In this sermon, the preacher discusses the tendency of religious Christians to fall into extremism and deviate from God's word. He emphasizes the need for young people to fully commit their lives to Christ and warns about the rise of false teachers and cults. The preacher shares his own experience of sharing the message of Christ for the past 25 years and highlights the ongoing threat of the devil's influence. He urges believers to be vigilant and discerning, reminding them of the balance between spiritual growth and crisis experiences. The sermon is supported by references to Acts chapter 20, verse 29, where the apostle Paul warns about savage wolves infiltrating the church and leading disciples astray.

This evening we want to speak on the subject of spiritual balance. And I can assure you we will not go as long as we did this afternoon, so that we may maintain the balance. But there are a number of areas that I would like to speak about that I believe are very relevant as you go out into the ministry in this day and age. I believe balance comes as a result of keeping truth and love in their right proportion. We have that exhortation that we should speak the truth in love. We are told that we are the salt of the world. Salt has two chemicals. Sodium and chloride. You put those separately on your food and they are not very tasty. You put those separately on your food and they are not very tasty. In fact, too much and you will end up a very very ill, very very sick person. But together we use it all the time. Salt. And so it is if our life is to be the salt of the earth, it's got to have that balance of the truth and love. Let's look at a few scriptures, starting in Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, verse 29. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. For the last 25 years I have been involved in sharing the message of Christ. In about 30 or 40 different countries. I think one of the things that has amazed me the most is how quickly God's people get carried away into extremism or into something that is less than what we find in God's word. I think one of the things that has amazed me the most is how quickly God's people get carried away into extremism or into something that is less than what we find in God's word. When I first began to preach about 24 years ago, I was always preaching about dedication. The need for young people to totally commit their lives to Christ. And last night I shared with you some of the incredible things that happened in answer to prayer. And when I first came to Europe and I lived in Spain, I was still constantly speaking this message. Only by then I was speaking in Spanish. The same message. To know the Lordship of Christ. To really put our lives on the altar. And I still believe this and I still preach it. But I began to learn very soon that once a man dedicates his life, Satan has many strategies to get him off into an extremism. But I also learned that once a man dedicates his life, Satan has many strategies to get him off into an extremism. But Tozer says that the more enthusiastic a Christian is, the easier it is for Satan to get him off into an extremism. He's hungry to know God. He wants a deeper spiritual experience. And so because of that desire, he may easily get caught up with some extremism that promises him a shortcut to spiritual reality. This can happen to you within a few months of leaving seminary. It can happen to you while you're at seminary. Maybe your seminary experience is not real. Maybe in yourself you're not spiritually satisfied. That can easily happen when you have to spend so much time studying. I usually speak every year at Cambridge University. And I notice especially before exam time, the Christian students are open. If you want to drop a kinky doctrine on them, get them carried away, go there before the exam time. And over 17 years ministering at Cambridge and Oxford, I've been amazed at the extremism that some of even the best students get into. So when I read that quotation of A. W. Tozer, some very big bells rang in my heart because I had seen this was true. So more and more, together with preaching about dedication and all of that message, I began ministering about spiritual balance and teaching people about extremism. I remember when the children of God first arrived in Europe, Christians in England embraced them as fellow believers. I was also impressed about some of their practices. They ended up not only living in the same town as OM, in the same building as Operation Mobilization. And almost within a few days, we knew the marks of extremism were on this group. And we began a ministry of warning people. We had the joy of seeing a number come right out of that false cult. As a Christian leader, you are going to have to be informed as to what is happening in the religious world around you. I have a tape, if you know English, that I would be happy to send to you called the marks of the false cult. Because you will discover that the false cults, whether it is Mormonism or the children of God or the loony moonies, you will discover they have the basic same things. Because you will discover that the false cults, whether it is Mormonism or the children of God or the loony moonies, you will discover they have the basic same things. And though we can't possibly be informed about every one of these cults, we should know the basic traits, the basic marks of a cult. And though we can't possibly be informed about every one of these cults, we should know the basic traits, the basic marks of a cult. But this means we also need wisdom to discern between that which is a false cult and that which may be only extreme but on the way to becoming a cult. But this means we also need wisdom to discern between that which is a false cult and that which may be only extreme but on the way to becoming a cult. I've previewed two films about the Johnstown, the Johnstown crisis, where all those people committed suicide. Something we prefer to forget. But the same thing is going to happen again. Because the devil has not gone to sleep. And because we are seeing a literal cult explosion all around us. I've just seen another film called The Cult Explosion. Consisting of the testimonies of about ten people, some of them Christians, who have got into these cults but now, praise God, have come out of them. Consisting of the testimonies of about ten people, some of them Christians, who have got into these cults but now, praise God, have come out of them. When we come across, of course, an extremist group, they will always tell us how people are being so wonderfully helped. They may themselves give their testimony. How they were in the dead church. And they had no reality. And then they found this little, such a loving group. And how their whole life has been different ever since. It's like an old record going over and over again. My concern tonight, because of the time, is not firstly the false cults, but it's the danger of extremism in any kind. Extremism of any kind coming into our lives. My concern tonight, because of the time, is not firstly the false cults, but it's the danger of extremism in any kind. And the first letter of John tells us that we should not examine in the spirit to see if they are of God. Tausser said that in our day, it's good to develop a little bit of reverent skepticism. Now, maybe this is not needed among theological students. Maybe you already have enough reverent skepticism, and some of it may not be reverent. By skepticism I mean doubting things. Not believing everything you hear and everything you read. Realizing that you can prove anything by case histories. What do I mean by that? I mean by taking isolated examples, you can prove almost anything. Let's use a good, very relevant example here in the German speaking world. There, the controversy between Pentecostals and non-Pentecostals is more than almost any other part of the world. People who are very anti-Pentecostal are circulating tapes of people who they believe were demon possessed. They're circulating tapes. And the evidence of their demon possession was they spoke in tongues. So then the testimony shows that after they were prayed for, and hands laid on, and delivered from tongues, then they lived a normal, happy life ever after. That experience in some person's life may have been true. But to build a theology on one experience, even on ten experiences, is a false conclusion. But of course the people on the other side of the fence, they also have their cassettes. In fact our charismatic friends are the biggest cassette distributors in the world, also the biggest Christian television networks in the entire world. And some who would be more extreme, and praise God there are many who are not, they have their cassette tapes. And their cassette tapes are the man whose whole life was miserable, but when he spoke in tongues, he was happy, and lived happily ever afterward. I counseled a woman recently in German, because she had fellowshiped with someone who was a Pentecostal, and had prayed with this person. Others in Germany wanted to lay hands on her, so that the demons could be cast out, and this influence could be broken in her life. And it became very, very complex, because the demons kept coming back, in the form of depression. And someone was influencing her husband, so that he was supposed to pray her free each month. And of course it was interesting to discover just some of the other things that were connected with all this. And sometimes we find people, who are constantly wanting to pray us free from everything. And my prayer is that the Lord will keep me free from such people. This of course is only one of many, many extremes that we are going to have to battle through in our ministries. I am not here to say that you have to believe the same as me, praise God. I am only here to plead with you to be open minded, and to be balanced, and to examine more of the facts, before you make your little conclusions about some of these issues. Even some of the great theological issues are not as black and white as sometimes we would like them to be. And don't do as some do when they finish Bible school. I feel after two years of Bible study, they must have all their theological questions answered, and in a nice little package. Because you are going to be in for some big surprises. Especially if you fellowship with some people outside of your own little group. Let's get into some other very specific areas. First of all, we've got to find the balance between the crisis and spiritual growth. God gives special experiences. Conversion. For some it's an emotional crisis. For me it was a Billy Graham meeting. I got hit right between the eyes. I got hit very strong. I repented. I wept. I was born again. But I know many people. They've never had any great, you know, crisis meeting like that. Some were converted when they were very young. And, you know, it's funny how people sometimes exaggerate their testimonies. There was this fellow trying to make his testimony sound really good. He was a wicked fellow. He had done many evil things. People were all listening, you know. And he mentioned finally, at the age of nine he was converted. Sometimes it's wonderful just to hear a simple testimony. It's still a great event in heaven, even if it happened in your second Sunday school class. But whether you're converted in a great crisis or in a slow situation, it must be followed by the process, spiritual growth. We have those words very clearly in Peter. 2 Peter 3.18 Growing grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. There's got to be the growth. That's God's process. Now the same is true as we go on for God. I personally, perhaps because I'm a bit emotional, have had a number of crises experiences. But if those crises had not been followed by the process, daily in the Word of God, daily meditating, it would have just become an abscess. It would have turned to poison. If this crisis had not been followed by growth, spiritual study and reading in the Bible, then these crises would have turned to poison. And for those of you who know English, it's like this, if the crisis is not followed by the process, then there is an abscess. In Apostle Geschichte 4, verse 31, they were filled with the Spirit, the place was shaken, they went forth and spoke the Word of God with boldness. But in Acts 20.32, it says, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified. Read Acts 20.32. And now I command you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified. I never despise an experience a person has had with God. But I try to show them the way of growth. We get different people who come to OM. Some of them have had some pretty unusual experiences. And we say to that person, Brother, we don't want to hear too much about your experiences yet. We want to see the reality of the Holy Spirit in your life. And if we don't see any fruit on your tree, we're going to doubt what is coming up inside of the trunk of the tree. This brings me to the second area. The balance between the intellectual and the emotional. Now, this time it would be good to have a study of our temperaments. Mr. Hellesby's book, that famous Norwegian again coming in on us, would be a good book for you to study. Now we can understand a little more about people. And the wide range of people that exist. And when it comes to this area, of course there are some real problems. Some people by temperament naturally gravitate toward being intellectual. It's also linked up with other influences in their life, their parents, many factors. Other people more naturally gravitate toward the existential and toward the emotional. In England we are having a great resurgence of Calvinism and Reformed theology. Some of it is very good. We are one of the major distributors of books of Martyn Lloyd-Jones and books by Banner of Truth Trust. But if that's the only diet a man gets, then it's not a good diet. 99 out of 100 he'll become an extremist. And it's interesting, when Lloyd-Jones was speaking on our ship recently, he spoke about the need for spiritual balance. He has the reality. He's got the theology and the power. And we ought to see that many of these great preachers and many great books, they are not necessarily contradictory, but they are God working through different men in different ways. And God is always making originals. And you're going to be an original. Not a Lloyd-Jones, not a Dr. Schaefer. Or some favorite Swiss hero of years gone by. I doubt around here if there's too many Karl Barths. By the way, he said Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was the greatest preacher he knew in Europe. That's rather interesting considering their different theology. Years ago there was a great meeting in London. One speaker, John Stott. The other speaker, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. And John Stott, of course, is an Anglican. He believes a good Christian should stay within the Mother Church. Around that time, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was urging people to come out of the dead churches and to start new living churches. That was the message he had on his heart at that time. And when Lloyd-Jones finished giving his address, John Stott jumped up and openly declared that he disagreed and gave forth his word. Oh, England is an interesting place. John Stott has now written a book on balance. It's a book well worth reading. And he has a chapter on the balance between the intellectual and the emotional. Then there was another big explosion. Because John Stott's number one curate became the leading charismatic almost in the country. Because John Stott's number one curate, his assistant pastor, became the leading charismatic Christian in the country. And, of course, the explosions never end. They just take place each year. And though in one way it may seem rather funny, in another way a lot of young Christians are really confused by all of this. They hear so many voices. Go this way. Go that way. Sometimes the voices are condemning other voices. And the controversy goes on. And my plea in the midst of all this controversy is that somehow there may be more love, more balance, more thoughtfulness, which to me is the essence of the Gospel message. What's your plea? That there may be more love, more balance. More thoughtfulness. Being thoughtful of other people. Someone may be very intellectual. We need such men in the body of Christ. As evangelicals in Europe, we are not exactly overboard with this group of people at present. We don't have too many of this type of person. You could be happy to know that I often speak to great crowds of somewhat anti-theological people and tell them to love the theologians. We need the theologians. I'm representing you unofficially all over the world. And I also speak to many people from time to time and tell them, not theologians, and those who are critical of theologians, that they should love the theologians because we need them. But we should also understand the person who is a little more emotional in his relationship to God. And not condemn him as some kind of religious fanatic. It's difficult to find a balance. And then another area is the balance between faith, dynamic faith, and common sense. Using our common sense. Some people, when they see our ship, they hear how God answers prayer. They think this is a miracle. So they're filled with faith. They think it's faith. It's actually presumption. So they go back and they're going to believe God for a miracle like we did. And I tell you, it scares me what some people do after they come to our miracle ship. One American wrote to me recently. He said, I'm so inspired by your project. Two or three of us now are claiming a jumbo jet for Jesus. He had no organization. Nothing had been done yet. They were just going to believe for a jumbo jet for Jesus. He didn't realize that for 15 years before we had any ship, there were 15 years of toil and tears and discipling men all over the world, hundreds of them, before God ever added any image to the Bible. Not even the first small ship. God's work is men. The day of going to some new town and praying for a new cathedral is over. God is wanting to work through men. And if God hadn't given us engineers, some of them from Switzerland, who know how to pray, but they also know how to think, there would be no ship ministry. Apart from perhaps me playing with my sailboat in the bathtub. So yes, God answers prayer. And both ships came to be as a result of prayer and faith. But as we were praying, God did not tell us to leave our brains there on the ground. Within almost the week that God gave me this burden and vision, I started to study ships and research ships and all the practical applications of the problems of this kind of project. And I think these ships are a testimony of the combination of faith and prayer. And total commitment to God with common sense and patience combined together. God is not just a God of the extraordinary. He's also the God of the ordinary. We need to see and learn how to find God in the ordinary. We can become preoccupied with the extraordinary. Some of you are going to be preachers. You're going to stand in front of great congregations. Some of us stand in front of very small congregations. Some of you may have the privilege of some Sunday morning preaching to all empty chairs. I've had that privilege. But no doubt people will pray that you have the anointing of God for your preaching. We all know that. You must have the power of God as you preach. So God can do great things. But what about your wife? Oh, she's back home in the kitchen. Oh, she's changing the nappies or the diapers or whatever you call them over here back there at home. Changing the baby's pants. And she's cleaning the floor. By the way, we've learned that the Swiss are the best for keeping things clean. Every field in OM tries to get someone from Switzerland into the cleaning section. I'm sometimes worried that this may even be almost a neurosis. But they're competing with you over in the Netherlands. They're competing with you in the Netherlands in Holland. They're competing. They're trying to do better in cleaning. And it's one of the few countries where you find the people scrubbing the streets out in front of their house. Oh, all of the different kinds of people that God has. Not easy to find the balance. God is in the ordinary. We need to pray for spirit-filled housewives. How many of you, your wives are not here? They're back home, you know, in the apartment. Raise your hand, let's see. I want to pray for your wife that God will bless her even more than you get blessed right here. And I'll give you a few little pointers. When you go home, don't just talk about the great retreat. Oh, how the Lord has blessed me. You should have been there. Oh, it's too bad you weren't there. We had such a great time skiing. But when you go home, listen to her. What has she been doing? What's happening there? And show her that extra attention. Maybe bring her some flowers. That would be nice. Some of you, your wives, if you brought them flowers, they would think you'd gone completely out of your mind. And often it's more difficult for the woman at home to press on in the spiritual life than it is for the man with his greater variety of activities. I have a whole message, it would take me two more hours just on finding balance in the whole. Because I have often been such a miserable failure in this area of my life. But that leads naturally into another point. Balance between the church and the work and the family, the wife and the children. Let me tell you the story of one of my close friends. I was taking a series at the seminary where he was studying. I was taking a series of lectures at the seminary. I was taking a series of lectures at the seminary where he was studying. And while living at that seminary, I discovered many of the marriages were coming apart. Because the men were spending so much time studying that they were neglecting their wives. And this particular friend, his marriage is now finished. Oh, he graduated. And they gave him his diploma. But his marriage is finished. It's not the best way to start your ministry. And I would warn you with all my heart not to neglect your wife and your marriage during this intensive time of study and preparation. You say, well, that's impossible. I don't believe that. And some of you later on in life, you're going to have even more preparation. You're going to have even more pressures. Now is the time to find the balance. And it's not just the amount of time. The amount of time you have with your wife or with your children. That's one factor. But then the quality of that time. And I've seen again and again that quality is more important than quantity though actually you need some of both. I counseled a woman some years ago. She was just the opposite. She was so involved in the church Monday night, Tuesday night, choir singing on Tuesday night, prayer meeting on Wednesday night, women's fellowship on Thursday night. And she had to prepare to teach Sunday school. Her husband was sort of the quiet type. Her husband, he was the quiet type. Swiss, Swiss. And she didn't realize how much she was hurting her husband. And finally one night he wrote a list. Ten reasons why I'm leaving you. He put it on the bed and he never went back again. I talked to her three years later. He never went back. They're now divorced. The devil has studied for thousands of years how to destroy homes. And we must never allow the work we are in to be put ahead of our family, our wife and our children. God, yes. He is ahead of everything. God is first. God has given you the family. So the family is second. And the work is third. And if you keep it in that order you'll probably still be going 20, 30 years from now. And if you keep it in that order you'll probably still be going 20, 30 years from now. There are so many areas where we have to work for balance. And I hope the next time you go through the New Testament as I have done, you'll go through it looking for balance. For example, in the life of Jesus Christ. We see it in the way Jesus handled people. Jesus was a man of steel, of strength, and of velvet, of kindness, of tenderness. It's a perfect blending in his character. We see the same thing in the Apostle Paul. The man who went over the wall in the basket is the man who wrote 1 Corinthians 13. We especially see this in 1 Thessalonians. Where this dynamic revolutionary for Christ, of whom it was said in Acts 17 he turned the world upside down. Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 7. We were gentle among you even as a nurse cherished her children. Will that be a mark of your ministry? Will that be a mark of the way you treat your wife? Or your children? Or your youngest disciple that you've just led to Christ? As you study Paul you will see as in the steps of Jesus this man of steel and velvet. And then the balance between work and recreation. We know the danger of alcoholics but who has warned us about the danger of workaholics? People that never stop working. And they don't know how to relax. I hope they have a course at your seminary on how to relax. That's absolutely basic. And we'll be covering that in my message on survivalship. Sometimes we have the idea that we're in a spiritual warfare and we are but you see our finger isn't on the trigger of the gun all the time. You burn your finger and the gun. Even in warfare the relaxation the recuperation the strengthening of the soldiers is basic to the movement of the army. And we need to learn how to relax. We're all different. Some people will need a definite holiday two or three weeks separate from everything so they can unwind and recuperate. In twenty some years I have never found this necessary. I get a day here and I just go right out of my mind. A whole day! I learn how to relax on the trains and I learn that change is often as good as a holiday. Change what you're doing change how you do it. Also for many years I either go running or walking every day. Singing the songs or whistling or doing something. I used to climb trees. Bigger trees than this. And there I would just praise the Lord. Reading for some people is very relaxing. But if you're reading already eight hours as a seminary student you may want to try something a little more active. And I commend to you a physical, some kind of physical regular exercise program. Something apart from boxing with your wife. Something else. Because we are physical beings and we need an outlet for that physical energy that we have. And sometimes if we're all pent up we're not working hard. Because we become very irritable. We're very irritable very touchy. There were two theological students they met in the bathroom. This is a true story. And one was a Calvinist. And the other was a holiness Arminian. And one of them flicked some water. Arminian. Arminius. Don't I tell you who he is already? OK. You need another more year at school here. Holiness and Arminian. And so one of them flicked some water in the other's face. And said something about his theology. And he said something about his theology. And they started to argue. And soon I don't know which one it was. Actual fight. That is not the way to express your deep theological feelings. But maybe it was because they were all pent up and not having some physical...