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1992 Missions Conference Talk - Part 5
Richard Wurmbrand

Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001). Born on March 24, 1909, in Bucharest, Romania, to a Jewish family, Richard Wurmbrand converted to Christianity in 1938 after meeting a German carpenter, Christian Wolfkes, in a remote village. Initially an atheist and businessman, he became an ordained Lutheran pastor, ministering in Romania’s underground church under Nazi and Communist regimes. Arrested in 1948 by the Communist government for his faith, he spent 14 years in prison, including three in solitary confinement, enduring torture for preaching Christ. Released in 1964 after a $10,000 ransom paid by Norwegian Christians, he and his wife, Sabina, who was also imprisoned, emigrated to the U.S. in 1966. In 1967, they founded Voice of the Martyrs (originally Jesus to the Communist World), advocating for persecuted Christians worldwide. Wurmbrand authored 18 books, including Tortured for Christ (1967), In God’s Underground (1968), and The Overcomers (1998), detailing his experiences and faith. A powerful speaker, he testified before the U.S. Senate, baring scars to highlight persecution. Married to Sabina from 1936 until her death in 2000, they had one son, Mihai, and he died on February 17, 2001, in Torrance, California. Wurmbrand said, “It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners, so it was understood that whoever was caught doing it got beaten—but we preached anyway.”
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Sermon Summary
This sermon emphasizes the power of the spirit over the body, illustrated through the story of Victor Bilysh who endured 24 years in Soviet prisons, facing extreme conditions and isolation. Despite unimaginable suffering, his faith and resilience were evident as he found ways to endure and even bring light to others in the darkest of circumstances. The sermon also touches on the theme of forgiveness and redemption through belief in Jesus, highlighting the transformative power of faith and repentance.
Sermon Transcription
When we can't build the CSAR, we can't build the rules of something. And he could say about 22 years in jail, in such conditions, a lot of friction, which is good for a moment. That is the power of the spirit, over the body. There was his brother, Victor Bilysh, he was in jail in the Soviet Union, 24 years. They kept him 20 years in long-distance, 20 years in long-distance, never seeing his family, never hearing from them, no letter, no correspondence with anybody, no Bible, no hearing a letter in prison, in the radio, in the television, everything. He had nothing, 4 walls, nobody to talk to, nothing, nothing, nothing. 20 years. 7 hours a day, beginning in the trance, in which he could lie down for 7 hours, that's easy. Then the trance was taken away, in the other 17 hours, he was not allowed to lie down a little bit on the concrete at least, he was not allowed to sit on the concrete, he was not allowed to stand on the concrete, but that was the only thing he could do. 17 hours a day he had to walk around his cell, manage. Just like that. And they looked through all the doors, they looked, and if he stopped walking, they came over and beat him, 17 hours a day he had to walk like this, continually. And this lasted 20 years. 20 years. And after 20 years, they sent him to Siberia, where the Reichsleber met in the north of Siberia, the first leber. And the Reichsleber knew that after all this suffering, in this solitary cell, how could you bear this, the first leber, and the cold, the terrible cold there, and they didn't see him, he replied. He said, Brother, if you would, if you would learn to speak, sing, everything has been seen. You can cook. Now, the life is going to be safe, only the life is going to be safe, that's not good. And you don't like this soup. You don't. Take away this soup, it's not good. You can sing a song. When the Lord arrived, all was changed quickly, but he was the best cook. Sometimes, it was still good, but not like another time. But then, we could sing it. We sang it. And the Chinese also sang it. About 24 years later. Of course, they were Christians, just like us. Christians, just like us. And the first leber was in Siberia. And they asked him, how could you bear all the cold there? He began to sing. With the flames of fire, with Jesus lighted in my heart, I made the snow of Siberia to melt. It is the same. And with so many American horses, that's ice in those horses, because they also have work. But who should they bring with them? There's ice. The husband enters into the home without a snow. And she receives him without a smile. Why? When you smile, four muscles of your face can be measured. Your ass was angry. 42 muscles. There are no Americans that spend $42, or nothing can buy this $4. And why do you smile? If I see these Christians, after 24 years of living, after 22 years of living, they smile and they sing. There are others who rejoice as much ice as in Siberia. They don't smile to each other. They don't sing together. They don't kiss. The lips, it's much better when a lip kisses than when a lip bleeds. They kiss. It's better for you. It's better for you. And there exists this victory over the world, victory of the reputation, that these Christians were overcomers. And we should not stop only on the world level of abortion. We need very much to fight for this problem. But you can not just go, you can not go with me. The life of your husband I have, or the life of your wife, without abortion. And you can be with your children, or with your parents, so many other things there. But that's not the problem. That's one thing. There are many some who commit, again and again, this kind of an act of abortion. When I was a very young pastor, I did not know anybody. I did not know anybody. And the lady who was in the church upstairs, my mother was a young Catholic priest, I told her about you, and she said, I'm very interested to know this pastor. And she invited him to come to me. I came in. He was a Jew. And he was a Jew. And he said, let me ask you something. He said to me, this is a very important thing I would like to know. He said to me, he says that if you believe in Jesus, all your sins are washed away just as if they were never in you. I said, not at all. Not at all. Not only that they are washed away, it is written right there, chapter 1, verse 18, if your sins, if your sins, would be rediscovered, not the sins, the sins will become white as snow. The sins will become something else. Everything can be cleansed. Everything can be forgiven. You believe in Jesus, and be baptized in his name. He said, how much money does it cost? I said, it does not cost you anything. Nothing. You just have to repent of your sins, to express this and that, and then you can be washed. And then, it is the moment of you, you to continue in your sins. He said, this I can't, because I am an amorphous. And this is my income, it is a big income. I can give for the church, as much money as I like, but I can't give up making abortions. So, such men, have to be pitted. I don't agree, if they are called on the telephone, and called Mr. Bates, Mr. Bates, Mr. Heber, that do not help them to come to salvation, to scorn him. We have learned to treat the coming torture as if not. And I will tell you, just a lot of money for these tortures. A girl, a lady, Anne Marie, she was arrested for working in an underground printing press. In some instances, you had to have prints. Here you can enter by a Bible, by a revision, so you have to print secretly. And when they found you, they beat you, they tortured you, to find out, from where do you have paper, from where do you have ink, from where do you have the machine, and so on. And they said, which has given such secret printing presses there, but from where do you have it? And then, you are arrested, they must find out, who are the others with whom you work, that they might also beat you. And put you in jail. And, why should a torture like this, be a reference, he says, and so you feel, disturbed by the torture. First, listen to me. But I have to tell you, so many people even think, they deserve to be caught. Worship is torture, torture on thought. Not how to escape torture. Not how to escape beating. But how to move the torture, after a certain amount.
1992 Missions Conference Talk - Part 5
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Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001). Born on March 24, 1909, in Bucharest, Romania, to a Jewish family, Richard Wurmbrand converted to Christianity in 1938 after meeting a German carpenter, Christian Wolfkes, in a remote village. Initially an atheist and businessman, he became an ordained Lutheran pastor, ministering in Romania’s underground church under Nazi and Communist regimes. Arrested in 1948 by the Communist government for his faith, he spent 14 years in prison, including three in solitary confinement, enduring torture for preaching Christ. Released in 1964 after a $10,000 ransom paid by Norwegian Christians, he and his wife, Sabina, who was also imprisoned, emigrated to the U.S. in 1966. In 1967, they founded Voice of the Martyrs (originally Jesus to the Communist World), advocating for persecuted Christians worldwide. Wurmbrand authored 18 books, including Tortured for Christ (1967), In God’s Underground (1968), and The Overcomers (1998), detailing his experiences and faith. A powerful speaker, he testified before the U.S. Senate, baring scars to highlight persecution. Married to Sabina from 1936 until her death in 2000, they had one son, Mihai, and he died on February 17, 2001, in Torrance, California. Wurmbrand said, “It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners, so it was understood that whoever was caught doing it got beaten—but we preached anyway.”