1 00:00:01,340 --> 00:00:02,980 Welcome to From the Pulpit. 2 00:00:03,140 --> 00:00:04,700 Each week we bring you a different message 3 00:00:04,700 --> 00:00:06,540 from some of history's greatest speakers in the 4 00:00:06,540 --> 00:00:09,220 Christian faith, and powerful sermons from modern preachers 5 00:00:09,220 --> 00:00:09,500 too. 6 00:00:09,860 --> 00:00:12,580 This week we have Joseph Tyson with his 7 00:00:12,580 --> 00:00:14,880 message, Three Secrets to Conquer Fear. 8 00:00:15,379 --> 00:00:21,340 In 1945, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill 9 00:00:21,340 --> 00:00:26,980 gave half Europe to Stalin at the Yalta 10 00:00:26,980 --> 00:00:27,560 Agreement. 11 00:00:29,060 --> 00:00:34,140 And with horror we heard overnight that we 12 00:00:34,140 --> 00:00:36,280 were on the wrong side of that line 13 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,400 that divided Europe in two, and that we 14 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,120 were left at the mercy of the Russians. 15 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,820 It took the Russians three years to build 16 00:00:47,820 --> 00:00:50,800 up a communist apparatus in Romania. 17 00:00:52,300 --> 00:00:57,680 And by 1948, the secret police apparatus was 18 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:03,879 there, the communist party apparatus was there, the 19 00:01:03,879 --> 00:01:05,840 country was surrounded by barbed wire. 20 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,140 We were trapped, and the terror began. 21 00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:14,880 You know what terror means? 22 00:01:16,940 --> 00:01:20,140 Everybody is asked to go to political rallies. 23 00:01:21,220 --> 00:01:24,840 And if you are absent, you are sent 24 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,600 to a labor camp with no trial. 25 00:01:28,100 --> 00:01:32,300 You go to the rally, and you watch 26 00:01:32,300 --> 00:01:35,060 what they say, and they say stupid things, 27 00:01:35,140 --> 00:01:39,120 things you hate, but you have to clap, 28 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:41,540 and have to shout, and have to show 29 00:01:41,540 --> 00:01:42,700 that you believe them. 30 00:01:42,900 --> 00:01:45,780 Because if somebody sees you that you don't 31 00:01:45,780 --> 00:01:48,460 applaud, they will pick you up and send 32 00:01:48,460 --> 00:01:49,460 you to the labor camp. 33 00:01:52,500 --> 00:01:54,680 And you learn that if you ask a 34 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,560 question, and they think that because you asked 35 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,480 that question, you showed that you didn't believe 36 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,440 them, that question may cost you your life. 37 00:02:05,540 --> 00:02:10,260 And you quickly learn that you don't speak 38 00:02:10,260 --> 00:02:13,160 your mind anymore, you know what they expect 39 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:14,760 you to say, and you say what they 40 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:16,860 expect you to say, even if you don't 41 00:02:16,860 --> 00:02:19,220 believe it, because you want to live. 42 00:02:23,260 --> 00:02:27,880 You know what that meant in our terms? 43 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,840 When an order came that from now on, 44 00:02:33,100 --> 00:02:40,540 Baptist churches can only meet Saturday night for 45 00:02:40,540 --> 00:02:42,980 a short worship, and Sunday morning for another 46 00:02:42,980 --> 00:02:47,200 worship, no other activities whatsoever in the church. 47 00:02:48,220 --> 00:02:52,180 No children, no women, no evangelism, no youth 48 00:02:52,180 --> 00:02:55,420 meetings, absolutely nothing but those two meetings, public 49 00:02:55,420 --> 00:02:57,480 meetings, Saturday night and Sunday morning. 50 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,860 There was a pastor who dared say no, 51 00:03:05,500 --> 00:03:10,880 he was picked up, he spent five years 52 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:16,360 in labor camp, unspeakable labor camp, the worst 53 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:17,740 labor camp of the country. 54 00:03:22,220 --> 00:03:26,300 Everybody got the message, and you accept. 55 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:31,240 And they came and told every pastor, you 56 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,420 have to cooperate with the secret police, and 57 00:03:33,420 --> 00:03:36,600 if they ask you to give information about 58 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:37,900 your members, you give them. 59 00:03:40,140 --> 00:03:41,960 And there was a pastor who said no. 60 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:49,720 One evening, a jeep stopped on the pavement 61 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:50,520 right near him. 62 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,140 Two strong men jumped on him, pushed him 63 00:03:55,140 --> 00:03:58,740 in the jeep, there were four strong people 64 00:03:58,740 --> 00:04:03,920 there, took him out of the city on 65 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,260 a dark valley, and the four guys jumped 66 00:04:07,260 --> 00:04:09,140 on him and started to beat him to 67 00:04:09,140 --> 00:04:09,500 death. 68 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:16,240 When he was almost crushed, they stopped, they 69 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,560 said now it's dead night, nobody knows where 70 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,880 you are, we can leave you dead here, 71 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,680 nobody knows, you get rotten here. 72 00:04:29,460 --> 00:04:32,880 If you sign this letter that you accept 73 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,580 to cooperate with the secret police, we take 74 00:04:36,580 --> 00:04:37,040 you home. 75 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,380 Are you shocked if I tell you that 76 00:04:43,380 --> 00:04:44,060 he signed? 77 00:04:49,900 --> 00:04:50,460 Terror. 78 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:59,660 Terror that teaches you even what sort of 79 00:04:59,660 --> 00:05:02,200 gestures they expect you to have. 80 00:05:04,060 --> 00:05:07,480 And you learn that because you want to 81 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:07,800 live. 82 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,300 And you know you won't live if you 83 00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:13,940 don't obey. 84 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,520 That was life under communism. 85 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:30,120 50s, 60s, and there came a time 86 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:38,160 when the greatest thing happened to a few 87 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:38,720 of us. 88 00:05:40,280 --> 00:05:44,900 When we were liberated from fear. 89 00:05:48,180 --> 00:05:51,300 And I think that there is no greater 90 00:05:51,300 --> 00:05:52,780 freedom than that. 91 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,680 When you are liberated from fear. 92 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,880 Not taken out of that system. 93 00:06:04,300 --> 00:06:05,700 But there. 94 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:09,900 And you become free there. 95 00:06:15,740 --> 00:06:20,580 In my own life it started the beginning 96 00:06:20,580 --> 00:06:23,600 of 1968 with a new experience, with a 97 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,140 new encounter with my Lord. 98 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,580 When I made the determination that what he 99 00:06:30,580 --> 00:06:32,800 saved, he has to possess. 100 00:06:35,540 --> 00:06:39,140 Because he bought me at Calvary. 101 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,360 And I am no more my own. 102 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:45,720 And I told my wife from now on, 103 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:47,880 whatever he wants me to be, that's what 104 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:48,400 I will be. 105 00:06:48,660 --> 00:06:50,360 Wherever he wants me to go, there I 106 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:50,760 will go. 107 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:52,820 Whatever he wants me to do, I will 108 00:06:52,820 --> 00:06:53,000 do. 109 00:06:53,260 --> 00:06:54,960 Because he bought me. 110 00:06:56,260 --> 00:06:57,260 And I am owned. 111 00:07:02,220 --> 00:07:04,940 Yes, the Lord made a miracle at the 112 00:07:04,940 --> 00:07:11,520 beginning of 1969 and I was miraculously taken 113 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:12,620 out of Romania. 114 00:07:13,980 --> 00:07:16,600 And in a string of miracles I arrived 115 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:19,780 in Oxford, got a scholarship in Oxford University, 116 00:07:20,060 --> 00:07:24,920 studied theology in the Baptist College of Oxford. 117 00:07:28,730 --> 00:07:33,970 For the first time in my life, I 118 00:07:33,970 --> 00:07:38,970 was free to go east or west, north 119 00:07:38,970 --> 00:07:39,850 or south. 120 00:07:40,130 --> 00:07:43,350 For the first time in my life, I 121 00:07:43,350 --> 00:07:46,290 could determine my destiny. 122 00:07:49,910 --> 00:07:51,850 But that wasn't true. 123 00:07:52,810 --> 00:07:56,010 Because just a year before I determined that 124 00:07:56,010 --> 00:07:56,690 I was bought. 125 00:08:01,310 --> 00:08:04,230 And I had only one choice. 126 00:08:05,270 --> 00:08:07,930 To go to his majesty, my king, and 127 00:08:07,930 --> 00:08:10,830 say, my king, when I finish here, where 128 00:08:10,830 --> 00:08:12,030 do you want me to be? 129 00:08:12,390 --> 00:08:15,130 And he said, back home to Romania. 130 00:08:15,130 --> 00:08:17,830 Yes, your majesty. 131 00:08:18,590 --> 00:08:19,690 That's where I will go. 132 00:08:22,050 --> 00:08:26,450 Many, many people advised me that suicide. 133 00:08:27,790 --> 00:08:30,370 You will land straight in a jail because 134 00:08:30,370 --> 00:08:31,950 you stayed here as a fugitive. 135 00:08:32,830 --> 00:08:35,490 Are you so stupid to go back to 136 00:08:35,490 --> 00:08:37,890 the secret police and to go back to 137 00:08:37,890 --> 00:08:38,549 that terror? 138 00:08:39,789 --> 00:08:40,710 That's stupid. 139 00:08:40,710 --> 00:08:40,970 I did. 140 00:08:42,809 --> 00:08:44,010 That's true. 141 00:08:47,110 --> 00:08:49,730 But I belong to the king. 142 00:08:51,470 --> 00:08:54,990 And my relationship with the king has only 143 00:08:54,990 --> 00:08:56,630 one word in it. 144 00:08:57,590 --> 00:08:58,270 Obedience. 145 00:09:01,210 --> 00:09:03,290 And I have to obey the king. 146 00:09:03,850 --> 00:09:04,570 And I'll go. 147 00:09:07,970 --> 00:09:10,770 And when I went back there, I didn't 148 00:09:10,770 --> 00:09:11,990 go back to prison. 149 00:09:14,470 --> 00:09:15,850 Because I was free. 150 00:09:16,670 --> 00:09:19,170 I was free before, I was free in 151 00:09:19,170 --> 00:09:20,730 the free world, and I was free when 152 00:09:20,730 --> 00:09:21,490 I went back. 153 00:09:21,910 --> 00:09:28,350 Because I came to discover that in the 154 00:09:28,350 --> 00:09:30,630 so-called free world, people weren't free. 155 00:09:34,010 --> 00:09:37,530 And that freedom doesn't depend on where you 156 00:09:37,530 --> 00:09:37,970 are. 157 00:09:42,170 --> 00:09:46,490 I want to tell you tonight, how did 158 00:09:46,490 --> 00:09:53,450 God liberate me and my closest friends and 159 00:09:53,450 --> 00:09:56,570 co-workers, how did we liberate us from 160 00:09:56,570 --> 00:09:56,890 fear? 161 00:09:58,790 --> 00:10:01,450 Because I know that there are many people 162 00:10:01,450 --> 00:10:03,190 here who are not free from fear. 163 00:10:04,430 --> 00:10:06,950 And I'll show you what sort of fears. 164 00:10:10,030 --> 00:10:13,610 I think that the first thing that the 165 00:10:13,610 --> 00:10:19,170 Lord did was to repair my eyes. 166 00:10:19,870 --> 00:10:22,310 That's the first way in which he liberated 167 00:10:22,310 --> 00:10:23,750 me from fear. 168 00:10:25,350 --> 00:10:28,790 Mending my eyes, repairing my eyes, or changing 169 00:10:28,790 --> 00:10:30,630 my eyes, whichever way you want. 170 00:10:30,690 --> 00:10:33,870 I have difficulties with English language, so you 171 00:10:33,870 --> 00:10:35,310 choose your word for that. 172 00:10:35,770 --> 00:10:37,250 But here is what I mean. 173 00:10:37,990 --> 00:10:42,410 In Matthew 6, 22-24, Jesus says that 174 00:10:42,410 --> 00:10:45,370 all that is in you depends on your 175 00:10:45,370 --> 00:10:45,810 eye. 176 00:10:45,810 --> 00:10:51,870 If your eye is good, then everything in 177 00:10:51,870 --> 00:10:53,250 you is light. 178 00:10:54,450 --> 00:10:59,310 If your eye is bad, everything in you 179 00:10:59,310 --> 00:11:00,110 is darkness. 180 00:11:01,910 --> 00:11:05,750 It all depends on the quality of your 181 00:11:05,750 --> 00:11:06,310 eye. 182 00:11:09,290 --> 00:11:12,870 And if you want a biblical illustration, imagine 183 00:11:12,870 --> 00:11:15,050 the servant of Elijah. 184 00:11:16,250 --> 00:11:19,650 When that poor guy went that morning out 185 00:11:19,650 --> 00:11:24,710 and saw Samaria surrounded by military, enemies, armies, 186 00:11:25,050 --> 00:11:28,410 and he came almost dead to his master 187 00:11:28,410 --> 00:11:29,950 and said, Master, we are lost. 188 00:11:32,430 --> 00:11:37,030 The city is surrounded by enemies, armies, and 189 00:11:37,030 --> 00:11:39,410 they are ferocious, and they are deadly, and 190 00:11:39,410 --> 00:11:40,090 we are finished. 191 00:11:41,550 --> 00:11:44,330 And the great man of God smiled and 192 00:11:44,330 --> 00:11:48,370 said, Oh Lord, open his eyes. 193 00:11:50,830 --> 00:11:53,570 And something happens to his eyes, and all 194 00:11:53,570 --> 00:11:55,770 of a sudden he said, What? 195 00:11:59,010 --> 00:12:02,270 Master, look there, there are more with us 196 00:12:02,270 --> 00:12:03,510 than against us. 197 00:12:05,260 --> 00:12:07,370 He just got his eyes repaired. 198 00:12:11,410 --> 00:12:16,870 Now in 1970, as I was studying in 199 00:12:16,870 --> 00:12:21,810 Oxford, one of the most beautiful experiences of 200 00:12:21,810 --> 00:12:26,610 my life was that Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones 201 00:12:27,630 --> 00:12:33,510 accepted me in the Westminster Fellowship, going every 202 00:12:33,510 --> 00:12:36,070 first Monday of the month from Oxford to 203 00:12:36,070 --> 00:12:39,250 London for a whole day of theological debates 204 00:12:39,250 --> 00:12:41,190 with the doctor in the chair. 205 00:12:43,070 --> 00:12:47,590 And for two years, I heard the doctor 206 00:12:47,590 --> 00:12:52,750 again and again saying, You must make the 207 00:12:52,750 --> 00:12:56,610 sovereignty of God the pillar of your thinking, 208 00:12:57,010 --> 00:12:59,750 the pillar of your theology, the basis of 209 00:12:59,750 --> 00:13:00,710 your existence. 210 00:13:04,900 --> 00:13:06,100 And I did. 211 00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:10,840 That was one lesson that went into my 212 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,500 whole being and changed all my outlook. 213 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,240 Because I tell you now how that fits 214 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,200 with the eye. 215 00:13:22,060 --> 00:13:25,360 The sovereignty of God means this. 216 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,980 With my bad eye, I look at the 217 00:13:29,980 --> 00:13:31,040 communist enemy. 218 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:32,860 They are ferocious. 219 00:13:33,860 --> 00:13:35,400 They are almighty. 220 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,560 They have all the power in their hands. 221 00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:42,560 That's my bad eye. 222 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,840 But when I have my eyes mended, I 223 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:53,920 see above them my sovereign God who manipulates 224 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,180 them for his own purposes. 225 00:13:59,220 --> 00:14:05,120 Now, it happened in October 1974. 226 00:14:06,620 --> 00:14:07,760 I was arrested. 227 00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:12,120 I committed a big crime. 228 00:14:12,420 --> 00:14:15,400 I wrote a booklet entitled The Christian Manifesto 229 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,400 in which I described the failure of communism 230 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:23,620 to produce the new man and how only 231 00:14:23,620 --> 00:14:27,320 Christ could solve the problems of that society. 232 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:29,360 I sent a copy to Ceausescu. 233 00:14:36,260 --> 00:14:39,260 My wife should tell you how we went 234 00:14:39,260 --> 00:14:41,540 together at the office of the president and 235 00:14:41,540 --> 00:14:44,380 we registered it as a message to the 236 00:14:44,380 --> 00:14:44,760 president. 237 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,220 And then we went home and waited for 238 00:14:49,220 --> 00:14:49,880 his answer. 239 00:14:51,260 --> 00:14:55,520 And his answer came one morning at six, 240 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,940 seven policemen with a mandate to search our 241 00:14:58,940 --> 00:15:03,720 house and then to put us on trial. 242 00:15:05,820 --> 00:15:09,920 And they came for the formal indictment. 243 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,980 Now, that was to be frightening experience. 244 00:15:15,740 --> 00:15:19,860 There were six senior officers there at the 245 00:15:19,860 --> 00:15:22,580 long table, a small table in front and 246 00:15:22,580 --> 00:15:24,680 me behind that little table. 247 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:28,760 And the colonel in the midst read the 248 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:35,380 indictment and then he explained how grave the 249 00:15:35,380 --> 00:15:36,700 situation was. 250 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:43,600 How could I stand up against them? 251 00:15:45,380 --> 00:15:49,020 After all, isn't it written in Romans 13 252 00:15:49,020 --> 00:15:50,760 that the authorities are of God? 253 00:15:53,820 --> 00:15:56,400 Now, I never interrupt the speaker. 254 00:15:56,580 --> 00:15:57,300 It's not polite. 255 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,500 But I just couldn't keep my tongue then. 256 00:16:01,060 --> 00:16:02,520 You see, when you are there, it's not 257 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:03,160 you who speak. 258 00:16:04,780 --> 00:16:07,240 So, I immediately jumped in and said, Sir, 259 00:16:07,460 --> 00:16:09,820 would you let me explain how that Romans 260 00:16:09,820 --> 00:16:10,980 13 applies here? 261 00:16:12,700 --> 00:16:14,220 He said, OK, go on. 262 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:20,460 I said, Sir, what happens here is not 263 00:16:20,460 --> 00:16:21,640 between you and me. 264 00:16:22,820 --> 00:16:26,360 What happens here is between my God and 265 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:26,920 myself. 266 00:16:28,420 --> 00:16:30,820 My God has some dealings with me here, 267 00:16:30,900 --> 00:16:31,120 Sir. 268 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:32,900 I don't know what. 269 00:16:33,020 --> 00:16:34,420 Maybe he wants to teach me a few 270 00:16:34,420 --> 00:16:35,100 lessons here. 271 00:16:35,900 --> 00:16:38,100 I only know, Sir, that you will do 272 00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:41,160 to me only as much as my father 273 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:42,100 wants you to do. 274 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,360 And you will not go one inch beyond 275 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,680 that because you are only my God's instruments. 276 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,040 He didn't like that interpretation of Romans 13. 277 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:57,260 But how I loved it because, you see, 278 00:16:57,620 --> 00:17:01,880 I saw above them my father pulling six 279 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:06,800 strings and manipulating his six puppets. 280 00:17:08,579 --> 00:17:09,920 Now, that's a good eye. 281 00:17:11,579 --> 00:17:16,579 And that's understanding properly the sovereignty of God. 282 00:17:17,180 --> 00:17:20,260 And I went across Romania in that time 283 00:17:20,260 --> 00:17:25,300 telling my people that sovereignty of God means 284 00:17:25,300 --> 00:17:28,580 that God is so much in control that 285 00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:32,600 he uses even his enemies, the ones who 286 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,340 want to destroy his cause, he uses them 287 00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:37,160 always to promote his cause. 288 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:39,160 And at the end of the day they 289 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,900 always discover that somehow they just pushed God's 290 00:17:42,900 --> 00:17:43,700 cause onward. 291 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,820 And they bite their nails and say, why 292 00:17:45,820 --> 00:17:46,680 did we do it? 293 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:54,120 Somebody recorded one of those sermons and sent 294 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:54,880 it to the government. 295 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:57,960 And I had an official from the government 296 00:17:57,960 --> 00:17:59,560 who said one day, you have such a 297 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,320 strange view on us, Mr. Tson. 298 00:18:02,420 --> 00:18:05,020 Your sermon on sovereignty of God is so 299 00:18:05,020 --> 00:18:05,820 strange. 300 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:15,620 You see, you don't move among enemies then. 301 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,460 They are God's instruments. 302 00:18:20,900 --> 00:18:23,500 And whenever they arrested us and beat us 303 00:18:23,500 --> 00:18:25,900 and did all those things, each time when 304 00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:31,360 we came out, we came stronger, and everybody 305 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,800 in the country listened better to our preaching. 306 00:18:34,860 --> 00:18:36,500 And I pointed to that and I said, 307 00:18:36,620 --> 00:18:38,620 don't you see because of what they do 308 00:18:38,620 --> 00:18:41,720 to us, the gospel has much bigger strength? 309 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:45,260 Don't you see how they push God's cause 310 00:18:45,260 --> 00:18:45,840 always? 311 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:48,460 Look at it. 312 00:18:49,420 --> 00:18:50,500 Understand it. 313 00:18:50,500 --> 00:18:54,380 Sovereignty of God means that he uses always 314 00:18:54,380 --> 00:18:57,120 all his enemies to promote his cause. 315 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:05,080 Now, that applies in America too. 316 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:07,100 You know how? 317 00:19:08,220 --> 00:19:12,020 Look around you and identify all the people 318 00:19:12,020 --> 00:19:13,880 who make your life miserable. 319 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,160 Look at the people whom you say, if 320 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,280 this person wouldn't exist, my life would be 321 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:21,980 heaven on earth. 322 00:19:25,580 --> 00:19:29,520 And from today, you start saying, these are 323 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:33,920 my father's instruments working on me and on 324 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:34,620 my character. 325 00:19:37,140 --> 00:19:41,620 And Romans 8, 28 is active through them. 326 00:19:43,460 --> 00:19:49,000 All things cooperate for my ultimate good, including 327 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,560 these people who step on my toes everyday 328 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:53,280 and wreck my nerves everyday. 329 00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:56,980 They are my father's instruments. 330 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,480 And if you open your eye like that, 331 00:20:03,060 --> 00:20:05,500 all your body is light. 332 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,080 Look at all the dangers, all the threats, 333 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:15,280 all the problems, everything in that light. 334 00:20:15,420 --> 00:20:18,460 With those eyes, the eyes of the sovereignty 335 00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:21,980 of God, and all your being will be 336 00:20:21,980 --> 00:20:23,000 full of light. 337 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:27,900 That's the first way in which God liberated 338 00:20:27,900 --> 00:20:28,780 me from fear. 339 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,200 There was a second liberation. 340 00:20:35,580 --> 00:20:37,040 Glorious liberation. 341 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:43,160 It's in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 and 342 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:44,040 15. 343 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:52,960 Jesus Christ shared my flesh and blood, in 344 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:57,740 order that through death he might render powerless 345 00:20:57,740 --> 00:21:01,600 him who had the power of death, that 346 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,520 is the devil, and might deliver those through, 347 00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:11,600 listen, those through fear of death were subject 348 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,080 to slavery all their lives. 349 00:21:17,060 --> 00:21:22,500 Satan keeps people in slavery all their lives 350 00:21:22,500 --> 00:21:23,340 by what? 351 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,060 By fear of death. 352 00:21:29,140 --> 00:21:33,440 And when I understood that, I understood that 353 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,780 Satan's tool of enslavement is fear of death, 354 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,980 and I understood that Christ liberated me from 355 00:21:41,980 --> 00:21:43,820 that, why and how? 356 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,140 Well, he died my death. 357 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,920 There is no more death for me. 358 00:21:53,900 --> 00:21:55,560 There's no death for me. 359 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:56,680 I don't die. 360 00:21:58,340 --> 00:21:59,840 I go home. 361 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:02,660 I go to glory. 362 00:22:04,660 --> 00:22:09,960 So I was arrested, and that officer got 363 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,480 very upset with me, and he said, don't 364 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,460 you understand where you are? 365 00:22:16,420 --> 00:22:18,940 Don't you understand my power? 366 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,180 Don't you understand that I do whatever I 367 00:22:22,180 --> 00:22:23,060 want with you? 368 00:22:24,860 --> 00:22:27,560 Sir, let me explain that to you. 369 00:22:29,780 --> 00:22:37,360 Look, sir, if you come tomorrow with your 370 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:40,200 car straight on the pavement or the walkway 371 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,980 where I am and then hit me, because 372 00:22:42,980 --> 00:22:47,320 I know you can't do that, I won't 373 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,140 say, look what this rascal from the secret 374 00:22:50,140 --> 00:22:51,320 police is doing to me. 375 00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:52,860 No. 376 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,400 I would look up and in that instant 377 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,300 I would see my father saying, Joseph, enough 378 00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:00,520 there, come up here. 379 00:23:03,500 --> 00:23:05,880 Sir, you only send me to glory. 380 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:11,940 But sir, let me tell you something. 381 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,560 My God is very strange God. 382 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,140 He will use you to send me up. 383 00:23:19,460 --> 00:23:21,380 But at the same time He will charge 384 00:23:21,380 --> 00:23:21,980 you with murder. 385 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,100 Now in order to prove this, watch out. 386 00:23:27,700 --> 00:23:28,700 This is staggering. 387 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,980 I said, sir, this was March 1974. 388 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,800 At New Year Eve, the beginning of this 389 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,640 year, in the northern part of the country, 390 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,500 this was in the south, a group of 391 00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:46,740 Christians, a group of Baptists were spending that 392 00:23:46,740 --> 00:23:48,780 New Year Eve together as we do. 393 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,780 And among other things, they put scriptures in 394 00:23:52,780 --> 00:23:53,220 a bowl. 395 00:23:54,780 --> 00:23:58,620 And each one drew one scripture as God's 396 00:23:58,620 --> 00:23:59,880 promise for the New Year. 397 00:24:00,740 --> 00:24:02,760 And they all read them and they all 398 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,960 rejoiced in what God said for them. 399 00:24:06,980 --> 00:24:08,860 And then when they finished with that, one 400 00:24:08,860 --> 00:24:10,480 of them remembered me. 401 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,900 And he said, poor brother Joseph, he is 402 00:24:13,900 --> 00:24:16,260 there at the secret police in interrogation. 403 00:24:17,260 --> 00:24:20,960 I wonder, what will the Lord give Joseph? 404 00:24:21,780 --> 00:24:23,940 Now look, brethren, let's make this agreement. 405 00:24:24,140 --> 00:24:27,560 I take this scripture from here and we'll 406 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:28,980 see that it reaches him. 407 00:24:31,300 --> 00:24:33,800 And then I took my wallet, I took 408 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:35,380 a piece of paper, I gave it to 409 00:24:35,380 --> 00:24:36,540 that secret police officer. 410 00:24:36,540 --> 00:24:39,000 He said, sir, this is the scripture that 411 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:40,120 man took from that bowl. 412 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:41,120 Please read it. 413 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,000 And he reads Proverbs 22 to 23. 414 00:24:46,580 --> 00:24:50,220 I will defend their cause, but I will 415 00:24:50,220 --> 00:24:53,200 spoil the life of them that spoil them. 416 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,260 And his hand trembled. 417 00:25:03,980 --> 00:25:06,580 And kindly he gave me back that verse. 418 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:07,580 He didn't keep it. 419 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,420 And he said, this is us. 420 00:25:12,580 --> 00:25:14,160 I said, yes, sir, and watch out. 421 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,120 Now you see, there was another time when 422 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,460 I was charged with treason and another major 423 00:25:23,460 --> 00:25:24,720 threatened to shoot me. 424 00:25:25,100 --> 00:25:27,320 And all of a sudden my face shone 425 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:28,920 and he said, What? 426 00:25:29,340 --> 00:25:31,840 When I threaten somebody to shoot him, he 427 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:33,480 at least gets afraid. 428 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:34,660 But you smile. 429 00:25:34,900 --> 00:25:35,840 You are abnormal. 430 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:38,520 No, sir, I am not abnormal. 431 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,340 I am supernormal. 432 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,240 Because you cannot threaten me with glory. 433 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:47,720 When you shoot me, you send me to 434 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:48,100 glory. 435 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:49,600 I am not afraid of glory. 436 00:25:52,020 --> 00:25:54,880 And you should have seen their frustration. 437 00:25:56,100 --> 00:26:00,500 Because there is nothing more dangerous on this 438 00:26:00,500 --> 00:26:02,660 planet than people who are not afraid of 439 00:26:02,660 --> 00:26:02,980 dying. 440 00:26:04,620 --> 00:26:06,980 You cannot do anything to them. 441 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:09,760 They are beyond your reach. 442 00:26:11,980 --> 00:26:16,800 But it was this certainty that there is 443 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,180 no death for me. 444 00:26:19,300 --> 00:26:21,560 It's only the invitation home. 445 00:26:21,900 --> 00:26:23,580 It's the invitation to glory. 446 00:26:23,580 --> 00:26:25,360 And I can hardly wait. 447 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,000 And when I preach at the funeral of 448 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,820 young and clean boy or girl, I make 449 00:26:37,820 --> 00:26:38,620 that mention. 450 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,920 Look how God finished them so quickly. 451 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,180 And He has so much work on me. 452 00:26:46,340 --> 00:26:49,060 So He keeps me so long in the 453 00:26:49,060 --> 00:26:50,360 valley and say, You stay there. 454 00:26:50,420 --> 00:26:51,780 I still didn't finish with you. 455 00:26:53,460 --> 00:26:56,400 And I am craving to go home, to 456 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:57,200 go to glory. 457 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:01,020 Freedom. 458 00:27:02,220 --> 00:27:05,220 Because Christ died my death. 459 00:27:06,060 --> 00:27:08,200 And there is no more death. 460 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:15,080 So, there is more than that. 461 00:27:17,740 --> 00:27:20,400 I shared with my wife at that time 462 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:21,940 and I shared with a few other people. 463 00:27:23,420 --> 00:27:26,640 If we can find at least ten people 464 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,000 who are not afraid of dying, who stand 465 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,300 up and preach the whole counsel of God 466 00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:37,500 and then pay with their death, we conquer 467 00:27:37,500 --> 00:27:38,720 this land for the Lord. 468 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:45,080 And when that man first time threatened to 469 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,120 kill me, the one whom I gave that 470 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,300 scripture, then I said to him, Now, let 471 00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:53,420 me go on with the explanation, sir. 472 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,740 You should know, sir, that your supreme weapon 473 00:27:57,740 --> 00:27:58,440 is killing. 474 00:27:59,940 --> 00:28:02,620 My supreme weapon is dying. 475 00:28:03,740 --> 00:28:05,280 Here is how it works, sir. 476 00:28:06,500 --> 00:28:08,700 My sermons are on tapes all over the 477 00:28:08,700 --> 00:28:08,800 world. 478 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:09,380 All over the country. 479 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,080 When you kill me, I sprinkle them with 480 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:14,540 my blood. 481 00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:18,940 And everybody in the land knows that I 482 00:28:18,940 --> 00:28:20,160 died for my preaching. 483 00:28:21,380 --> 00:28:23,860 And everybody will pick up that cassette or 484 00:28:23,860 --> 00:28:26,380 that tape and say, I better listen again. 485 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:28,300 That man really meant it. 486 00:28:28,340 --> 00:28:29,200 He died for it. 487 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,100 Sir, my preaching will speak ten times louder 488 00:28:33,100 --> 00:28:34,740 after you kill me. 489 00:28:35,020 --> 00:28:37,920 In actual fact, I will conquer this land 490 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:39,260 because you killed me. 491 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:40,720 Go on and do it. 492 00:28:42,140 --> 00:28:43,340 He sent me home. 493 00:28:47,060 --> 00:28:52,700 And then one of his colleagues commented to 494 00:28:52,700 --> 00:28:57,460 another Baptist minister, We know that Mr. Son 495 00:28:57,460 --> 00:29:00,340 would love to be a martyr, but we 496 00:29:00,340 --> 00:29:02,440 are not that big fools to fulfill his 497 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:02,780 wish. 498 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,000 Now that pastor ran to me to tell 499 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,820 me that shocking news, that even if I 500 00:29:10,820 --> 00:29:12,380 beg them, they will not kill me. 501 00:29:15,420 --> 00:29:18,400 I said, stop, stop, stop a little bit. 502 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,300 Because I see something very, very serious here. 503 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,460 For so many years, I was afraid of 504 00:29:27,460 --> 00:29:27,840 dying. 505 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,580 Because I was afraid of dying, I kept 506 00:29:33,580 --> 00:29:34,180 quiet. 507 00:29:35,460 --> 00:29:41,860 And I wasted precious years in doing nothing. 508 00:29:43,020 --> 00:29:47,280 I wasted my life because I wanted to 509 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:47,860 save it. 510 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,640 And when I decided to give it away, 511 00:29:53,100 --> 00:29:56,240 to die for the Lord, they tell me 512 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:57,820 that even if I beg them, they will 513 00:29:57,820 --> 00:29:57,920 not kill me. 514 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,340 Don't you see now I can go across 515 00:30:01,340 --> 00:30:03,440 this country and I can preach whatever I 516 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:05,800 want, wherever I want, because I know they 517 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,720 will not kill me even if I ask 518 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:08,100 them to? 519 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,520 As long as I wanted to save my 520 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:12,760 life, I lost it. 521 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,160 When I lost it, I found it. 522 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,580 And somebody said some words like this somewhere. 523 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,180 That's when I found out that those words 524 00:30:24,180 --> 00:30:25,980 were literally true. 525 00:30:25,980 --> 00:30:33,860 If you give your life away in the 526 00:30:33,860 --> 00:30:38,540 service of Christ, and you will find it. 527 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:46,540 So, that's how Christ liberated me, by showing 528 00:30:46,540 --> 00:30:52,020 me the glory, and showing me the meaning 529 00:30:52,020 --> 00:30:53,180 of martyrdom. 530 00:30:54,820 --> 00:30:57,820 And because he showed me these things and 531 00:30:57,820 --> 00:31:01,140 opened my eyes to see these new values, 532 00:31:01,780 --> 00:31:07,780 instead of the value of survival, I was 533 00:31:07,780 --> 00:31:08,220 free. 534 00:31:09,940 --> 00:31:13,320 And what an extraordinary feeling to be there 535 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,940 at the secret police and to be free. 536 00:31:18,420 --> 00:31:20,780 You don't have to come to America to 537 00:31:20,780 --> 00:31:21,180 be free. 538 00:31:21,180 --> 00:31:23,140 You can be free at the headquarters of 539 00:31:23,140 --> 00:31:24,400 the secret police in Romania. 540 00:31:26,060 --> 00:31:27,800 That's real freedom. 541 00:31:30,020 --> 00:31:32,140 Only Christ can give you that. 542 00:31:33,540 --> 00:31:35,940 There is a third way in which Christ 543 00:31:35,940 --> 00:31:37,440 liberated me from fear. 544 00:31:38,740 --> 00:31:43,780 You find that in 1 John 4, verse 545 00:31:43,780 --> 00:31:46,180 18. 546 00:31:46,180 --> 00:31:46,440 Amen. 547 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:52,520 There is no fear in love. 548 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,640 Perfect love casts out fear. 549 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:04,700 And he who fears is not perfected in 550 00:32:04,700 --> 00:32:05,000 love. 551 00:32:09,970 --> 00:32:15,110 One of the first days in interrogation, I 552 00:32:15,110 --> 00:32:17,530 have to imagine this, I was placed under 553 00:32:17,530 --> 00:32:22,030 house arrest, and for six months I had 554 00:32:22,030 --> 00:32:26,050 to go every morning from Monday to Friday 555 00:32:26,550 --> 00:32:29,170 to interrogation at the secret police headquarters. 556 00:32:30,110 --> 00:32:32,510 They confiscated my library before. 557 00:32:33,730 --> 00:32:35,830 I had to be in interrogation from Monday 558 00:32:35,830 --> 00:32:36,470 to Friday. 559 00:32:36,710 --> 00:32:39,530 I lived above the church, in a little 560 00:32:39,530 --> 00:32:40,350 apartment there. 561 00:32:42,110 --> 00:32:45,090 And I was allowed to preach Friday night 562 00:32:45,090 --> 00:32:46,370 and Sunday morning and evening. 563 00:32:47,330 --> 00:32:48,430 I had no library. 564 00:32:49,270 --> 00:32:52,010 I was in interrogation five days, and I 565 00:32:52,010 --> 00:32:54,330 had a fresh sermon Friday night and two 566 00:32:54,330 --> 00:32:55,510 good sermons on Sunday. 567 00:32:56,450 --> 00:32:57,770 Six months. 568 00:33:01,810 --> 00:33:06,630 One of the first days in interrogation, they 569 00:33:06,630 --> 00:33:08,850 kept me until eight in the evening, and 570 00:33:08,850 --> 00:33:12,770 it was late, and the man just said, 571 00:33:12,950 --> 00:33:16,130 well, take your coat and go home, and 572 00:33:16,130 --> 00:33:17,770 tomorrow morning at eight be back in the 573 00:33:17,770 --> 00:33:18,090 battle. 574 00:33:21,090 --> 00:33:22,570 I turned to him. 575 00:33:23,990 --> 00:33:27,430 I said, sir, why do you use that 576 00:33:27,430 --> 00:33:28,670 language of war? 577 00:33:30,290 --> 00:33:33,610 You should know, sir, that every morning before 578 00:33:33,610 --> 00:33:38,430 I come here, I pray for you and 579 00:33:38,430 --> 00:33:41,870 for your salvation, and I pray for your 580 00:33:41,870 --> 00:33:46,830 family, and then I come to meet the 581 00:33:46,830 --> 00:33:49,670 man for whom, whose salvation I just prayed. 582 00:33:50,210 --> 00:33:52,690 I don't come to a war because you 583 00:33:52,690 --> 00:33:54,710 don't go to a war with a man 584 00:33:54,710 --> 00:33:56,110 for whom you just prayed. 585 00:33:58,890 --> 00:34:01,610 I could see how it would hit him, 586 00:34:01,730 --> 00:34:04,690 and he just choked, and he couldn't breathe. 587 00:34:07,610 --> 00:34:10,989 And he just said, okay, go home. 588 00:34:16,010 --> 00:34:20,989 Later on in the interrogation, the other man, 589 00:34:21,130 --> 00:34:24,429 there were always two there, but sometimes, for 590 00:34:24,429 --> 00:34:27,310 certain reasons, one was absent, and usually when 591 00:34:27,310 --> 00:34:30,130 one was absent, the other one could speak. 592 00:34:31,110 --> 00:34:32,489 They were afraid of each other. 593 00:34:33,330 --> 00:34:36,350 So when the major was alone one day, 594 00:34:36,530 --> 00:34:41,630 he said, Mr. Zorn, when I interrogate somebody, 595 00:34:43,310 --> 00:34:46,710 I feel how they hate me, and they 596 00:34:46,710 --> 00:34:49,050 are justified to hate me because I am 597 00:34:49,050 --> 00:34:50,389 not nice to them. 598 00:34:52,690 --> 00:34:55,850 But with you, Mr. Zorn, it is different. 599 00:34:57,110 --> 00:34:59,630 I don't know how to put it, but 600 00:34:59,630 --> 00:35:01,350 I want you to know that it's a 601 00:35:01,350 --> 00:35:03,330 delight for me to be with you. 602 00:35:05,330 --> 00:35:07,370 I have to confess, it wasn't a delight 603 00:35:07,370 --> 00:35:08,470 for me to be with him. 604 00:35:12,710 --> 00:35:13,610 Or was it? 605 00:35:16,770 --> 00:35:18,370 He told me in the last day of 606 00:35:18,370 --> 00:35:21,790 interrogation, he said, Mr. Zorn, you go free, 607 00:35:22,790 --> 00:35:24,270 and I'll miss you. 608 00:35:28,070 --> 00:35:31,370 Because, you see, in six months, I had 609 00:35:31,370 --> 00:35:34,930 so many occasions to tell him my experiences 610 00:35:34,930 --> 00:35:38,410 with my God, and he would forget that 611 00:35:38,410 --> 00:35:41,030 it was an interrogation, and he would just 612 00:35:41,030 --> 00:35:44,830 listen for hours, and then he would remember 613 00:35:44,830 --> 00:35:46,830 and say, well, we are in an interrogation, 614 00:35:46,870 --> 00:35:47,490 let's go on. 615 00:35:49,850 --> 00:35:51,030 I'll miss you. 616 00:35:52,770 --> 00:35:55,210 Because, you see, the Lord told us that 617 00:35:55,210 --> 00:35:58,270 those people there have only one chance to 618 00:35:58,270 --> 00:36:00,190 hear the Gospel, if we are arrested. 619 00:36:01,350 --> 00:36:03,570 We are there because we have to witness. 620 00:36:04,170 --> 00:36:05,750 We have to show them Christ. 621 00:36:10,030 --> 00:36:14,130 I think that the most beautiful experience, I 622 00:36:14,130 --> 00:36:17,670 think, of those years for me was when 623 00:36:19,070 --> 00:36:24,590 I was arrested in Palm Sunday of 1977. 624 00:36:26,330 --> 00:36:30,090 Sunday morning, before going to preach in the 625 00:36:30,090 --> 00:36:34,710 city of Yarsh, two gentlemen picked me up 626 00:36:34,710 --> 00:36:38,290 and took me down to Bucharest that Sunday. 627 00:36:41,070 --> 00:36:43,250 And I found out why. 628 00:36:44,610 --> 00:36:48,450 It was another of my writings, and they 629 00:36:48,450 --> 00:36:49,790 consider that a treason. 630 00:36:50,930 --> 00:36:52,850 And because we were six who did it, 631 00:36:52,950 --> 00:36:55,290 it was also a conspiracy to commit treason. 632 00:36:56,070 --> 00:36:58,930 And treason brings 25 years in prison, but 633 00:36:58,930 --> 00:37:03,630 conspiracy to commit treason is capital punishment. 634 00:37:05,930 --> 00:37:10,590 On Monday morning, as the official interrogation started, 635 00:37:11,350 --> 00:37:15,510 there were the two usual interrogators there. 636 00:37:16,450 --> 00:37:20,630 About lunchtime, a general came in. 637 00:37:21,670 --> 00:37:23,830 He made a sign like that, the hand. 638 00:37:24,830 --> 00:37:26,710 The two immediately left the room. 639 00:37:28,210 --> 00:37:31,050 And the general just started to curse me, 640 00:37:31,790 --> 00:37:33,710 and then jumped on me and started to 641 00:37:33,710 --> 00:37:34,270 beat me. 642 00:37:35,110 --> 00:37:36,890 Slapped me and hit me. 643 00:37:36,890 --> 00:37:39,350 Eventually he hit me with the fist in 644 00:37:39,350 --> 00:37:39,890 the forehead. 645 00:37:40,330 --> 00:37:42,730 I hit the wall, it almost cracked my 646 00:37:42,730 --> 00:37:43,370 head. 647 00:37:44,670 --> 00:37:47,230 And when he finished with that, he just 648 00:37:47,230 --> 00:37:49,750 turned around and he left the room. 649 00:37:50,990 --> 00:37:53,990 The others on the corridor heard my screamings. 650 00:37:55,030 --> 00:37:57,470 They just came in and they shrugged their 651 00:37:57,470 --> 00:37:57,970 shoulders. 652 00:37:59,930 --> 00:38:01,910 Let's go on with our interrogation. 653 00:38:04,250 --> 00:38:11,190 On Thursday, that week, about lunchtime again, the 654 00:38:11,190 --> 00:38:12,490 general came in again. 655 00:38:13,190 --> 00:38:15,510 Made the same sign, the two went out. 656 00:38:16,430 --> 00:38:20,370 And I just caught the table like this. 657 00:38:21,910 --> 00:38:24,170 I braced myself for the second round of 658 00:38:24,170 --> 00:38:24,590 the boxing. 659 00:38:25,790 --> 00:38:28,630 And he saw that gesture and he smiled. 660 00:38:28,630 --> 00:38:31,370 And he sat down at the other table 661 00:38:31,370 --> 00:38:34,270 and said, Don't worry, this time I came 662 00:38:34,270 --> 00:38:35,290 to talk to you. 663 00:38:37,570 --> 00:38:41,230 Now, the Lord told us that we don't 664 00:38:41,230 --> 00:38:43,850 have to prepare beforehand our speeches when we 665 00:38:43,850 --> 00:38:44,310 go there. 666 00:38:44,950 --> 00:38:46,910 You only prepare your speeches when you come 667 00:38:46,910 --> 00:38:47,470 to the pulpit. 668 00:38:49,050 --> 00:38:51,550 When you are arrested, he said, Don't worry, 669 00:38:51,670 --> 00:38:53,670 you will be given what to say at 670 00:38:53,670 --> 00:38:54,330 that moment. 671 00:38:54,330 --> 00:38:56,790 At that moment, I can tell you the 672 00:38:56,790 --> 00:39:01,090 most beautiful stories of those things that the 673 00:39:01,090 --> 00:39:03,190 Holy Spirit gives you there. 674 00:39:04,830 --> 00:39:08,070 So the moment he said, I came to 675 00:39:08,070 --> 00:39:12,670 talk, it just jumped from me. 676 00:39:13,370 --> 00:39:16,090 Mr. General, because you came to talk, first 677 00:39:16,090 --> 00:39:18,070 of all, I want to apologize for what 678 00:39:18,070 --> 00:39:18,910 happened on Monday. 679 00:39:19,710 --> 00:39:20,990 Just came out of the blue. 680 00:39:22,850 --> 00:39:24,510 And he looked at me and it didn't 681 00:39:24,510 --> 00:39:26,090 make sense to him because on Monday he 682 00:39:26,090 --> 00:39:26,670 beat me. 683 00:39:27,590 --> 00:39:28,970 Why do I apologize? 684 00:39:30,350 --> 00:39:31,890 So I said, well, let me explain. 685 00:39:33,410 --> 00:39:38,070 You know, Mr. General, on Tuesday, I was 686 00:39:38,070 --> 00:39:40,950 kept here all day without interrogation. 687 00:39:42,250 --> 00:39:44,510 And I had time to think and to 688 00:39:44,510 --> 00:39:44,910 pray. 689 00:39:46,330 --> 00:39:48,870 And it dawned on me, Sir, this is 690 00:39:48,870 --> 00:39:49,690 the Holy Week. 691 00:39:51,690 --> 00:39:53,750 And you beat me in the Holy Week. 692 00:39:55,870 --> 00:39:57,810 But for a Christian, there is nothing more 693 00:39:57,810 --> 00:40:00,350 beautiful in this world than to suffer when 694 00:40:00,350 --> 00:40:01,650 his Lord suffered. 695 00:40:03,730 --> 00:40:07,710 You realize, you gave me the most beautiful 696 00:40:07,710 --> 00:40:08,870 gift of my life. 697 00:40:09,230 --> 00:40:10,610 I am sorry I shouted. 698 00:40:13,010 --> 00:40:15,790 I should have thanked you for the most 699 00:40:15,790 --> 00:40:18,390 beautiful gift of my life because you beat 700 00:40:18,390 --> 00:40:19,390 me in the Holy Week. 701 00:40:23,090 --> 00:40:25,270 Again, I saw a man who choked. 702 00:40:27,230 --> 00:40:29,310 Well, I shouldn't have done it. 703 00:40:31,030 --> 00:40:32,030 Let's talk. 704 00:40:33,850 --> 00:40:37,630 And an interesting talk, following that, he decided 705 00:40:37,630 --> 00:40:39,310 that I should go and preach in my 706 00:40:39,310 --> 00:40:40,650 church for Easter. 707 00:40:42,190 --> 00:40:45,370 And then to go back immediately after the 708 00:40:45,370 --> 00:40:45,550 Easter. 709 00:40:47,510 --> 00:40:50,690 When you preach sermons in that situation, you 710 00:40:50,690 --> 00:40:52,310 have to know that they are much, much 711 00:40:52,310 --> 00:40:55,030 better sermons than in any other time. 712 00:40:57,090 --> 00:40:59,090 Especially when you know that it may be 713 00:40:59,090 --> 00:40:59,770 your last. 714 00:41:01,850 --> 00:41:04,050 It comes out very good. 715 00:41:05,590 --> 00:41:15,590 So, I don't know if 716 00:41:15,590 --> 00:41:18,590 those people profited for eternity. 717 00:41:18,590 --> 00:41:22,670 You just heard before that all our preaching 718 00:41:23,330 --> 00:41:26,450 is either for salvation or for condemnation. 719 00:41:27,650 --> 00:41:31,170 Now, my job there was to show those 720 00:41:31,170 --> 00:41:32,530 people the love of Christ. 721 00:41:33,530 --> 00:41:34,950 That's why I was there. 722 00:41:36,190 --> 00:41:38,530 And with all that I did there, they 723 00:41:38,530 --> 00:41:42,170 had to see that somebody whom they hurt 724 00:41:42,170 --> 00:41:43,530 loved them. 725 00:41:44,650 --> 00:41:47,250 So that they could say, it's a delight 726 00:41:47,250 --> 00:41:48,690 for me to be with you. 727 00:41:52,010 --> 00:41:53,870 That was my job. 728 00:41:55,350 --> 00:41:57,810 To show them the love of Christ. 729 00:41:59,110 --> 00:42:05,170 And I told people, this is the aggression 730 00:42:05,170 --> 00:42:06,150 of love. 731 00:42:07,470 --> 00:42:09,710 I'm not a victim when I go there. 732 00:42:10,710 --> 00:42:12,290 I am the attacker. 733 00:42:13,630 --> 00:42:15,850 Love on the attack. 734 00:42:17,110 --> 00:42:19,830 Going there and saying, thank you for the 735 00:42:19,830 --> 00:42:20,130 beating. 736 00:42:22,590 --> 00:42:25,310 That's the aggression of the love. 737 00:42:27,230 --> 00:42:31,690 That's the most beautiful war you could ever 738 00:42:31,690 --> 00:42:32,510 fight. 739 00:42:34,390 --> 00:42:37,890 Be an aggressor of the love of Christ. 740 00:42:37,890 --> 00:42:41,930 To everybody who hates Christ and hates you 741 00:42:41,930 --> 00:42:43,190 because of Christ. 742 00:42:46,370 --> 00:42:49,850 Look again to the people you think are 743 00:42:49,850 --> 00:42:51,210 making your life miserable. 744 00:42:53,270 --> 00:42:58,070 And start to be an aggressor of love. 745 00:42:59,070 --> 00:43:01,930 And say, Lord, teach me how to show 746 00:43:01,930 --> 00:43:03,130 these people love. 747 00:43:04,450 --> 00:43:07,730 Give me ways in which I love them. 748 00:43:08,550 --> 00:43:10,670 And you will see how many ways He 749 00:43:10,670 --> 00:43:12,330 will show you how you can love those 750 00:43:12,330 --> 00:43:12,690 people. 751 00:43:13,810 --> 00:43:16,730 And start loving them practically. 752 00:43:20,470 --> 00:43:22,910 Doing things of love to them. 753 00:43:25,510 --> 00:43:27,710 And that moment you are no more the 754 00:43:27,710 --> 00:43:32,050 victim of their hate and of their malice 755 00:43:32,050 --> 00:43:34,170 or their wickedness. 756 00:43:34,170 --> 00:43:36,770 And even if they don't take it, even 757 00:43:36,770 --> 00:43:42,370 if that is their condemnation, you are victorious. 758 00:43:43,210 --> 00:43:50,510 Because you transform yourself from a victim into 759 00:43:50,510 --> 00:43:53,370 a Christ-like attacker. 760 00:43:54,350 --> 00:43:58,890 Because Christ came into this world as the 761 00:43:58,890 --> 00:44:00,150 aggressor of love. 762 00:44:01,310 --> 00:44:04,230 And He accepted all the hate of the 763 00:44:04,230 --> 00:44:07,070 world and absorbed it in the cross and 764 00:44:07,070 --> 00:44:10,190 instead of that He said, Father, forgive them. 765 00:44:12,770 --> 00:44:14,790 And that's how He conquered. 766 00:44:18,110 --> 00:44:22,350 There is one other way in which my 767 00:44:22,350 --> 00:44:25,570 Lord taught me how to be free. 768 00:44:27,470 --> 00:44:28,510 I'm a sinner. 769 00:44:31,130 --> 00:44:32,090 Saved. 770 00:44:34,830 --> 00:44:37,570 But still, I failed. 771 00:44:39,070 --> 00:44:41,730 And sometimes I fail miserably. 772 00:44:43,410 --> 00:44:45,930 I'm not ashamed to say it. 773 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:51,980 But I'm ashamed before Him. 774 00:44:53,540 --> 00:44:56,400 Because after so much love that He showed 775 00:44:56,400 --> 00:45:00,980 me, I shouldn't fail Him. 776 00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:06,600 Well, He taught me one important thing. 777 00:45:06,840 --> 00:45:08,320 And that is that I have to be 778 00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:09,060 accountable. 779 00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:14,940 And that means that I made the discipline 780 00:45:14,940 --> 00:45:20,220 of my life that I always have an 781 00:45:20,220 --> 00:45:25,280 older man, a godly man, to whom I 782 00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:27,380 go to confess my failures. 783 00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:33,900 I always saw that I had one. 784 00:45:34,020 --> 00:45:36,860 And I had for a time a pastor 785 00:45:36,860 --> 00:45:40,820 in Romania, and then another pastor, and Richard 786 00:45:40,820 --> 00:45:44,200 Wurmbrand was for a while my mentor and 787 00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:45,380 my confessor. 788 00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:50,260 When I came to this country in exile 789 00:45:50,260 --> 00:45:53,540 in 1981, I went to the pastor of 790 00:45:53,540 --> 00:45:56,080 the First Baptist Church in that city. 791 00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:59,940 And I told him my spiritual discipline. 792 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:02,860 And now I wanted him to be the 793 00:46:02,860 --> 00:46:04,440 man to whom from time to time I 794 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:04,960 should come. 795 00:46:05,060 --> 00:46:07,920 Because, look, I travel every Sunday in other 796 00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:08,880 place for the mission. 797 00:46:09,500 --> 00:46:11,360 And I live in hotels and I may 798 00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:12,900 be tempted with this and that. 799 00:46:12,980 --> 00:46:16,320 And I handle money and all sorts of 800 00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:17,000 temptations. 801 00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:19,080 And I have to be accountable and I 802 00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:19,860 have to confess. 803 00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:22,680 And I was so shocked when I saw 804 00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:23,860 that man so embarrassed. 805 00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:27,700 He never had anybody to go like that 806 00:46:27,700 --> 00:46:28,120 to him. 807 00:46:28,180 --> 00:46:29,180 And he didn't know what to do with 808 00:46:29,180 --> 00:46:29,460 that. 809 00:46:33,100 --> 00:46:40,420 But, you know, when I kept silent about 810 00:46:40,420 --> 00:46:43,720 my sin, my body wasted away through my 811 00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:45,580 groaning all day long. 812 00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:48,420 For day and night thy hand was heavy 813 00:46:48,420 --> 00:46:49,000 upon me. 814 00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:51,760 My vitality was drained away as with the 815 00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:53,260 fever heat of summer. 816 00:46:54,400 --> 00:46:57,020 And then I acknowledged my sin to thee 817 00:46:57,020 --> 00:46:59,080 and my iniquity I did not hide. 818 00:46:59,180 --> 00:47:01,840 I said I will confess my transgressions to 819 00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:02,280 the Lord. 820 00:47:02,660 --> 00:47:04,840 And thou didst forgive the guilt of my 821 00:47:04,840 --> 00:47:05,200 sin. 822 00:47:07,460 --> 00:47:11,400 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, 823 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:13,540 whose sin is covered. 824 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,180 How blessed is the man to whom the 825 00:47:16,180 --> 00:47:18,360 Lord does not impute iniquity. 826 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:20,740 To whose spirit there is no deceit. 827 00:47:22,180 --> 00:47:25,220 Of course, you know, this is Psalm 32. 828 00:47:26,260 --> 00:47:30,020 But James tells us that in James 5, 829 00:47:30,140 --> 00:47:33,220 16, confess to one another. 830 00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:39,620 I have to put myself to shame to 831 00:47:39,620 --> 00:47:40,360 somebody. 832 00:47:42,630 --> 00:47:46,240 If we confess, we are forgiven. 833 00:47:47,580 --> 00:47:50,420 And that is freedom. 834 00:47:52,500 --> 00:47:57,020 Freedom from sin comes through confession of sin. 835 00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:00,080 Through accountability. 836 00:48:02,420 --> 00:48:07,600 I always have to be under that accountability 837 00:48:07,600 --> 00:48:08,740 to somebody. 838 00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:13,280 I am free. 839 00:48:14,980 --> 00:48:19,320 In his mercy, my Lord sought me in 840 00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:20,540 the slavery of sin. 841 00:48:23,580 --> 00:48:26,940 And he liberated me when he washed my 842 00:48:26,940 --> 00:48:27,880 sins away. 843 00:48:29,740 --> 00:48:32,160 That's when I experienced freedom. 844 00:48:33,940 --> 00:48:36,020 And then he took me through all these 845 00:48:36,020 --> 00:48:36,940 other steps. 846 00:48:38,460 --> 00:48:40,160 To mend my eyes. 847 00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:43,380 To see that he is sovereign and there 848 00:48:43,380 --> 00:48:45,500 are no more enemies in the world for 849 00:48:45,500 --> 00:48:45,800 me. 850 00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:47,980 They are only my God's instruments. 851 00:48:49,780 --> 00:48:55,660 To understand then that he died my death. 852 00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:57,020 I don't die. 853 00:48:57,100 --> 00:48:57,900 I go to glory. 854 00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:02,900 That dying may be God's instrument for me 855 00:49:02,900 --> 00:49:03,800 to conquest. 856 00:49:06,940 --> 00:49:10,520 I was liberated then when I understood that 857 00:49:10,520 --> 00:49:14,020 I conquer my enemies by loving them. 858 00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:20,840 I cannot be afraid of the people I 859 00:49:20,840 --> 00:49:21,220 love. 860 00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:23,700 I am afraid only of the people I 861 00:49:23,700 --> 00:49:24,140 hate. 862 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:30,380 But when I hate, I am in bondage. 863 00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:37,740 When I love, I am free. 864 00:49:39,340 --> 00:49:41,940 And when I learn the discipline of not 865 00:49:41,940 --> 00:49:44,940 letting any sin between me and the Lord 866 00:49:44,940 --> 00:49:47,620 and confess it and stay clean. 867 00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:51,580 I keep my freedom intact. 868 00:49:53,300 --> 00:49:56,420 What a joy to be a free being. 869 00:49:57,240 --> 00:49:58,800 A free person. 870 00:49:59,960 --> 00:50:02,920 Free to live to the God-given potential. 871 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:06,200 Free to let the Lord use you as 872 00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:08,200 he wants to use you. 873 00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:10,300 Because you are free, you are not blocked 874 00:50:10,300 --> 00:50:12,680 in your energies inside. 875 00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:18,240 Which area you are not free in. 876 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:25,740 I didn't come in vain tonight. 877 00:50:27,380 --> 00:50:29,200 God brought me here for you. 878 00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:33,860 Because you have some slavery in one area 879 00:50:33,860 --> 00:50:34,380 or another. 880 00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:37,140 And he wants you to be free. 881 00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:42,580 And he gave me this message tonight for 882 00:50:42,580 --> 00:50:42,900 you. 883 00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:48,520 Will you take it now and apply it 884 00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:50,940 and say, Lord, all these words were for 885 00:50:50,940 --> 00:50:51,240 me. 886 00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:56,640 And I accept to personalize them here, here, 887 00:50:56,800 --> 00:50:57,520 here, here. 888 00:50:58,340 --> 00:51:01,140 And you look into your life and say, 889 00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:03,220 they apply here, here, and here. 890 00:51:04,660 --> 00:51:06,040 Change me, Lord. 891 00:51:07,560 --> 00:51:08,780 Liberate me, Lord.