In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of hearing the voice of Jesus and responding to his call. He encourages the audience to make a personal commitment to God and receive Jesus as their savior. The preacher acknowledges the challenges and problems in the world, but asserts that the ultimate answer lies in Christ. He also highlights the work of Mission England and urges the audience to actively participate in spreading the message of Jesus. The sermon concludes with a prayer for God's guidance and a reminder to be diligent in serving the Lord.

Good evening everybody and welcome to this first major Mission England meeting of the autumn program. For those who have been singing here for a little while, we apologise that we're a little late in getting underway. That is largely because we're late in coming up from the opening of the Christian Bookshop in Church Street and we're privileged that George Verver has been here to open that as well as to speak to us tonight. It's a tremendous joy to welcome you here George tonight and we look forward to what the Lord is going to say to us through you this evening. The text which is being adopted in this autumn in the tour of England which Cliff Barrows is making, Billy Graham's associate, comes from Psalm 108 and I would just like to read those few words at the beginning of our meeting tonight. It refers to what God is going to do in answer to our prayers. Verse 3 of Psalm 108, I will thank you O Lord among the nations and I will praise you among the peoples. And God is calling us, his people, to praise him among the peoples. Not just amongst our own fellowship where that's relatively easy but out there to give glory to God for what he's doing in our lives and let them hear that God is good. And then in verse 6, this prayer David makes, answer my prayer O Lord so that the people you love may be rescued. And if Mission England is about anything it's about expressing love, letting God's Holy Spirit flow through our lives that the world may see the love of God and that the people whom he loves may be rescued. With that thought in mind let us pray. Our Father tonight we are assembled in the name of Jesus and we glorify you for him. We thank you that we don't have to approach you with the sort of attitude which wonders whether you're there or not. We approach you in the confidence of Jesus for he came to show us what you're like and we thank you that in him we have seen your love. Tonight as we share together in worship and fellowship, as we experience your Holy Spirit flowing through us, we would ask that you Lord will come sweeping through our lives, that you will sweep away the dross which gets in the way, that you will straighten out the crooked ways that interfere with our lives and ministries for you and that tonight you will speak in a fresh and a clear way to everyone in this building. For each one of us Lord is desperate to hear your voice. We all need to know that leading of your Holy Spirit and I would ask that no one tonight may leave this place without knowing they've met with you. We ask this Father in the name of Jesus. Amen. Our opening hymn is number 49. Great is thy faithfulness. In the hymns of faith hymn book in your pews number 49. Great is thy faithfulness O God my Father and we can confidently turn to God and say he is great and he is faithful. We look at sometimes our human relationships and we find that they fail us and that people are faithless but he is great and his faithfulness is from everlasting to everlasting so we can stand, we can sing, we can rejoice and we can let him know that we agree that he is great. Great is thy faithfulness number 49. Great is thy faithfulness O God my Father and we can confidently turn to God and say he is great and he is faithful. Great is thy faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father and we can confidently turn to God and say he is great and he is faithful. Great is thy faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness O God my Father and we can confidently turn to God and say he is great and he is faithful. Great is thy faithfulness, mercy and love. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father and we can confidently turn to God and say he is great and he is faithful. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father and we can confidently turn to God and say he is great and he is faithful. Shortly, George Voe will be speaking to us. He's going to be recommending some books. He won't be recommending his own book. So could I please draw your attention to his latest book. I find it hard to actually say anything about it in front of him as I've not read it yet. I might say something that's not true, but his latest book is here on the bookshelf, bookstall at the back of the church. After you've heard him speak, I believe that you may want to take a little more of what God says through this man home to meditate upon. No Turning Back is his latest book. I'm just going to ask the music group now to lead us in just two songs before George Voe speaks to us. I'd like the first one to be seated still and know that I am God. It's number one on the sheet that you have, the yellow sheet. For as we come before the Lord, I think it's important that we are still before him and that we consciously ask him to quieten our minds. It's very easy to come into a meeting like this with all sorts of things going through our minds. And to carry on through the meeting still thinking about the things that are going on out there. It's very important that we now just prepare ourselves to listen to what God by his spirit is going to say to us through his servant. So could we just sing this quietly and deliberately? And I say deliberately, think about the words, be still and know that I am God, and we speak to our own souls as we sing it. Be still and know that I am God. I am the Lord, lucid and free. I am the Lord, lucid and free. Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. A personal prayer as well as a corporate prayer. Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. To reach out and touch him and say that we love him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen. Number 12. Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. To reach out and touch him and say that we love him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen. We want to see Jesus. We want to see Jesus. To reach out and touch him and say that we love him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen. Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. For many of you, George Verwer needs no introduction. For others, the work of Operation Mobilization may be new. The work of Send the Light, STL, Literature. The work of the ships Logos and Dulos, which literally sail the world taking literature into every port in the world. But that's the vision. It's amazing what God has done through a vision which he has blessed. I believe that we can all learn from the experiences of those whom God has blessed in this way. Not just learn by listening and enjoying, but by learning that God can do amazing things through perhaps unlikely material like you and me. And that if God gives us a vision, you never know what might happen if we set out for him to let it fulfill it through us. So we look forward, George, to what you have to say to us. And we trust the Lord to bless each one of us. For me, it was a lot easier when I first came to England 23 years ago. Nobody had ever heard of me. And when it was announced that I was going to speak, since people had never heard of me, they didn't expect anything much. So everything was uphill after that. You don't expect anything. But sometimes now, maybe not here, but in some places, because I've been around these 20-some years and people know about the ships and know about the work of O.M., they expect some great special message. Or I don't know what they expect sometimes. But if anything happens tonight, it will only be because God is here and that God is in our hearts. The Bible says God will share his glory with no man. I've seen some of the best Christians in my generation completely wiped out. Completely wiped out. Drunkards. Drug addicts. Thrown the whole thing. They don't talk about that much. The Bible does. I've just finished reading some things in the Bible along that line. And I think one of the reasons is that we puff people up. And I saw it in the press again today. My heart just ached as I read the news of James Watt, the Evangelical man, Secretary of the Environment in the United States government. And I noticed the last six months all the Evangelicals pushing him. Headline articles, pictures, boy, we've got an Evangelical, Secretary of the Environment. And just in the few slips of the lip last week at Nationwide, he said some things. And I tell you, his name is M-U-D with all caps. And he will probably have to resign. And it's just once again as Watergate dragged the Evangelical cause down in our country. And I just think it's so important as we go into this Mission England that we realize how feeble we are. We're destined to fail. Within every one of us is the seed of our own destruction. And that somehow each day we'll seek to give the glory to God. We'll realize that Billy Graham and Luis Palau and Cliff Barrows or the greatest musicians we can bring, we fly them in from the ends of the earth. That if we don't see God move in all this, in our own personal lives, a lot of it can be wood, hay and stubble. And I come in really in fear and trembling at this meeting tonight just that I would not interfere with what the Lord wants to say. And how we need to pray for one another. How we need to pray for one another and how we need to pray for any Christian who gets into position. Whether it's within the church, he may become a bishop or within government. The Christians were all raving for the last year about the, we've got a president in Guatemala, he's an Evangelical, you know, every newspaper you pick up. And of course, boom, overnight he's gone. The coup, now they say that they're going to take it out on the local churches in Guatemala. This is a great burden, that God would get all the glory in Mission England. I was thinking I should have a title because I saw all these people with these tape recorders outside. They always like titles. And I thought of the title, Mission England, Ritual or Reality? Mission England, Ritual or Reality? I'd like you to turn with me in your Bibles, perhaps as you're doing that I could mention that we have a little special bookstall. What a joy to be here involved in the opening of a Christian bookshop. This is one of the last cities in the British Isles to finally get a proper Christian bookshop. It's quite amazing because I've always thought of Lancashire people as very progressive people. Our whole ship vision was born in Lancashire in a converted pub in Bolton about 18 years ago. It took six years before we ever got the first ship. But the vision was born in a bookshop in Bolton, Lancashire. I met some Boltonians who have moved up here. I don't know why anyone would come up here from such a lovely place as Bolton. And certainly one of the very good places for immigrant work. And praise the Lord we've moved our bookshop around the corner. But there's just five books I'd like to mention. One is Ralph Shallis' book, From Now On, a book on provisions for spiritual growth. And it's a book that really should be used right in the center of Mission England strategy. I noticed in the bookshop this afternoon a lot of books by A.W. Tozer. How many of you have read something by A.W. Tozer? Raise your hand. Wow, that's encouraging. I think you read more here in the north than in the south. I think they mainly watch television. Perhaps television hasn't come up here yet. But I noticed Kentucky Fried Chicken certainly did arrive. There's a book about that man, by the way. Strike the Original Match is a book I'm reading right now on marriage. I'm supposed to be coming into the midlife crisis now that I'm in the 40s. And in the midlife crisis, you know, your marriage is liable to fall apart. Mine's actually getting better. But I found this a great encouragement. It's called Rekindling and Preserving Your Marriage Fire. How many of you are married? Raise your hand. Married. Boy, this is a big thing up here too. So I'm sure you'll get an encouragement out of that book. I mentioned already today, perhaps my favorite book in the English language, Spiritual Depression, Its Cause and Cure. I've been listening to some tapes by the author of this book, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. There's 175,000 copies of this book in print. He was speaking back in 1959 on revival. And it's been a blessing in my own heart. So before you go, just get at least one of these books and read it. Because it could be a great preparation. Great preparation for the days and months to come. Now I'd like you to turn to Acts 20. Acts 20. I've just been at the OM month-long conference. Most of the message is through interpretation. And the last five days I've been in Germany, all the message is through interpretation. So I feel a little bit lonely up here. I thought of asking Alan Redpath to come and just stand next to me. And he wouldn't have to interpret. Though I remember once, the first time I came up to this part of the country, I was actually in the train station, I think here in... No, I think it was in Karnforth. And there were some men talking in the station. And I didn't recognize what language it was that they were speaking. I found out later it was a form of English. Which was quite amazing. But I hope you're all able to understand my accent. Though I've been over here 23 years. A lot of that time I've been out in India, other parts of Europe. And I never have learned proper English. But I hope most of you can understand. Acts 20 to me is one of the most exciting chapters in the whole Bible. I go to it again and again. And it's a great chapter to stir our hearts. When we're launching into a mission or a time of spiritual emphasis and renewal. It's difficult to know where to start. I don't think I'll read the whole chapter. But maybe we could start at verse 17. From Elias he sent to Ephesus. And called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him he said to them. You know from the first day that I've come to Asia. In what manner I always lived among you. Notice, I always lived among you. Serving the Lord with all humility. With many tears and trials. Which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. And how I kept back nothing that was helpful. But proclaimed it to you. And taught you publicly. And from house to house. Tonight's a public meeting. We hope it will lead to many house to house meetings. It's practical isn't it? Testifying to the Jews. And also to the Greeks. Repentance towards God. And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem. Not knowing the things that will happen to me there. Except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city. Saying that chains and tribulation await me. Imagine that kind of publicity for a local evangelistic campaign. But none of these things move me. As a young Christian I took this as my life verse. I'm not sure if it's scriptural anymore to have life verses. But I was too young to know. I read the whole book of Acts in one night. And I took this verse. But none of these things move me. Nor do I count my life dear to myself. That I may finish my race with joy. And the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus. To testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed now I know. That you among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God. Will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day. That I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you. The whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves. And to all the flock. Among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. To shepherd the church of God. Which is purchased with his own blood. For I know this. That after my departure. Savage wolves will come in among you. Not sparing the flock. Also from among you. Or among yourselves. Men will rise up speaking perverse things. To draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember. That for three years. I cease not to warn everyone. Night and day with tears. And now brethren. I commend you to God. And to the word of his grace. Which is able to build you up. And to give you an inheritance. Among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver. Or gold. Or clothing. Yes you yourselves. Know that these hands have provided for my necessities. And for those who are with me. I have shown you. And in every way. By laboring like this. That you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus. That he said. It is more blessed to give. Than to receive. When he had said these things. He knelt down and prayed for them all. Then they all wept freely. And fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. Sorrowing most of all. For the words which he spoke. That they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him. To the ship. Let's just pray again. Oh Lord. This is your word. This is so strong. So strong. Lord. Even as I've read it. My own heart has been convicted. Several areas where. I need to just refocus. I need to be more. More motivated. Oh Lord. You know my heart. I don't want to be a drifter. I don't want to be a settler. Lord stir us tonight. As we continue to prepare. For this ongoing thrust. To reach a whole nation. And yea we believe. Ultimately a whole world. With your gospel. Lord I pray. Don't let any little. Funny way that I try to communicate. Hinder with what you want to say. Open our hearts Lord. We listen to you. Through Jesus Christ. Amen. I think a great text book. In preparation for Mission England. Is the book of Acts. And I really seriously. Commend it to you. Maybe you want to read it. In a new translation. But it's an exciting book. It's an exciting book. There are many things. I would love to say. From this chapter. I would love to expound. Verse by verse. But we don't have the time. For that this evening. So I want to just. Go back to it. I want it to be a foundation. As we think about what's ahead. In this mission. I had the joy of. Speaking in Aberdeen. In preparation for the Luis Palau meetings. When that dear brother. Was first getting started in this country. And I had the privilege of. Preaching also in preparation. For the mission to Motherwell in Glasgow. For Luis Palau. And over the years somehow. The Lord has given me the privilege. Of going ahead. Of some of these special events. And just sort of helping. To prepare the way. I hope you're not disappointed that. Billy Graham is not coming to Lancashire. Let me assure you of something greater. That's already happened. In Lancashire. And that's the reality. In the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In every believer. I wonder if you knew that. Some of you may not be believers. And I find it always refreshing. To speak to a good. Stimulating agnostic. Or an atheist. God years ago called me to be. I don't even use the word call. But led me to be an evangelist. And I'm just a mini evangelist. But I'm certainly thrilled. That I have that privilege. And there may be someone here tonight. You don't know the Lord Jesus. You don't even know what. Mission England is about. Maybe you just somehow arrived. You thought this was the Rotary Club. Or the old folks gathering or something. But let me just say that. When I was just about to go off to university. I didn't understand any of this. I wasn't from a Christian home. The word mission I wouldn't have understood. The word evangelist I wouldn't have understood. All these different terms Christians use. Sanctification. Renewal. Regeneration. Eschatology. Hermeneutics. I mean. You know. This is a whole separate world. My world was women. Night clubs. The dance floor. Fun. Money. Cars. Quite normal. I was no big time sinner. No. I don't have any mafia testimony. But the Bible says. He that commits sin becomes a slave to sin. And maybe you haven't murdered anybody. Maybe you feel that you're quite a good. Upstanding. Maybe even outstanding citizen. And certainly Mission England isn't for you. A great preacher once said. Everybody is either a missionary. Or a mission field. And probably as God looks down upon this meeting. We see all kinds of people. From here. It's always good to preach. You get a good overview. You see all kinds of faces. Happy ones. And sad ones. And all kinds of hair. Some don't have too much hair. And. But when God looks down. He sees in a different way. And I believe as God looks at this meeting. He sees those that are on the broad road. And those that are on the narrow road. That's not my idea. But it says. In the Gospel. The Gospel of Matthew. Narrow is the way. Speaking of the way to heaven. Narrow is the way. Few there be that find it. Broad is the way. You know it's amazing how God blesses the preaching of the Gospel. A few months ago I was in Poland. I gave the most simple little Gospel message. I think it's the same one I've been preaching since I was converted. The broad road. The narrow road. And it just explained very simply. No big emotional thing. It was in a tent. It wasn't a very good atmosphere there in Poland. And just gave the message of salvation. That salvation is through Jesus Christ. And that we can know forgiveness of sin. That we can have our life turned around by God. The Holy Spirit will indwell us. As many as receive him. John chapter 1 verse 12. To them he gives power to become the sons of God. To my amazement at the end of the meeting. Six people trusted Christ as their savior. That was in a tent. Two days later I was in another city in Poland. It was a church. It was actually just like this. Except it was just packed. I tell you if there's any country that's ripe right now for evangelism. It's Poland. And it was a Sunday morning meeting. It was going about two, two and a half hours. And I was just planning to give a bit of a challenge. And the local pastor came up and said. We want you to give an invitation. I thought he was going to break my arm. He said we, you know, a lot of people here. Different backgrounds. Different churches. Some of them don't know Christ personally. Lo and behold. It wasn't a great message. At the end of the meeting 60 people stood up. To profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know some of them were converted. God wants to work in your life tonight. And it could be that this might be your spiritual birthday. Do you celebrate birthdays? Mine's July 3rd. And my mother's I think is July 5th. My wife's June 2nd. I just got a diary out of the bookshop. Actually he gave it to me as a gift. I really feel it's worth coming up here to get this diary. But God's people are getting more and more generous. And I've already written here. I've already written here. June 2nd. That's my wife's birthday. But if tonight you put your faith in Christ. That He died on the cross for you. And you believe on Him. Not just about Him. You believe on Him. Then this will be your spiritual birthday. And if you don't understand what that's about. Because I want to move on and talk about some other things. There'll be people available here at the end of the meeting. You can just talk to them. And they can explain how you can be sure. It's not God's plan that people are not sure of their eternal destiny. The first person I ever knew from this part of the country. Was a young man named Keith Beckwith. Who became the first leader of OM in the British Isles. And never did we dream when he went on a little trip to Poland. Around 1965. That he would never return. Just a young man from Carlisle. Some of you may know his father. Well, Keith knew the Lord. So when he was killed. You know. It's straight to heaven. It's a tremendous hope. You know. One of the things that happens as you get older. Is you start going to more and more funerals. Yeah. And in my life the past year. The number of close friends. They're gone. They're gone. It's amazing. And I think so often. Death is the real test. Isn't it? When a close loved one dies. Boy. I tell you. Everything we've been preaching about. Gets tested. We really believe in heaven. Let me just tell you briefly my own story. Because I think it will encourage you in this mission. Because I was converted. Because some Christians decided to do something. I've been so grieved at times. As I've read all the criticisms. Over the past 15 years. Of Billy Graham. And of big missions. We got some very interesting Christian magazines in this country. And of course they have all kinds of people writing for them. I don't have anything against them. But I am so happy. That finally they got this thing off the ground. I felt a few years ago. When I thought of the situation. Here in Britain. That it was like going to an airport. And watching airplanes. Taxiing up and down the runway. All kinds of planes. Going down the runway. Putting on their brakes. Turning around. Rushing down to the end of the runway. And coming together. Pilots coming out. Having discussions back in the plane. Up and down the runway. And I thank the Lord. I sense. That through Mission England. The plane. The aircraft. Is getting off the runway. Something is happening. Not that. There has ever been a period. Where God has not been working in Britain. Because he has been working. And there's a lot of things God is doing. That never get written up in the Gospel Gazette. But it's good. That there is now. This united effort. And we know. This is not the total answer. What is the total answer? Maybe you could tell me. I've only been studying theology. In the Bible for 30 years. I admit. I'm still a novice. In many areas. Maybe you could tell me. What the total answer is. To life. And to the situation. In the world today. Where there are over 30 wars. Being fought. Right now. Killing. Bloodshed. Murder. Horror. That would just. If we were there. Seeing it. We probably. Some of us. Would have immediate nervous breakdowns. Because we are very. Insulated. And very. Isolated. In this country. There's no. One. Total answer. To the dilemma. Of modern society. Other than. Christ. Our Lord. And I believe. That Mission England. Is part of the answer. And I pray. That you're enthusiastic about it. I pray. That you will not be. In the grandstands. Like everybody at Wimbledon. Watching. Two people. Sweating it out. For four hours. Banging a little ball. Back and forth. Across the net. Putting more commitment. More zeal. Into that four hours. Than the average Christian. Puts into four years. In his effort. To witness. For the Lord Jesus. And perhaps. It's because. So often. As Christians. We're like all the people. At Wimbledon. We're watching. Some haven't even got enough strength. To go over to Wimbledon. Or they don't have enough money. They just sit. And watch on television. Hours and hours. Watching. This thing go on. Television. Hitting this little ball. Back and forth. Across the net. Or maybe they're watching. Other people. Hitting a little white ball. Around. The golf course. For seven. Eight hours. Or cricket. World's longest game. Days. Weeks. I don't know. I've never understood it. Now. Don't think I'm anti-tennis. Anti-cricket. Or anti-sports. Because I'm not. But it does. Challenge my heart. That sports. And the sportsmen seem to put more into their missions. Than Christians into theirs. And my own view. Right now. My own survey. At Mission England. Is that a lot of people. Are just sort of playing around. And a small number. Are doing. All the work. Now maybe I'm wrong. I don't know anything about it up here. I'm from the south. But. So often in the church. A few. Are playing around. Doing so much work. And sometimes. Too much. And some men. Are away from their homes. Too many evenings. And their wives feel it. And their families feel it. And some of those families. Eventually crack. And this is a result. Often. Of a few people. Doing so much. Why a majority. Remains. In the grandstands. I pray that'll not happen. I got into the kingdom. Because a little. Elderly lady. She wasn't really so old. Then prayed for me. She heard about my bad reputation. And my trouble with the police. And my trouble in the school. And so she prayed for me. She prayed for me. For three years. Every year I got worse. And she would not be discouraged. And she sent me a gospel of John. Through the post. You ever heard of the pocket testament league? It's a great missionary movement. This is one of their gospels. She sent it to me. Through the post. And I started to read. This little gospel. In the midst of all my other literature. Including my pornography. I was reading the gospel of John. And I hope that you realize. A vital part. of mission England. Is the distribution. Of Christian literature. They got. Published now in Britain. The most sophisticated. Expensive gospels of John. I've ever seen. In all my history. Of scripture distribution. There's a lot of tools. And they're being sold. At subsidized prices. Don't underestimate. What God can do. Through a piece of Christian literature. Some of you heard. One of my favorite stories. About this man. Who was banging on doors. Giving out tracts. And no one came to this one door. But he heard somebody. He kept banging. The man finally came. Took the tracts. Two weeks later. The man went back to that house. And welcomed him in. Took him upstairs. There was a little box. And a noose. Hanging above the box. And he said. When you knocked on my door. I was going to commit suicide. And you kept ringing. And knocking. Curiosity got me. I got down off the box. I went. I got that tract. And instead of committing suicide. I knelt here. Next to this box. And I gave my life. To Jesus Christ. That's a true story. And I can tell you. A hundred others. Similar to it. God can use. Even a gospel of John. A gospel tract. A word of encouragement. A word of witness. That's what happened in my life. Some other people. Invited me to a meeting. An evangelistic meeting. And the speaker. Just happened to be Billy Graham. I didn't even know. What an evangelist was. And among my circle of friends. These types. You know. Billy Graham. They're all religious fanatics. And. Hypnotists. In fact. I brought my binoculars. I got away. In Madison Square Garden. As far as I could. There were 20,000 in the meeting. I think George Beverly Shea was there. I was watching. And I heard. A simple. Message of the gospel. That Jesus Christ. Loved me. God so loved the world. He gave. His only begotten son. That's what Mission England. Is all about. To declare the love of God. To tell people. Somebody cares. Somebody loves them. Though they may be. Suffering from cancer. Though their home. May already be broken. Though their children. May be in prison. God loves them. Our message. Is a message of love. The love of God. We acknowledge. As Christians. That often we fail. In our love. The church. Is not some kind of. Special club. For super saints. It's a clinic. For sinners. In our witness. We want to be honest. To people. We don't want to pretend. We have all of our act. Together. We don't want to pretend. We're the most loving. Dynamic. Humble. People. That have ever walked. The streets of England. Let's. Humbly. Acknowledge. That often as Christians. In Britain. Our testimony. Has been weak. And we have failed. And sometimes. Even. Unconverted people. Put us to shame. But that won't get them to heaven. Only. What Christ. Has done. On the cross. Will get anybody. To heaven. It's justification. By faith. It's a mystery. We don't understand it. My father's an electrician. He told me the other day. He still doesn't understand. Electricity. He's been working with it. For 50. 60 years. And if Billy Graham comes. He'll probably use the same old illustration. He's been using. For 25 or 30 years. How does the brown cow. Eat green grass. And give it white milk. And if we can't understand that. Then. Maybe we shouldn't be too depressed. If there's some things. In God's. Eternal purposes. When we consider the universe. The atoms. And all that there is. There may be something. That we don't. Fully. Understand. I understand less. Now. Than I did perhaps. When I graduated. From. Bible college. But I still know. That Christ. Has saved me. Anyway. I'm sure you guessed it. I went to the meeting. I heard this message. And this challenge. To do something. To trust Christ. And I. Took that step of faith. In fear and trembling. And God. Invaded. My life. It's not. Just. An emotional experience. It's not. You know. An emotional. We've read the psychology books. As well. You know. The young fellow. With the guilt. Feelings. And he hears this. Forgiveness message. And he gets relief. From his guilt feelings. Just because. The psychologist. Or the unconverted. Psychiatrist. Puts labels. On something. Doesn't mean. That that something. Is not valid. And praise God. For the tremendous number. Today. Literally thousands. Of Christian. Psychologists. And psychiatrists. If you want to read the writings. Of one of them. Just try a few of those. John White books. Parents in pain. Eros defiled. And a few other books. Yes. I went back to my home. That night. A new person. That doesn't mean. The way was easy. It wasn't easy. I had to go back. To my school. Where I was known. I'd been blacklisted. By the teachers. For bad conduct. And I had to try. By God's grace. To live this life. And God. Spoke to me. So changed my life. That even the unconverted teachers. Had a meeting. And took my name. Off the blacklist. Just before I graduated. From that. Secondary school. Not that I was perfect. Because I wasn't. I've had many struggles. Many failures. But I've learned. The wonderful reality. Of first John. Chapter. Two. Where it tells us. That first of all. We should sin not. Do you know that verse? It's one of my favorites. First John two. These things I write to you. So that you may not sin. That's my first goal. Every day. Holiness. And if anyone sins. We have an advocate. A lawyer. With a father. Jesus Christ. The righteous. So we come to Christ. We're justified. By faith. By his mercy. By his grace. And then we're on. That narrow road. But as we go forward. In that narrow road. There's still temptations. There's still difficulties. Our goal is holiness. Our goal is to be. What God wants us to be. To live out the sermon on the mount. To live out first Corinthians thirteen. All about love. I think it's another one of my favorite chapters. When we fail. When we sin. We have a lawyer. We have an advocate. With a father. Let me just share. A few thoughts. I have. About how we can best prepare. For this mission. To make sure. That this is not just. A ritual. See. The church. Has. Has. Some churches. Call them festivals. Other churches. Just have them. And we. We go through cycles. And. There's a danger. That we're now. In the evangelism cycle. I remember. When they first announced this. Back in nineteen seventy nine. Somebody said. Nineteen. Eighty. And the eighties. That's gonna be a decade of evangelism. I thought. Oh. That's nice. I thought. All the decades. Since Pentecost. Were decades of evangelism. But anyway. My gosh. Because. And he gets that. This that. Caused predictable bad things. Yea. And. Because that is reality therapy and if you're if your marriage isn't what what it should be not not talking about perfection That's the most important thing you can do for mission England get your own house in order You're not gonna get John's house in order down the road. You haven't got your own house in order That doesn't mean you have to have a totally fulfilled marriage It's a totally fulfilled home and all your children lined up to be evangelists or Bible teachers But it means is reality in the home. There's a degree of love. There's a degree of peace as a father and a husband you're you're providing the leadership that your home needs and Jesus is somehow in the center. And if that's not so maybe you ought to pick up this little book strike the original match And I tell you there's no way to read that without some repents And if it wasn't for repentance The devil would have destroyed my marriage because I tell you some people might rate me as being able to preach but I'm sure not a good husband and My experience is that a lot of preachers are First-class flunkies as husband Even my friend a W Tozer had a bit of difficulty in that area and was humble enough to admit it So mission England if it's gonna be reality not ritual. It's got to start in the home mission family altar Mission perhaps more time with the children mission kitchen Because there's such a danger today that we separate the the sacred sacred from the secular And when we come into the church and we realize you know We get a lot of music now in the church is tremendous music groups and we come into the church and there's nice music and Pretty soon, you know, we all feel wonderful and we raise our hands You know, there's all types of the church some put them in their pockets. I'm raising I Like to do whatever the minority is doing if they all have them in the air. I put them in the pockets Rebellion but the Lord the Lord will deal with it But it's one thing it's one thing to to come into the church and sort of sense the Lord and and after the meeting we Say, oh, isn't it a wonderful meeting and didn't the Lord minister to me? I was in these meetings in Germany They had this trio these three Terrific singers. I mean they could they sang so well the unsaved would praise the Lord and They gave me a cassette tape. I've listened to it six times. I even listened to it on the train You know, it's amazing things that happen. I used to preach against stereos You know 15 years ago. I was challenging young people to forsake their stereos. It was hundreds of pounds. I Bought a stereo today. They don't want to give away to a friend stereo It was 14 pound 99 with the earphones 14 pound it had a scratch on the back and so he dropped it two pounds 12 pound 99 for a stereo and I was listening to this on the train these these music singers that I just met over in Germany But it's another thing to be back in the home. Things are going wrong We thought we had our dog trained to do his I Resisted having a dog all my life when my daughter was 18 and She broke up with his boyfriend. She said she wanted a dog. I figured that was better So I let her get this dog We just got to the point. We thought this dog is really chained trained and this morning My son goes in of all places into the loo and there it is on the carpet and this half sleeping son That was this morning and Life, I don't know what it is here But life is filled with these nitty-gritty things and some of them aren't so pleasant like the time We got home from a huge trip to the Middle East God protecting us through Saudi Arabia through Syria all kinds of problems And we just drive in the West Wickham and a drunken policeman off-duty almost head-on collision with our car Fortunately, he missed us and went into a tree That's the truth He wasn't hurt We get home and I haven't got time to give the details But basically we ended up having the only loo we have in the house Completely clogged as we have a chemical toilet in the little motor caravan tried to empty it and it's completely clogged I want to tell you the story, but the O.M. Plumbers moved in The egg, you know the whole toilet completely broken running down the halls. I Don't know. Do you have any of these things in your house? What am I trying to say I'm trying to say that there must be an invasion of our practical life of our homes of our driving Billy Graham says to highway safety is a Spiritual problem a man can be an angel behind the pulpit and the devil behind the wheel and people are being killed every day on the highways of the world because people don't have an amalgamation of the spiritual and the practical and Our hearts are aching especially we Americans Because right now in America divorce among pastors and Christian leaders is an epidemic out of Control and it's jumped the Atlantic and it's happening here Will this be a Mission in which we all get more exhausted and we all do a lot of things and we all go to a lot of meetings And and yet somehow in the process of it our homes fall apart our hearts become become empty We become more irritated with each other because there's more and more pressure put on a few people to do so much Because the fact is you and I know That the number of really committed dedicated people here in Britain is a remnant. It's a remnant And we're trying to carry on this huge effort With all that's needed with a remnant of committed people and a high percentage of Christians are still spectators They're watching Some even skeptically, you know, there's something in the heart of man If that man's heart is not controlled by the Holy Spirit that actually enjoys seeing someone fail especially if that someone is someone they don't particularly like or they disagreed with or is not of the same theological persuasion and There's some people sitting back Sort of they wouldn't say it openly sort of saying well, we'll wait and see and So quickly people can generalize about mass evangelism and even quicker about Billy Graham Or about some other aspect of the ministry It's so easy for us when we're not controlled by the Spirit We're not really living a crucified life to be so cynical and to be so critical and to to find the negatives You know, you don't need to be intelligent to find negative things I dare to say with my battle with cynicism and negativism that if I live with you even 24 hours I could give you a little bit of a list It's no big thing to see negative things You know, I thank God my wife has seen my negatives She's seen me sin she's seen me open my fat mouth and say things that you wouldn't want to see a donkey say and yet all these years she Has had that unbelievable Ability to affirm and to encourage Doesn't mean she's perfect and I don't want to give the wrong idea because she wouldn't want that But I think it's so it's so beautiful that when there's love We sort of try to be positive if you love someone and somebody starts criticizing Don't you generally come to their defense just a little bit and if we love one another We'll not let the enemy divide us will not let the enemy even use the most clever argument of Perhaps an unconverted person who has a gift to to reduce the Christians or at least make them look silly But we won't allow that to divide us The thing that will make the difference as to whether this mission is ritual or reality is love love Jesus said in this they will know you you are my disciples because you love one another. I Want this message at least to be somewhat practical Though I realize you can't separate the two But let me just throw this out as something you might pray through. I Feel the greatest evangelistic method in Britain today is to Show someone an act of love Now that may sound strange coming from George Furwer Because people who maybe only know a little about operation mobilizations tend and we understand that to think it's just some kind of giant Evangelistic ministry even a Christian leader who I thought would have known better thought that our track our ships mainly went around giving out tracks That would certainly be a rather expensive form of track distribution I can show you actually there are 20 Major ministries based on the ships one of them is by the way in Edinburgh right now in case you have nothing to do this weekend but It's it's OM would never have gone on these 25 years if it was just literature even 350 million pieces Which is about what we've distributed? No That isn't where it is. We use literature. We believe in literature, but the key is life It's you It's me. It's Christ working through us. It's it's that unconverted skeptical agnostic neighbor See you reach out to help someone maybe 12 o'clock at night when it's raining and no one feels like helping anybody at that time and I feel very strongly that unless this mission with its many meetings and its many Activities is accompanied by acts of love and charity good deeds to use an old-fashioned 18th century word or wherever it came from There are a lot of lonely people that need to be visited not just to give them a gospel But maybe to help them maybe to offer to drive him to the hospital the next time they have a heart attack There are prisons that need to be visited There are so many needs even in this country We believe in evangelizing immigrants and have a special work called friends from abroad to reach out to the immigrants of Britain But you know, this is fruitless work if we don't show more love to these people If we as Christians are found with the same prejudices of the world making the same Generalizations as the world about people whether they're Pakistani or French Then we can put all of our literature back in our pockets in our evangelistic Crusades If we're not careful become only one more extension of the self-life Trying to get away from our guilt complexes trying to prove ourselves But somehow failing to come up with the real ingredient love love and There's more verses on love in the New Testament than there are verses encouraging us to witness That was a hard one for me when I was a student Because I want to tell you if you bumped into me and you didn't witness we had a little chat And I had to repent Again, and again because I was strong on zeal and strong on witness and weak on love Sensitivity charity forbearance long-suffering and as I went through the Bible, especially once after Terribly offending a young Mexican when I was working in Mexico as a student I decided to go through my whole New Testament on the subject of patience Guess what? I discovered is more about patience than there is about evangelism. I Believe that evangelism is a spontaneous outflow of a life that's in tune with God. It's not a crusade. It's not a campaign It's not something we wind up through having counselor classes and wind down through gossip and backbiting of the evangelists after they leave And we all can focus in on the negative aspects and that happened the last time Billy came No Evangelism is is the spontaneous Outflow of a life in tune with God and there's love and there's the fruit of the Spirit and this forgiveness and this joy And it's it's real in the kitchen. It's real in the car It's real in the factory in the office. It's real even under pressure when we are tired at the end of the day and people are Irritating us and we want to because we do most of us have a hostility factor somehow attack back And at the moment of attack, there's the cross. There's Jesus forgiving cleansing renewing there's reality God working through us God's grace God's love God's forgiveness. I know it seems like a Impossible challenge doesn't it for us humans with our struggles and our failures But it's not impossible Because as it says in that verse in John the first part is sin Not the second part is if you sin you have an advocate with a father I've had to go to unconverted people and apologize If you haven't apologized to any unconverted person for anything in the last year I would doubt your involvement in this world I would say you probably have escaped to some kind of Christian ghetto and Psychologically at least pull the blinds down because you can't get involved out with people Unconverted people without eventually saying something wrong or doing something wrong or missing some God-given opportunity or hurting someone And so then you got to go to apologize. I We we as Christians also often have so many convictions And we actually get more uptight at times than unconverted people We have so many convictions about every little detail There was a while in the church where people even told you where your hair had to be cut in order to be in the in group It's unbelievable. And you know Convictions you probably have strong convictions I'm not against strong convictions But convictions without love lead to bitterness and I fear that five years from now when the mission is all over If we're not careful, I'll just be more bitter people Because their expectations weren't reached or because they were hurt in the process of carrying out Their campaign or their vision my beloved brethren I don't want to tarry much longer, but you can't get involved with God without getting hurt You can't get involved with God's people without being hurt. We are committed community We are a compassionate computer community and we are a invading community and we're gonna get hurt We're gonna get hurt But in the midst of the hurt when things are going wrong When our dreams sort of crash to the ground God is still real forgiving accepting loving ministry This to me is so exciting Your house is a mission station for Jesus Your car is an evangelistic base for Jesus And I could give you dozens and dozens of stories from every kind of person To prove that it's true and it can be true Mission England Ritual or reality The decision will be yours not just this year But each day for the rest of your life No commitment we can make tonight Will be a substitute for the daily commitment As daily we deny self take up the cross and follow the Lord Let's pray Lord Jesus, you know each one of us You know that we can easily Withdraw into the into the grandstands and be or try to be spectator Christians Oh God forgive us Forgive us that we may by faith get into the action In the office of the home in the church Not just in the spectacular but the routine Not just in the things that people will notice but the things that go unnoticed Not just in the front lines or the need is very great there But also behind the scenes realizing that even a cup of cold water given in your name will not go without a reward what a mystery that is and That through this mission our homes will not be devastated but renewed Through this mission our churches will not be drained but strengthened And that we will be the spirit-filled men and women you want us to be Not just for this year, but the rest of our lives Grant this we pray And we pray in faith in Jesus name I'd like to just say one thing before we have a closing hymn and there will be people that I'm willing to counsel anyone at the end of the meeting I've I had another message on my heart and I haven't shared It's sort of entitled mission England the door to mission world Maybe that'll have to come at the end But let's remember please in the midst of this great campaign in England That Many nations nations. I've just come I've been to about 25 nations in the last 12 months Including Russia and Pakistan and Nepal and the Gulf States Many of these nations have less than one 1,000th of the witness that we have here. Can you imagine such a place? You know, we feel at times in London It's really bad, but I noticed 600 churches are cooperating Should be more In the Louise Plow and mission London and we're involved in that. Can you imagine countries with one one thousandth of the witness? Take the Kurdish people 25 million Kurds. You ever heard of them 25 million in Iraq and Iran 100,000 Soviet Union also some in Turkey They have hardly any churches almost no missionaries and almost no literature 25 million all the Kurdish believers in the world could probably sit in this church 25 million Now that's another message. I can't give it to you, but I hope and I would ask you to pray That mission England would lead to mission world And that even some of these new believers some of the best men we have in our work We led to Christ and gave him the mission for world vision for world missions in the same week Because they hadn't got spoiled by some of the things they just did we Christians so easily get spoiled by and they're on the mission field today so praying It seems strange. But during this period both our ships are going to be in England. We can't understand this It's linked with the economic collapse of Latin America political factors broken down generators and a few other heartaches We've been working with the ships in conjunction with mission England in Bristol and now in its which and somehow we believe it's in God's Providence do loss probably will come into Liverpool and It's possible that do loss and Lagos for the first time will meet together in Liverpool or Belfast And I would really because there's not time to talk of this ask you to pray very much For these teams of young men and for these two ships that we may be a vital part of what God is doing in England and Britain this year and that somehow through the ships and her unique international aspect the emphasis on missions That mission England will lead to mission world And if you need a scripture try acts 1a God bless you The Seventh hymn on or song on the sheet is I heard the voice of Jesus say come unto me and rest the Lord has spoken to me tonight and I believe for each one of us There's something in what God has said which has found a resting place in our hearts We're going to use this hymn in a slightly different way than you may usually sing it We're going to sing the first two verses as they are written on the sheet I heard the voice of Jesus say come unto me and rest and the second verse. I heard the voice of Jesus say Behold, I freely give Jesus calls us to himself He calls us To live in him that he may live in us He calls us to give His life To us by the power of his spirit. He lives his life in us and through us behold, I freely gave the living water thirsty one stooped down and drink and live and Then the third verse we won't sing until the fourth verse I'd like us to listen to the music group play the third verse and During that time for each one of us to make a contract with God about what he's been saying to us tonight. I Heard the voice of Jesus say now for some Tonight there may have been hearing Jesus say in the house. I Want to come in and live my life in you because at this moment of time, you've not received him to be your Savior For others you may have been standing on the sidelines of mission work and watching a few individuals do all the work and Criticizing when they make a mistake I'd like you to make a contract with God if he's been challenging in that area To get off the grandstand and get down on the playing park and to share in the work For some he may be challenged about prayer We heard how George was converted through the prayers of a faithful saint of God In Mission England, the prayer triplet scheme has been anointed of God and richly blessed Where three people come together and pray for a total of nine each bringing three names into the prayer group And I heard last week of the first prayer triplet in this country where all nine people that were being prayed for are being converted Now that's revolution and it's also revival in the hearts of those individuals Have you been praying for people? Have you been taking seriously under God your responsibility to pray and It's not just a case of praying things which might just flow across your mind from one day to the next but ask God for whom you should pray and If you have been challenged on the need for prayer tonight Let your contract be with God to pray it may be to give maybe you've been a mean Christian And you're giving as not approached a tenth of a tenth never mind a tithe Maybe many other areas where the Lord has taken a phrase of what George has said and lodged in your heart an arrow from his Holy Spirit So as we sing that third verse Could you? prayerfully in your hearts Listen to the music and sing in your heart what God has been speaking to you And if there are those here tonight who have never before Openly confessed Jesus as Lord Would you during that verse just come forward to the front here? There are people here who will be able to help you and if there's any of the St. T's elders here tonight who would share in that counseling would they please come forward or other of the mission England area committee For tonight maybe as George is saying a spiritual birthday and It's good to share publicly what God has done in our lives that we will remember a day not just by what God has done, but by the testimony that we've made as We step forward new people in Christ So let that third verse be a significant time for each one of us and then we will sing the fourth verse I Heard the voice of Jesus say I am this dark world's light and as Jesus lives in us he calls us to go out into the world and to be that light and To live for him at the end of the second verse. We'll stop. I will pray and then we'll move on through them I Asked that you will make these precious to each one of us But as we make the most of these moments before you I Asked that your Holy Spirit will now just touch our hearts and That we may have the courage to respond in the way that you are leading us Let those Lord who are in need of salvation make this moment of commitment as each of us with our eyes closed listens to the music of this verse I Made a contract with God about what he's been speaking to us to do something about it let those who Want to make this their first commitment to Jesus Christ Just come forward to the front here and share in the closing of this meeting as they make their stand for him Let us listen and pray