy faithfulness number 49.
Great is thy
faithfulness O God my Father
and we can confidently turn to
God and
say he is great and he is faithful.
Great is thy faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
great is thy faithfulness, O God my
Father and we can
confidently turn to God and say he is
great and he is faithful.
Great is thy faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is thy faithfulness O
God my Father and we can confidently turn
to God and say he is great and
he is faithful.
Great is thy faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness,
O God my Father and we can confidently
turn to God and say he is great
and he is faithful.
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father
and we can confidently
turn to God and say he is great
and he is faithful.
Shortly, George Voe will be speaking to us.
He's going to be recommending some books.
He won't be recommending his own book.
So could I please draw your attention to
his latest book.
I find it hard to actually say anything
about it in front of him as I've
not read it yet.
I might say something that's not true, but
his latest book is here on the bookshelf,
bookstall at the back of the church.
After you've heard him speak, I believe that
you may want to take a little more
of what God says through this man home
to meditate upon.
No Turning Back is his latest book.
I'm just going to ask the music group
now to lead us in just two songs
before George Voe speaks to us.
I'd like the first one to be seated
still and know that I am God.
It's number one on the sheet that you
have, the yellow sheet.
For as we come before the Lord, I
think it's important that we are still before
him and that we consciously ask him to
quieten our minds.
It's very easy to come into a meeting
like this with all sorts of things going
through our minds.
And to carry on through the meeting still
thinking about the things that are going on
out there.
It's very important that we now just prepare
ourselves to listen to what God by his
spirit is going to say to us through
his servant.
So could we just sing this quietly and
deliberately?
And I say deliberately, think about the words,
be still and know that I am God,
and we speak to our own souls as
we sing it.
Be still and know that I am God.
I am the Lord, lucid and
free.
I am the Lord, lucid and
free.
Be still and know that I am
God.
Be still and know that I
am God.
A personal prayer as well as a corporate
prayer.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see
Jesus.
To reach out and touch him and say
that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to
listen.
Number 12.
Open our
eyes, Lord, we want to see
Jesus.
To reach out and touch him
and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us
to listen.
We want to see Jesus.
To reach out and touch him and say
that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord, and help us to
listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to
see Jesus.
For many of you, George Verwer needs no
introduction.
For others, the work of Operation Mobilization may
be new.
The work of Send the Light, STL, Literature.
The work of the ships Logos and Dulos,
which literally sail the world taking literature into
every port in the world.
But that's the vision.
It's amazing what God has done through a
vision which he has blessed.
I believe that we can all learn from
the experiences of those whom God has blessed
in this way.
Not just learn by listening and enjoying, but
by learning that God can do amazing things
through perhaps unlikely material like you and me.
And that if God gives us a vision,
you never know what might happen if we
set out for him to let it fulfill
it through us.
So we look forward, George, to what you
have to say to us.
And we trust the Lord to bless each
one of us.
For me, it was a lot easier when
I first came to England 23 years ago.
Nobody had ever heard of me.
And when it was announced that I was
going to speak, since people had never heard
of me, they didn't expect anything much.
So everything was uphill after that.
You don't expect anything.
But sometimes now, maybe not here, but in
some places, because I've been around these 20
-some years and people know about the ships
and know about the work of O.M.,
they expect some great special message.
Or I don't know what they expect sometimes.
But if anything happens tonight, it will only
be because God is here and that God
is in our hearts.
The Bible says God will share his glory
with no man.
I've seen some of the best Christians in
my generation completely wiped out.
Completely wiped out.
Drunkards.
Drug addicts.
Thrown the whole thing.
They don't talk about that much.
The Bible does.
I've just finished reading some things in the
Bible along that line.
And I think one of the reasons is
that we puff people up.
And I saw it in the press again
today.
My heart just ached as I read the
news of James Watt, the Evangelical man, Secretary
of the Environment in the United States government.
And I noticed the last six months all
the Evangelicals pushing him.
Headline articles, pictures, boy, we've got an Evangelical,
Secretary of the Environment.
And just in the few slips of the
lip last week at Nationwide, he said some
things.
And I tell you, his name is M
-U-D with all caps.
And he will probably have to resign.
And it's just once again as Watergate dragged
the Evangelical cause down in our country.
And I just think it's so important as
we go into this Mission England that we
realize how feeble we are.
We're destined to fail.
Within every one of us is the seed
of our own destruction.
And that somehow each day we'll seek to
give the glory to God.
We'll realize that Billy Graham and Luis Palau
and Cliff Barrows or the greatest musicians we
can bring, we fly them in from the
ends of the earth.
That if we don't see God move in
all this, in our own personal lives, a
lot of it can be wood, hay and
stubble.
And I come in really in fear and
trembling at this meeting tonight just that I
would not interfere with what the Lord wants
to say.
And how we need to pray for one
another.
How we need to pray for one another
and how we need to pray for any
Christian who gets into position.
Whether it's within the church, he may become
a bishop or within government.
The Christians were all raving for the last
year about the, we've got a president in
Guatemala, he's an Evangelical, you know, every newspaper
you pick up.
And of course, boom, overnight he's gone.
The coup, now they say that they're going
to take it out on the local churches
in Guatemala.
This is a great burden, that God would
get all the glory in Mission England.
I was thinking I should have a title
because I saw all these people with these
tape recorders outside.
They always like titles.
And I thought of the title, Mission England,
Ritual or Reality?
Mission England, Ritual or Reality?
I'd like you to turn with me in
your Bibles, perhaps as you're doing that I
could mention that we have a little special
bookstall.
What a joy to be here involved in
the opening of a Christian bookshop.
This is one of the last cities in
the British Isles to finally get a proper
Christian bookshop.
It's quite amazing because I've always thought of
Lancashire people as very progressive people.
Our whole ship vision was born in Lancashire
in a converted pub in Bolton about 18
years ago.
It took six years before we ever got
the first ship.
But the vision was born in a bookshop
in Bolton, Lancashire.
I met some Boltonians who have moved up
here.
I don't know why anyone would come up
here from such a lovely place as Bolton.
And certainly one of the very good places
for immigrant work.
And praise the Lord we've moved our bookshop
around the corner.
But there's just five books I'd like to
mention.
One is Ralph Shallis' book, From Now On,
a book on provisions for spiritual growth.
And it's a book that really should be
used right in the center of Mission England
strategy.
I noticed in the bookshop this afternoon a
lot of books by A.W. Tozer.
How many of you have read something by
A.W. Tozer?
Raise your hand.
Wow, that's encouraging.
I think you read more here in the
north than in the south.
I think they mainly watch television.
Perhaps television hasn't come up here yet.
But I noticed Kentucky Fried Chicken certainly did
arrive.
There's a book about that man, by the
way.
Strike the Original Match is a book I'm
reading right now on marriage.
I'm supposed to be coming into the midlife
crisis now that I'm in the 40s.
And in the midlife crisis, you know, your
marriage is liable to fall apart.
Mine's actually getting better.
But I found this a great encouragement.
It's called Rekindling and Preserving Your Marriage Fire.
How many of you are married?
Raise your hand.
Married.
Boy, this is a big thing up here
too.
So I'm sure you'll get an encouragement out
of that book.
I mentioned already today, perhaps my favorite book
in the English language, Spiritual Depression, Its Cause
and Cure.
I've been listening to some tapes by the
author of this book, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones.
There's 175,000 copies of this book in
print.
He was speaking back in 1959 on revival.
And it's been a blessing in my own
heart.
So before you go, just get at least
one of these books and read it.
Because it could be a great preparation.
Great preparation for the days and months to
come.
Now I'd like you to turn to Acts
20.
Acts 20.
I've just been at the OM month-long
conference.
Most of the message is through interpretation.
And the last five days I've been in
Germany, all the message is through interpretation.
So I feel a little bit lonely up
here.
I thought of asking Alan Redpath to come
and just stand next to me.
And he wouldn't have to interpret.
Though I remember once, the first time I
came up to this part of the country,
I was actually in the train station, I
think here in...
No, I think it was in Karnforth.
And there were some men talking in the
station.
And I didn't recognize what language it was
that they were speaking.
I found out later it was a form
of English.
Which was quite amazing.
But I hope you're all able to understand
my accent.
Though I've been over here 23 years.
A lot of that time I've been out
in India, other parts of Europe.
And I never have learned proper English.
But I hope most of you can understand.
Acts 20 to me is one of the
most exciting chapters in the whole Bible.
I go to it again and again.
And it's a great chapter to stir our
hearts.
When we're launching into a mission or a
time of spiritual emphasis and renewal.
It's difficult to know where to start.
I don't think I'll read the whole chapter.
But maybe we could start at verse 17.
From Elias he sent to Ephesus.
And called for the elders of the church.
And when they had come to him he
said to them.
You know from the first day that I've
come to Asia.
In what manner I always lived among you.
Notice, I always lived among you.
Serving the Lord with all humility.
With many tears and trials.
Which happened to me by the plotting of
the Jews.
And how I kept back nothing that was
helpful.
But proclaimed it to you.
And taught you publicly.
And from house to house.
Tonight's a public meeting.
We hope it will lead to many house
to house meetings.
It's practical isn't it?
Testifying to the Jews.
And also to the Greeks.
Repentance towards God.
And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And see now I go bound in the
spirit to Jerusalem.
Not knowing the things that will happen to
me there.
Except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every
city.
Saying that chains and tribulation await me.
Imagine that kind of publicity for a local
evangelistic campaign.
But none of these things move me.
As a young Christian I took this as
my life verse.
I'm not sure if it's scriptural anymore to
have life verses.
But I was too young to know.
I read the whole book of Acts in
one night.
And I took this verse.
But none of these things move me.
Nor do I count my life dear to
myself.
That I may finish my race with joy.
And the ministry which I receive from the
Lord Jesus.
To testify to the gospel of the grace
of God.
And indeed now I know.
That you among whom I have gone preaching
the kingdom of God.
Will see my face no more.
Therefore I testify to you this day.
That I am innocent of the blood of
all men.
For I have not shunned to declare to
you.
The whole counsel of God.
Therefore take heed to yourselves.
And to all the flock.
Among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers.
To shepherd the church of God.
Which is purchased with his own blood.
For I know this.
That after my departure.
Savage wolves will come in among you.
Not sparing the flock.
Also from among you.
Or among yourselves.
Men will rise up speaking perverse things.
To draw away the disciples after themselves.
Therefore watch and remember.
That for three years.
I cease not to warn everyone.
Night and day with tears.
And now brethren.
I commend you to God.
And to the word of his grace.
Which is able to build you up.
And to give you an inheritance.
Among all those who are sanctified.
I have coveted no man's silver.
Or gold.
Or clothing.
Yes you yourselves.
Know that these hands have provided for my
necessities.
And for those who are with me.
I have shown you.
And in every way.
By laboring like this.
That you must support the weak.
And remember the words of the Lord Jesus.
That he said.
It is more blessed to give.
Than to receive.
When he had said these things.
He knelt down and prayed for them all.
Then they all wept freely.
And fell on Paul's neck and kissed him.
Sorrowing most of all.
For the words which he spoke.
That they would see his face no more.
And they accompanied him.
To the ship.
Let's just pray again.
Oh Lord.
This is your word.
This is so strong.
So strong.
Lord.
Even as I've read it.
My own heart has been convicted.
Several areas where.
I need to just refocus.
I need to be more.
More motivated.
Oh Lord.
You know my heart.
I don't want to be a drifter.
I don't want to be a settler.
Lord stir us tonight.
As we continue to prepare.
For this ongoing thrust.
To reach a whole nation.
And yea we believe.
Ultimately a whole world.
With your gospel.
Lord I pray.
Don't let any little.
Funny way that I try to communicate.
Hinder with what you want to say.
Open our hearts Lord.
We listen to you.
Through Jesus Christ.
Amen.
I think a great text book.
In preparation for Mission England.
Is the book of Acts.
And I really seriously.
Commend it to you.
Maybe you want to read it.
In a new translation.
But it's an exciting book.
It's an exciting book.
There are many things.
I would love to say.
From this chapter.
I would love to expound.
Verse by verse.
But we don't have the time.
For that this evening.
So I want to just.
Go back to it.
I want it to be a foundation.
As we think about what's ahead.
In this mission.
I had the joy of.
Speaking in Aberdeen.
In preparation for the Luis Palau meetings.
When that dear brother.
Was first getting started in this country.
And I had the privilege of.
Preaching also in preparation.
For the mission to Motherwell in Glasgow.
For Luis Palau.
And over the years somehow.
The Lord has given me the privilege.
Of going ahead.
Of some of these special events.
And just sort of helping.
To prepare the way.
I hope you're not disappointed that.
Billy Graham is not coming to Lancashire.
Let me assure you of something greater.
That's already happened.
In Lancashire.
And that's the reality.
In the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
In every believer.
I wonder if you knew that.
Some of you may not be believers.
And I find it always refreshing.
To speak to a good.
Stimulating agnostic.
Or an atheist.
God years ago called me to be.
I don't even use the word call.
But led me to be an evangelist.
And I'm just a mini evangelist.
But I'm certainly thrilled.
That I have that privilege.
And there may be someone here tonight.
You don't know the Lord Jesus.
You don't even know what.
Mission England is about.
Maybe you just somehow arrived.
You thought this was the Rotary Club.
Or the old folks gathering or something.
But let me just say that.
When I was just about to go off
to university.
I didn't understand any of this.
I wasn't from a Christian home.
The word mission I wouldn't have understood.
The word evangelist I wouldn't have understood.
All these different terms Christians use.
Sanctification.
Renewal.
Regeneration.
Eschatology.
Hermeneutics.
I mean.
You know.
This is a whole separate world.
My world was women.
Night clubs.
The dance floor.
Fun.
Money.
Cars.
Quite normal.
I was no big time sinner.
No.
I don't have any mafia testimony.
But the Bible says.
He that commits sin becomes a slave to
sin.
And maybe you haven't murdered anybody.
Maybe you feel that you're quite a good.
Upstanding.
Maybe even outstanding citizen.
And certainly Mission England isn't for you.
A great preacher once said.
Everybody is either a missionary.
Or a mission field.
And probably as God looks down upon this
meeting.
We see all kinds of people.
From here.
It's always good to preach.
You get a good overview.
You see all kinds of faces.
Happy ones.
And sad ones.
And all kinds of hair.
Some don't have too much hair.
And.
But when God looks down.
He sees in a different way.
And I believe as God looks at this
meeting.
He sees those that are on the broad
road.
And those that are on the narrow road.
That's not my idea.
But it says.
In the Gospel.
The Gospel of Matthew.
Narrow is the way.
Speaking of the way to heaven.
Narrow is the way.
Few there be that find it.
Broad is the way.
You know it's amazing how God blesses the
preaching of the Gospel.
A few months ago I was in Poland.
I gave the most simple little Gospel message.
I think it's the same one I've been
preaching since I was converted.
The broad road.
The narrow road.
And it just explained very simply.
No big emotional thing.
It was in a tent.
It wasn't a very good atmosphere there in
Poland.
And just gave the message of salvation.
That salvation is through Jesus Christ.
And that we can know forgiveness of sin.
That we can have our life turned around
by God.
The Holy Spirit will indwell us.
As many as receive him.
John chapter 1 verse 12.
To them he gives power to become the
sons of God.
To my amazement at the end of the
meeting.
Six people trusted Christ as their savior.
That was in a tent.
Two days later I was in another city
in Poland.
It was a church.
It was actually just like this.
Except it was just packed.
I tell you if there's any country that's
ripe right now for evangelism.
It's Poland.
And it was a Sunday morning meeting.
It was going about two, two and a
half hours.
And I was just planning to give a
bit of a challenge.
And the local pastor came up and said.
We want you to give an invitation.
I thought he was going to break my
arm.
He said we, you know, a lot of
people here.
Different backgrounds.
Different churches.
Some of them don't know Christ personally.
Lo and behold.
It wasn't a great message.
At the end of the meeting 60 people
stood up.
To profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we know some of them were converted.
God wants to work in your life tonight.
And it could be that this might be
your spiritual birthday.
Do you celebrate birthdays?
Mine's July 3rd.
And my mother's I think is July 5th.
My wife's June 2nd.
I just got a diary out of the
bookshop.
Actually he gave it to me as a
gift.
I really feel it's worth coming up here
to get this diary.
But God's people are getting more and more
generous.
And I've already written here.
I've already written here.
June 2nd.
That's my wife's birthday.
But if tonight you put your faith in
Christ.
That He died on the cross for you.
And you believe on Him.
Not just about Him.
You believe on Him.
Then this will be your spiritual birthday.
And if you don't understand what that's about.
Because I want to move on and talk
about some other things.
There'll be people available here at the end
of the meeting.
You can just talk to them.
And they can explain how you can be
sure.
It's not God's plan that people are not
sure of their eternal destiny.
The first person I ever knew from this
part of the country.
Was a young man named Keith Beckwith.
Who became the first leader of OM in
the British Isles.
And never did we dream when he went
on a little trip to Poland.
Around 1965.
That he would never return.
Just a young man from Carlisle.
Some of you may know his father.
Well, Keith knew the Lord.
So when he was killed.
You know.
It's straight to heaven.
It's a tremendous hope.
You know.
One of the things that happens as you
get older.
Is you start going to more and more
funerals.
Yeah.
And in my life the past year.
The number of close friends.
They're gone.
It's amazing.
And I think so often.
Death is the real test.
Isn't it?
When a close loved one dies.
Boy.
I tell you.
Everything we've been preaching about.
Gets tested.
We really believe in heaven.
Let me just tell you briefly my own
story.
Because I think it will encourage you in
this mission.
Because I was converted.
Because some Christians decided to do something.
I've been so grieved at times.
As I've read all the criticisms.
Over the past 15 years.
Of Billy Graham.
And of big missions.
We got some very interesting Christian magazines in
this country.
And of course they have all kinds of
people writing for them.
I don't have anything against them.
But I am so happy.
That finally they got this thing off the
ground.
I felt a few years ago.
When I thought of the situation.
Here in Britain.
That it was like going to an airport.
And watching airplanes.
Taxiing up and down the runway.
All kinds of planes.
Going down the runway.
Putting on their brakes.
Turning around.
Rushing down to the end of the runway.
And coming together.
Pilots coming out.
Having discussions back in the plane.
Up and down the runway.
And I thank the Lord.
I sense.
That through Mission England.
The plane.
The aircraft.
Is getting off the runway.
Something is happening.
Not that.
There has ever been a period.
Where God has not been working in Britain.
Because he has been working.
And there's a lot of things God is
doing.
That never get written up in the Gospel
Gazette.
But it's good.
That there is now.
This united effort.
And we know.
This is not the total answer.
What is the total answer?
Maybe you could tell me.
I've only been studying theology.
In the Bible for 30 years.
I admit.
I'm still a novice.
In many areas.
Maybe you could tell me.
What the total answer is.
To life.
And to the situation.
In the world today.
Where there are over 30 wars.
Being fought.
Right now.
Killing.
Bloodshed.
Murder.
Horror.
That would just.
If we were there.
Seeing it.
We probably.
Some of us.
Would have immediate nervous breakdowns.
Because we are very.
Insulated.
And very.
Isolated.
In this country.
There's no.
One.
Total answer.
To the dilemma.
Of modern society.
Other than.
Christ.
Our Lord.
And I believe.
That Mission England.
Is part of the answer.
And I pray.
That you're enthusiastic about it.
I pray.
That you will not be.
In the grandstands.
Like everybody at Wimbledon.
Watching.
Two people.
Sweating it out.
For four hours.
Banging a little ball.
Back and forth.
Across the net.
Putting more commitment.
More zeal.
Into that four hours.
Than the average Christian.
Puts into four years.
In his effort.
To witness.
For the Lord Jesus.
And perhaps.
It's because.
So often.
As Christians.
We're like all the people.
At Wimbledon.
We're watching.
Some haven't even got enough strength.
To go over to Wimbledon.
Or they don't have enough money.
They just sit.
And watch on television.
Hours and hours.
Watching.
This thing go on.
Television.
Hitting this little ball.
Back and forth.
Across the net.
Or maybe they're watching.
Other people.
Hitting a little white ball.
Around.
The golf course.
For seven.
Eight hours.
Or cricket.
World's longest game.
Days.
Weeks.
I don't know.
I've never understood it.
Now.
Don't think I'm anti-tennis.
Anti-cricket.
Or anti-sports.
Because I'm not.
But it does.
Challenge my heart.
That sports.
And the sportsmen seem to put more into
their missions.
Than Christians into theirs.
And my own view.
Right now.
My own survey.
At Mission England.
Is that a lot of people.
Are just sort of playing around.
And a small number.
Are doing.
All the work.
Now maybe I'm wrong.
I don't know anything about it up here.
I'm from the south.
But.
So often in the church.
A few.
Are playing around.
Doing so much work.
And sometimes.
Too much.
And some men.
Are away from their homes.
Too many evenings.
And their wives feel it.
And their families feel it.
And some of those families.
Eventually crack.
And this is a result.
Often.
Of a few people.
Doing so much.
Why a majority.
Remains.
In the grandstands.
I pray that'll not happen.
I got into the kingdom.
Because a little.
Elderly lady.
She wasn't really so old.
Then prayed for me.
She heard about my bad reputation.
And my trouble with the police.
And my trouble in the school.
And so she prayed for me.
She prayed for me.
For three years.
Every year I got worse.
And she would not be discouraged.
And she sent me a gospel of John.
Through the post.
You ever heard of the pocket testament league?
It's a great missionary movement.
This is one of their gospels.
She sent it to me.
Through the post.
And I started to read.
This little gospel.
In the midst of all my other literature.
Including my pornography.
I was reading the gospel of John.
And I hope that you realize.
A vital part.
of mission England.
Is the distribution.
Of Christian literature.
They got.
Published now in Britain.
The most sophisticated.
Expensive gospels of John.
I've ever seen.
In all my history.
Of scripture distribution.
There's a lot of tools.
And they're being sold.
At subsidized prices.
Don't underestimate.
What God can do.
Through a piece of Christian literature.
Some of you heard.
One of my favorite stories.
About this man.
Who was banging on doors.
Giving out tracts.
And no one came to this one door.
But he heard somebody.
He kept banging.
The man finally came.
Took the tracts.
Two weeks later.
The man went back to that house.
And welcomed him in.
Took him upstairs.
There was a little box.
And a noose.
Hanging above the box.
And he said.
When you knocked on my door.
I was going to commit suicide.
And you kept ringing.
And knocking.
Curiosity got me.
I got down off the box.
I went.
I got that tract.
And instead of committing suicide.
I knelt here.
Next to this box.
And I gave my life.
To Jesus Christ.
That's a true story.
And I can tell you.
A hundred others.
Similar to it.
God can use.
Even a gospel of John.
A gospel tract.
A word of encouragement.
A word of witness.
That's what happened in my life.
Some other people.
Invited me to a meeting.
An evangelistic meeting.
And the speaker.
Just happened to be Billy Graham.
I didn't even know.
What an evangelist was.
And among my circle of friends.
These types.
You know.
Billy Graham.
They're all religious fanatics.
And.
Hypnotists.
In fact.
I brought my binoculars.
I got away.
In Madison Square Garden.
As far as I could.
There were 20,000 in the meeting.
I think George Beverly Shea was there.
I was watching.
And I heard.
A simple.
Message of the gospel.
That Jesus Christ.
Loved me.
God so loved the world.
He gave.
His only begotten son.
That's what Mission England.
Is all about.
To declare the love of God.
To tell people.
Somebody cares.
Somebody loves them.
Though they may be.
Suffering from cancer.
Though their home.
May already be broken.
Though their children.
May be in prison.
God loves them.
Our message.
Is a message of love.
The love of God.
We acknowledge.
As Christians.
That often we fail.
In our love.
The church.
Is not some kind of.
Special club.
For super saints.
It's a clinic.
For sinners.
In our witness.
We want to be honest.
To people.
We don't want to pretend.
We have all of our act.
Together.
We don't want to pretend.
We're the most loving.
Dynamic.
Humble.
People.
That have ever walked.
The streets of England.
Let's.
Humbly.
Acknowledge.
That often as Christians.
In Britain.
Our testimony.
Has been weak.
And we have failed.
And sometimes.
Even.
Unconverted people.
Put us to shame.
But that won't get them to heaven.
Only.
What Christ.
Has done.
On the cross.
Will get anybody.
To heaven.
It's justification.
By faith.
It's a mystery.
We don't understand it.
My father's an electrician.
He told me the other day.
He still doesn't understand.
Electricity.
He's been working with it.
For 50.
60 years.
And if Billy Graham comes.
He'll probably use the same old illustration.
He's been using.
For 25 or 30 years.
How does the brown cow.
Eat green grass.
And give it white milk.
And if we can't understand that.
Then.
Maybe we shouldn't be too depressed.
If there's some things.
In God's.
Eternal purposes.
When we consider the universe.
The atoms.
And all that there is.
There may be something.
That we don't.
Fully.
Understand.
I understand less.
Now.
Than I did perhaps.
When I graduated.
From.
Bible college.
But I still know.
That Christ.
Has saved me.
Anyway.
I'm sure you guessed it.
I went to the meeting.
I heard this message.
And this challenge.
To do something.
To trust Christ.
And I.
Took that step of faith.
In fear and trembling.
And God.
Invaded.
My life.
It's not.
Just.
An emotional experience.
It's not.
You know.
An emotional.
We've read the psychology books.
As well.
You know.
The young fellow.
With the guilt.
Feelings.
And he hears this.
Forgiveness message.
And he gets relief.
From his guilt feelings.
Just because.
The psychologist.
Or the unconverted.
Psychiatrist.
Puts labels.
On something.
Doesn't mean.
That that something.
Is not valid.
And praise God.
For the tremendous number.
Today.
Literally thousands.
Of Christian.
Psychologists.
And psychiatrists.
If you want to read the writings.
Of one of them.
Just try a few of those.
John White books.
Parents in pain.
Eros defiled.
And a few other books.
Yes.
I went back to my home.
That night.
A new person.
That doesn't mean.
The way was easy.
It wasn't easy.
I had to go back.
To my school.
Where I was known.
I'd been blacklisted.
By the teachers.
For bad conduct.
And I had to try.
By God's grace.
To live this life.
And God.
Spoke to me.
So changed my life.
That even the unconverted teachers.
Had a meeting.
And took my name.
Off the blacklist.
Just before I graduated.
From that.
Secondary school.
Not that I was perfect.
Because I wasn't.
I've had many struggles.
Many failures.
But I've learned.
The wonderful reality.
Of first John.
Chapter.
Two.
Where it tells us.
That first of all.
We should sin not.
Do you know that verse?
It's one of my favorites.
First John two.
These things I write to you.
So that you may not sin.
That's my first goal.
Every day.
Holiness.
And if anyone sins.
We have an advocate.
A lawyer.
With a father.
Jesus Christ.
The righteous.
So we come to Christ.
We're justified.
By faith.
By his mercy.
By his grace.
And then we're on.
That narrow road.
But as we go forward.
In that narrow road.
There's still temptations.
There's still difficulties.
Our goal is holiness.
Our goal is to be.
What God wants us to be.
To live out the sermon on the mount.
To live out first Corinthians thirteen.
All about love.
I think it's another one of my favorite
chapters.
When we fail.
When we sin.
We have a lawyer.
We have an advocate.
With a father.
Let me just share.
A few thoughts.
I have.
About how we can best prepare.
For this mission.
To make sure.
That this is not just.
A ritual.
See.
The church.
Has.
Some churches.
Call them festivals.
Other churches.
Just have them.
And we.
We go through cycles.
And.
There's a danger.
That we're now.
In the evangelism cycle.
I remember.
When they first announced this.
Back in nineteen seventy nine.
Somebody said.
Nineteen.
Eighty.
And the eighties.
That's gonna be a decade of evangelism.
I thought.
Oh.
That's nice.
I thought.
All the decades.
Since Pentecost.
Were decades of evangelism.
But anyway.
My gosh.
Because.
And he gets that.
This that.
Caused predictable bad things.
Yea.
And.
Because that is reality therapy and if you're
if your marriage isn't what what it should
be not not talking about perfection That's the
most important thing you can do for mission
England get your own house in order You're
not gonna get John's house in order down
the road.
You haven't got your own house in order
That doesn't mean you have to have a
totally fulfilled marriage It's a totally fulfilled home
and all your children lined up to be
evangelists or Bible teachers But it means is
reality in the home.
There's a degree of love.
There's a degree of peace as a father
and a husband you're you're providing the leadership
that your home needs and Jesus is somehow
in the center.
And if that's not so maybe you ought
to pick up this little book strike the
original match And I tell you there's no
way to read that without some repents And
if it wasn't for repentance The devil would
have destroyed my marriage because I tell you
some people might rate me as being able
to preach but I'm sure not a good
husband and My experience is that a lot
of preachers are First-class flunkies as husband
Even my friend a W Tozer had a
bit of difficulty in that area and was
humble enough to admit it So mission England
if it's gonna be reality not ritual.
It's got to start in the home mission
family altar Mission perhaps more time with the
children mission kitchen Because there's such a danger
today that we separate the the sacred sacred
from the secular And when we come into
the church and we realize you know We
get a lot of music now in the
church is tremendous music groups and we come
into the church and there's nice music and
Pretty soon, you know, we all feel wonderful
and we raise our hands You know, there's
all types of the church some put them
in their pockets.
I'm raising I Like to do whatever the
minority is doing if they all have them
in the air.
I put them in the pockets Rebellion but
the Lord the Lord will deal with it
But it's one thing it's one thing to
to come into the church and sort of
sense the Lord and and after the meeting
we Say, oh, isn't it a wonderful meeting
and didn't the Lord minister to me?
I was in these meetings in Germany They
had this trio these three Terrific singers.
I mean they could they sang so well
the unsaved would praise the Lord and They
gave me a cassette tape.
I've listened to it six times.
I even listened to it on the train
You know, it's amazing things that happen.
I used to preach against stereos You know
15 years ago.
I was challenging young people to forsake their
stereos.
It was hundreds of pounds.
I Bought a stereo today.
They don't want to give away to a
friend stereo It was 14 pound 99 with
the earphones 14 pound it had a scratch
on the back and so he dropped it
two pounds 12 pound 99 for a stereo
and I was listening to this on the
train these these music singers that I just
met over in Germany But it's another thing
to be back in the home.
Things are going wrong We thought we had
our dog trained to do his I Resisted
having a dog all my life when my
daughter was 18 and She broke up with
his boyfriend.
She said she wanted a dog.
I figured that was better So I let
her get this dog We just got to
the point.
We thought this dog is really chained trained
and this morning My son goes in of
all places into the loo and there it
is on the carpet and this half sleeping
son That was this morning and Life, I
don't know what it is here But life
is filled with these nitty-gritty things and
some of them aren't so pleasant like the
time We got home from a huge trip
to the Middle East God protecting us through
Saudi Arabia through Syria all kinds of problems
And we just drive in the West Wickham
and a drunken policeman off-duty almost head
-on collision with our car Fortunately, he missed
us and went into a tree That's the
truth He wasn't hurt We get home and
I haven't got time to give the details
But basically we ended up having the only
loo we have in the house Completely clogged
as we have a chemical toilet in the
little motor caravan tried to empty it and
it's completely clogged I want to tell you
the story, but the O.M. Plumbers moved
in The egg, you know the whole toilet
completely broken running down the halls.
I Don't know.
Do you have any of these things in
your house?
What am I trying to say I'm trying
to say that there must be an invasion
of our practical life of our homes of
our driving Billy Graham says to highway safety
is a Spiritual problem a man can be
an angel behind the pulpit and the devil
behind the wheel and people are being killed
every day on the highways of the world
because people don't have an amalgamation of the
spiritual and the practical and Our hearts are
aching especially we Americans Because right now in
America divorce among pastors and Christian leaders is
an epidemic out of Control and it's jumped
the Atlantic and it's happening here Will this
be a Mission in which we all get
more exhausted and we all do a lot
of things and we all go to a
lot of meetings And and yet somehow in
the process of it our homes fall apart
our hearts become become empty We become more
irritated with each other because there's more and
more pressure put on a few people to
do so much Because the fact is you
and I know That the number of really
committed dedicated people here in Britain is a
remnant.
It's a remnant And we're trying to carry
on this huge effort With all that's needed
with a remnant of committed people and a
high percentage of Christians are still spectators They're
watching Some even skeptically, you know, there's something
in the heart of man If that man's
heart is not controlled by the Holy Spirit
that actually enjoys seeing someone fail especially if
that someone is someone they don't particularly like
or they disagreed with or is not of
the same theological persuasion and There's some people
sitting back Sort of they wouldn't say it
openly sort of saying well, we'll wait and
see and So quickly people can generalize about
mass evangelism and even quicker about Billy Graham
Or about some other aspect of the ministry
It's so easy for us when we're not
controlled by the Spirit We're not really living
a crucified life to be so cynical and
to be so critical and to to find
the negatives You know, you don't need to
be intelligent to find negative things I dare
to say with my battle with cynicism and
negativism that if I live with you even
24 hours I could give you a little
bit of a list It's no big thing
to see negative things You know, I thank
God my wife has seen my negatives She's
seen me sin she's seen me open my
fat mouth and say things that you wouldn't
want to see a donkey say and yet
all these years she Has had that unbelievable
Ability to affirm and to encourage Doesn't mean
she's perfect and I don't want to give
the wrong idea because she wouldn't want that
But I think it's so it's so beautiful
that when there's love We sort of try
to be positive if you love someone and
somebody starts criticizing Don't you generally come to
their defense just a little bit and if
we love one another We'll not let the
enemy divide us will not let the enemy
even use the most clever argument of Perhaps
an unconverted person who has a gift to
to reduce the Christians or at least make
them look silly But we won't allow that
to divide us The thing that will make
the difference as to whether this mission is
ritual or reality is love love Jesus said
in this they will know you you are
my disciples because you love one another.
I Want this message at least to be
somewhat practical Though I realize you can't separate
the two But let me just throw this
out as something you might pray through.
I Feel the greatest evangelistic method in Britain
today is to Show someone an act of
love Now that may sound strange coming from
George Furwer Because people who maybe only know
a little about operation mobilizations tend and we
understand that to think it's just some kind
of giant Evangelistic ministry even a Christian leader
who I thought would have known better thought
that our track our ships mainly went around
giving out tracks That would certainly be a
rather expensive form of track distribution I can
show you actually there are 20 Major ministries
based on the ships one of them is
by the way in Edinburgh right now in
case you have nothing to do this weekend
but It's it's OM would never have gone
on these 25 years if it was just
literature even 350 million pieces Which is about
what we've distributed?
No That isn't where it is.
We use literature.
We believe in literature, but the key is
life It's you It's me.
It's Christ working through us.
It's it's that unconverted skeptical agnostic neighbor See
you reach out to help someone maybe 12
o'clock at night when it's raining and
no one feels like helping anybody at that
time and I feel very strongly that unless
this mission with its many meetings and its
many Activities is accompanied by acts of love
and charity good deeds to use an old
-fashioned 18th century word or wherever it came
from There are a lot of lonely people
that need to be visited not just to
give them a gospel But maybe to help
them maybe to offer to drive him to
the hospital the next time they have a
heart attack There are prisons that need to
be visited There are so many needs even
in this country We believe in evangelizing immigrants
and have a special work called friends from
abroad to reach out to the immigrants of
Britain But you know, this is fruitless work
if we don't show more love to these
people If we as Christians are found with
the same prejudices of the world making the
same Generalizations as the world about people whether
they're Pakistani or French Then we can put
all of our literature back in our pockets
in our evangelistic Crusades If we're not careful
become only one more extension of the self
-life Trying to get away from our guilt
complexes trying to prove ourselves But somehow failing
to come up with the real ingredient love
love and There's more verses on love in
the New Testament than there are verses encouraging
us to witness That was a hard one
for me when I was a student Because
I want to tell you if you bumped
into me and you didn't witness we had
a little chat And I had to repent
Again, and again because I was strong on
zeal and strong on witness and weak on
love Sensitivity charity forbearance long-suffering and as
I went through the Bible, especially once after
Terribly offending a young Mexican when I was
working in Mexico as a student I decided
to go through my whole New Testament on
the subject of patience Guess what?
I discovered is more about patience than there
is about evangelism.
I Believe that evangelism is a spontaneous outflow
of a life that's in tune with God.
It's not a crusade.
It's not a campaign It's not something we
wind up through having counselor classes and wind
down through gossip and backbiting of the evangelists
after they leave And we all can focus
in on the negative aspects and that happened
the last time Billy came No Evangelism is
is the spontaneous Outflow of a life in
tune with God and there's love and there's
the fruit of the Spirit and this forgiveness
and this joy And it's it's real in
the kitchen.
It's real in the car It's real in
the factory in the office.
It's real even under pressure when we are
tired at the end of the day and
people are Irritating us and we want to
because we do most of us have a
hostility factor somehow attack back And at the
moment of attack, there's the cross.
There's Jesus forgiving cleansing renewing there's reality God
working through us God's grace God's love God's
forgiveness.
I know it seems like a Impossible challenge
doesn't it for us humans with our struggles
and our failures But it's not impossible Because
as it says in that verse in John
the first part is sin Not the second
part is if you sin you have an
advocate with a father I've had to go
to unconverted people and apologize If you haven't
apologized to any unconverted person for anything in
the last year I would doubt your involvement
in this world I would say you probably
have escaped to some kind of Christian ghetto
and Psychologically at least pull the blinds down
because you can't get involved out with people
Unconverted people without eventually saying something wrong or
doing something wrong or missing some God-given
opportunity or hurting someone And so then you
got to go to apologize.
I We we as Christians also often have
so many convictions And we actually get more
uptight at times than unconverted people We have
so many convictions about every little detail There
was a while in the church where people
even told you where your hair had to
be cut in order to be in the
in group It's unbelievable.
And you know Convictions you probably have strong
convictions I'm not against strong convictions But convictions
without love lead to bitterness and I fear
that five years from now when the mission
is all over If we're not careful, I'll
just be more bitter people Because their expectations
weren't reached or because they were hurt in
the process of carrying out Their campaign or
their vision my beloved brethren I don't want
to tarry much longer, but you can't get
involved with God without getting hurt You can't
get involved with God's people without being hurt.
We are committed community We are a compassionate
computer community and we are a invading community
and we're gonna get hurt We're gonna get
hurt But in the midst of the hurt
when things are going wrong When our dreams
sort of crash to the ground God is
still real forgiving accepting loving ministry This to
me is so exciting Your house is a
mission station for Jesus Your car is an
evangelistic base for Jesus And I could give
you dozens and dozens of stories from every
kind of person To prove that it's true
and it can be true Mission England Ritual
or reality The decision will be yours not
just this year But each day for the
rest of your life No commitment we can
make tonight Will be a substitute for the
daily commitment As daily we deny self take
up the cross and follow the Lord Let's
pray Lord Jesus, you know each one of
us You know that we can easily Withdraw
into the into the grandstands and be or
try to be spectator Christians Oh God forgive
us Forgive us that we may by faith
get into the action In the office of
the home in the church Not just in
the spectacular but the routine Not just in
the things that people will notice but the
things that go unnoticed Not just in the
front lines or the need is very great
there But also behind the scenes realizing that
even a cup of cold water given in
your name will not go without a reward
what a mystery that is and That through
this mission our homes will not be devastated
but renewed Through this mission our churches will
not be drained but strengthened And that we
will be the spirit-filled men and women
you want us to be Not just for
this year, but the rest of our lives
Grant this we pray And we pray in
faith in Jesus name I'd like to just
say one thing before we have a closing
hymn and there will be people that I'm
willing to counsel anyone at the end of
the meeting I've I had another message on
my heart and I haven't shared It's sort
of entitled mission England the door to mission
world Maybe that'll have to come at the
end But let's remember please in the midst
of this great campaign in England That Many
nations nations.
I've just come I've been to about 25
nations in the last 12 months Including Russia
and Pakistan and Nepal and the Gulf States
Many of these nations have less than one
1,000th of the witness that we have
here.
Can you imagine such a place?
You know, we feel at times in London
It's really bad, but I noticed 600 churches
are cooperating Should be more In the Louise
Plow and mission London and we're involved in
that.
Can you imagine countries with one one thousandth
of the witness?
Take the Kurdish people 25 million Kurds.
You ever heard of them 25 million in
Iraq and Iran 100,000 Soviet Union also
some in Turkey They have hardly any churches
almost no missionaries and almost no literature 25
million all the Kurdish believers in the world
could probably sit in this church 25 million
Now that's another message.
I can't give it to you, but I
hope and I would ask you to pray
That mission England would lead to mission world
And that even some of these new believers
some of the best men we have in
our work We led to Christ and gave
him the mission for world vision for world
missions in the same week Because they hadn't
got spoiled by some of the things they
just did we Christians so easily get spoiled
by and they're on the mission field today
so praying It seems strange.
But during this period both our ships are
going to be in England.
We can't understand this It's linked with the
economic collapse of Latin America political factors broken
down generators and a few other heartaches We've
been working with the ships in conjunction with
mission England in Bristol and now in its
which and somehow we believe it's in God's
Providence do loss probably will come into Liverpool
and It's possible that do loss and Lagos
for the first time will meet together in
Liverpool or Belfast And I would really because
there's not time to talk of this ask
you to pray very much For these teams
of young men and for these two ships
that we may be a vital part of
what God is doing in England and Britain
this year and that somehow through the ships
and her unique international aspect the emphasis on
missions That mission England will lead to mission
world And if you need a scripture try
acts 1a God bless you The Seventh hymn
on or song on the sheet is I
heard the voice of Jesus say come unto
me and rest the Lord has spoken to
me tonight and I believe for each one
of us There's something in what God has
said which has found a resting place in
our hearts We're going to use this hymn
in a slightly different way than you may
usually sing it We're going to sing the
first two verses as they are written on
the sheet I heard the voice of Jesus
say come unto me and rest and the
second verse.
I heard the voice of Jesus say Behold,
I freely give Jesus calls us to himself
He calls us To live in him that
he may live in us He calls us
to give His life To us by the
power of his spirit.
He lives his life in us and through
us behold, I freely gave the living water
thirsty one stooped down and drink and live
and Then the third verse we won't sing
until the fourth verse I'd like us to
listen to the music group play the third
verse and During that time for each one
of us to make a contract with God
about what he's been saying to us tonight.
I Heard the voice of Jesus say now
for some Tonight there may have been hearing
Jesus say in the house.
I Want to come in and live my
life in you because at this moment of
time, you've not received him to be your
Savior For others you may have been standing
on the sidelines of mission work and watching
a few individuals do all the work and
Criticizing when they make a mistake I'd like
you to make a contract with God if
he's been challenging in that area To get
off the grandstand and get down on the
playing park and to share in the work
For some he may be challenged about prayer
We heard how George was converted through the
prayers of a faithful saint of God In
Mission England, the prayer triplet scheme has been
anointed of God and richly blessed Where three
people come together and pray for a total
of nine each bringing three names into the
prayer group And I heard last week of
the first prayer triplet in this country where
all nine people that were being prayed for
are being converted Now that's revolution and it's
also revival in the hearts of those individuals
Have you been praying for people?
Have you been taking seriously under God your
responsibility to pray and It's not just a
case of praying things which might just flow
across your mind from one day to the
next but ask God for whom you should
pray and If you have been challenged on
the need for prayer tonight Let your contract
be with God to pray it may be
to give maybe you've been a mean Christian
And you're giving as not approached a tenth
of a tenth never mind a tithe Maybe
many other areas where the Lord has taken
a phrase of what George has said and
lodged in your heart an arrow from his
Holy Spirit So as we sing that third
verse Could you?
prayerfully in your hearts Listen to the music
and sing in your heart what God has
been speaking to you And if there are
those here tonight who have never before Openly
confessed Jesus as Lord Would you during that
verse just come forward to the front here?
There are people here who will be able
to help you and if there's any of
the St. T's elders here tonight who would
share in that counseling would they please come
forward or other of the mission England area
committee For tonight maybe as George is saying
a spiritual birthday and It's good to share
publicly what God has done in our lives
that we will remember a day not just
by what God has done, but by the
testimony that we've made as We step forward
new people in Christ So let that third
verse be a significant time for each one
of us and then we will sing the
fourth verse I Heard the voice of Jesus
say I am this dark world's light and
as Jesus lives in us he calls us
to go out into the world and to
be that light and To live for him
at the end of the second verse.
We'll stop.
I will pray and then we'll move on
through them I
Asked that you will make these precious to
each one of us But as we make
the most of these moments before you I
Asked that your Holy Spirit will now just
touch our hearts and That we may have
the courage to respond in the way that
you are leading us Let those Lord who
are in need of salvation make this moment
of commitment as each of us with our
eyes closed listens to the music of this
verse I Made a contract with God about
what he's been speaking to us to do
something about it let those who Want to
make this their first commitment to Jesus Christ
Just come forward to the front here and
share in the closing of this meeting as
they make their stand for him Let us
listen and pray