Firstly, I have continued to see how naturally
selfish I am.
And all of mankind.
On every side, as we look, we see
the selfishness of man.
The terrible things that have taken place in
Bangladesh and in Vietnam and Burundi, these are
only larger demonstrations of man's selfishness that we
see continually on a smaller level.
And I've again just recommitted my heart to
declare daily war against self.
And I have repeatedly prayed to God daily
to challenge me to war against my own
selfishness.
No matter what blessing we may have had
yesterday, we can become selfish today unless there
is a real act and a walk of
faith.
It's easy for us even to be involved
in religious work with selfish motivation.
And I really am searching my own
heart.
Why do I do this?
Why do I go here?
What is my real motivation?
You see, selfishness has so many different ways
of appearing.
It easily comes into the home, American.
We demand our own rights.
We want our own way.
And self, of course, gets irritated.
Self gets offended.
Self feels it's not appreciated enough.
And so many ways, so many ways, selfishness
just continually comes out.
This is why in our own countries, in
our own churches, we have everything.
And the man in Bangladesh, in India, he
gets so little.
We can see always our own need first.
We always can get involved with that which
has some way in touch with our own
ego.
And I've seen in my own life how
it's a continual battle.
A man who doesn't think he has a
battle with selfishness is a man who is
spiritually blind in that area at least.
Then the second thing that the Lord has
been dealing with me now, is the need
for more prayer, more intercession.
This is where the battles are won.
The greatest work of a saint will be
to try to get the saints off their
knees.
In most of the countries I've been in,
very few people come out to the church
prayer meeting.
In most of the countries I've been in,
very few people come out to the church
prayer meeting.
And there are many who completely openly, I
know even Christian leaders, that they don't have
a real prayer life.
If you look in your Bibles to 2
Corinthians 10, verses 4 and 5.
Here we read that the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but are mighty unto
God to the pulling down of strongholds.
We must never forget this.
We know Paul's burden was the whole world.
You'll notice this in verse 16.
Where he speaks, read it, about his burden
to preach the gospel in the regions beyond,
not just building on another man's foundation.
And we see how the prayer life and
the weapon of prayer is so linked with
reaching the regions beyond.
Now it's easier to have a prayer life
when you're out and about in a team
than it is when you're at home like
many of you are right now.
In fact, we know it's harder to be
a real disciple at home than it is
out on a team.
Of course, our home churches and the believers
at home should be just as alive, or
more alive, and more active, and more fellowship
with God.
It's more everything than an OM team, but
generally it isn't so, and that's the problem.
And this is why many seem to grow
cold or look warm when they get home.
But it's harder to maintain this intensive prayer
life, worship, and spirituality.
And there's always so much to do.
We all get so busy.
One thing that has helped me is at
times to just take a whole day and
just go off to the mountains, the woods,
and be alone with God.
This has been a great help.
There's always more work.
And we know that by an act of
discipline, get away and get with God, we'll
never become the men and the women God
wants us to be.
I feel that I myself have so much
to learn from God.
Much of this will only learn through prayer.
Now another thing the Lord has been very
much showing me is the power of Satan.
Especially to try to deceive the believers into
some false cult, or some secondary rope.
Something that may look very nice, very attractive,
but then as one gets involved and finds
it's a sinister, unbiblical act.
There are so many side roads.
Away from the main road of spiritual revolution
and love and Christ-likeness.
And that's why it's so important to get
grounded in the whole Word of God.
Not just certain favorite verses, but to really
see the total picture of Scripture.
And to be very wise in discerning the
different things that come our way.
And to be very wise in discerning the
different things that come our way.
And how we need to be wise in
discerning.
To know where truth is, and where there
is a false doctrine.
And to know where truth is, and where
there is a false doctrine.
And the Lord also gives you wisdom.
Now you have to pray for each other.
And another thing the Lord has been impressing
on my own heart.
Is that we need more love for one
another.
We talk about this all the time.
You know we're always preaching this, always emphasizing.
And it is still the greatest need.
If it was not for the emphasis and
the teaching of love and unity on that
shift of project would have been finished a
long time ago.
The devil is so subtle at bringing disunity
in so many different ways.
Christians are so quick to listen to this,
and then to gossip, and then the devil
brings disunity and confusion in.
Many Christians are so quick to criticize, and
it's a fruit of the barrenness of their
own lives.
Not bad at all.
And oh how little fruit of the Holy
Spirit we see in some places.
We all need to be seeking more of
this love that 1 Corinthians 13 talks about.
We desperately need this, if the work of
God is going to go on.
So many things we can disagree on.
So many bad things that we can talk
about if we want to.
When we turn the microscope on, as the
doctor did to my eye, we can always
find something on everybody.
You know the speck in our brother's eye
can be at times a pretty big thing.
And these days I've become very conscious of
specks in eyes.
And it was a pretty big thing.
But the word of God says, even though
that speck in the other brother's eye may
seem very big, your first concern should be
the big log that's sticking in your own
eye.
Imagine if I came here with a big
log sticking out of my eye.
And the doctor, to get this speck out
of my eye, had to put me in
a special machine, and had to use a
special instrument, a special big microscope, to get
this out of my eye.
And this is what some Christians seem to
specialize in, they get their microscopes, and they're
all going around looking for the specks in
everybody else's eye.
Let me help you, brother, criticizing, backbiting, and
gossiping.
And not seeing their own huge faults in
their own life.
The biggest thing that will teach us the
way of humility, is when we see our
own selves as we really are, then our
mouths will become quieter, and we will become
more humble and more Christ-like.
That is for sure.
The best way to show their humility is
to show our own faults, our own selfishness,
and maybe become a little quieter after that,
and ask them to give us more, to
become more like them.
And we will begin the evolution of love.
And there is a saying that the Lord
has spoken very strongly to me, It's how
we quickly get excited about outward things.
This is why, if you want to hear
the gospel, the best thing today is to
become a long-haired or a drug addict.
Or have a chance to hear the gospel
in the world today.
So much work is now being done.
There's much outward blessing.
When a drug addict gets saved, Praise the
Lord for it.
But you know, the dropout culture only represents
less than one-fourth of one percent of
the world's population.
But you see, it's something we can see.
And there's much outward blessing.
So more and more people get this vision.
But I mean, who can save the nine
billion people living in Calcutta?
Or the fourteen million people living in Afghanistan.
Where there are only fourteen believers.
And I know many young people now have
gone out to Afghanistan to witness.
But they don't witness to the Afghanis, they
only witness to the tourists.
People think they're going to evangelize Afghanistan.
So now there's more work, real gospel work,
among the tourists and the dropouts and the
drug addicts in Afghanistan than there is among
all the fourteen million Afghanis.
Let us not be deceived just by outward
things.
Only over a period of years can we
tell whether there has been a true revolution
of reality.
It takes a few minutes to get a
decision.
It takes a lifetime to get a disciple.
Lately in some places it's become popular to
follow Jesus.
Especially in certain parts of the states.
Thousands are singing about Jesus.
A Christian leader just wrote me, he's been
involved in the Jesus movement.
There are already great numbers, thousands are going
back into the world.
And this is such a great danger.
Things in our day always tend to be
very superficial.
And we're too quick to write books about
it all.
For nine years I have refused many publishers
to write any books about Operation Mobilization.
We have not yet proven that we are
really soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Now they want us to write a big
book about the ship.
Then it will be a bestseller and we'll
make hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The great curse of modern evangelicalism is we
too quickly give honor and praise to men.
And this hinders and quenches the work of
the Holy Spirit.
We run around praising men.
When God's word says he will share his
glory with no one.
And then the devil moves in.
A young person who may be a film
star, he gets saved.
Immediately he's giving his testimony, he's preaching.
He's playing the gospel tunes in front of
the television.
And then the old devil moves in.
And makes a mess out of the situation.
Praise the Lord for the Jesus movement.
Praise the Lord for every movement.
Let us be aware of the wiles of
Satan.
Let us make our goal the grounding of
men in discipleship and spiritual revolution.
That they may live a long life of
militant, dedicated service to Christ.
The same with Noël.
Same thing can happen with Noël.
People come for the summer.
They think they're going to become a disciple
in the summer.
If I go on Noël I'll be cured
of all my problems.
They come on Noël and they've finally got
more problems.
And they discover that our program is a
long term program for spiritual growth and spiritual
revolution.
That may have a crisis, but also must
have process.
How sad it is.
Many are like the rich young man.
When they see the long way of spiritual
discipleship.
And what it will cost.
They turn back.
We should not be surprised when many turn
back.
When many fall by the wayside.
Because it has always been so.
Only a few seem to be willing to
live a life of daily denying yourself, taking
up the cross and following Christ as he
clearly taught.
Because there seem to be so few who
really want to live a life of denying
yourself, taking up the cross and following Christ
as he clearly taught.
And then we get pulled by a few
hundred and then we can spread Jesus' word.
If it happens in Noël or wherever it
happens.
But let us carefully through prayer and the
word seek the road of the sanctuary.
Let us continue with all of our energy
to disseminate these books about the sanctuary.
And let us make sure our lives are
demonstrated in this way.
More than that, let us make sure our
lives are demonstrated in this way.
I feel in many ways that I am
just a beginner.
I feel in many ways that I am
just a beginner.
There is so much more to learn through
Jesus.
Through the word.
Through prayer.
Through others.
Through everything that comes my way.
Oh, we always like the blessing.
I was so rejoicing there in Spain.
All day out in the streets giving out
the word of God, a great blessing.
Oh, wonderful.
Then this little thing came.
It wasn't so easy to rejoice.
But I've seen through this experience that this
little speck, all the pain that came with
it, was a great blessing in disguise from
the Lord.
And it's renewed my belief in what Brother
Watchman needs.
He says in his book, Release of the
Spirit, that you should all read three times.
That everything that comes into the life of
a believer, in one way or the other,
the hand of God is behind it.
Oh, if we learn that, it would revolutionize
our lives.
Not just the pleasant things.
The blessings.
The souls saved.
Great answers to prayer.
The difficult things.
The trials.
The sicknesses.
And the weaknesses of the flesh.
The battles.
God's hand is working through those things in
ways we cannot understand.
And may we learn that.
God can deliver.
We have seen that.
We praise his name.
But also God can take us through the
trials.
As he did, the apostle Paul.
Again and again.
He didn't deliver Paul.
Many times.
From the hardness.
But he gave him the grace to go
through.
That is spiritual maturity.
I'm sure all of us have some particular
battle at the present time.
May we remember that his grace is sufficient.
Some people have asked me, why?
Why do you keep going?
People are always coming.
When are you going to please take a
holiday?
I keep telling you, I'm not on a
holiday.
This is a holiday from sin, Satan, self
and hell.
But the way I keep going is that
his grace is sufficient.
His strength is made perfect in weakness.
And I just walk and live one day
at a time.
I wonder if there's any that are making
that mistake.
You're trying to live too many days at
a time.
Oh, what am I going to do next
week?
Oh, how am I going to live for
one whole year as a disciple?
Oh, how am I going to last this
long?
That's a great mistake.
Just one day at a time.
That's all you have to live.
And he gave me grace for that.
Praise God.
Thank you for this opportunity to share in
the burden of my heart.
I believe it has proved enough over the
past 10 to 17 years.
With all the leaders of OM and many,
many others all over the world who have
continued on in the battle.
Very few, very few who have fallen by
the wayside.
I believe it's a proof that these principles,
these revolutionary principles that you have heard at
the OM conference in the past they do
work.
And they are the principles on which we
can reach the world for Christ.
I believe that more than ever before.
Love.
Unity.
Prayer.
Feeding on the Word of God.
Forsaking all to follow Christ.
Esteeming others better than ourselves.
Living in brokenness at the foot of the
cross.
Giving everything to spread the gospel.
On these principles.
Alone we can build a solid, long-enduring
tradition.
Let us continue praying for one another.
Some of you have written, I've been very
grateful for your letters.
Give me a call sometimes I have an
answer.
Most times I still read all my own
letters and answer them.
No, sometimes it's impossible when people don't put
their address, don't sign their name.
Other things.
Or I can't read their handwriting.
Let's pray.
Dear God, we thank you for this time
again.
Dear God, we thank you for this time
again.
We give you all the glory and all
the praise for what you've done.
We thank you over these past ten years
we have been able to give the gospel
to 160 million souls.
We thank you for the last ten years
we have been able to give the gospel
to 160 million souls.
Thousands have come to Jesus.
We praise you for this.
We know it's only the beginning.
We know you want to do a deeper
work.
We know you want to fill us again
and again and again with your Holy Spirit.
And teach us the way of spiritual soldiering
and discipleship.
That we may be true revolutionaries for Christ.
Not just playing evangelical game for a summer
or for a year, but that our lives
may be given over to you.
That we may not be sidetracked by the
many subtle temptations that come from Satan.
Lord, I rededicate my life to you again
this morning.
Cleanse my deceitful, selfish heart.
Fill me with your Spirit even for this
day's work.
Give me greater love for the brethren.
That pride and ego may be crucified and
that Christ may live in me.
Lord, I believe there are many others who
want to pray the same prayer.
Give you all the praise.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.