In this sermon, the speaker shares a personal experience from their time in a concentration camp. They recall a moment when a skylark's song distracted them from the cruelty happening around them and reminded them of God's love and mercy. The speaker also mentions reading a book by Frankel, a Jew who suffered greatly, and finding strength in Romans 8. They emphasize the importance of turning to God for strength and finding peace and power in His love. The sermon concludes with a reference to Paul's words in Romans 8, highlighting the speaker's personal experience of facing trouble, persecution, and danger, but remaining steadfast in the love of Christ.

I am always amazed about the most different introductions that I have experienced over the world. In the beginning when I came in America, I had really to get used of the beautiful way the Americans introduced me. And sometimes it was so strong that I almost got a headache by the heat of the halo that people made around my head. And then I didn't know what to say and then I found a very good illustration about a woodpecker. Now you know a woodpecker is used to pick with his beak against the stem of a tree. And this woodpecker did it too. The very moment that the woodpecker ticked with his beak at a tree, the lightning struck that tree and destroyed it. And the bird flew away and said to the other birds, Boy, I didn't know that there was so much power in my beak. Do you understand what I will say? I'm glad that Ben didn't give me a headache. You know, when there is a blessing tonight, it is not the power of my mouth, it is the Holy Spirit. And that's why I'm so happy to speak here, because I know you love the Holy Spirit, you enjoy the Holy Spirit. And let us work together, let us listen together to what the Holy Spirit has to tell us. And will you pray in the time that I speak, that we are really a team together. And I know when you do that, then the Lord will give us a new vision on what it means to live in this time. We have heard that the Lord Jesus has said, you will have power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. This afternoon, I was for the first time in such a meeting where so many people were healed. Where Catherine Kuhlman was used by the Lord. And I don't know if you had the same as I, that I was a little bit amazed that so many people fall down. But you know, I understood something and made me very happy. Some time ago I was in Holland and there came a hurricane, that is not so often in Holland. And it went through the woods and everywhere where was an old tree, it fell down. And when I saw these people here, I thought of the wind, of the storm, of the Holy Spirit. And people fall down through the Holy Spirit. And I know that many of them stood up with a new life, the old life had begun. And when I understood that, I enjoyed it and I understood it a little bit better. I like to read for you Ephesians 3.14. And next, when I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall down on my knees and I pray to the Father of all the great family of God, some of them already in heaven and some down here on earth, that out of His glorious unlimited resources, He will give us the mighty inner strengthening of His Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep and how high His love really is. And to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it. And about this mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit, I will say something. What it means that there is happening something over the whole world. What is happening here, that we are together with thousands from many countries, I do not believe that was possible ten years ago. That is possible because God is doing a tremendous work. Why does He do it? Why are so many thousands more who have the joy of the baptism of the Holy Spirit than times ago? I believe it is because we need a mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit in this time. And the Lord is willing to give it. And I hope that you and I understand a little bit more about why God gives us this. Is it to have such joy together and to sing in the Spirit as if it is a little bit of music from heaven? Yes, that is it. Is it to see people healed and God's miracles going in the hearts, in the bodies of many people? Yes, that is it. Is it that the expressions on the faces here show the joy of the Lord most of you? Yes, that is it. But it is more. I believe that it is that we need a power and an inner strengthening like never before because the problems of the world and the suffering around us is so terrible that there is a great work for you and me to do, to be channels of streams of living water. This is not only for the joy of ourselves. The world is deadly ill and you and I are here in this world as overcomers. Is there hope for this world? Who is it that overcomes the world? He that believes that Jesus is the Son of God. That means that you and I, when we believe that, we are standing on the front line of the battle and the battle is so terrible now that it could scare you. If the Lord did not give us not a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, of love and a sound mind, what does it mean that you and I live in this world of suffering, this world of terrible sinning? The world has gone down and down. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are representatives from heaven on this world. Like the astronauts were representatives from the world to the moon, you and I are representatives from heaven to this world. And because of us, God sees this world as something good. In Sodom, if there had been only ten righteous people, Sodom had been saved. And this world is acceptable for God because of you and me, because of the Holy Spirit, and we are the dwellings of the Holy Spirit. Do you understand it? May I tell you a little example? Betsy and I were in the concentration camp Ravensbruck because we had saved Jewish people. And we were together in a room with 700. It was built for 200. And two people started to fight. One had kicked the other out of the cot and then they started to fight and other joined. And at last it was a yelling and a swearing and a terrible noise. And Betsy said, Corrie, let's pray for this is a danger. These people are so nervous in such a tension. And when the hatred comes up, that is terrible. And Betsy started to pray and she prayed and she prayed and she prayed. And it was as if a storm laid down. The noises disappeared. It became quieter and quieter. And Betsy prayed till everything was quiet. And then Betsy said Amen. Do you see it? Do you see the situation? Do you see there a room full of people who are in a great danger? Because the hatred tried to keep possession of these people. And there was an old woman starving. Betsy starved after some time. Weak, very frail. And she prayed. And that woman saved the situation. Do you understand what there is for work to do for you? Do you understand that when you pray, that you are a strategic point for the Lord and for the devil, that when you pray that this world will be acceptable for God because you are His representative and not one of your prayers is lost. Do you pray for your king, for your president? Do you pray for a golden mayor who has such a difficult time? Do you pray for the people who are in the government? It is a word that is said in the Bible that we have to pray for those who have to reign us. And there is a great joy that we may do it. But why do you and I have now the Holy Spirit? Because in this time it is very necessary that we have a good look, a good view. Our eyes must see better, our ears must hear better. Because the world is dark and dangerous. And where there is no vision, the people perish, especially now. And the Holy Spirit gives us the vision of the victorious life. We stand on victory ground because Jesus is victor. We know the best is yet to be. And how we need to see the world and the pattern of God's plan. Some time ago a man said to me, I do not like to read a book where sad stories are told. But do you know when I must read such a book I always first look at the last pages. And when I see, oh yes, they get each other and they live very happy years after that. Oh yes, then I can read the whole book. Do you know such an attitude? Thank you. Say, do you get sometimes frightened? When you read in the Bible that all the things that are happening now in the world are told in the word of God. If I had never believed in the Bible I should now believe in the Bible when I read the newspapers. But it can make you scared because there are things in the Bible told that are terrible. When you read that book of the revelations. Now I can tell you when you are afraid just read the last pages. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. People, I will say only one thing on the last pages it is written that Jesus has said I come and I will make everything anew. That is the future. That is the hope for this world. And this world now covered with pollution and in terrible delinquency once will be covered with the knowledge of God like the waters cover the bottom of the sea. That is the future. And you stand in the front line of a battle that will have victory because Jesus will be victor and he will make you and me more than conquerors. Sometimes it is so difficult to understand the secret of God's plan. I was so happy this afternoon what God did for many of the sick people. But you know I had to pray for the people who were not healed. But I knew one thing God did not make a mistake for God never makes a mistake. Betsy and I in the concentration camp we prayed that God would heal Betsy and Betsy said yes the Lord will heal me. And the next day I saw that she had died and I could not understand it. Now I understand it already. For now Betsy is used by the Lord because of the book and also the movie because people see there someone who was so weak but she had her hand in the hands of a strong one and that was Jesus. And so many people over the world tell me I love your sister Betsy and I can tell you she is far more blessing than she ever could have been if she had not died. You know my life is like a weaving between my God and me. I do not choose the colors. He works steadily. Of times he weaves sorrow and I in foolish pride forget he sees the upper and I the underside. Not till the room is silent and the shuttle cease to fly will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful in the skillful weaver's hands than the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned. And God has a plan with your life and with my life. God has only plans. Never a problem. There is never a panic in heaven. Isn't that a joy? How do I know it? I know it through the Holy Spirit and I understand the Bible when the Holy Spirit teaches me and I understand even more much of the world history when the Holy Spirit opens my eyes. You know it is such a joy that we know that the future is so good. I once was in Russia and I gave a woman a tract in the Russian language. It was just a text about the way of salvation. But when she saw it she would not take it. I was sorry. And my teammate and I were in the elevator to the dining room and we were the only ones and suddenly we started to pray. And I prayed, Oh Lord, that woman, I cannot reach her more. Please bring her in contact with someone who knows her language. And suddenly I prayed this prayer, Lord, I claim that woman for eternity. I was afraid. Was it good? Can you claim a soul for eternity? I trembled and I said, Lord, was it a good prayer? May I do that? And then I heard myself praying this prayer, God, I claim whole Russia for you. It was good. People, that prayer was not from me, it was from the Lord in me. And I trembled, but then I said, Yes, Lord, it is in the Bible. The world is the Lord's, the earth and all who live there. Suddenly I saw the future. Yes, whole Russia will be saved. How? I don't know. I don't understand everything in the Bible, but I believe it. You know, the Bible, I always say, God tells it, Jesus did it, I believe it, and that settles it. You know, when I came for the first time in America, I had to learn many English words that I had not learned in the high school in Holland. And I remember that there were three words that I did not understand. A-millennium, pre-millennium and post-millennium. I remember that I went to Edwin R. and I said, Edwin, can you tell me what is that A-pre-post-millennium? He said, Corrie, that is A-pre-posterous question. I don't know what you think about millennium. I have my idea, but I don't tell you. But I found that the people started to quarrel about it. When he is an A and she is a post and there is a pre-millennium, they cannot come together, so it was some time ago, without that they quarrel. I am not interested what you think, but I am very interested that when the Lord Jesus should come tonight, that you are ready for his coming. Are you ready for his coming? The Bible tells it very, very clear that we have to be ready. Peter says in 2 Peter 3, 14, because you have a hope like this before you, I urge you to make certain that such a day would find you at peace with God and men, clean and blameless in his sight. Is that possible? Can you, can I be at peace with God and men? Can we be blameless and clean in God's sight? Hallelujah! Yes! That is possible. Everyone who is here, also that one who has never believed in God, also that one who is here because he must do some business and he helps us with the lights and so, but he does not know the Bible and God, he can be ready for Jesus' coming. How? It is a great joy that it is the Holy Spirit who makes us ready for Jesus' coming. Jesus himself is working in the world to make us ready because he is longing for his coming. Do you know that? I read in the Bible, Jesus is longing to come back here and to make everything new and he is willing to do the job to make you and me and everyone here ready. Paul says, May the God of peace make you holy through and through. May you be kept in spirit, soul and body in spotless integrity until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Say, is that not too much? You and I in spotless integrity. No, that is not too much. That is possible because the rest of the text says, He who calls you is utterly faithful and he will finish what he has set out to do. And the only thing you have to do is throw yourselves in the arms of the Lord. Lay your weak hand in his strong hand and he will make you ready for his coming. And he is busy with us like never before. He fills us with the Holy Spirit and suddenly we see the answer. How can you be in spotless integrity because of the fruit of the Spirit? When we repent of our sins and that is necessary, when we repent of our sins and ask forgiveness and claim the finished work that has been at the cross, then we can have forgiveness and cleansing. 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. And when the Lord cleanses your heart so that it is a clean and good dwelling for the Holy Spirit, then the fruit of the Spirit is love and peace and joy and kindness and generosity and fidelity and tolerance and self-control all just opposite of what our sins were. And that is why we can be ready and that is why we need the Holy Spirit very, very much. Be right with men. The Lord has spoken to us already that we have to forgive for also when we believe that there was one who carried our sins for us but we are not willing to forgive that other person then we have no forgiveness. Jesus says that. Do you realize it? Have you still resentment against that one who has offended you? Can you forgive that woman who has stolen the love of your husband? Can you forgive that man who has stolen the love of your wife? You can't. But Jesus can. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit in Romans 5, 5 it is said the love of God is yet brought into our hearts through the Holy Spirit and when that ocean of love of God is in your heart that you can love and forgive. I know it. I had a difficulty that I hated. I was some time ago in Berlin and I saw there came a man to me and he said don't you know me? And suddenly I saw who he was. He was one of the most cruel guards in Ravensbruck and there he stood and he said I know you I have but I have been a guard. Do you remember me? But now I have found Jesus Christ. I have brought him all my sins and he has forgiven me. I know it but I have prayed God give me the grace that I may meet one of my very victims and ask her or him forgiveness and that is why why I ask you Fräulein and Bonbon Signior forgiven will you forgive me? And my friends it was such a darkness in my heart. I could not shake his hand. I thought of how my dying sister had suffered through his cruelties and then I understood it what was happening. I did not forgive and so I had no forgiveness for myself. Suddenly I found it I said Lord I claim Romans 5 5 your love is in my heart through the Holy Spirit and that moment I felt that God's love in me was stronger than my resentment and hatred and I could say brother I forgive you everything and I shook his hand and it was as if they are streaming through my arm the love of God you never touch the ocean of God's love as that you love your enemies. Do you see that you can be ready for Jesus coming? If you turn away from your sins if you repent and bring your sins to the Lord and let him forgive and cleanse you and be filled with the Holy Spirit then he does the job to make you ready. What a joy! The Holy Spirit gives us the right look through the darkness of now look around and be distressed look within and be depressed look at Jesus and be at rest what a joy! And we can only look at Jesus when the Holy Spirit turns our eyes in the right direction. I stood on roll call in the concentration camp and there was one of the guards who used that time to demonstrate her cruelties and I could hardly bear to see and to hear what was happening in front of me. Suddenly a skylark came and started to sing in the sky and we all looked up and listened to the birdsong and when I looked up I looked further at the sky and I thought of Psalm 103 where is written as high is heaven over the earth so is God's love and mercy over all that fear Him. And suddenly it was as if I woke up to reality oh love of God how deep and great far deeper than man's deepest hate and God sent that skylark during three weeks daily to turn away our eyes from the cruelty of man unto God's ocean of love. I read once a book of Frankl men's search for meaning he was a Jew who has suffered much more than I. But that book was not negative it was positive and that man saw something and he ended his book with these words our generation is realistic for we have come to know man is a being who has invented the gas chambers of all suites. However he is also that being who has entered those gas chambers upright with the Lord's prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips. Do you see the two sides? He saw it. The Holy Spirit opens our ears so that we can hear God's voice. In the concentration camp we had to go to roll call at half past four and we had to stand there many hours but our head of the barrack sent us a whole hour too early into the icy cold morning and that was cruel but Betsy and I did not go to the place where we had to stand on roll call but we made a walk all around the camp. It was still pitch dark. We had only the light of stars but Betsy and I walked with the Lord and talked with the Lord and Betsy said something and I said something and then the Lord said something. How I don't know but we both understood him. The Holy Spirit had opened our ears that we could hear his voice and you and I have to hear the voice of the Lord in this time. I have been in countries where was terrible persecution. I know that in China the people was told in the churches don't be afraid before the persecution and the tribulation comes you will be translated. There came a terrible tribulation and persecution. Millions of Christians have been tortured to death and I heard a bishop from China who said we have failed to make the people strong for persecution and he said you have still time tell the people how to be strong in times of tribulation and I have found that it is possible to be strong and that you and I are in a training a training for tribulation what is now already more than 60% of the body of Christ suffering. Do you know that? Do you realize that we are one body of Christ over the world and that 60% and perhaps more are suffering terrible persecution and watch when he said when my feet were whipped my hands had pain suffered pain and you and I have to suffer together with the other part of the body of Christ and we have to pray for them like we did today when Mr. van der Hoeven prayed for these many of us who are suffering so much behind the iron and bamboo curtain. Is that the only thing? Or is it perhaps necessary that you and I train go in training for times that this wave of persecution will also come in your and my free country? I was very interested when yesterday I got a paper and that is The Eve of Persecution. It is written by Dr. Basilea Schlink and those of you who are not afraid try to get this paper. It will make you scared if you are not are you not not alert. But those of you who know I have not a spirit of fear but a power of love and a sound mind dare to read this paper. And here you read the reality of what it means to live in this time. And how we can be ready. Yes, half of the paper is written about the terrible situation of America of Holland of all kinds of countries where it seems to be rather free. But how the devil is working to prepare the time of the Antichrist. And then the second part of this paper is how to be strong and how to train. I must tell you something. When my family, my father with all his children and a grandson were arrested in Holland and 50 of our friends because we had saved Jewish people. I remember that my nephew Peter came to me and said, Auntie, what have you in your shoe? I said, Romans 8, what have you? He said, I have Ephesians 1. Do you know what mom has? Yes, Colossians 3. Do you understand what had happened? We were going to a place where it was possible that our Bible should be taken away. And we had hidden even under our hairs, in our hairs we had hidden just pages of the Bible. You see, we were, we tried to be ready for suffering and how it was necessary for our Bibles were taken away. And do you know, they have taken away my Romans 8, but there was something they could not take away and that were all the texts that I had learned by heart. Learned by heart the text of the Bible that can be help for you when tribulation comes. There is so much in the Bible gives us ammunition for the battle. It is so tremendous when you read that in the Bible are limitless resources. And the Holy Spirit can teach you what text you must learn by heart. Since I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and bishop and bishop and I have met that bishop and that bishop and have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and I have met I have met that bishop and and I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and I have met bishop and I have met that bishop and I have have met have met and I have met that bishop and have met that bishop and I have met that and I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and and I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and I have met that bishop and I did not know that I should come out alive, only twenty percent of us came out. And when the things were so terrible that we told each other it cannot be terrible, then today the next day was more terrible. And what helped us so much was the thinking, this suffering of this time is not worthy to be compared with the come glory. And Peter says, if you are reproached for beating Christ's follower, that is a great privilege, for you can be sure that God's Spirit of Glory is resting upon you. I remember that once I was in Ushubora in Africa. Do you realize that there is a terrible tribulation and persecution among the Christians in several cities of Africa? I asked the missionary, say, is it true that, it was the last year that I asked it, that the year before 10,000 Christians were killed in Burundi. He said, yes, that is true, and it is also true that this year 200,000 Christians were killed. You don't know that. It's not in the newspapers. But when we are thinking about to have a good steak for your dinner and to have a nice house and a nice dress, do you understand, do you realize that there are people, many, many members of the body of Christ who are tortured to death now? I remember when I was in Ushubora that the people were afraid. The days before I had come, one day there had come a new enemy and he had taken over the country, and the first day several Christians got a letter that they had to be registered in the police station. They came, and they were all killed. The next day, other Christians got a letter. You must come to the police station to be registered. All were killed. The third day, again, the fourth day was a Sunday, and I had to speak for a congregation. What I understood was suffering fear. They looked at each other. They looked at him. Will he be killed this week? They looked at her. Shall she be here? Shall I be alive next week? And I said, Oh, Lord, give me a word for these people. And then the Lord gave me a word, and I read 1 Peter 4, 12, and I always like to read from the translation of Phillips. That is an English that even a Dutch can understand well, and now I read these words. Now, dear friends of mine, I beg you not to be unduly alarmed at the fiery ordeals which come to test your faith as though it was some abnormal experience. You should be glad because it means that you are called to share Christ's sufferings. One day when he shows himself in full splendor to man, you will be filled with a most tremendous joy. If you are reproached for being Christ's followers, that's a great privilege, for you can be sure that God's spirit of glory is resting upon you. I told these people a little story that you can read in my book, The Hiding Place. When I asked my father, I was a little girl, I said, Daddy, I'm so afraid that I can never be strong enough to suffer for Jesus. And Daddy said, Corrie, when you go with the train to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket or the ticket itself for the train? Three weeks before, I said, no, Daddy, the day that I go to travel. And father said, that is what God does. Today you do not need the power to suffer for Jesus, but the moment that you will have the honor to suffer for him, the Lord will give you the train ticket just in time. And I told these people, hallelujah. I must tell you that I spoke to these people about the joy and honor to suffer for the Lord Jesus. And I said, those who suffer for the Lord will have a martyr crown in heaven. And there came in that church such a tremendous joy that one started to sing, there's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can see it afar, for the Father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there. In the sweet by and by we shall meet at the beautiful shore. And they started to sing, and they remained singing, and so they left the church. And the last I heard was still in the sweet by and by, the sweet by and by we will meet. That week half of these people were killed. Are you sorry? Do you realize that the Spirit of the Lord was resting on them? I heard that the other half was killed some month ago. I must tell you something, when I was used for that church, I was so happy that the Lord had used me to encourage these people, that I say, oh Lord, Lord, some people who study the Bible say that He will be translated before the persecutions come, but don't do it Lord, let me please be in the persecution, for there we will have far more work to do than ever before. Now I must tell you I'm not always so courageous. Sometimes I think, oh how good will it be to be in heaven. But I understood that moment a little bit, that you and I are the only people who know the things from God's point of view, because we have the Word of God. And in times of persecution we must be ready to help each other and to encourage each other. And the Holy Spirit must give us the wisdom that we can show that God never makes a mistake, that He has no problems, only plans with you and me and with the church. And I am so glad that the Holy Spirit gives us the grace and when you will have the honor to suffer for Jesus, then there is one thing that can help you and I read it also in this paper, and that is look unto Jesus. One of the most terrible things we had to suffer in concentration camp was that we had to stand naked many hours. Seven times I have suffered it. The first time was the most terrible. And I said, Betsy, I cannot bear this. This is more cruel than all the other things that the enemy has done. And suddenly it was as if I saw Jesus at the cross. And the Bible tells, they took His garments, He hanged there naked. And by my suffering I understood the fraction of the suffering of Jesus and made me so thankful that I could bear my suffering. Love, so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all. Do you understand it? When you may have to go through tribulation, that you will have the honor to suffer for Jesus Christ. Many people in the world suffer for a human being. People suffer for Mao. People suffered for Adolf Hitler. And when they suffer for a human person, then there comes a terrible disappointment. But when we suffer for Jesus Christ, then we suffer for the king of kings. And he who even will once give you a reward, when you have given one glass of water to one who is thirsty, I am sure he will give a great reward and you will have had the honor to suffer persecution for him. How can we be ready for a time? You will have power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And it is possible that some of you say, No, I am not willing to go through tribulation. I only hope that the Lord will take me to him before it comes. Then I ask you, pray that the Holy Spirit will show you what the Bible says, what Jesus has said. Jesus has said, In the world you will have persecution, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. And there is written by Paul to Timothy, Take up your share of suffering for Jesus. And I have experienced it myself, that when you are weak, you are strong. I see in the faces of some of you a joy. I see that you have not a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind. Some of you look scared. And you think, I will try to get out of the Bible so much that I know I will be translated before the persecution comes. Go ahead. Just go ahead and ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom. But don't be afraid, that if it should be that you are not translated before the persecution comes in your country, that you will not be strong enough. Do you know that in the Bible it is written, Those who are weak are strong. Because when you are weak, then you expect everything from the strength of the Lord. I was weak when I was a prisoner. Betsy was weak. But we got power, because the Holy Spirit was on us. And we experienced that a mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us to go through a horrible suffering. And the Holy Spirit gave us the look in the right direction and hearing the right words from the Lord. And you will have that. No, you will not be strong in yourself. But you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you. He will always be with you. I know the Lord Jesus already 76 years. I was 5 years old when I asked Jesus, please come into my heart. And He came and He never has left me. And He has never let me down. I know it. Hallelujah! And I can tell you when it is difficult, He is always there. And I read a very simple little story. There was a man who had to go over a bridge without leaning. And he had his little boy with him. And the boy said, Daddy, I hear that water under the bridge and I am afraid. And the man said, give me a hand. And the boy gave his weak hand to his father's strong hand and his fear was gone. But they came back much later and then it was dark. It was pitch dark. And the boy said, Daddy, now I am more scared than when we came. I cannot see anything but I hear this terrible water underneath us. And the father took his little boy on his arm. And that boy fell asleep. And he awakened the next morning in his own little bed. That is what will happen with you. Lay your weak hand in the strong hand of the Lord. And He will give instead of fear, peace and power and a sound mind. And you can say, hold down my hand. So weak I am and helpless. I dare not take one step without Thy aid. Hold down my hand for then, O loving Savior, no dread of ill shall make my soul afraid. And I will close with the words of Paul who said in Romans 8, In face of all this, what is there left to say? Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, pain or persecution, can lack of clothes and food, danger to life and limb, the threat of force of arms, I can tell you I have experienced it all. Indeed, some of us know the truth of that ancient text and I know it too. For Thy sake we were killed all the day long. We were counted as sheep for the slaughter. But know, in all these things we win an overwhelming victory through Him who has proved His love for us. I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below nor anything else in God's whole world has any power to separate us from the ocean of love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Hallelujah! May the love, mercy and power of Jesus Christ be multiplied to you during these days of titanic spiritual warfare. The Lord wins and is able to hold you up and cause you to triumph in all situations you may face. Hallelujah! Amen. We pray. Father, in Jesus' name we praise and thank you that you give us power, power for today and power for tomorrow and that we have only to open our hearts for your Holy Spirit and He will give us the vision and He will make our ears hearing your voice and He will give us the love to forgive even the persecutors. Thank you, Lord, that you have brought into our hearts God's love through the Holy Spirit who is given to us and thank you, Father, that your love in us is stronger than our resentment and hatred and so I thank you that you yourself make us ready for your coming, Lord Jesus. And I bring you now all these people Lord, will you speak to us further these days? I thank you that we are together to listen to your voice and Lord, protect us with your blood, Lord Jesus, that no yes-buts and not being willing to obey you comes in between but that we may go step by step with you so that when we come back in our countries and our houses that you will make us wide open channels of streams of living water because of the power of your Holy Spirit. Oh, Lord Jesus, come soon, come and do what you have promised that there will be peace on earth like it is now in heaven that this world will be covered with the knowledge of God like the waters cover the bottom of the sea and use us in the meantime, Lord, as your strong representatives, your ambassadors. Hallelujah. Amen. The Saturday Special, presented as a testimonial or a teaching program in cooperation with a variety of charismatic groups and individuals. For a recorded copy of this morning's special, please send your request for cassette or reel-to-reel tape along with $5 to Saturday Special, CBN, Box G, Ithaca, New York, 1.50 and please identify the speaker. This week's Saturday Special recorded has presented Corey Ten Boom at the Jerusalem Conference. We request that no recording be made of this broadcast for resale. But anyway, she just lit up and I said, okay, God, I looked up and I said, whatever she's got, I want. And then I saw the resurrected Christ. No more on the cross, I literally got a vision and Jesus was there and his hands were stretched out and he says to me, Beckett, he says, come to him and it was gone. And I got up from my seat. Well, the two girls I had gone with, they said, oh, they're going to accept Christ. I said, well, look, it's all right for you. I'm a Catholic. I was born one and I'm going to die one and you're not, nobody's going to change that. But you see, Jesus changed the difference. I mean, I'm still, I go to my Greek Orthodox church and we go home to visit my mother and it's more meaningful and I love the Greek Orthodox church. I love it and I love our priest and it was really one that influenced me. But anyway, going here, when I saw this of Jesus, I thought, God, I'm going. Then I knew that I had passed from death until I, all I knew is I could see. I felt like I was blind. Now I know that mediator. I knew who I could go to. In other words, I don't have to tell anyone. I can go directly. And that was the greatest thrill that I can go directly to Jesus and God will hear and I can know him because, see, God showed me you can't come to me only through my son, Jesus. And that's when I wept. I wept a bucket of tears because I used to go bowling on Sundays, you know, at the church, you know, and all this and things like that. I didn't know what sin was, really. I didn't, but I had such a hunger for God. George, it's nice to have a wife that believes like you do. I have one that said it makes the difference. I'm a minister. I'm ministering God's word and you become one in this thing. I feel like, what was I going to say? She can take your place so to speak. You can move around together. You're just one in the Lord, aren't you? That's right. It's a beautiful relationship. Of course, there are times when it's not for Helen to go on a mission like the fulfillment of the revelation about the star over Jerusalem, which was the mission to the far east. Helen was invited to go on that mission in the summer of 64, but she prayed and God gave her a revelation of men in a room. She was kind of up on the ceiling somewhere watching this from up above. Were you asleep? It seemed like it was a dream vision or vision dream, something, you know, you can't distinguish the two, but I felt that I was sort of at a distance, but I saw George and the men there and I felt that I should not go there, that I was to take the responsibilities at home. And the men were bowing in oriental fashion like the Japanese and the orientals, you know, were bowing, greeting each other. So you didn't go? I didn't go. You had some wonderful things happen there. Yes, right. We'll have to find out about those in the second or third part of the 700 Club. In just a moment we're going to have to pause for station identification, but I'm sure many will wish they could see this. Well, hey, it'll come on again another time. We don't get to see it all. It seems like we keep going with you. But the phones are ringing. Many calls are coming in. I believe people all over are believing God and wanting to trust Him. And this is a beautiful sign that people will trust God and seek Him and believe Him. And the time now is to turn away from entertaining fancy ideas about God and seek Him with all of our hearts, and He'll reward those that diligently seek Him. Now, this is Jesus. Did not many mighty works track. Why didn't He? Because of their unbelief. Then Matthew 17, verse 14 through 20. And when they came to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and so advanced. For oft times he falleth into the fire and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Then finally in Mark 4, verse 35-40, And the same day, when the evening was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship, and they were also with him of the little ship. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hind part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? Now, in each one of these scriptural references, as we have pointed out to you, doubt or unbelief caused them to receive something less than the best God had for them. In each case, the Lord regroups their doubt or their unbelief. Now, I know and realize that the Lord intervened by his divine sovereignty, as in the case of Peter, when he asked the Lord to save him, as it began to sink. I know in the 4th chapter, Mark, when they awakened him, and said, Master, carest thou not that we perish? He arose, and said, Peace, be still. And the sea was calm, and the storm ceased. But yet, my friends, they did not receive his highest, and his best was for them to receive by their faith his best, receive it into their lives. And so doubt robbed them. In each scriptural reference that we've referred to here, doubt robbed them of the best that God had for them. Now, we left off yesterday talking from the 17th chapter of Matthew, the 14th through the 20th verse, about this man who brought his son to the disciples of Jesus, that is, nine of them, who remained at the foot of the mountain, for Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John with him, and gone up to the mountaintop, and there, you know, we call it the Mount of Transfiguration, for he was transfigured before it. Now, as he came with Peter, James, and John, down from this Mount of Transfiguration, this man came running to Jesus, and kneeling down before him, he said to him, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he's lunatic and so vexed, for oft times he falleth into the fire and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Now, I want you to notice this, that this is the man's version. Jesus didn't say they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said to them, because of your unbelief. Now, you see, that's what's bothering most people, is a lack of faith. It's not a lack of power. It's the doubt that's robbing them of God's blessings. Jesus didn't say to these disciples, you couldn't cast out that devil because you didn't have the power. Because of Matthew 10, chapter 1, he had given them the power to do it. No, he said, it is because of your unbelief. And so doubt robbed them. And as we pointed out also, doubt robbed the city of Nazareth of the best that God had for them. Doubt robbed these disciples. They failed to cast the demon out. The Lord told them they failed in it because of their unbelief. I remember a number of years ago, well actually it was the second day of September of 1950, that the Lord appeared to me in a vision about 10 o'clock at night in Rockwall, Texas, in a tent meeting. In that vision, he laid the finger of his right hand upon my hand, in the palms of my hand. When he did, my hands began to burn as if I had a cold fire in them. He said he had called me and anointed me to have a special minister unto the sick. Now, I've been praying for the sick for years. He told me that when I was praying for a sick person, I should lay one hand on one side of the body and the other hand on the other side of the body. He said that if the fire or anointing that I felt in my hand jumped from hand to hand, then, he said, that means there's an evil spirit in the body. If it does not jump from hand to hand, then it's a case of healing only. Now, the Bible differentiates between casting out of devils and healing of the sick. Now, he told me to lay hands upon them and pray for them. He said that if the fire does jump from hand to hand, then I should call the devil out in his name. He said that in his name, the devil or the demons would leave the body. Well, my very next meeting was in the state of Oklahoma, and a man came over from Arkansas. One night in the meeting, this fellow said that he came for healing, and he said he had TB of the spine. Now, several different doctors had examined him. His spine was rigid. His back was stiff as a board. I laid one hand on his chest, one hand on his back, and I could feel that fire jumping from hand to hand. I knew then that an evil spirit was oppressing his body. So I told the evil spirit to come out of him. You see, there was an evil spirit in his body, not necessarily in his soul or his spirit. Your body is not redeemed yet. I was calling the demon out of his body. Well, now, I missed it and got into unbelief. I asked the man if he could stoop over, and he couldn't. I told him we'd try it again. But it won't work trying. You see, I was using unbelief by saying this. So it still didn't come out of him. He couldn't stoop over. We tried it a third time, and it still didn't work. So I sent him away, and as he was walking down the aisle, the next person was coming up. Jesus appeared to me and said, I saw Jesus now, in a vision, standing right next to me, just plain as any person ever saw. And Jesus said, I said in my name the demons will be cast out. Cast them out in my name. I spoke to Jesus and told him that I knew he'd said it. He told me the same thing again. I told him again that I knew this. He said again the same thing to me. So I said again, Lord, I know you said it. I told him that I remember what he said to me in that other vision. I kept telling Jesus then. Again, Jesus looked at me. And this time he said, yes, but I said it worked. Then he disappeared. Now I knew then that my faith hadn't been working. I told the man to come back. When he got back up to the front, I slapped one hand on his chest, one hand on his back, and told the devil to come out of him in the name of Jesus. I told the man then that he was free. I told him to reach over and touch his toes, and he did. And he was free. Now doubt had been robbing me of my faith. It isn't enough to sit there and shake your head and say amen. You see, you must act upon God's word. So quit doubting God and start acting upon his word. Don't just try something, but do it. It's doers of the word, not triers of the word that works. You know, James in his epistle said, But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only. And so it is that so many have let doubt rob them of the greater blessings that God has for them. Let's note this again in conclusion, my text here in Mark 11, 23. For verily I say unto you, Jesus said, That whosoever shall say unto this mouth of him, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, And shall not doubt in his heart, But shall believe those things which he says shall come to pass, He shall have whatsoever he said. And your last name? K-O-H-E Coffee? Coffee. It's very poetic. Do you have many people of common, unusualness of it? Yes, I do. But I will have to say I have the same name, but I got it when I was a child. Because my hair was very copper colored. I'm glad to know that. I won't ask you your real name. People are sensitive about that. I'm a twin, so it doesn't matter. So it's Joan and Joanne. Joan and Joanne. Where is your twin living? She's in Virginia. Do you get to see her that often? Not very often, but she's just precious to me. Is she identical? No. She's a tall one. Tall and precious. Good. Where are you from, Coffee? Fredericksburg, Texas. Oh, now that's interesting. I love Fredericksburg. It's a giant settlement in the heart of Texas. What are a few other things that you might have heard about Fredericksburg that make it so outstanding? Well, I guess the thing about Fredericksburg, it's very enchanting, the old homes, you know. And my mother's there, and I grew up there. That makes it beautiful. It was precious to me just to go home. In fact, that's where we're going this weekend. One thing I'd like to share about Fredericksburg, this may not be of interest to anyone else, but I love history and what have you. They have the little houses in Fredericksburg that they call Sunday houses. You know what they are? Tell our guests what a Sunday house is. Well, Vicki. I'll tell you. Oh, I do. I shouldn't have asked you that. I know. A Sunday house was, years and years ago, the ranchers would come in on the weekends to do their shopping and to go to church on Sunday. Well, it was too far. They didn't have automobiles, and it was too far to go back to their ranch. And so they would come into this house on Sunday and stay. And it was just a little one-room house. And they're most quaint and quite valuable now, as far as history is concerned, and Fredericksburg is just full of historic houses. And so that's what a Sunday house is. Sometimes when you go back, you can tell your people. That's what it is. When you live in a place, you know, I used to live in San Antonio, and I said, I better go see the Alamo before I leave. You know, it just becomes part of you. You don't think much about it, and I never thought about it. Now, Fredericksburg is a German settlement. Did you learn to speak German? No. I see. There's much German spoken there. Well, I want to know about Coffee the Artist. How long have you been painting? Well, I've always loved art, and I've always drawn all my life, you know, drew pictures and things. But I went to, when I was going to SMU, it was more modern painting, and I did more modern, and this was my zeal, you know, and I loved it. But it's only been about three years ago that I started painting religious paintings. Why did you begin on the religious paintings? Well, it's very, Vicki, I've always known Jesus as my Savior, but three years ago, I met him as my Lord, and I just gave him my life, and I said, God, I want to know you, and that's how they evolved. And so from this experience of knowing him, you began religious paintings. Because every one of the paintings are done with a story behind them. They're all done in Scripture. But they become so dear to me, you know, when I do Paul. Now, why don't we talk about Paul? Which one of the paintings? Paul is this, the bar lit with a light shining on him. Okay, while the camera is on Paul, why don't you tell about it? Who was your model, and a little of the story. Okay, well, I'm going to have to get to Scripture. They're all, like I said, done on Scriptures. And who was your model? Well, I was, a friend of mine gave me an old, old, old, old Bible, and I had a little bitty, bitty, black and white sketches. And from them, an idea evolves. And see, I saw a little painting of a man, you know, praising God. And I said, oh, that's how Paul must have felt. You know, but I could not put Paul in my heart on the road to Damascus when he met Jesus. Paul, to me, had to be put in prison, and he had to be chained, because Paul persecuted the Christians. He drove them in chains back and put them in jail. But when Paul met Jesus as his Lord, Paul was not only willing to be jailed, but he was put in chains. And he himself was in prison for the sake of the Jesus cross. That's beautiful. Let's go. We don't have this much time. I want to know about this painting right next to it. Now, it looks, there's an angel and there's a cross. Now, who is represented there with a light around their head? Well, that is Jesus. Oh, wonderful. See, and he says, and that is done not my will, God, but thy will. And that's the way it is. We, in our lives, should be not our will, but God's will in our lives. Oh, that's beautiful. And the one that's right above it, what is this one that's above it? This is God's promise to Abraham, that your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky. And I'm one of those descendants, and that's what thrills me. How are you a star? How's that? Well, it's a promise that God gave to Abraham. And I'm a spiritual Jew. I was grafted into that. I'm standing right with you. I'm a spiritual Jew, too. I'm proud of it, aren't you? Yes, and I praise God. That is beautiful. That is the promise to Abraham. This one that I'm holding right up here, I'll hold for this camera and lean it a little bit forward. All right, we'll slide it over this way then. That's a little bit better. What is this one? It's one that you're painting now. Yes, and I'm not finished with that, Vicki. That is Peter when he was walking to Christ. Christ was walking on the water, and if we keep our eyes on Jesus, we won't see him. But see, Peter took his eyes off of Christ and his son. And he's just holding him up. That's a miracle in itself, that Christ standing on the water holding dead head. I had never thought about that. No, I had never thought about that. And so, as I said, I'm not finished, but my husband is Peter. He posed as Peter, the face. All right, and this is the face then of your husband here, as Peter. And then a dear friend of mine is posed for Christ. Well, isn't that interesting? And who is the friend? Do you mind? No, it's Mr. Chasins, Joe Chasins. Isn't that something? Now, let's go over here to this one. This one intrigues me more than any of the paintings. For some reason, I don't know, just the shadows and the background, and, of course, obviously, the raven. Who is this, and what does it depict? That's Elijah. God sent the manna and fed him when he just, you know, lay up there. He was sitting up there by himself. Now, what is the story of Elijah? Do you remember? When I painted Elijah, I just, in my heart, I was, Elijah was, you know, God will take care of us. You know, I've always said it's something in my life when I paint. And that he went up and God fed him as he will feed us from his Word. All right.