Some time ago, Connie van Hoogstraten, my fellow
worker, and I were in Uganda, Africa.
And we met there the people who have
enjoyed a continuous revival, now already more than
30 years.
In the booklet Conferee wrote, you can read
about that miracle of God.
I should like Connie van Hoogstraten, my fellow
worker and companion, just to tell what she
learned about living in the light.
Two and a half years ago, I began
to travel with Miss Connie van Hoogstraten.
She asked me to do that at a
Bible school in England.
When I had been with her for several
months, I thought I was doing a very
good job.
And then it came about that she gave
me some criticism about things I had not
done so well.
By nature, I am a person who finds
criticism very difficult to take.
And instead of putting it, sharing it with
her in the open, I began to hide
my ideas towards her.
I myself began to have critical thoughts, anger
sometimes, irritation, bitterness.
And all this was hidden.
Sometimes I went to bed at night feeling
so tired, having to be so polite to
this lady the whole day.
I never showed my feelings.
I always tried to have a mask of
friendliness, politeness, a smile.
And underneath there were these feelings.
Then we came to Uganda, in Africa.
And there the people taught us.
They said, we are walking in the light
together.
We noticed these people have such tremendous joy
with Christians.
And they said, as soon as there comes
a sin between us, we bring it in
the light.
We ask the Lord to forgive us.
We forgive each other.
And they quoted 1 John 1, 7.
If we walk in the light, as He
is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another.
And the blood of Jesus cleanses us from
all sin we confess.
One of these Africans, William Maganda, the evangelist,
asked Mr. Ndom and me, are you both
walking in the light?
He said, yes, we are.
I knew for myself it was not true.
The next day he came to me and
said, are you sure you are walking in
the light with Corrie?
I said, no, how can I?
She's more than twice as old as I
am.
She lives on a completely different spiritual level
as I do.
It would be very impolite.
He said, you go, and the Lord will
go with you.
You must bring all these thoughts in the
open.
Ask her for witness about your ideas about
her.
I said, William, I cannot do it.
I shall feel too weak.
And I shall feel too humiliated.
He said, you go, and the Lord will
go with you.
That day I went.
I said, Mr. Ndom, during my research and
search time in India, I did not agree
with you at all.
I was very angry.
So you forgive me.
And so maybe you haven't even noticed it.
He said, of course I noticed it.
I will forgive you.
And so I brought all these things in
the open, because it's a very difficult thing
to do.
But the Lord helped me.
And then a wonderful thing happened.
Instead of a strange and stressed and tiresome
and artificial relationship, William sees a happy, open,
relaxed, joyful relationship.
The wonderful, interesting thing is, Mr. Ndom is
still quite as old as I am.
So now he won't notice it too much.
And then she asked my forgiveness for things
she had thought were not right between the
two of us.
So we praise the Lord very much for
having thought us to work in the light.
Now I want to tell you how we
came to Rio de Janeiro.
We had to pack our suitcases to go
to Washington, D.C. And anyone of you
who has traveled by airplane knows that you
can take only 44 pounds, which is very
little.
We travel with winter clothes, summer clothes, office
equipment, flannel dress for children meetings.
It's very little, 44 pounds.
And Mr. Ndom said, we shall only take
with us what is allowed, because we are
not going to use the money the Lord's
children give us for overweight.
So she was very drastic, she took all
her luggage, put it on the bed and
began to shift.
One pile to go to the United States,
one pile to send back to Holland, one
pile to give away.
And I stood there and I thought, very
well, good idea, because I shall never do
with my luggage.
But Mr. Ndom had other ideas.
She took my luggage and gave it exactly
the same treatment.
We laughed, but I was very cross.
And I asked the Lord to take away
my anger, but it went away for a
little while and it came back.
And I asked the Lord again, please take
away my anger, it came back.
After the third day I said, Lord, what
shall I do?
And the Lord told me to work in
the light with Mr. Ndom about it.
So I asked her, would you like to
come for a walk along the beach?
And she said, yes.
I said, I want to work in the
light with you about something.
I'm sure you know what it is.
She said, no, I have not an idea,
please tell me.
I said, I want to ask you forgiveness
for my anger, what you did to my
suitcase and my luggage.
And she said, of course I will forgive
you, but I want to ask you forgiveness,
because I have provoked you to anger.
And of course I forgive her.
And instead of covered up darkness, hidden ideas,
it has been brought in the open, in
the light.
If we walk in the light, as He
is in the light, we have fellowship one
with another.
The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all
sin we confess.
Yes, Mr. Ndom taught me something to add.
You see, when I had done that, I
had asked her forgiveness.
She said, she did not look quite happy.
And I asked her a little while later,
why don't you look happy?
Everything is all right, we are in the
light now.
And she said, I thought we were working
in the light, but for three days you
have kept it in the darkness.
And that has taught me a big lesson.
You see, I looked against it, I didn't
like to go to her, so I waited,
and another day, and another day, but now
we have learned this, as soon as something
comes up between us, we bring it to
the Lord immediately, and we ask each other
immediately forgiveness.
We don't wait.
And I can tell you something, in the
beginning it is very difficult, this matter.
It is very humiliating, and you will feel
very weak.
But the first time is difficult, the second
time becomes easier, the third time becomes more
easier, and it does not become so necessary
so often.
So there have been many weeks we did
not need to walk in the light.
So, this may encourage you.
Thank you for coming.
I am going to read for you first
John 1, 5, a translation of Philips, but
first I would tell you something, perhaps you
have heard that already often.
There came someone to Gypsy Smith, he was
a minister, and he said, how can I
have a revival in my church?
And Gypsy Smith said, go to your bedroom,
make a circle of chalk on the floor,
kneel in the midst of that circle, and
pray God sends a revival in the midst
of this circle.
I am going to invite you to do
the same.
Don't make the floor dirty with chalk, but
pray that prayer.
Here then is the message we heard him
give.
God is light, and not the faintest shadow
of darkness can exist in him.
Consequently, if we were to say that we
enjoyed fellowship with him, and still went on
living in darkness, we should be both telling
and living a lie.
But if we really are living the same
life in which he eternally exists, then we
have true fellowship with each other, and the
blood which he shed for us keeps us
clean from any and every sin.
If we refuse to admit that we are
sinners, then we live in a world of
illusion, and truth becomes a stranger to us.
But if we freely admit that we have
sinned, we find God utterly reliable and straightforward.
He forgives our sins and makes us thoroughly
clean from all that is evil.
For if we take up the attitude, we
have not sinned, we flatly deny God's diagnosis
of our condition, and cut ourselves off from
what he has to say to us.
I write these things to you, may I
call you my children, for that's how I
think of you, to help you to avoid
sin.
But if a man should sin, remember that
our advocate before God is Jesus Christ, the
righteous, the one who made personal atonement for
our sins, and for those of the rest
of the world as well.
It is only when we obey God's laws
that we can be quite sure that we
really know him.
The man who claims to know God, but
does not obey his laws, is not only
a liar, but lives in self-delusion.
In practice, the more a man learns to
obey God's laws, the more truly and fully
does he express his love for him.
Obedience is the test of whether we really
live in God or not.
The life of a man who professes to
be living in God must bear the stamp
of Christ.
And then, 11, the man who loves his
brother lives and moves in the light, and
has no reason to stumble.
But the man who hates his brother is
shut off from the light, and drops his
way in the dark without seeing where he
is going.
To move in the dark is to move
blind-folded.
Are you living in the light?
Are you right with God?
Are you right with man?
I think that's a very important question that
I ask you.
In Uganda, there is a question, that kind
of greeting that these brothers have.
They ask each other, when they tell each
other, when they see each other, they say,
there is nothing between you and me.
And if they know, they cannot say that.
No, the sentence is, I owe you no
debt.
And if they owe, if I owe him
a debt, and I cannot say that, then
I do not walk around him, but first
I pay my debt.
Say, can you say to everyone, I owe
you no debt?
Jesus may come in the morning.
Jesus may come at noon.
Jesus may come in the evening.
So keep your heart in tune.
And your heart is not in tune when
there is anything between God and you, and
someone else and you.
Those who hear me, have heard me several
times, know that I like to illustrate my
messages.
And I still have my flashlight.
This flashlight does not give light.
Just like a Christian with a long face.
We are the light of the world, poor
dark world, when the children of the light
have blackout.
Now I will show you why this cannot
give light.
Simply because there is only one battery in
it.
And we all know that I need two
batteries, but there are dirty rags in it,
instead of the battery.
Now what do I mean with that?
These illustrations have no copyright, you can use
them too.
There was one battery in it, and that
is what I call the rebirth.
Except we are born again, we cannot enter
the kingdom of God.
And I am sure we all are born
again, who are in this hall.
But there is more.
If someone is born again, and he thinks
it is the end, then it is possible
that you have the same trouble as little
Johnny, who fell out of his bed.
His mother said, how did it happen?
He said, Mom, I fell asleep too close
to the spot where I got in.
When we enter into the kingdom of God
by our decision for the Lord Jesus, and
the miracle that He does to make us
to be born into the very family of
God, then we fall asleep, and we come
back slowly.
No, we must go in.
The moment that we receive the Lord Jesus,
the Lord throws wide the door of the
treasure house, and bitches go in and take
with boldness.
We have not to start at the bottom,
we can start at the height where Jesus
finished at the cross.
Seventeen thousand promises, all with our name on
it, and the name of Jesus.
And one is that the Lord said, you
will receive power after the Holy Spirit has
come upon you.
And the Bible says, be filled with the
Spirit.
And the Bible has no suggestions, only commandments.
And the fullness of the Holy Spirit, be
filled with the Holy Spirit, is the sweetest
commandment of the whole Bible.
And we live in the time that we
can be filled with the Holy Spirit, for
He is here.
And He is willing to fill your heart
like the light is ready to flood a
room that is open to its brightness.
And that second victory, that is the fullness
of the Holy Spirit.
But I am sure that the Lord cannot
fill me with the Holy Spirit when there
are unconfessed sins in our hearts.
Now I believe that the moment that we
receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior, the
Holy Spirit comes into our hearts.
For He testified with our spirit that we
are children of God.
But to have the Holy Spirit and be
filled is like possessing a house and dwell
in it.
This rag is pride.
This one is discouragement.
That's a sin.
I don't judge you, but I just comfort
you.
It is such a joy, it is such
a liberation for a child of God to
know that something is a sin.
For instance, I couldn't find time to pray.
Have you ever had it?
I traveled in the evening and I was
totally tired.
And then I suddenly thought, oh, but prayer
is a sin.
And I could almost have shouted hallelujah.
What do I do with a sin?
1 John 1, 7 and 9, I confessed
it and the Lord did what He promised.
He forgave me and cleansed me with His
blood and I had time to pray.
But it is good to know that discouragement
is a sin.
I was in a concentration camp and a
girl saw me and she said, Corrie, you
are discouraged.
I said, no wonder.
I saw that the woman was good till
she died.
She was so cruel.
She said, Corrie, discouragement is a sin.
I said, is it?
And I found that it is so.
The Bible says, be of good courage.
That means that when you are discouraged, you
do sin, you are disobedient.
This one is worry.
Trumbull says, worry is a black, murderous, God
-defying, Christ-rejecting sin.
Worry at any time, for anything, whatever.
I have not yet graduated in the non
-worry science.
I am still studying.
After I have graduated, I have to go
to a post-graduate course.
But Jesus is my teacher.
This one is unforgiveness, bitterness.
And this one is a forgotten promise.
Have you ever promised God something and you
forgot it?
He didn't forget it.
This one is impure thoughts.
Live in the light.
I am going to ask you, before you
go to bed, have a talk with the
Lord.
No, don't try to find the rags in
your flashlight, the sins in your heart.
The devil likes it when we are introspect,
always looking at our sins.
And Oculus said it is healthier for the
eyes to look up than to look down.
And I said, brother, you are right.
Let us look up and pray, search me,
O God.
And God will tell you if there is
dishonesty in your heart or any other sin.
And when you know it and when you
understand what the Lord tells you, which sin
there is in your heart, perhaps your self
-centeredness.
And don't make an excuse for the blood
of Jesus has never cleansed an excuse but
say, yes, Lord, it is true.
And then be sure that you have forgiveness.
And then surrender your heart and your life
and your everything and be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
And the great joy is that the fruit
of the Spirit is love and peace and
kindness and goodness and self-control.
And then you are the light of the
world.
I would say lie in this flashlight for
a moment.
I think I have overlooked a little rag.
You see, sometimes there is in our heart
a very little decent sin.
We are all very decent sinners here.
Just a little bit of self-pity, a
little white lie, a little bit of vanity,
a very little bit of envy on that
person that has more success than I.
But I can tell you as long as
we Christians do not make clean that with
our decent sins we cannot have revival and
we cannot be spirit-filled Christians.
I find that I excuse me, that's no
rag, that's paper.
It's no rag, it's no sin, it's only
five dollars.
It's nothing wrong with the five dollars.
The only thing is that they went the
wrong place.
I can tell you when we have too
many dollars or not enough dollars.
The devil brings the dollars in our hearts.
But our hearts must be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
Will you do it?
And I'm sure if the Lord tells you
that there is five dollars in your heart,
I'm sure, well, I guess I know what
to do with it.
Just tell him, did you surrender all?
That is very important.
I was in New Zealand and I spoke
to a group of criminals in a prison.
And you are the light of the world.
Can you say that to criminals?
Must you not say you are the darkness
of the world?
There was a prisoner who told me that
ten Sundays they had every Sunday a different
speaker in the chapel and they had all
spoken about the prodigal son.
That's good for criminals.
Have you ever been a prodigal son?
A decent sinner?
Perhaps this high time.
And I can tell you I hope to
see all of you in heaven.
And then I hope to introduce you to
the soul winners who are still serving their
terms as criminals in the prisons.
And I'm sure in heaven we will see
many thousands who have been saved by the
faithful testimonies of their fellow prisoners.
And I like it to say you are
the light of the world.
And then I tell them of course you
must first live in the light yourself but
then you can be the salt of the
earth.
And after I had spoken in that way
one man stood up and said fellows this
morning I was reading in the Bible about
three murderers.
One's name was Moses.
One David and one Paul.
Were they murderers?
We know them as heroes of God.
But he was right.
All three of them were murderers and that
criminal said what can God do if I
told to surrender murderer?
Fellows is hoping for you and me.
What can God do for you and me?
And decent sinners here I tell you what
can God do with a pull to surrender?
Decent sinners.
I believe we have no choice.
And we must we need to be the
the mirror of the love of God and
the joy of Jesus.
But we cannot be the light of the
world when we do not live in the
light ourselves.
I was in Cucuta and I spoke about
the great joy that a Christian has the
answer for our sin problems.
Not that we do not sin but we
know what to do with our sins.
And I told the blood of Jesus is
available.
And I used the illustration of the windshield
wiper.
I said it comes rain on the windshield
and the wiper takes it away but immediately
it is wet again but the windshield is
there and so the blood of Jesus keeps
us cleansing from our sins.
Now that was not the only thing I
told them.
But there came afterwards when I gave an
invitation a couple to me.
And he said Mr. Bohm I think you
bring a very easy gospel.
Well that's easy we can sin and we
bring it to the Lord and he cleanses
and we sin again and we bring it
to the Lord.
I said but that's not all that I
have said.
The Lord Jesus said when one demon is
cast out and when the heart is empty
then the demon will get other seven demons
and the last is worse than the first.
It is not only that we must have
clean hearts but we must have filled hearts.
We must be full of the Holy Spirit
when the flesh light without the rags does
not give light there must be the battery
in it.
And then it is the joy when we
give room for the fullness of the Holy
Spirit the fruit of the Spirit is just
opposite of the sins.
Love, peace, goodness, self-control oh now he
understood.
And then I showed him the way of
salvation and I said will you now receive
the Lord Jesus as your savior?
And he said yes.
And then he did something that I had
never experienced perhaps you have it.
He said Lord Jesus my wife and I
receive you now as our savior.
And my wife and I were repentant of
our sins and my wife and I it
was a beautiful prayer but afterwards I said
I was very happy that you said that
but may I ask madam do you agree
with what your husband said?
Why you yourself must decide.
He said I have brought my husband forward
for I was willing to do it.
All right.
So I wrote down the name and address
and I forgot to ask as is a
mistake for a counselor I forgot to ask
what church they belong.
So I went to the pastor I said
here is a couple who have accepted the
Lord but I forgot to ask in what
church they belong.
And he said what?
That was the seventh day Adventist minister with
his wife.
He really had wonderful and strange experiences in
the counselor room inquiry room.
Now that man was still under the law
and he said it is far too easy
what you say.
But that's the great joy.
What Dr. Orr said this afternoon repent and
accept we repent we cannot be filled with
the Holy Spirit but it is not only
repentance it is be filled with the Holy
Spirit and that's what you and I need.
And then we live in the light like
he is in the light.
And when Connie told that about how we
are living in the light perhaps you will
think boy what a nice couple is that
Connie and Connie.
But we are no nice couple there is
Jesus in us that's nice and we can
live in the light because he is in
the light.
And all I wish that I could teach
the people to look away from themselves.
That beautiful book of I.M. that gave
a very good illustration.
He said when you have a car you
do not push the car but you know
that you have a strong engine under the
wood so you just put on the engine.
My friends it is not you and I
it is Jesus in us who indwells in
us by his Holy Spirit.
And that means that the life of God
is so relaxed.
Some Christians are just like cattle walkers going
from the past to the future in one
hand to set the indigested past in the
other hand to set the anticipated future.
Always bouncing between hope and fear.
But I believe that a Christian must be
like one who is standing on an elevator
quite relaxed to go higher and higher.
Let's go on at the hand of Jesus.
It is Jesus.
And it is he who does the job.
But we must identify ourselves with his life.
Jesus has identified himself with our death when
he died at the cross.
Now we must identify ourselves with his life.
But we must surrender.
The total surrender is necessary.
What is surrender?
An old test.
Can you pray for everything?
I was a watchmaker before the war.
And 25 years I had my watchmaker shop.
And now in Switzerland there are some friends
of mine who have a factory of watches.
And I can always buy my watches there
for wholesale price.
I was in Switzerland and I bought three
watches.
Now you must pay very high tax in
Holland on watches.
And I had to go from Switzerland to
Holland so I took these watches and I
put them into a corner of my bank
that no custom officer in the world could
find my watches.
After all I had been an underground worker
and I know how to hide things.
Before I went to the plane I prayed.
I prayed Lord will you give us good
weather for the flight.
Will you give us a good pilot wisdom
and ability.
Lord give us a safe landing.
Oh yes Lord and then after the landing
will you help me to smuggle.
I could not finish my prayer.
I could not pray help me to smuggle
my watches.
The moment that I understood that I would
pray for it I understood I realized that
there was a prayer.
That there was a sin.
You see prayer is a discipline.
Is there anything you cannot pray for?
Is there anything sin.
I was a dumb Dutch not to realize
earlier that it was a sin.
But God used my prayers as a discipline.
Is there anything in your life you cannot
pray for?
Can you pray for that club you are
a member of for the book that you
are reading, for the way you use your
spare time, for your sex life, for your
friendships?
Is there anything you cannot pray for?
There is a sin.
And Jesus can come tonight.
How will you meet him?
Shame?
Surrender.
What is that?
Surrender means surrender your blunders.
I see so many Christians who have long
faces simply because they have blundered and they
hate themselves.
I hated myself when I had blundered.
I thought, how in the world is that
possible that I, Corrie ten Boom, have blundered
so much, this pride?
Surrender your blunders.
You can never know what God does with
you.
There was a visitor in Nevis school who
saw beautiful patterns and he said to a
student, what must you do when you make
a mistake?
Must you cut it out or must you
start from the beginning?
But the student said, no, our teacher is
such a great artist that when we make
a mistake he uses that mistake to improve
the beauty of the pattern.
That's what Jesus does.
But surrender.
You understand what I mean?
I was in Japan for the first time
and I had the difficulty that I thought
all these Japanese have the same flat face.
It was so difficult to recognize them.
Here I saw one Mr. Shake, there I
saw three and there five.
That could be very dangerous.
I was in a student's Bible club in
varsity group and I saw a gentleman coming.
I thought, oh yes, that is the director
of the theological seminary.
He wasn't.
He was a professor of a non-Christian
university.
But after I was through with my talk,
I said, and will you now say a
prayer?
He said, I?
I've never prayed in my life.
Suddenly I saw my blunder.
I said, oh professor, it doesn't matter.
I will pray.
And I prayed, but Japanese people are very
polite and after meeting he came to me,
bowing very deeply several times and he said,
Mr. Bloom, I'm so sorry that I could
not do what you asked, but I had
never prayed before.
I said, professor, I'm glad that you didn't.
Perhaps someone who should have been more superficial
should have said a prayer without believing it.
But I like it that you didn't do
it.
But by the way, why are you not
a Christian?
He said, oh no, then I must first
study Christianity.
I said, no.
I don't read in the Bible, those who
study trans-Christianity, God gives the power to
become a child of God, but those who
receive Jesus.
And so I showed him the way of
salvation and after half an hour that man
made the decisions that made the angels in
heaven rejoice.
Now do you see the picture?
God used the blunder of a dumb witch
to save the soul of that man.
A strategic point in a university in Tokyo.
Surrender your blunders.
Surrender your limitations.
Oh, I have not told that there was
a rag and that was inferiority field.
Is that a rag?
Isn't that humbleness?
No, that is pride.
That is that you do not accept your
limitations.
And I should say, I'm only a watchmaker,
I'm not no minister.
Does that mean that I wanted to be
more than a watchmaker?
No, and by the moment I said that's
pride.
And we should not accept our limitations and
surrender them.
And you can never know what the Lord
does with it.
Surrender your worries.
I have written a little booklet that is
not yet published, or it is out of
print.
Don't wrestle, just nestle.
I learned when I was in a concentration
camp how to pray.
Oh, I had prayed before when I was
five years old.
I asked the Lord Jesus to come into
my heart and he came and he never
left me.
But when I was in that terrible place,
that hell, there I learned what it means
to cast your burden from the Lord and
to leave it there.
And I can tell you, you must teach
your people that for it is possible that
there comes very difficult times.
I can tell you sometimes I had a
very heavy case full of burdens and I
brought it in prayer to the Lord.
Once I saw six hundred new prisoners coming.
Oh, I could understand why Betsy and I
were in that prison.
We were used by God to save souls
for eternity.
Many people had never heard of Jesus.
We could bring the Gospel and many could
never hear it afterwards because they were killed
or died.
Ninety-seven thousand women died or were killed
in that camp.
And we understood why Betsy and I were
there.
It was worthwhile all our suffering, even Betsy's
death, Betsy's starve.
But to be used to save souls for
eternity is worthwhile to live and to die
and to suffer.
But I could not understand the suffering of
the thousands of women around me.
And then I read in Isaiah 53, that
morning that I saw these six hundred newcomers,
new prisoners, and there Isaiah sees Jesus at
the cross and he hears him say it
is finished.
And then he says, surely he has carried
our sorrows.
And suddenly I saw when Jesus died at
the cross, he did not only carry our
sins, but also our sorrows.
And I understood that we therefore are not
called to be burden bearers.
We are called to be cross bearers and
light bearers.
Without burdens we must cast on the Lord.
And I did it.
And I said, Lord, here are these poor
women.
Oh, what a terrible suffering is waiting them.
We cannot bear the burdens of our friends,
but we can introduce them to you, Lord,
have mercy upon these women.
And then I brought Germany, Berlin.
Although Berlin was fifty miles away, sometimes we
saw the sky red by the flames.
Berlin was bombed.
Oh, what a terrible suffering.
And I brought Berlin and all the people
in the bombed cities in Germany.
And I said, Lord, let soon come the
end of this terrible war.
And then I brought Holland, my homeland, that
had to suffer so much under the oppression
of the enemy.
And I said, Lord, oh, Lord, touch these
poor people in Holland.
And then I brought Betsy, my sister, who
was far too frail to be a prisoner.
I said, Lord, let very soon the liberation
come.
And so I brought one thing after the
other, till my whole bag was empty.
And then I said, Amen.
That was praying.
That was good.
I had cast my burden on the Lord.
But what I did after my Amen was
not good.
I did this.
I put all my burdens again into my
bag.
And he was happier after than before.
But that's not praying.
Praying means to cast your burden on the
Lord and leave it there, and say the
burden is too great only to carry.
Why should I do?
Why should I be afraid when he who
has all power and understanding needs to sustain?
Then why not ask his aid?
To thee, oh, God, be fine, Lord, be
fine.
I bring my care.
I lower it at thy feet and leave
it there.
But it is the Holy Spirit who teaches
us to pray like that.
Surrender your if-onlys.
Have you an if-only in your life?
So many Christians have dark faces because of
an if-only.
If-only I had a better building for
my church people.
If-only my wife was more understanding.
If-only my husband was more kind to
me.
If-only my teenager son did more his
best.
If-only I had more money.
If-only I had that newest washing machine.
If-only I was married.
That was an if-only in my life.
I was a healthy young woman, and I
loved a young man, and he loved me.
But his mother wanted him to marry a
rich wife, and I had no money.
And there came a terrible moment.
That young man brought me his fiancée, and
he laid her hand in my hand and
said, I wanted you to be friends together.
Oh, I can tell you I was wounded.
And after they had gone, I went straight
to my bedroom and I said, Lord Jesus,
I have surrendered myself to you.
I belong to you lock, stock, and barrel.
But Lord, now again I surrender that part
of my being that is wounded by the
unfaithfulness of that young man.
And Lord, if it is your will that
I do not marry, I surrender it.
But I claim, Lord Jesus, your victory in
that part of my being.
And the Lord did it.
And I can tell you the creative power
that every woman has to have a family
and children and marriage life.
I could use in the kingdom of the
Lord.
And I have never had the joy to
bring to birth a child, but I have
often the joy to bring to the rebirth
many people.
And really the Lord Jesus has taken care
for me that I have never become a
frustrated old spinster.
I am very happy.
Surrender your if-onlys.
Surrender self.
Surrender sins.
I see, we heard it this afternoon, Dr.
Orr said, or Gaspine said, there is a
difference between the accusations of the devil or
the floodlight of the Holy Spirit who shows
us our sins in the light of the
cross, the finished work of Jesus Christ.
So many people do not understand when they
have forgiveness, when they have repented that they
have forgiveness.
A little child brought a beautiful cup of
her mother and she said, Mommy, I have
broken your cup.
The mother said, I see it.
Just put it in a garbage can.
I will forgive you.
And the next day that little stupid girl
saw this cup in the garbage can and
she brought it again to her mother and
said, Mommy, yesterday I broke your cup.
She said, leave that in the garbage can.
Just think of my forgiveness.
Did you ever ask for the second time
the forgiveness for the same sin?
That is not honoring God.
I have a very good hostess here in
Los Angeles.
She always knows when I am thirsty.
And then she put in front of me
a cup of coffee.
Now just imagine when I come tonight and
she put that cup of coffee in front
of me that I should say, oh, please,
I spoke today three times and I am
so thirsty.
Won't you give me a cup of coffee?
Why, I should be ashamed to do it.
She has put it in front of me.
I honor her as my hostess when I
say, boy, what a good coffee, almost as
good as Dutch coffee.
My friends, when God says, I am faithful
and just to forgive you, then he means
it.
And I like to say when God casts
our sins into the depths of the sea,
then it is forgiven and forgotten and he
put to shame no fishing allowed.
Surrender your sins.
I think we have all, we know that
little illustration of the simple woman, the widow,
who had a boy and she worked hard
for him to make him study for doctor
and he had success and he became a
doctor and he lived far away from his
mother and he married a rich wife.
And once he said to his wife, there
is a very simple woman who has been
good to me when I was a child.
Do you think it is all right that
we invite her to live with us?
Then he said, yes, of course.
And she has been good to you and
she is very welcome.
And at the station he said to his
mother when she arrived, never tell anyone that
you are my mother.
He was ashamed for his own mother.
And there she lived in an attic room,
but she always prayed for her children downstairs.
Once the mother, the wife found out that
that lady upstairs was his mother and she
went to her and she said, mother, come
down and live in our whole house.
I have never known that you were our
mother.
From that moment on that house was blessed.
Where does the Holy Spirit live?
In your heart?
In your life?
In your house?
Did you give him only an attic room?
Are you willing to give him every key?
Every corner?
Is that costly to accept?
Yes.
It is costly to accept, but far more
costly to miss it, for it means Jesus'
victory in every corner of your life.
In my book, Amazing Love, I tell about
a meeting with Dr. Smith, Oswald Smith.
We were workers in the Youth for Christ.
And he asked us, did you lay all
on the altar?
And he took four books and he said,
I laid all on the altar.
I said, Lord, here is my house, here
is my money, here is my family, and
here is my time.
I laid all on the altar.
My time, yes, but I ordered a hotel
for my vacation, and these two weeks vacation
I keep for myself, then not my time,
and one book went back.
My money, yes, it is all a lot,
but this money for that hotel I keep
for myself, then not my money, and the
second book went back.
My house, oh yes, we had a beautiful
dedication service when we started in that house.
It is the Lord's, but my sister is
ill and she has six very naughty boys.
I cannot invite these boys, or they will
make my house dirty, and it is now
stick and span, then not my house, and
the third book went back.
My family, oh yes, I dedicated them to
the Lord, but my oldest daughter will be
a missionary.
I cannot allow her that, for we have
a big family.
She must help her mother, then not my
family.
The altar is empty.
I left that meeting, and I had to
talk with my heavenly Father.
I said, Father, is the altar empty?
He said, yes, and I took my life
again.
It was not the first time, but there
is not such a thing as a once
for all surrender.
It is again and again.
Bring your sins to the Lord, moment by
moment being cleansed, being filled, surrender, and I
laid again my all on the altar, and
the happened miracles in my life.
Souls were saved in the meetings.
Christians came to a full surrender.
There was great joy.
Oh, don't be afraid that I didn't get
a hotel.
Perhaps the Lord has a far more beautiful
hotel than you have ordered, but in that
hotel he will use you to win souls
for Jesus Christ.
Have you a surrendered life?
Is all on the altar?
My friends, it is the greatest joy to
surrender all, for that means Jesus' victory and
the joy of the Lord and his ocean
of love in every corner of our life.
Yes, it is a joy, but it is
in the same time losing your life for
Jesus' sake.
It is taking up your cross.
It is dying with Jesus, but that means
to live.
There was a missionary who went to China,
the time that it was still possible but
very dangerous, and they said to her, aren't
you afraid to go?
And she said, I'm afraid for only one
thing, and that is that I should become
a corn of wheat, afraid to die.
Are you a corn of wheat, afraid to
die?
There is a text in the Old Testament,
the eyes of the Lord go to and
fro the whole world to strengthen him whose
heart is fully turned to him.
Did you experience the last month the rivers
of living waters flowing out of you into
a very thirsty world?
You didn't?
May I ask you a question?
What do you think?
When I keep this cup like this, do
you think that I can come back to
water in and out?
No, of course not.
Do you think that when your heart is
turned towards the world that you can be
a channel of streams of living water?
Of course not, but oh I forgot where
I was speaking.
It's a minister's conference here.
Are you 50-50?
Is your heart 50% turned towards the
world and 50% turned towards God?
Look what happens.
Nothing comes in and nothing comes out.
I am sure you are better than that.
Of course you are.
Are you 90% turned towards God and
only 10% turned towards the world?
Oh, then you are better than Christians who
are 60% turned towards God and 40
% to the world.
Let us see what happens.
There comes water in and there comes water
out at one side, but only when I
put it 100% at once.
Now it streams over at all sides.
What are you?
You are not this.
You are not 50-50.
Are you 99.5%?
The eyes of the Lord go to and
through this church to fill with the Holy
Spirit whose heart is 100% turned towards
Him.
Now I will close with one thing.
Do you realize that we are brought with
the very life blood of Jesus?
Did you give him his money's worth in
the concentration camp?
I suffered much.
One of the most terrible things I had
to go through was that sometimes we had
to stand on a naked parrot.
He stripped us of all our clothing.
I will never forget the first time.
It happened seven times.
But that first time I felt so ashamed,
so cold, so miserable.
I said to Betsy, my sister, I cannot
bear this.
This is so terrible.
Suddenly I saw Jesus at the cross and
the Bible says they took his garments.
He hanged there naked for me.
I said, Betsy, Jesus has carried my sins
at the cross and they took his garments.
And by our suffering we understood just a
fraction of the suffering of Jesus and made
us so thankful that we were able to
bear our suffering.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life,
my soul, my all.
God gives us men of God.
God gives us men.
Men all aflame with his glory again.
Men who have sold out their all for
the Lord.
Men who are obedient, trusting God's word.
Men who are ready to stake all for
God, ready to sacrifice even their lives.
God gives us men today.
God gives us men.
Men who will shake this world for God
again.
Men with a vision of perishing souls.
Men who put God first above human goals.
Men who are fearless when seeking the lost.
Men who will follow whatever the cost.
God gives us men.
Touched with fire from above.
God gives us men with a calm, free
love.
God gives us men who are filled with
God's power.
God gives us men for this day and
this hour.
God gives us men who will rise to
the need.
God gives us men who will work, pray,
and bleed.
Where are the men we need?
Where are the men?
When will they heed the call?
When, Savior?
When?
Raise up a host, burn them with holy
fire.
Men filled with thee, with flaming desire.
Men who will serve thee without doubt or
fear.
God gives us men who will now volunteer,
search me, O God, and know my heart
today.
Try me, O Savior.
Know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in
me.
Cleanse me from every sin and set me
free.
Show us, O Lord, if there are rags
in the flesh like money or shell.
I praise thee, Lord, for cleanse me from
sin.
Fulfill thy word and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned
with shame.
Grant me my desire to magnify thy name.