I'm so glad that I can tell you
a little bit of the reality of the
love of Jesus Christ.
The greatest of them is love.
Faith, hope, and love.
The greatest is love.
And I'm so glad that I can tell
you about it.
Because I know that many of you know
the Lord Jesus not such a long time.
Some of you just came in, were born
again, so you are babes in Christ.
And of course, there can come in your
heart moments that you think, well, should that
really be so good as the other people
tell me?
And then I can tell you that I
was five years old when I asked Jesus
to come into my heart, and He came.
He didn't say, you are too little.
He just came.
And He never left me.
And that is seventy-five years ago.
Seventy-five years I have walked with the
Lord Jesus.
Jesus walked with me.
And I had a very happy life, but
it was not always easy.
And I will tell you something that I
have learned in the most difficult time of
my life.
For in a difficult class of a school,
you learn so much.
And exactly there I have learned so much.
You know, I have always been a watchmaker.
I was the first licensed woman watchmaker in
Holland.
I repaired watches the whole day.
I had a jewelry store together with my
dad.
And I could sell good watches.
When you came to me, I could tell
you, now when you buy this watch, it
is so good that even if it makes
a difference of two minutes in a month,
you come back and I can change it.
But then I thought later, I hope I
have not boasted too much about my watch.
What must I do when it makes a
difference of five minutes in a week?
You know, I do not sell watches anymore,
but I sell the Gospel.
And I am so glad that when I
tell very much about the great joy and
love of the Lord, then I can never
boast too much.
For the reality is far and far greater
than I can tell you and you can
tell me.
And I hope that when we come in
heaven and we look back at this time,
we will not be ashamed that we have
so lived as beggars.
And we are king's children, tremendous rich.
And that's why I am so glad that
I can tell you a little bit what
I experienced.
You all have heard of that terrible time
that we have had in Holland.
And then when the Germans came under the
leader Adolf Hitler and he intended to kill
all the Jewish people.
We started to save as many as we
could.
I had never planted, but God had planted.
After some time I had a gang of
80 people, 30 teenager boys, 20 teenager girls,
20 men and 10 women.
And once we heard that in a Jewish
orphanage in Amsterdam all the babies had to
be killed because they were Jewish babies.
When we heard that, our boys said, we
will save them and we will steal them.
And they went to that orphanage and they
stole all the hundred babies.
You will say, how is it possible?
I will tell you a secret.
You know, sometimes there came to us good
Germans who were soldiers, who were in the
army.
And they said, we don't like to work
any longer for Adolf Hitler.
We will not kill the Jewish people.
Can you help us?
And I always said, sure I will help
you.
Just come in.
And we gave them, of course, a sip
of clothing and we took the uniforms.
I have not to go into details, but
you understand how my boys stole the hundred
babies.
Hallelujah.
One of my bravest boys was Pete Hatoch.
And Pete said that evening, I believe we
do the most important work that exists.
Just saving lives from the morning till the
evening.
I don't long to go back to college.
This is life.
I said, Pete, I am so happy when
I think of the babies that we have
saved.
But Pete, there is a work that is
more important even than saving lives and that
is saving souls and tell the people about
the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then Pete smiled.
And Pete said, I'm a Christian boy.
I go to church, I read my Bible
and I pray.
But telling people the Gospel, telling them about
Jesus, that is good business for my pastor.
I said, Pete, every Christian is called to
be the light of the world.
And every Christian must be ready to tell
the way of salvation to anyone who needs
it.
And in your time, in your life, Pete,
there will come a time that you will
see it the most important work for you
to win souls for Jesus Christ and to
show that the way of salvation by believing
in Jesus and inviting Him into your heart.
Half a year later, Pete came into prison.
And when he came into the cell, he
heard that he had only one week to
live.
And a day before he was shot, he
wrote us a long letter.
And he wrote, all the men and the
boys in this cell are sentenced to death.
And I am so glad that I could
tell them that when they receive Jesus as
their Saviour, that the Lord Jesus will make
them children of God and that when they
go to be killed, that they go to
the house of the Father with many mansions
where Jesus is preparing a mansion for everyone
who believes in Him.
And Pete wrote, I see now that the
most important work for a Christian is to
win souls for eternity.
Say, young people, I have a message for
you from Pete Hutto.
Don't wait till the last week of your
life like he has done.
But give your life today to the Lord
and say, Lord, use me.
Take my life and let it be consecrated,
Lord, to me.
How you will say it, I don't mind.
But tell the Lord that He may take
you to use you as the light of
the world and then I can tell you
He will use you.
And my, when you really will be used
to win souls for Jesus Christ, once when
you enter the beautiful city and the saints
all around you appear, many of them will
tell you, it was you that invited me
here.
My, that will be a joy.
Then you will know that you have not
lived in vain.
Once there came a man to me and
said, will you save my wife?
She is arrested.
She has saved Jewish people and now she
is in a police station and there is
one policeman who will run the risk to
set her free if we pay him 600
guilders, but I have no money.
I said, oh man, what does money say?
Let's see, I have 200 guilders, come back
after an hour.
And in that hour I asked all my
friends, say, have you money?
Give it.
It means to save the life of a
good woman.
When that man came back I gave him
600 guilders.
That man was a quisling, a betrayer.
His wife was not at all in prison.
But the Gestapo, the police of the enemy,
had said, find out if Corrie ten Boom
saves Jewish people.
And he thought, I can do it and
make some money.
And he made some money.
He went home with 600 guilders.
But five minutes later the Gestapo surrounded our
house and we were all arrested.
Later, when I was in a concentration camp,
there came a prisoner from my hometown.
And he said, say, do you know who
has betrayed you?
I said, no.
And then she told that it was that
man.
And there came hatred in my heart.
The man I had given my last penny.
But I know from the Bible that hatred
means murder in God's eyes.
But I also know from the Bible what
to do with your murder.
When we confess our sins, when we repent
and ask forgiveness, then He is able to
forgive us.
And the blood of Jesus will cleanse us
from all the sins that we tell Him
and ask forgiveness for and repent.
And I repented for my hatred.
And the Lord took that sin away as
a great joy.
The Bible tells very clearly what the Lord
does when you repent.
He takes such a sin and He casts
it into the depths of the sea, forgiven
and forgotten.
That's what the Bible says.
The Bible doesn't say it, but I believe
He put a sign, no fishing allowed.
True.
And do you know, when I had repented
of that sin, the Lord cleansed my heart
with His blood.
And a heart cleansed by the blood of
Jesus He fills with the Holy Spirit.
And the fruit of the Spirit is love.
Love even for Emily.
And instead that I hated that man, I
loved him.
And after the war that man was sentenced
to death because he had caused the death
of many Dutch people.
When I heard that I wrote him, Your
betrayal has meant the death of my old
father, who was 84 years old when they
brought him into prison.
After 10 days he died.
My sister, who died after 10 months of
terrible suffering.
My brother, he came out alive but a
sick man and died through that sickness.
And his son never came back.
I myself have suffered terribly through in three
different prisons.
But I have forgiven you.
And that is because Jesus is in my
heart.
And when Jesus tells you to love your
enemy, He gives you the love that He
demands from you.
And I send that man a New Testament
and underline the way of salvation.
And that man wrote me that you could
forgive me is such a great miracle.
That I have said, Jesus, when you give
such a love in the heart of your
followers, there is hope for me.
And I have read in the Bible that
you sent me that Jesus has died at
the cross for the sins of the whole
world.
And I have brought my terrible sins to
Jesus.
And I know that they are forgiven.
Your forgiveness has shown me what it means
that there is forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
And that man was brought to death that
same week.
But he was reconciled with God.
And God had chosen me, who had hated
him, to bring him to the Lord.
You know, I like that little poem of
John Bunyan.
Run, John, run, the law commands.
But gives us neither feet nor hands.
Far better news the gospel brings.
It bids us fly and gives us wings.
Isn't that good?
It says you must love your enemies and
He gives you the love that He demands
from you.
The greatest of all is love.
In 1 Corinthians 13, I believe that Paul
describes God's love.
There are two kinds of love.
Human love and God's love.
Human love fails on the long run.
But God's love never fails.
And I believe that this love that is
described here is the love of God, not
only in the heart of the Father, but
shed abroad into our hearts through the Holy
Spirit who is given to us.
Romans 5, 5.
And when Paul uses the translation of Philip,
then he says, If I speak with the
eloquence of men and of angels, but have
no love, I become no more than blaring
brass and crashing cymbals.
If I have the gift of foretelling the
future and hold in my mind not only
all human knowledge, but the very secrets of
God, and if I also have that absolute
faith which can move mountains, but have no
love, I amount to nothing at all.
If I dispose of all that I possess,
yet even if I give my own body
to be burned, but have no love, I
achieve precisely nothing.
This love of which I speak is slow
to lose patience.
It looks for a way of being constructive.
It does not keep account of evil or
gloat over the wickedness of other people.
On the contrary, it is glad with all
good men when truth prevails.
Love knows no limit to its endurance, no
end to its trust, no fading of its
hope.
It can outlast anything.
It is in fact the one thing that
still stands when all else has fallen.
And in my life all else has fallen.
I stood in roll call in a concentration
camp Ravensbruck where 97,000 women were killed
or died, also my sister.
When I stood there on roll call, one
of the guards used her time to demonstrate
her cruelties.
I could hardly bear to see or to
hear what had happened in front of me.
But suddenly a skylark came, and he started
to sing in the sky.
And all the prisoners looked up, and when
I looked up, I looked at the sky.
And then I thought of Psalm 103, where
it's written, As high as heaven over the
earth, so far is God's love and mercy
over all that fear Him.
And suddenly I saw it, O love of
God, how deep and great, far deeper than
man's deepest hate.
God sent that skylark three weeks daily, exactly
during roll call time, to turn away our
eyes from the cruelty of man unto the
ocean of God's love.
How can you and I understand God's love?
At the cross, at the cross, where I
first saw the light, and the burden of
my sins rolled away, it was there, by
faith, I received my sight.
When we look unto Jesus, we understand, when
we look at the cross, what an ocean
of love He has for you and me.
I was questioned by a man in whose
hands my life was.
He was my judge.
It was wartime, and if that man should
say I had to be shot, I should
have been shot.
He asked me much about my spare time,
about what my certificates, and I told him
all.
When he asked me about my misdeeds, I
did not tell him all.
He has known only of eight Jews that
I had saved, and I hope that there
were more than eight hundred.
But when he asked me about my spare
time, I told him about that work that
I had with feeder-minded children in my
little booklet, Common Sense Not Needed.
You can read about it.
And when I told that man, that was
a nonsense, as they found more value to
convert a normal person than an abnormal one,
then I said, if you should know Jesus,
you should know that He has a great
love and concern for everyone who is in
need.
It is possible that a poor, feeble-minded
child has more value in His loving eyes
than you and I together.
Then he was angry, and he called a
policeman and said, bring her back to herself.
The next day I was again brought to
him, and then he said, I could not
sleep this night.
I had always to think of what you
told about Jesus.
We have time enough for the questioning.
First you must tell me what you know
of Jesus.
Boy, that was a chance.
I said, Jesus is a light.
Come into this world, that everyone who believes
in Him does not remain in darkness.
And I asked him, is there darkness in
your life?
That man said, darkness?
There is no light at all in my
life.
And I brought him the old, old story
of Jesus and His love.
After me, Betsy, my sister, was questioned.
With great joy she testified to her faith,
and she told about Jesus, and then she
said, it is important to speak about Jesus.
It is more important to speak to Him.
Do you allow me that I pray with
you?
And he said, yes.
And she prayed with him, the prisoner with
her judge.
Five times Betsy was questioned.
Five times she prayed with that man.
Betsy died in prison.
But after the war I met that judge,
and he said to me, I can never
forget your sister's prayer.
Through her and through my testimony, God touched
the heart of that man.
And he became a friend instead of an
enemy.
But he had to do his job.
And suddenly he showed me papers found in
my house.
And to my horror I saw names, addresses
and particulars that could mean my descendant.
And the descendants of my family and my
friends who were in prison.
You will say, how was it possible that
such dangerous papers were found in your house?
But I must tell you that my teenagers
have done a tremendous, courageous job.
But they were not always careful.
And so it happened that these terrible papers
were found in my house.
The judge said, can you explain these papers?
I said, no, I can't.
And I felt deep unhappy.
But he knew how dangerous they were.
And suddenly he turned, opened the door of
the stove, and he threw all the papers
into the flames.
Oh my, how happy I was.
I should never have believed, and you should
have told me that I could be happy
when I was in a prison of an
enemy.
But that moment when I saw the flames
destroy these horrible papers, it was as if
for the first time I understood Colossians 3
.20 where it's written that Jesus has taken
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us,
has taken them out of the way and
nailed them at the cross.
Hey, do you realize that there are dangerous
papers for you?
Do you realize that in heaven all our
sins are written down?
And we have all to come for the
judgment day of God.
And if we have refused Jesus Christ in
this life, the judgment day will be terrible
for we will have to pray and to
carry the punishment for our sins.
But when we have found Jesus Christ as
our Lord and Savior, in this life we
have nothing to fear for we will find
out that Jesus has taken all our sins
and nailed them at the cross.
Hallelujah, what a love, what a Savior.
Yes, I understood that better than ever before.
I had a little Bible.
When I was brought into that concentration camp
Ravensbruck, I had a small Bible, but a
whole Bible, Old and New Testament, specially printed
for what they called the underground workers.
It was very small.
I had it on my back.
But when we entered, I saw that we
all had to be searched.
And I saw that they took away everything
that the prisoners had hidden under their clothing.
And I got scared.
I said, Oh God, these people may not
see me.
God, send your angels and let them surround
me.
But then I thought, yes, but angels are
spirits and you can look through a spirit?
I said, God, make your angels untransparent today.
You can pray very unorthodox when you are
in great need.
But God did it.
God did it.
The woman who stood in front of me
was searched and then that woman stood behind
me and they did not see me.
So I came with my Bible in the
prison.
Strange story?
No, that's not strange.
That is what is written in the Bible.
Angels are ministering spirits sent to this planet
for your and my help.
And there are far more angels than demons.
Yes, there are demons.
And they can really come into your heart
when you do these occult sins of what
Ellen told.
You play with a witchy ward.
You go to a spiritual meeting.
You go to a fortune teller.
Then a demon comes in your heart.
But praise the Lord.
You can send them away in the name
of Jesus.
And don't forget there are only one third
of the angels fallen.
So there are twice as many angels as
there are devils.
And really, far more for many of these
devils are already sent to hell.
So we can know that those who are
at our side are far more and far
stronger than those who are against us.
And that's what I have experienced.
Now when I came in that prison we
had to live with 700 prisoners in a
room that was built for 200.
It was terrible dirty.
And very soon our clothing were full of
lice.
Those lice have caused many sicknesses.
But in some way they have helped us.
For the guards would never come into our
room.
They were afraid to get lice from us.
That was good.
The Bible was a forbidden book.
But twice a day we had a Bible
message in Baruch 28.
And God had used for that angels and
lice.
God can use everything.
Hallelujah!
God can use everything.
And what a joy many of the people
around me were killed or died.
But many died with Jesus' name on their
lips.
And that was worthwhile.
Even Betsy's death and all the suffering that
I had to endure.
Once Betsy said to me, Corrie, when we
are free we must travel over the world.
We can tell from experience that the light
of Jesus Christ is stronger than the deepest
darkness.
A week later she died.
Another week later I was set free by
blunder of men and a miracle of God.
For one other week later they killed all
the women of my age.
So I became a tramp for the Lord.
Twenty-six years I have traveled over the
world.
And I could bring the Gospel to many
people also behind the Iron Curtain.
Oh, it was a joy.
It was always a joy when we worked
in Russia and in the other communist countries.
You know, we bring there, we smuggle as
many Bibles as we can.
I will never forget the first time that
I came in Moscow.
I had a big red suitcase and it
was full of Russian Bibles and Christian literature.
And I saw how the custom officer ransacked
every suitcase.
And I got scared.
I thought, when he finds what is in
my suitcase what will he do?
Perhaps he will send me to prison or
send me back to Holland.
Of course he will take away the Bibles.
And then I started to pray.
Now I like to pray with an open
Bible.
I like to say, Father, you have said
it.
Now you must do it.
And God likes it.
God likes it when you say that.
For God has meant all the promises of
the Bible.
And they are for you and me.
And the bank account of the Bible is
not frozen.
You know, I don't know if there are
people here who have never received the Lord
Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.
Then I hope you will not leave this
tent tonight before you have done this.
And Christians pray for them.
And when you receive Jesus Christ as your
Savior, when you ask, Jesus, come into my
heart.
Then He comes.
And then Jesus does that miracle that you
are born into the very family of God.
And that very moment all the promises of
the Bible are yours.
You have not to wait till you are
a mature Christian or till you have studied
much in the Bible.
No, that's very good.
But these riches is yours.
All the thousands of promises are yours.
The moment that you are born into the
family of God.
And I know what some think.
Some people think, oh yeah, that's good for
that lady there.
And for that boy there.
For that girl.
For these good people.
And I can tell you a secret.
The promises of the Bible are for sinners
only.
So when you know that you are a
sinner, just come to Jesus.
He died for you.
And you may cash all the checks.
And then you may say, Lord, you said
it, now you must do it.
When I stood there in Moscow, I said,
Lord, you have said in Jeremiah 1, God
watches over his word to perform it.
Now Lord, these Bibles in my suitcase are
your word.
Now with my hand on Jeremiah 1, I
pray that you watch over your word to
my Bibles to smuggle them.
That's not what Jeremiah said.
But you know, I found out that it
does not matter so much if you pray
with an open Bible in your prayers, that
first Lord says, no, you must have a
very sound and good exegesis before I will
listen.
No, the Lord looks at your heart.
And you know what I saw?
The same moment that I prayed it, I
saw around my big suitcase light beings.
I saw for the first and only time
in my life angels.
And the moment that I saw them, they
disappeared.
They didn't disappear, but I couldn't see them
any longer.
But my fear also had disappeared.
I knew those who are with me are
far more stronger than those who are against
me.
And at last, the man came to my
suitcase.
He said, here is your suitcase.
Yes, sir.
And everyone, yes, sir.
Oh, wait, wait, lady, I have time.
I can bring it to your car.
And he brought that suitcase to my car.
I had almost shouted hallelujah!
I didn't do that.
No, I surely did not do it.
But what a joy to know that all
the promises of the Bible are in Jesus,
yea and amen, and say that tremendous privilege
that you have, that you can love your
enemies, that was for me one of the
greatest lessons that I learned.
I was some time ago in a cell
in Africa with a man who was sentenced
to death, a political prisoner.
I was so sorry.
I asked him, say, do you know about
Jesus?
He said, yes.
I have a Bible at home.
I know that Jesus died at the cross
for the sins of the whole world, also
for my sins.
I was so happy that he knew it.
But then I asked him, say, do you
know who has caused your imprisonment and your
death sentence?
He said, yes.
I can tell you all the names of
those who have betrayed me and caused my
death sentence.
And I hate them.
I opened my Bible and I read what
Jesus says in Matthew 6.
When you do not forgive those who have
sinned against you, your heavenly Father will not
forgive you your sins.
Jesus who said it must be true.
The man said, I cannot, I'm not able.
I'm young and strong, I have wife and
children and now I must die.
I said, I understand that you cannot forgive.
And then I told what Jesus had done
in my heart.
How I could bring that man who had
really by his betrayal murdered four of my
beloved to the Lord.
I told him a little experience some time
ago that I was in Berlin and there
came a man to me.
And that man said to me, do you
know me?
Suddenly I saw that man that was one
of the most cruel gods in Ravensbrück.
And that man said, I have found the
Lord Jesus as my Savior.
I have brought all my cruel sins to
the Lord and I know from the Bible
that I have forgiveness.
But then I have prayed, Oh God, give
me the privilege that I ask one of
my very victims forgiveness.
And now I saw that you were speaking
here in Berlin.
And now I ask you, will you forgive
me my cruelty?
And I must confess you that moment there
came a bitterness in my heart.
And I thought who my dying sister had
suffered under that man.
But then suddenly I said, Lord I thank
you for Romans 5.
Thank you Jesus that you have brought into
my heart God's love through the Holy Spirit
who is given to me.
And thank you Father that your love is
stronger than my bitterness and hatred.
And that moment my heart was full of
the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the
Spirit, love.
And I could say to that man, Brother
give me your hand.
And I shook hands with him and I
said, I forgive you everything.
And it was as if I felt God's
love stream through my arm when I shook
hands with that man.
When I told this to that prisoner in
Africa, he sent his wife a message.
That message was don't hate, love the people
who have brought me here.
You are not able, I am not able
either, but Jesus in us is able.
And I knew why I had to be
in Africa.
Say, can you forgive your enemies?
I cannot, but Jesus in me can.
Some time ago I had a difficulty that
some friends, some Christian friends of mine did
something very mean.
And I had difficulty to forgive them.
And I said, now Lord you have given
me that grace that I could forgive the
murderers of my family, now Lord it is
not difficult for you to give me forgiveness
and love for my Christian friends.
It took some time, but I forgave them.
I was glad that I had forgiven them,
but do you know what happened?
One night, two o'clock in the morning,
so really in the midst of the night
it was, I thought, now, then I think
what my friends have done for me.
I said, Oh Lord, there it is again.
I thought I had forgiven, but I am
angry again.
Lord, take it away.
Help me to forgive.
And the Lord did.
And I slept well and the whole day
I was happy, but believe it or not,
the next night at two o'clock I
awoke and I thought, then I think what
I have done for my friends.
I did this and this and this, and
now they did.
I said, Lord there it is again.
Oh Lord, take it away this resentment.
Help me really to forgive and to forget.
And the Lord did.
I had a good night's rest and a
good day, but the third night at two
o'clock the same happened.
And then I was disgusted.
That day I met an old minister from
Germany and you know, in Germany when you
ring the bell for the church on Sunday
morning, you do that with your hands.
Ding Dong.
But there comes a moment that you stop.
But after you have stopped there comes another
Ding and Dong.
Ding Dong Ding He said, but that these
Ding Dongs do not belong to the rest
and you don't worry about it.
That stops very soon.
And now your unforgiveness that were Ding Dongs
who did not belong to the rest.
Ah!
He said, you just bring it to the
Lord and say, Lord, this Ding Dong doesn't
belong to the rest.
I was pleased.
It was a joy.
You know, that book that I have written
in the hiding place I wrote together with
John and Tibby Sherrill.
And I had to tell really my whole
life many things to them.
And so they had also heard of my
friends.
And John Sherrill once said to me, say
Corrie, that these friends of yours who did
that mean thing, what about them?
I said, that is forgiven and forgotten and
I will not speak about it anymore.
He said, I know that.
But I should like to know what do
they think of it?
I said, they take it easy.
They simply say they have not done it.
But they can say that but I have
everything black and white in the letters that
they have written me.
And John said, what?
Say, where are your sins?
You have told that when you brought your
sins, that God has cast them into the
depths of the sea, and that there is
a shine, no fishing allowed.
That is what happens with your sins.
And the sins of your friends, you have
black and white?
Oh God, give Corrie the grace to burn
all the black and whites of sins of
others as a well-smelling sacrifice for you.
I have done it.
Say, have you black and white of sins
of others?
Do you realize that you have no forgiveness?
You can't forgive?
No, I can't either, but Jesus can.
And don't go to sleep tonight before you
have burned all your black and whites.
And I know that is a little bit
difficult to burn papers here in America, but
you can also make them just so small
and throw them in the wastebasket that nobody
can find out what your friends have done
or your enemies.
And you will find out that forgiveness is
a tremendous joy.
For it is a key that unlocks the
door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred.
It is a power that breaks the chains
of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.
You know, you and I have to be
the light of the world.
And I like to illustrate that with my
flashlight.
Some who have heard me some time ago
have seen it already, but I don't mind
it.
I like to tell that to all of
us.
You know, this flashlight doesn't give light.
It's not broken, but I have only one
battery in it.
I need, of course, two batteries.
Now, this is like you are in my
heart.
That first battery, that is what happened when
you said your first yes to Jesus.
So that real decision, and if there are
here who have never done it, I hope
you will do it tonight.
And do you realize that when you say
yes to Jesus, so really it meant that
the angels rejoiced for your soul is very,
very precious in God's eyes.
And the moment that you received the Lord
Jesus, I told you already, all the promises
of the Bible are yours.
I asked a lady, say, have you ever
received the Lord Jesus as your Savior?
She said, I go every Sunday to the
church.
I said, that's good, but a mouse born
in a biscuit tin is therefore not yet
a biscuit.
Do you know, eh?
To be in a church doesn't make you
a child of God.
She said, but my father and mother are
very fine children of God, I said, but
God has no grandchildren.
You have to make a decision because the
Lord loves you and He likes to hear
that you say, yes Lord Jesus, I thank
you that you love me and I will
love you.
Thank you that you died at the cross
for me.
Now I'm glad he did it, that lady.
But now, there comes such a terrific joy
in your heart, when you know that your
sins are forgiven.
That many people say, hallelujah, I am saved,
that's the end.
Now you may say, hallelujah, but don't say
it is the end, it is the beginning.
That moment you must cash your checks, you
must take all the promises of the Bible,
and you must learn to live as limitless,
rich king's children.
And one of the great promises of the
Bible is that Jesus said, I will send
you the Holy Spirit.
And the Bible says, be filled with the
Spirit.
And that is that second battery.
And that second battery, the fullness of the
Holy Spirit gives you to be the light
of the world.
But I could not get it in my
flashlight because it is full of rags.
And you know these rags are unrepented sins.
This is pride.
This is jealousy, envy.
This one is unclean thoughts, unclean deeds, unclean
words.
This is selfishness.
These are occult sins.
Now, I am going to ask you something.
Will you tonight pray, and will you say,
Search me, O God, and know my heart
today that is sad in the sound.
There is a beautiful prayer.
You can also say, Lord, show me if
there are rags in my flashlight.
And that is just the same.
And then the Lord will show you and
say, yes, you are selfish.
You are dishonest.
You are a liar.
And whatever the Lord says, don't make an
excuse for the blood of Jesus has never
cleansed an excuse.
But say, Yes, Lord, I am.
I have lied.
Will you forgive me?
And then repent.
And repentance means asking forgiveness and then in
the power of the Lord turn away from
your sins.
And that is necessary.
There was a pickpocket who was a very
good pickpocket.
He stole about 50, 60 watches every week.
And then he was converted.
He said, Now I am a Christian.
I steal only five or six.
Now, when Jesus shows His great love for
sinners, when that woman that was found in
adultery was brought to Him, the Lord said,
I don't throw a stone on you.
And then He said, Go and sin no
more.
And that is what Jesus can say.
For He bids us fly and gives us
wings.
And when you have brought your sins to
the Lord, then claim the fullness of the
Holy Spirit.
And the fruit of the Spirit is love
and peace and kindness and goodness and self
-control and then you are the light.
He does not do it.
I would say like a flashlight.
I think I've overlooked a little red.
You see, sometimes when we are very decent
sinners, there can be such a little decent
sin in our heart.
Just a little bit of self-pity.
A little white lie.
But you know, when we do not make
clean deck with as little sins in our
hearts, we cannot be the light of the
world.
And I find one.
But it's not a rag.
That's paper.
Twenty dollars.
Oh, no, that is not a rag.
That's no sin.
It was only in the wrong place.
The money must not be in my flashlight,
but in my purse.
You see, when you have too many dollars
or not dollars enough, often the devil brings
the dollars into your heart.
But your heart must be filled with the
Holy Spirit.
And the Lord will do it.
He will make you really the light of
the world.
And that is a great joy.
We have not to strive and to try
and to try.
It is not try, it is trust.
It is not do, but done.
Our God has planned for us great victory
through His Son.
And I will tell you one story, one
experience of a short time ago.
I was in Russia.
You may not speak as a foreigner in
a church.
But I asked if I could say, bring
the greetings from America and from Holland.
And they said, yes.
And my greetings took 30 minutes.
And then we sang a hymn and I
asked the pastor, may I say goodbye?
He said yes.
And I said goodbye 30 minutes.
So my sermon was a whole hour.
And oh, it was a joy to speak
to these Christians and I say, don't lose
courage.
The suffering of this time is not worthy
to be compared with the coming glory.
God Himself will wipe away the tears from
the eyes.
And the best is yet to be.
This world will be covered with the knowledge
of God like the waters cover the bottom
of the sea.
Jesus is alive and His light is stronger
than the deepest darkness.
I have experienced it that you cannot go
so deep.
Always deeper are the everlasting arms that carry
you.
Oh, it was a joy.
It is always a joy to give these
people comfort.
But one morning I was in my hotel
room and I said, God, I like to
bring the Gospel to the Communists.
They have an eternity to lose or to
gain, Lord.
And You died for the sins of the
whole world.
But Lord, I cannot reach them.
Lord, I need a miracle, but You are
a God of miracles.
Give me the miracle that I can reach
the Communists today.
And the same moment I saw on the
floor little holes in the form of a
pepper box.
And I understood there is the secret microphone.
In all the hotel rooms in Communist countries
there are secret microphones.
And they take every word You say on
that microphone, on the tape.
And I said, thank You, Lord, for that
answer.
What a joy!
I could give a message to Communists.
They listened.
They not only listened, they took it on
the tape.
And they did not keep the tape.
They gave the tape to their chiefs.
And we prayed for all the people who
had to read this tape.
I had a joy.
I said, you know, I have here in
my hand a book.
A book almost bursting by good news.
In this book is among other riches the
great answer for the two paramount problems that
every human being has.
And that is the problem of sin and
of death.
For in this book you can read everything
that you have to know about Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, who died at the
cross for the sins of the whole world.
And when you receive Jesus Christ as your
Savior, and you repent of your sins, then
He will cleanse your heart from your sins.
And that is the answer.
He will fill you with the Holy Spirit.
And the fruit of the Spirit is peace
and joy and love.
And Jesus gives you everlasting life.
And that means life in Heaven.
That is the answer for your death problems.
And Jesus has said, Come unto me all
and all that is also you there.
What a joy!
I can tell you I have brought after
that every day what I call my pepper
box messages in the communist countries.
People pray.
Pray for your fellow Christians.
Especially now for the fellow Christians in China.
Pray that your president will be used.
That there comes an opening that Christians can
come into China and help the Christians there.
And bring the Gospel to the many who
have never heard the Gospel.
You know, half of, the greatest half of
the body of Christ is suffering persecution.
And what Shemini said, when my feet were
whipped, my hand felt pain.
And the feet are whipped of the Christians
over the great part of the world.
Pray for your fellow Christians in these countries.
And be sure that you cash your checks
so that you will be strong in times
when you should come in difficulties of persecution.
And the great joy is when you surrender
all to the Lord.
He will fill your heart with the Holy
Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit is a spirit not
of fear, but of love and of power
and a sound mind.
I have here a glove that cannot do
anything.
But when my hand is in the glove,
it can cook, it can write, it can
do many things.
No, I know that is the glove.
That's not the glove, that's the hand in
the glove.
You and I are nothing but gloves.
And the hand, that is the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit does the job that
He makes you children of the light.
The light in this very dark world.
But you must give room to the Holy
Spirit.
When my hand is only in the midst
of the glove, now the glove cannot do
anything.
No, you must surrender every finger, every corner
of your life to the Lord.
And He will fill you with the Holy
Spirit.
Hallelujah.
Amen.
We pray.
Thank you, Lord.
That there is such an ocean of love
available.
That love that you have brought into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit.
Thank you, Jesus, that you did that.
And thank you, Father, that that love in
us is sufficient.
And more than sufficient to overcome the problems
that we have to face when we come
home.
When we go to our work.
We praise and thank you, Lord, that your
love still stands also when all else has
fallen.
And our Lord serves our hearts.
Show us if there are unconfessed sins ranked
in our flesh life.
Pride, envy, selfishness.
Tell it us, Lord.
And we praise and thank you when we
repent.
You forgive and cleanse us.
And Lord, show us if there are black
and white of sins of others in our
life, in our hearts.
Perhaps in a little drawer at home.