In this sermon, the speaker discusses the impact of his seminars on thousands of people, both in person and through television broadcasts. He emphasizes that the message he shares is from the Lord and teaches individuals how to live victoriously in Jesus Christ. The speaker acknowledges that victory does not mean perfection, but rather includes knowing what to do when one sins. He encourages the audience to share their testimonies and make use of feedback cards or a book to connect with him. The speaker also mentions his upcoming speaking engagements and his desire to have meaningful relationships with those he ministers to.

Very grateful for this opportunity to share, especially the first meeting, or one of your first meetings. I guess it was about two or two and a half years ago that I was with you. I don't know if anyone remembers. No doubt the headache has gone away by now. Our hearts are really thrilled as I know yours is thrilled over what God has been doing over the summer, not just in our own work, but in the whole work of the Lord Jesus Christ around the world. We're living in tremendous days, days of harvest, in which tens of thousands are coming to Christ in some parts of the world. And I know many of you have been involved for God this summer, and you have stories to tell and testimonies to share. We had about 2,000 involved with us this summer in a movement known as Operation Mobilization. Our main goal is to give young people a training experience and then to channel them out to work with the church, their local church, or a local church overseas, or in a number of cases with other mission societies. About 700 young people who have trained on OM are now working with most of the major evangelical mission societies in the world. And we just had such an encouraging summer. We especially would appreciate your prayers this week as we are in the process of purchasing a second ship. Some of you know that OM has a ship. We usually get a few British University student recruits each year. Last year we got the president of OICU, and he's now back as the traveling secretary in Wales. We hope we've trained him for that. And it's just exciting to see young people being trained on the ship Lagos. They've just finished a visit to Africa. Talked with them on the radio telephone last night as they came out of the Suez Canal, and they'll be moving in for a large campaign in Marseilles, France on Thursday. I'm looking forward to being with them. This ship has been sailing for about six years. I know quite a few of you have been praying for that ministry. Some of you were on the ship when it was in Glasgow or Liverpool or in London. Now we just feel after several years of seeking the Lord that the hour has come for a second ship so that we can have two ships moving in two different directions in different parts of the world. We don't think this will detract in any way from our major land operation. And God has given us a thousand this year, a thousand young people, so that we don't have to rob Peter to pay Paul in terms of manpower, especially our Middle East program and Muslim world program. We have just put our bid in for this ship, and they are deciding this weekend. This is an Italian luxury liner, one of the oldest ships in the entire world. Built in 1914, which is enough to frighten any thinking man away. But the steel on this ship is so thick that it has better steel than ships built in the 50s. And not only that, they put a new engine in it in 1970, which especially turns on our engineers. So we have made a bid for this ship. There's room on this ship for 600 people in cabins. It's a 7,000-ton ship, three times the size of Lagos. We just believe that God wants to do the impossible in bringing this ship into His service. It's been in the service of worldly people for long enough. So maybe you could pray about that. I'm not going to say much more about our work, but did want to share that little bit with you, because it is a very urgent item, and we don't even have time to get it into a prayer letter. In fact, very few people know what I've just told you, including the people who are on OM right at this very moment. I think in the next week or two, according to the Evangelical Alliance, there's International Literature Sunday. I think it's in October they declare that, and quite a few hundreds of churches around Britain honor that as International Christian Literature Sunday, while we at OM have declared every Sunday as International Christian Literature Sunday, and Saturday night is included. I had to bail out of the car at Victoria Station, if you know anything about London, because we weren't going to make it to King's Cross. And I got on that very swift Victoria Line Underground and made it to the train with two minutes to spare. Unfortunately, my massive suitcase of literature didn't make it, coming a little further behind. But Billy, my avant-garde man, he made it. So we have just a few books, and of course you have your own book display. We hope you'll take advantage of some of this literature. We had seen for 22 years, that's when I was converted, through a meeting of Billy Graham in Madison Square Garden. I was told it was just an emotional experience and it would soon be past. But 22 years ago, Madison Square Garden, God reached into my life, and through Christian literature, brought me into knowledge of evangelical and biblical truth, and through his word. And I have just seen for these 22 years, that Christian literature is the most powerful weapon we have in the Church, apart from our own lives and the love that we can show. Literature will never be a substitute for love or life, but together it is an unstoppable combination. I'd like to mention just a few books that have meant a lot to some of us. The writings of Oswald J. Smith. Here's a man who has lived a life, I was just with him, he's 80 now. I was just preaching in his church, a church that this year is trusting God. It's not an American church, it's a Canadian church, they're not wealthy people. They're trusting God this year to give 600,000 pounds sterling to world missions. This was born out of the vision of this man. I was recently preaching in Pippin J., down in Bristol. If you know that interesting, the most interesting of all Anglican churches in the whole of Britain. Unbelievable. You know, when I preach with the Anglicans, they usually say, You could keep to about 22 minutes. In that church, they let me preach all night. And anytime I want to go back, I can do it over again. Of course, I don't want to give them an overdose. But that whole movement of Pippin J., which has made such an impact in Bristol, was born out of the vision of this man, Oswald J. Smith, when he came to Britain. And I would recommend his books. They're not very well written, but they're powerful messages. The Challenge of Missions by O.J. Smith. You know, a lot of people have asked him what his secret is. And by the way, all that I'm saying about the books and these other things, is all part of the message, it's not the introduction. Because I know there's so many different people here tonight, and some things are going to be so meaningful for some of you, and other things will not be so meaningful. But here's something that's going to be meaningful for some of you. Oswald J. Smith told us, speaking at one of our conferences, that the reason he's still going on, the main secret of his life, has been his quiet time. Every morning, he started when he was a teenager, shortly after he was converted, and he has hardly ever missed his quiet time since he was a teenager. He's now 80, still going strong, still preaching. That's interesting. I think we can learn something from such a man. And then, some of you may not know the Lord Jesus Christ, yet, in a personal way. You may not have that assurance that we're going to be talking about tonight. And here's a book that will really give you some short circuits, and some things to think about. You Must Be Joking, by Michael Green. That man is making such an impact in Oxford. And I hope you'll read this, because it answers some of the basic questions. His other book, Runaway World, which I'm sure you have in your own book table, especially written for students. This is written more for Joe Ordinary, and most of you are still in that category, even though you're also a student. But You Must Be Joking is a great book. Another man who's made an impact on me is George Duncan. This man who has spoken at Keswick so many times, and had the church in Glasgow. He's just left there. This is his day-by-day devotional book. It's worth its weight in gold. A new book on prayer. Years ago, I had the unusual privilege of speaking at the InterVarsity Convention in Urbana to about 9,000 students. This was the radical man who got me into that meeting. I never got back there. But Eric Fyfe, an Englishman who God has greatly used. And that's a new book on prayer. He was with InterVarsity and the Christian Union work for many years. So you may want to take that along. An unusual book on the simple life. I believe one of the greatest mistakes the church is making, especially since so many of us in the evangelical church come from that interesting sector of society classified by some as the middle class, we tend to be a little bit off balance when it comes to material things. And you will find this book rather upsetting to your middle class way of thinking. Christian view of possessions, the simple life. I don't agree with everything in it. I don't agree with anything in any of these books. Roy Heshin, We Would See Jesus. Another man that God has greatly used. I'm sure you've all read Calvary Row. A classic. Now in 35 languages. If you haven't read it, I apologize for not having any copies on the book table. Maybe you do. So I'll have to send that to you free if you write to me. You'll find my address on a little calendar. I'm trying to get rid of those because there's 77 calendars. So you can pick one up at the book table. The writings that we distribute the most for believers are the writings of A.W. Tozer. And I would count it worthwhile, not only coming here by train, I would count worthwhile jogging here. I like to jog every morning, mind you, not from Bromley to Durham. But just to introduce you to the writings of A.W. Tozer. How many of you have read something of A.W. Tozer? Raise your hand. If it's been a blessing to you or kicked you in the spiritual stomach, say hallelujah. I know you're tired. Wait till the end of term. That's when you read Claude Naramore's and John Hagiai's How to Win Over Worry and Care. William MacDonald's book On True Discipleship, also in about 30 languages. By the way, this one's worth 30 or 40 pence. If you look down the other end of the table, you can get the same book in our African edition free of charge. Now, you don't have to be an African to get this. But we've just done another 100,000 of those. We have just a few laying around. Britain. There's some other literature that's free. The most powerful Keswick sermon I've ever read. I don't know if they're still preaching that at Keswick. I've read a lot of Keswick sermons, and I've listened to a lot of their cassettes. I've been there. But I haven't heard that kind of message in the past few years. It is unbelievable. A little sermon called Not to be Ministered Unto. If you put that into practice in your Christian union, you will have a radical revolution at Durham University. Not to be ministered unto. We have some ministry cassettes also available. We have these prayer maps. We're trying to get every Christian to get a prayer map. We've just printed another 40,000 of these. Got tired of buying the daily telegram maps, so we printed our own. This one has a scripture text. Now just think of how that will make your digs look so much more attractive. Pray ye the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into the harvest. I know that most of you don't know who I am, and that's good. If word had gotten around, of course many would have boycotted the meeting. Because at some universities they spread the rumor, I don't get back to it anymore, that I am a Pied Piper. And that I come in with my maps and my prayer cards and slides, which isn't true, and I lead these young, quiet English university students to the regions beyond, and they never come back. Which is not true. Most of them do eventually come back. Take that map, put it somewhere. If this were a normal church meeting, I would recommend that they hang it right in the living room, in the sitting room, right over the front of the television. Perfect place for this map. I know most of you have sold your televisions to pay your fees up here. And with that map you'll find these prayer cards. This is not just about OM, this is just general prayer requests from 52 of the most needy nations in the world. Many, many other Christian groups and missions are using these cards. Very, very helpful. I have a great problem in prayer. My mind is always wandering. I find it difficult to concentrate. And if you have that trouble, you may find the map, these cards, helpful in enabling you to concentrate in prayer, especially intercession. You know, praise and worship, I believe, is the highest calling in the Christian life. And that's why I like the writings of Tozer. That's why I believe the greatest book in this decade is probably Destined for His Throne, a new book on worship that has just come out by Christian Literature Crusade. I'm sure you can get it from your local bookshop. Because this is our calling. It's worship more than anything else. But worship and praise will lead to intercession, or otherwise it will become subtly selfish, especially in a world where 50% of the people have never heard the gospel even once. So I hope that you'll make use of those little cards. And if you can't afford the cards, this little book has very similar requests from nations around the world and sells for about one-fifth of the price. Now, how does one recommend his own books? Most of my books are not here. But recently a book came out that's not selling very well. So we brought some of those. It's called A Revolution of Love and Balance. Because this is a follow-up of what I want to say tonight. I hate to just speak once in a place. I'm just going off to Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in a few weeks, and I'll speak twice a day, every day, for five days. I like that. That's not possible at university where you're all studying. But this is a little follow-up of what I want to say tonight. Because when I finish tonight, some of you are going to think he's an extremist. Because when you're trying to state truth that is very meaningful to you and has been burnt into your soul for twenty-two years, it's not easy to present it in a sort of a docile, quiet, gentle, unassuming, unoffending, appropriate English way. Even though you've spent, and I have spent, sixteen years trying to learn the English language and the English ways. Total failure. So I don't believe I'm an extremist in the wrong sense. And when you finish my book, Revolution of Balance, I think you'll understand better what's really on my heart. Let's just spend a moment in prayer as we look into God's word now, together on this subject that is on our hearts. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to be together. We do not want to just present truth. We know that the letter killeth and the spirit bringeth life. And Lord, we are very, very conscious that we as human beings can get in the way, and we pray that we may be hid behind the cross, and that we would see Jesus, and that you would start this term off with a mighty move of your Holy Spirit in our minds and in our hearts. Now, people in this town may know we have been with Jesus. Now, we're all different, and we have different backgrounds and different ideas. We come from different theological streams, and we've been in different activities during the summer, and we've got excited about different things. But we pray that in these days there would be a like-mindedness among us for the glory of your name here at this university. And though we may worship in different churches, and house groups, and fellowships, or cathedrals, that we may walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, and that we may know the assurance of our faith. Oh, God, we thank you for your Son, the Lord Jesus, and we remember Him, and we want to yield our lives to Him. We thank you for this literature and the ministry it can have, and we pray that from this meeting will go forth men and women who will choose the way of the cross and never turn back. For we ask in Jesus' precious name, Amen. Let us read a number of scriptures together, starting at the epistle of John, 1 John, chapter 5. In the old college buildings in the universities, like Cambridge and Oxford, usually during the meeting you freeze to death. But in these newfangled buildings, everybody starts roasting and sweating. So I hope you won't mind if I take off my old coat, and feel free to take yours off as well. Here comes the electronics supervisor. Ventilation. Very good. Ventilation. High. If anybody gets too cold, I can just adjust it. 1 John, chapter 5, verse 9. I hope you will take some notes. You're all serious students. That's why you've come to university. Listening to messages without taking notes tends to drowsiness and mind-wandering. It also helps people misquote the speaker. 1 John, 5, 9. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life. These things I have written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. Repeat. That ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Keeping those verses in mind, go back to Romans chapter 12. Romans 12. Perhaps we could have operation feedback tonight, if you have another piece of paper apart from your little notes. George Whitfield used to have this method. When he was preaching sometimes to 20,000 people in the open air, he would have people write notes to him as he was preaching, sharing what the Spirit of God was doing. People were being converted. They'd send a note up to the Pope. And I guess he would preach with greater volume and compassion. No Englishman has ever shaken America, as George Whitfield. I have sometimes practiced this. I've asked people to keep their notes to the end. Once I had a note that came up to me during the meeting. It said, your time is up. Would you please sit down? So, if you keep your notes to the end. But really, I want people to feel free to feedback thoughts, questions, and I'll try to answer them by letter. I'm taking a lot less meetings this coming year, because of the responsibilities in the work and my family. I took about 700 meetings last year and felt it was a bit much. So I'm cutting back and hoping to see a better quality, a higher quality of meeting, and somehow come out of a meeting with relationships. I'm still corresponding with students that I preached to at Cambridge University 14 years ago. And I'm not here to just deliver some kind of a message and disappear. Though I have to go later on. I would like to maintain contact at least with some. Romans 12, 1. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable sex. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I think these two verses especially are appropriate to begin a new term, because after 11 chapters of heavy theological truth in the book of Romans, it's as if God, by his Spirit, is saying to us, in the light of all this truth, this is the way you should be living. C.S. Lewis said, we have the tendency to think but not to act. He went on to say in one of his books, we have the tendency also to feel, some more than others, but not to act. And if we go on thinking and feeling without acting, eventually we are unable to act. And some of you may prove that in the next two or three years. You may be a regular attender at the Saturday night Bible reading, and you may even go to other messages during the week, and by the end of three or four years, and the range of speakers you are able to get, you will have filled your head quite well with various assortments of Bible truth. And there's nothing wrong with that, if you act upon it. But if you don't act upon it, the very truth you receive can become like poison in your spiritual bloodstream, and lead you into a disease that I call spiritual schizophrenia, in which people develop a double life. And we have many evangelicals who have developed it, and people who don't call themselves evangelicals. They feel they're better than evangelicals, whatever they are. When we hear about the evangelical church having great problems, we try to cop out and say, well, no, I'm not part of that. I'm something new. We take on a new name. Whatever your name is, whatever your group is, if you study it, you will see that spiritual schizophrenia is coming in. If you're a real new group, you may not recognize it yet. And I believe that C.S. Lewis put his finger on it, and I would strongly recommend that man's writings. I'm rereading parts of Problem of Pain by this man right now. And I believe if you'd use his writings in your evangelism, you would see even some of the most agnostic people coming to Jesus Christ, because many have been brought to Christ through the writings of C.S. Lewis. A tendency to think, but not to act. And that is what always concerns me when I come to bring a message, especially after preaching for 22 years. Sometimes those of us who are ministering and teaching, we are subject to depression, we are subject to want to quit, because we know how people can listen, and we know how few often are willing to pay the price to convert what they hear into action. One leading Bible commentator said in one of his books that I read not so long ago, that so much of what we feel and so much of our emotion and our thinking never gets translated into action because the past is too great. And let us understand that if we are going to be disciples of Jesus Christ in Durham or anywhere else, it is going to cost. Look with me at Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14. There is always a danger when we speak of the standards of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we can knock ourselves out on the very standards we talk about. And though this evening we will be bringing into this message some of the standards of the Lord Jesus, as we've seen right there in Romans 12, 1 and 2, we hope you will keep that in balance. Something from J.B. Phillips has helped me along that line as someone who tended toward being a perfectionist, especially my first year at college. I had my first year at university in Mexico. I didn't stay there, by the way. And I never finished college, so I don't want to give false impressions. I got such a burden to go to the mission field that I just couldn't bear another year, so I transferred into Moody Bible Institute, took a two-year crash course in Spanish and missions, and got out into the University of Mexico for a summer or two, and then over into the University of Madrid for a summer or two, and of course you can never put all that together. Supposedly if I go back to Moody now, I can put it all together and get some kind of a degree. I'm sure that would be extremely significant at this stage. J.B. Phillips in his book Ring of Truth said this, Like many others, I find myself something of a perfectionist. If we don't watch ourselves, this obsession for the perfect can make us arrogantly critical of other people. By the way, every Christian union gets a few of those. If you don't get any at Durham, let me know, and I'll send a prize as the most unusual Christian union in Great Britain. Of course it always takes a term or two, you know, for them to come to the surface. Desperately critical of others, especially in certain moods, and desperately critical of ourselves. In this state of mind, it is not really that I cannot subscribe to the doctrine of forgiveness of sins, but that the tyrannical super-me condemns and has no mercy on myself. And if we don't understand the truth of forgiveness, perhaps the greatest truth of God's mercy in the Bible, we can walk out of this meeting tonight only condemning ourselves and fall into a greater trap, because introspection is also the order of the day in many circles. And there are some groups that don't even believe in world missions anymore. They just believe in gathering in their little holy huddles and try to become holier and holier and holier until they become more and more confused, especially judging all the other Christians as being carnal, especially those who run off and attempt to evangelize the world. But I believe this doctrine of forgiveness is so essential if we are going to be liberated men and women. One of the greatest struggles in my life was to accept myself, and I believe it will be the foundation of some of your struggles in the next year, perhaps more than any other doctrine. A deep, level acceptance of yourself. The man who has drawn the greatest crowds in Christendom next to Billy Graham is a quiet-speaking young man named Bill Gothard, who is not yet known in Britain, because he's so quiet and shy and unassuming. He doesn't assume that he's going to have a great ministry in Britain. But he now has a seminar in North America just to teach basic principles of life, how to live, from the Bible. The average seminar has 15,000 people sitting for one week, drinking it in, and many of them go back for advanced seminars. And now he does it simultaneously by large-screen television in two or three cities, sometimes filling whole stadiums, because he has found the message from the Word of God that shows men and women how they can live victoriously in Jesus Christ. Not perfection, but victory. Victory includes knowing what to do when you sin. Did any of you, we all have testimonies of what we did this summer. I won someone to Christ. I went to a Christian camp and rededicated my life. I went on OM and gave tracts out or led people to Christ. How many have a testimony, this summer, I fell into sin? I do. Only in a student meeting could I get any hands up on that kind of a question. Sometimes we can launch out on a great campaign to help others and end up flat on our face, barely able to help ourselves, much less help any other people who are around us. To be quite honest, I have difficulty just getting from the McDonald's hamburger place at Haymarket over to Charing Cross without falling into sin in my mind at that little interesting flick joint on the corner across from Trafalgar Square. Of course, none of you know any of those things. And that's why I am so convinced that the victorious life not only includes knowing how to live in victory over sin and how to deal with temptation, but it includes knowing what to do when we do sin. And in the Epistle of John, it says, if any man says he doesn't sin, he deceives himself. It was Mary M'Chane, one of the greatest Scotsmen of all times. Any of you from that great part of Britain? Good. I knew I was getting up near Scotland. I don't know if they separate, whether they're going to take Durham with them. But we hope they'll remain part of Great Britain, especially if I become a citizen. But Mary M'Chane from Scotland said, for every one look at yourself, take ten looks at Jesus. There is a danger that when we're hungry for the Lord, we become overly sensitive, overly introspective, especially when we sin, and then we become depressed and discouraged, and we quit. It happens. It happens to people after three or four years of bathing in the sunlight of Christian Union activities, and then they get out into this rough, interesting world, and they're the only Christian in a factory, or an office, or somewhere else, maybe overseas, and they go down. And then I heard the simple gospel, that man is not saved by works, he's not saved by going to church, he's not saved by his own efforts, that man can only be saved by grace, by the grace of God, demonstrated through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. That's the gospel. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin. And if somehow that has not become a reality yet to you, please talk to someone. You may not want to talk to me, you're probably, some of you are afraid of me, or don't understand my language. I could speak Spanish, but I don't know if that would improve the situation up here. Talk to someone and say, show me, show me from the Word of God if this is true. I don't want you to just believe what I say tonight. I often think of those words of A.W. Tozer. He says, the more keen a young person is, the more easily led astray, because they're hungry for truth, and they seem to be willing to believe almost anything, especially if it's given by someone with a superior personality. I don't know whether that's a threat or what, but I believe that is true today in Britain. The young man is more hungry for God, the more easily led astray, because the devil is after him. Today I was at a wedding of one of my closest friends, a young man that is really committed to Christ. By the way, Roger Mitchell was there at that wedding. And just two nights ago, this young disciple, he was converted through our work. He was hitchhiking to India years ago, and we picked him up in one of our trucks, and we took turns witnessing to him. Finally, he fell on his knees and accepted Christ as his Savior. And he went on, what, 15 years now. And he was just married today. But two nights ago, he called me on the phone, 11 o'clock at night, I was phoning all over, trying to get our board members to give their final go-ahead on another bid for this ship. And over the telephone, he said, George, something's just happened. He's very phlegmatic, he's very English, quiet. These are the men that are really going places in our movement, we Americans. We just said, hey, what's going on here? You see, the Americans talk about it, and the British come along, very quietly, and they just do it. You see that in the film, The Bridge Too Far. I don't understand it. But he talked to me on the phone, and he said, all my possessions, because he doesn't have much of this world's good, and he checked out a hundred pound for his honeymoon, all my possessions, my briefcase, my clothing, my files, everything, and the car that's just been given to him, an old car, but a rather good car, the way O.N. cars go, just been stolen, everything. He just parked it for 20 minutes, some of you know London, it was all locked, gone. Imagine two nights before your wedding, and yet we watched him and his beautiful fiancée, who just three years ago lost her first husband, and beautiful Turkish brother, we watched them just rejoice in the midst of that, and how they were rejoicing together today, as they rejoined together in the Lord. I bring in that story because I just want to somehow communicate in my own feeble way that Christianity works. I have been watching that fellow in my office under incredible pressure for two or three years. He lives the love. I have never seen him lose his temper. I have never seen him do anything but shed his love on those he's working with, and he is in a hot spot leading our international team. Yet he is a young man with a permanent back trouble. He's tried every method you can think of. He's had more people pray for him than everything you can think of, and yet he has a permanent back trouble. For months he was laying in pain on his bed. Now he's able to walk around and carry on to some degree. Many other things he has suffered. Christianity works. That man found Jesus Christ in the back of a truck. I found Jesus Christ in Madison Square Garden. I'm sure most of you have found Jesus Christ, and you are experiencing this reality. It works. But when we are Christians, and when we are born again, that is not the end, it is the beginning. Temptations will come. Struggles will come. Doubts will come. Fear will come. This whole area of self-acceptance, which I would like to dwell more on, but may have to just pass it over because of the time. Do you really accept yourself? The Bible says, Love your neighbor as you love yourself. You're not going to love your neighbor around Durham until you learn how to love yourself. What do I mean by that? A healthy respect for yourself. A belief that you are created in the image of God, that God has a great plan for your life, that you are just as important as anyone else. Any speaker who ever gets up here, you've got just as much room in God's book in heaven as anybody you'll ever bring here, or Billy Graham, or any other evangelical favorite you may have. Do you believe that God is in you? Do you believe that God created you and loves you? That may sound very simple. I think we need to sing a new song again in our churches. Jesus loves me, this I know. Do you know it? Do you have that assurance? In some ways that is almost as important as the assurance of your salvation, because if you have assurance of salvation without assurance that God loves you, you will become an evangelical misfit. You will become another religious parasite, unable to express yourself, unable to relate to people, unable to communicate the gospel to this lost generation that is going to read your life much more than they are going to read these books. A lot of people have trouble looking in the mirror. My great struggle as a young Christian was along this line, accepting myself. I always felt I was too skinny. I wanted to be a great athlete. I wanted to impress the girls. I saw this advertisement once in the newspapers, a picture of a real skinny fellow on the beach could barely hold his bathing suit up. He had a real nice looking chick or bird, whatever you call them here, next to him. And along comes this big strong guy and he knocks this skinny fellow and he runs down the beach. You've probably seen this ad. They had a big write-up in Time Magazine about it recently, just this one ad. And he walks off with a girl. And I saw that advertisement and I thought, well, that's what's going to happen to me. No one is ever going to marry this. And I wrote in, and you know, I was Charles Atlas, one of these kicks. I wrote in, and here I was. And I was exercising. I was eating extra food. After about six months, I gained about half a pound. Now, you can laugh. But try tomorrow morning to look in that mirror. And can you say when you do it from your heart, I accept what I see. This is good. And if you can't say as you look at your own face and look at your body that this is good, then basically you're saying, look God, you made a mistake. But our God, the God of this book, doesn't make any mistakes and you sold me out at first. And there is a release in our spirits. There's a book on that table by Watchman E called Release of the Spirit. It's a good book. If you're not too intensive in your mentality. You get some people that are so intensive and so sensitive, they read these Watchman E books and they never come out the same again. They're blinking the screen. Then you need to pick up a Eugenia Price book. Books need to be kept in balance. And there's no book better than this for doing that. But it's a liberating, a liberating thing when we come into this place of assurance about God's love for us. So many people that I have been involved in counseling and for every hour I preach, I spend far more counseling in just being with individuals. And I don't believe there's any method in evangelism that is greater than man to man just sharing, just being a friend, loving and giving yourself to people. I'm not against other forms of evangelism. We've reached about 240 million people in the past 15 years. And that's not an exaggeration. So I think that proves we believe in evangelism. But there's nothing more powerful in evangelism than a child of God who is demonstrating the love of Christ. And that's your strongest weapon here. And nothing can stop it. But it's got to be built on that assurance. God loves us. He has a plan for us. He's in us. We're not all the same. God is not trying to push us through some kind of evangelical biscuit manufacturing machine. We all come out the same. And it's so thrilling to see the unity in the midst of the diversity. And I speak to you as someone who is outside the Christian unions and outside inter-diversity and yet is 100% convinced about this movement of God here in Britain in the Christian unions. We just had Chaw Wee Hin as the main speaker of our Leaders Conference over in Belgium. God has given you an international leader of tremendous perception. I just was yesterday with Chandapila for lunch, the young man who led the Christian unions in India for 20 years. One of the most anointed prophets I've ever met. A tozer of India. I say this because there is a movement going on and I've hit it in some of the universities that is now saying, well, all these Christian unions, this is not really scriptural. No, maybe this is something that's only in the South. It hasn't come North yet. But you get people who say, well, this really isn't scriptural. What's the biblical basis for this Christian union? And they will get you on the local church kick and they will tell you the only really biblical thing is the local church. And if you find anybody on that, would you please, please give them one of my calendars with my address. I fanatically believe in the local church. The main function of our work, practically speaking, the ultimate step is to plant churches. We planted 13 in France. We planted some of the first churches in Turkey, modern Turkey. We planted churches in Spain, churches in Italy, and churches in other parts of the world. We believe in the local church. But as we study the book of Acts where we get this strategy, we see that there are not only local churches, there are teams of men who were the men God used to start those churches. Because, you see, people say the same thing about, oh, well, this is not scriptural. It's like the Christian unions. So this unscriptural OM team, a lot of whom come out of the British universities, because that's where they got saved, because in many of our churches nobody's being saved. Some of them, they're off. Praise God. And there's no competition at all between the two, there shouldn't be. But these young men have come out, and they've been trained in OM, and many of the men get sent out from the local church. But when they get in Turkey, they work as a team, and they plant a church. So if we have this unscriptural mentality that OM or Christian unions, and we're a fellowship, we're a team of people in a particular situation, a bit of an unusual situation, banding together, most of us all have local churches, and I hope you will. And if we say this is unscriptural, then what we're saying about that OM team, and we have also university teams, is that the unscriptural team gets the blessing of God somehow and plants the scriptural church. That doesn't make sense. I'm sure you can even get that in your first year. And so I pray that you will not feel hesitancy to throw some of your weight behind the work of a Christian union. No one has asked me to say that. If anything, they've asked me probably not to say that. They didn't actually, but they told me a lot of other things might be good for me to say. But I believe God is moving in the Christian unions in Britain. I saw this at Oxford a year and a half ago when I was there on a Saturday night. I've seen it at Cambridge, I've seen it all over the country. Even in this little Christian union I was way out in Wales. That's another beautiful part of this island metropolis. Here in this little Christian union of Wales, God was working. But when God works, the devil will work. And you are going to see the devil work this term. You are going to see him try to bring division. You are going to try to see him bring confusion. You are going to see the devil trying to get people to major on the minors and minor on the majors. And if only we could get a vision of the unity of God in the midst of the diversity. We will be loyal to our local churches. Most of you are now away from your local church. And there needs to be this fellowship here in this situation. And I just believe God wants to do great things here this term. I tried to get away from coming to this meeting. I promised initially that I would probably send someone else. But if I could possibly come, I would come myself. The Lord would not let me get away from this meeting. And I don't believe it's mainly to speak on this theme that I've been speaking on, but to just ask of you in the name of the Lord Jesus to draw together in the power of the Holy Spirit to love one another with a compassion, to deal with sin instantly and quickly, and to press on to make an impact in this university and in Britain. And I believe as that happens, it will be felt in the uttermost parts of the earth. Half the people in the world are still waiting for their first gospel tract. Did you know that? Half the people in the world. Seventy-five percent of the people in the world have never had a Bible, even a New Testament. Fifty percent have never had even one gospel tract. In history, Britain has been one of the main places under the providence of God through the power of the Holy Spirit to send out laborers. Now reports come that we are just barely keeping up with the death rate among missionaries. So many young people I talk to have a false idea of what a missionary is. And I pray that you may study some missionary books. I recommend especially the books of Michael Griffiths. And by the way, he's living in Britain for a year. If you can get him here to speak, drag him up, fly him up, but get him up here. Read Martin Goldsmith's book, That Converted Jew, at All Nations College. His book, Don't Just Stand There. Get some good missionary materials and you will see there's tremendous changes taking place in missions. Missionaries are needed and wanted just as much as ever before. And there are incredible open doors. Not only can we go in by twos and threes, we can go in even in closed countries with a whole ship. The semi-closed country of Sudan has just asked us back for the second time. Top government level. You know, we have difficulty convincing Christians about the ship Lagos. It frightens them. It's too big, especially in Britain. Christians in Britain, anything that's big they feel it's not from God. Except finally, they like that. But you know, when Moses moved across the wilderness it was no little, little thing. There were a million men. They didn't count the women so much then. Now we count the women. But though we've had difficulty convincing Christians, especially university students, about a ship, government leaders all over the world, all over the world, presidents, prime ministers, admirals, generals have been convinced that this has been one of the greatest things that has ever happened in their nation. And we have more nations inviting us to go to than we can possibly go with one or two ships. President Marcos alone wanted to adopt the ship as a permanent project and let us share the gospel in the Philippines nationwide free on television after he paid his visit to the ship. Doors are open. The harvest is plenteous. We've seen thousands profess Christ in Africa. But their labors are few and there are some African countries that have less than five believers. In fact, there are ten African countries that have less than five hundred believers in the entire nation. We almost seemingly have that many people here tonight. And I believe as God works in your midst and as you come into this greater assurance of your own faith by his word, and as you experience his forgiveness on a deeper level, and as you learn how to witness and share Christ here at the university, that this will flow and flow and the ends of the earth will feel the impact of this meeting tonight. I believe that. And I hope you'll go through these doors with a spirit of expectation. My closing message at our annual conference, I spoke on five points, and I'm going to close with those, not speaking on them, but just telling you what they were, because I believe it's the best way to begin a new term, begin this term, because this conference that we just finished in Belgium really marks the beginning of the OM year. And so this is what I recommended as I spoke on the final night on how to begin the year, how to leave the conference and begin the year. And I'd like to recommend it as the way you can leave here and begin the year. First of all, with a thankful spirit, a spirit of thanksgiving. Tozer says one of the greatest diseases today among Christians is cynicism. I have a terrific temptation in that area. You cannot be around the Christian world too long without a few temptations in that area. The cure for it is thanksgiving, thanksgiving. Secondly, go away and into this year with a spirit of expectation. William Carey said we need to attempt great things, and we need to expect great things. Some of you are expecting very little of yourself spiritually. You say, well, I'm so weak. I've got so many problems. Man, this man doesn't know the hang-ups. I'm done. And you have so convinced yourself of your own low image that you probably won't do anything. But if you can get God's revolutionary image of yourself, Jesus Christ in you, the hope of glory, I will tell you even a dozen people filled with the Holy Spirit who can tell what God could do. Thirdly, go with a spirit of faith. Faith is a victory, and this means prayer. My burden for some of the Christian unions is that the missionary prayer meetings and the other prayer meetings are not very well attended. We'll flock to the meetings if we get in some great speaker, bring in Johnny Cash or Cliff Richards or Little Elf and Annie, and we'll all come out. But to go to a meeting where only the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God the Father are present and there's not too much interest. May God have mercy on our twisted thinking. A spirit of faith, and fourthly, compassion, and fifthly, awareness. The Bible says watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation. When you walk toward those newsstands, if some of you have that problem like I have, maybe we could correspond and have a mutual exhortation, but I have trouble with these newsstands, with these little pornographic magazines. And if you have that trouble, then be a little more watchful and learn where the newsstands are and go the other way. You say, well, how do I get my paper? Send your girlfriend or your grandmother. Billy Graham says, we are living in the age in which we have become sex gluttons. At Oxford, they asked me to speak on the subject of sex in the Bible. We didn't have any trouble getting a crowd. Maybe you don't have those problems up here, but there are 300 verses in the Bible on the subject of sex, homosexuality, sex with animals, everything right there in God's Word. This is an old-fashioned book. Maybe it's time you started looking into it and obeying it. And so we must go away with an awareness. The enemy seeketh whom he may devour. Maybe it's not lust with you. Maybe it's pride with you. Maybe it's some uncanny devilish fear. Satan has many weapons, and I pray that as you go forth this year, it will be with the whole armor of God wherewith you can stop all the fiery darkness of the devil. Do you believe that? As you believe, so it shall be. Remember, we have the tendency to think and to feel, but not to act. Reverse that tendency. I beg of you in the name of the Lord Jesus and go from this place willing to pay the price that I was going to read in Luke 14. Pay the price to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Let us close in prayer. My Lord, I got to at least ten percent of what I wanted to share, so I'm grateful for that. And I believe all the rest is right in this book. We thank you for the assurance we can have. We thank you for the reality of your love and your acceptance of us. We thank you for the shield of faith wherewith we can stop the fiery darts of the devil and for forgiveness and your precious blood which cleanses us as we turn from sin, as we repent of sin. Oh Lord, we're so grateful. You know each individual need tonight. Meet those needs by the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen.