This sermon emphasizes the call to repentance and radical surrender to Jesus, focusing on the need to confess sins, surrender worldly possessions, and commit to serving God wholeheartedly. It challenges listeners to become missionaries in various vocations, to love and serve others sacrificially, and to prioritize the kingdom of God above all else.

If you do not know what the umbrellas mean, let me tell you. When I speak, I spit. The electronic equipment down here will be destroyed by my spit. The man with the earphones If he is not a Baptist, he will be a Baptist when the message is over. I want you to pray for me. God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable unto thee. O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. Jesus came preaching this message. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. In each of the three synoptic Gospels, he begins his ministry with those simple words. Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand. First of all, there is the whole dimension of repentance. He calls upon us to become a repentant people. And in his name, I speak to you of repentance. Let me tell you a story. I was in an airport in Denver, Colorado. I was waiting to get on the airplane. Little, all kinds of people were wandering around. We were all anxious to get on the plane. There was this one little girl. She was about that high. She was jumping up and down. She was clapping her hands. She was saying, I'm going to see daddy. She was just yelling it up and down. I'm going to see daddy, I'm going to see daddy. Sing it, sing it. Do you want to hear him sing it? Ich will meinen Papa sehen, ich will meinen Papa sehen. She had pigtails. She had a fluffy dress. She was covered with ribbons. She was jumping up and down. She was so cute. She was so very, very cute. I wanted to step on her. I got on the plane. I sat across the aisle from her. All the way to Colorado Springs. She was yelling, I'm going to see daddy. I'm going to see daddy. Twice. Papa. It was a very short flight. They weren't giving out any food. But they were giving out Coca-Cola and cookies. This little girl was drinking Coca-Cola. She was eating cookies. More cookies. More Coca-Cola. More Coca-Cola. More cookies. She was shouting, I'm going to see daddy. Five minutes before landing. I do not know how to say this delicately. I do not know how to say this politely. There was an eruption. There was a sudden eruption. Cookies do not smell bad. Coca-Cola does not smell bad. Therefore it figures that if you mix Coca-Cola and cookies inside of a little girl, what comes out should not smell bad. This was the stinkiest vomit I have ever smelled in my life. And it kept on coming out. There was vast amounts of it. And when she finished, she said, I'm going to see daddy. Everyone on the plane leaned away from her. Yay, her own mother forsook her. When the plane landed and pulled up to the gate, I was out of my seat as quickly as possible. I was off the plane and on to the ramp. And as I rushed up the ramp, I saw this man coming down the ramp. He was dressed in a white flannel suit. And I knew who he was. Needless to say, I lingered. I wanted to see the great encounter between daddy and vomit face. What happened next was incredible. He rushed past me. He did not even look at his wife. He just yelled at her. He said, go get the baggage. And he swept up this vomit-covered girl. And he hugged her. And he kissed her. As though nothing in the world was wrong. He did not notice the vomit. He did not smell the vomit. He just loved her. I was so disappointed. People, if you think that love is something, you have not considered how much God loves you. And if you come to him tonight, he will in no wise turn you away. I don't care how you come to him. I don't care what filth is in your life. You may have been carrying on a life of homosexual encounters. You may even this past week have been committing acts of sexual filth. You may have a fantasy life that is disgusting. You may be living a lie. But God will not reject you if you come to him. He will in no wise turn away from you. If you will confess your sin, he is faithful and he is just. And he will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He will not only cleanse you, but he will forget that you ever sinned in the first place. Most of you do not know the name Rosemary Woods. She was the private secretary of President Nixon. She was very much a part of the Watergate scandal. There was one cassette tape that actually had a recording of Nixon setting up the Watergate affair. There was a tape that actually had Nixon setting up the criminal act. Rosemary Woods had that tape. When the trial took place, they put her on the stand. They put the cassette in the player. And all of America waited to hear. We waited to hear the crime being recorded on the tape. We waited to hear the crime actually taking place. The tape came to the place where the recording was supposed to begin. We waited anxiously to hear the crime actually taking place. And as the tape was being played, it suddenly went dead. For the next 20 minutes, America sat there listening to nothing. Rosemary Woods had erased the tape. The deed was wiped out. The evidence was gone. The tape had been erased. People, people, Jesus has erased your tape. He has blotted out your sin. He has buried your sin. He remembers it no more. Jesus has forgiven you. But he has forgotten you. He has forgotten your sin. And all of this is yours. If you will confess your sin. People of God, I call upon you to confess. There are people here who are pretending. There are young people here who have put on a pretense. Who are acting. Who are pretending that they are something that they are not. You come here as a missionary. You are going out as a missionary. And all of that is a cover. All of that is concealing. For beneath that concealment and beneath that facade is sin. And I know you at your age. I know what the most likely sin will be. I know where Satan will destroy you the most. I know where you are most vulnerable. I know that Satan is in this auditorium tonight. And Satan is trying to keep you from confessing. Satan is trying to keep you from being honest. Satan is whispering in your ear. Keep on pretending. Do not reveal yourself. Do not confess. Go on letting people know that you are okay. Keep people thinking that all is well. Keep people thinking you are spiritual. Keep people thinking you are pure. And if you yield to Satan you are lost tonight. You are lost more than those who have never heard the word of God. Woe unto those who hear and do not respond. Woe unto you who hear and do not confess. And Jesus came and said repent. Repent if you are going to be my people. Repent if I am going to use you. Confess your sin even at this time. I am not going to wait until the end of the service. I am not going to wait until the end of the sermon. I am going to ask you right now to make a decision. Bow your heads all of us. And let us take a moment of silence. Jesus is right there with you. I can only look at one of you at a time. But because Jesus is God he is able to be totally present for each of you. The pure, the holy, the righteous Jesus is there with you this very moment. You may not feel him but his hand is on your shoulder. You may not feel it but his eyes are riveted on you. And he is calling upon you to repent. He is calling upon you to become pure. He is calling upon you to set aside all sexual filth. He is calling upon you to set aside all deceptions. I am going to allow some time of silence now. Because I do not want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to Jesus and Jesus alone. Because as sure as I am here he is there with you. And he is calling you to repent. As two thousand years ago he called people to repent he calls you to repent. Let him name what it is in your life that must be removed. Let him tell you what sinful thing he must take away. Even now I am sure he is naming it and you know what is blocking the power of the spirit in your soul. In silence let him speak to you. In silence let him convict you. In silence confess to him. In silence repent. I will give you a little more time. Because there are some here who are saying I have no sin to confess. And if you say I have no sin you are a liar and a fool. Let Jesus cleanse you now. Plead with him to purify you now. Name yourself. Put into your own lips what it is that is ruining you. Say to Jesus. Just tell him. Speak to him. He knows but you must tell him what it is that you want cleansed from your life. Listen to me. He is faithful and he is just. And if you have confessed. He even now is cleansing you. He is cleansing you of all unrighteousness. He is cleansing you of all filth. He is purifying you. Claim that purification. Appropriate it to yourself. Say to Jesus right now. I am clean. If I am not clean. If there is still a wicked way in me. Then make me aware of it Lord. Bring it to my consciousness right now. That I might confess it before you right now. Thank you for your cleansing. In Jesus name. Amen. The second thing I ask of you. Is this to repent. Of the western lifestyle. You say I am from the third world. I have not adopted the western lifestyle. But I am convinced that the western lifestyle is seducing people everywhere in the world. Materialism is no longer simply a sin of America. Seduction into a materialistic way of life has become normative for people around the world. I have been to the poor countries. And I know what the people want. They want the same things. That have destroyed the souls of America. We Americans often parade ourselves as the leading Christian nation. Nothing could be further from the truth. American Christianity has been corrupted by materialism. We take the money of God and spend it on all kinds of weird things. We have spent 180 billion dollars on buildings. Buildings to honor somebody who said I dwell not in temples made with hands. The church spends its money on stained glass windows. On carpets. On expensive pews. And the hungry of the world suffer and die. Which do you think God wants from his people? Stained glass windows? Or for the hungry to be fed? Expensive carpets? Or for the naked to be clothed? What do you think he wants from his people? Do you think he wants cathedrals made of stone? Or do you think he wants people to be his temples? People say, but Solomon built a temple. Solomon built a gorgeous temple. That's because 2,000 years ago God lived in the temple. The Shekinah of God was in the Holy of Holies. But 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross, he busted out of the Holy of Holies. And he has chosen to dwell in people. And those who would love him must love people. He waits to be loved in hurting people. He waits to be loved in suffering people. He waits to be loved in the hungry and the degenerate of the world. We will not declare Jesus in his fullness unless we help people to see this. I was on the border of the Dominican Republic in Haiti. I was waiting for a little airplane to come and pick me up. I was searching the sky for this one engine airplane. And as I stood there a woman came towards me. She was holding in her hands her child. Its stomach was swelled four or five times the normal size. Its arms and legs had become as spindly as sticks. The child hung limp in the mother's hands. Its hair had turned rust color from malnutrition. The child was the most hideous sight I had ever seen. And this mother held this baby up to me. And said take my baby. Please take my baby. Take my baby to your country. Take my baby to a doctor. Feed my baby. Save my baby. I pushed her aside. I tried to explain to her that there were a hundred babies like this baby. That I couldn't take care of them all. That everywhere around me there were suffering children like this one. She kept on begging me. I was relieved when the airplane came into sight. When the airplane landed. I pushed her out of the way. I ran towards the airplane. She came running after me. Screaming at the top of her lungs. Save my baby. She kept screaming. Save my baby. I climbed into the airplane. I closed the door. I told the pilot to get me out of there as quickly as possible. But she had caught up with the plane. She was banging on the side of the airplane. And she was yelling at me. Save my baby. Save my baby. The engine revved up. The plane pulled away from her. Into the air. I did not say a word to the pilot. We circled the field and headed to the capital city. And I could see that woman holding her baby in the middle of the field. Halfway back to the capital city. It hit me. I realized. Who it was that I left behind on the landing field. It wasn't just a baby. One day the Lord will say to me. I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was naked and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and you didn't care for me. And I will say, Lord, when did I see you hungry? When did I see you naked? When did I see you sick and not care for you? And he will say. When you failed to do it. To that baby in Haiti. When you failed to do it. To the least of these. You failed to do it unto me. I am not interested in you just being pure. I want you to become people. Whose hearts are broken. By the things that break the heart of Jesus. You are not a Christian. If you just have it in your head. If you just believe the right things. If believing the right things could save you. Satan would be saved. He is the most theologically orthodox person here. He believes in the virgin birth. He believes in the second coming. He believes in the inerrancy of scripture. He believes he is even a premillennialist. You don't even know what a premillennialist is, do you? We love you anyway. He is a very good looking man. Come to think of it. I am glad you are going to tell your wife that. Because I was only putting you on. She is probably the only one that believes you. People of God. I always joke. Because life is so tragic. And laughter is the only way that one can endure tragedy. Please understand the role of humor. But people. Believing with your head is not enough. In Matthew 22. When the Pharisees confront Jesus. He says that they must love him. They must love God. With the mind. But also with the heart. And with the soul. And with all of your strength. I know that you believe with your head. But will you allow your heart to be broken by the things that break the heart of Jesus? Will you let Jesus make you cry tonight? Because what the world out there is looking for. Is not clever theologians who have all the right answers. They are looking for people. They are looking for people who have the heart of Jesus. They are looking for people who cry like Jesus. That's why he said. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are they that weep. Blessed are they whose hearts have been broken like mine is broken. Do you realize what this means? If you allow your heart to get broken by the things that break the heart of Jesus. Your lifestyle will have to change. You will have to reject the affluence that has become normative in this world. You are saying to me. Are you suggesting that if I become a Christian. I might become poor? Yes. Nobody wants to face that. But it's the truth. Who do you think you are? When you read the 10th chapter of Mark. And you read about the rich young ruler. Do you say to yourself. He had a problem but I don't. I say that the problem of the rich young ruler. Is the problem of people all over this auditorium. Let me remind you what happened. A young man comes running to Jesus. He says. Good master what must I do to be saved? Jesus says. Why callest thou me good? There is only one good but God. The young man says nothing. Because he knows that Jesus is God. And silence speaks louder than words. Jesus looks at him and loves him. He says thou knowest the commandments. The young man says I have obeyed them from my youth. I do not kill. I do not steal. I do not bear false witness. I do not defraud. I have not committed adultery. Jesus says one thing more. Sell what you have and give it to the poor. Take up your cross and follow me. And the young man went away sad at that saying. Because he had great possessions. You think you are paying the price because you are on this mission. You can easily lure yourself into spiritual pride. By participating in this exercise of evangelism. But it is adventurous for a young person. To go to some city for three weeks. It is even fun to do it. Even fun to do it. Did you get it? It is not enough. But it is not enough. There is a lot of romantic playing that is going on in this auditorium. There is a lot of vacationing done here. You were thinking of taking a holiday on the Riviera. But you decided to go with Operation Mobilization instead. And you will do it for three weeks. You will go home and give a testimony in your church. People will pat you on the back. They will even give you money to cover your expenses. And you will go around the rest of your life saying, I am a missionary. If you are going to be a missionary, then be a missionary. Empty yourself. Of all that the culture says that you should want. Turn away from the things of this world. And give everything that you have to the ministry of others in the name of Jesus. Follow the one who was rich. Who for our sakes became poor. I was with my son in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We were walking down the street. A little boy came up and asked him for some money. I said, Bart, don't give him any of the money. If you give him any money, every child on Port-au-Prince will be on top of us in an hour. And they will hang all over us. And they will not let us go until they have every penny that we own. They will not let us go until they take everything from us. My son looked at me in shock. And he said, so what? Isn't that what Christians do? Don't Christians respond to the needs of people who are in need? People of God. Evangelical Protestantism has been outdone. We have evangelists on television in America that drive Cadillacs and Rolls Royces. And over against them stands Mother Teresa. And I ask you a very simple question. Who most represents the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The Evangelical fundamentalist who owns a Rolls Royce? Or the Roman Catholic who has given everything to the poor of Calcutta? You say, I don't like this kind of Christianity. Neither did the rich young ruler. He went away sad. Because he had great possessions. I'm not the one who said. That it is harder for rich people to enter the kingdom of heaven. Than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. That is not my message. That is the message of another. Who comes to you and asks you quite simply and directly. Are you ready to surrender? Not three weeks. But all that you are and all that you have. Listen, I don't just want your money. I want everything you have. You say, I tithe. It's about time we face up to the fact that tithing is not a New Testament doctrine. Jesus never said one-tenth. If that was the case, we would have to rewrite the hymn book. We would have to sing one-tenth to Jesus. I surrender one-tenth to him. I gladly give. We would have to sing in the chorus. I surrender one-tenth. I surrender one-tenth. With Dietrich Bonhoeffer I say to you. When Jesus calls you, he bids you come and die. I went to speak at a Mennonite conference. There is one of you here. God bless you. A Mennonite conference. A Mennonite conference. What are you? A Lutheran brethren? He's Lutheran. You can tell, can't you? Can't you tell he's Lutheran? A nice man, but he's Lutheran. That's beautiful. I thought that all the Mennonites were pacifists. I thought that all the Mennonites were pacifists. I thought that all the Mennonites were pacifists, but they're not rich. There was a young man and an older man having a debate. The young man was making his point strong and loud. The old man said, it's easy for you to talk this way. But what if the enemy comes to take everything we have? The young man said, if the enemy comes, I have no problem. When I became a Christian, I gave everything I had to Jesus. When I became a Christian, I gave everything I had to Jesus. If they take what's in my hands, they take what belongs to Jesus. So it's Jesus' problem, not mine. Do you believe that? Do you believe that everything that you have belongs to Jesus? The old man said, you don't understand. They could kill you. The young man said, they can't kill me. I'm already dead. Do you believe that? Do you believe that if you are a Christian, you are crucified with Christ, and that your own life is dead? And that the new life can never end? The Lutherans baptize with a little bit of water. We Baptists, we put you under the water. It's not important how you are baptized. He baptizes his way, and I baptize his way. The stupid things that divide us must be set aside, right? There is one thing that matters, and that is Jesus. Let us ignore those things that divide us, and concentrate on those things that unite us. And the old man said, all right, I know what you're saying. They can't really kill you. But they can torture you. The young man said, and on that day, when they take everything I have, and when they torture me, I will say, blessed are ye men, men shall revile you, and torture you, and do all manner of evil against you falsely. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. You have great reward in heaven. Then he said to the old man, you see, you really can't threaten somebody who doesn't have anything, who is dead, and rejoices when you torture him. That's what makes me very dangerous. And until we become like him, we will not be dangerous. And we must be dangerous in the best sense of the word. I call upon you now to not only renounce sexual impurity, I call upon you in the name of Jesus to announce the affluence of this world, and promise to give all that you are, and all that you have, to Jesus in service, not for the next three weeks, but for the rest of your life. Now let me be strong on this. I'm asking you all to become missionaries. I used to think that people ought to become missionaries if they had some special call. But I realize that Jesus has called us all to be missionaries. Maybe God has called you to serve to stay home in your hometown. I think you need a special calling for that. I think you need a special calling to stay home, not a special calling to go. Many of you are in universities, and you're preparing for careers, careers that will make your mother proud. Careers that will make your father proud. But God is calling you to something else. And when you go home and tell your mother and father I'm going to be a missionary, they will get upset with you. But my Jesus says, unless you love me more than you love your mother, and father, and sister, and brother, you cannot inherit my kingdom. I call upon you to repent and give yourself to the kingdom of God. Let us take a moment and bow and pray even now. Once again. And I'm asking a very simple question. It's been asked all week. You have heard it over and over again. I haven't asked it. The other speakers have not asked it. Jesus has asked it. Jesus is asking you, will you give me your life to go wherever I want you to go? Will you concentrate your life totally to me and to the spreading of my word? Will you work for justice? Will you become the enemy of the works of Satan? Maybe God is calling you to be a missionary in business. We need businessmen who will go to third world countries. God is calling people to start businesses among the poor and the oppressed in Haiti, in the Dominican Republic, in Venezuela. It is a new form of missions to start businesses for the poor and the oppressed and in the context of that, witness to Jesus and his salvation. You say I'm studying to be a doctor. Then be a doctor where you can witness for Jesus the most. If you can best witness for Jesus in Amsterdam, then do it there. If you can best witness for Jesus in Paris, then do it there. But most of you know that you could go to places in the third world and be a witness for Jesus in a way that would stir the imagination of people. But most of you know that you could go to places in the third world and be a witness for Jesus in a way that would stir the imagination of people. Simple question. Whatever you are studying to be, whatever vocation you are adopting, are you willing to carry out that vocation on that place in the world where God most needs you? I'm not asking you to give up your vocation. I'm asking you to take your gifts and use them for Jesus where they can reach the most for the kingdom. Do you love him enough to radically surrender yourself? Jesus is once again with you and he is calling you not to give yourself for the next three weeks but for the rest of your lives. How many of you tonight with your heads bowed and eyes closed will allow Jesus to call you and will respond to that call with yes, listen to the Lord and speak to him personally right now? Are you refusing to listen to Jesus? Are you refusing to listen to Jesus? Or are you making your mind focus on something else because you don't want to hear what Jesus is calling you to do? You love this world too much and Jesus is calling you to not love the world but to love him and his kingdom. Don't be a fool, listen to Jesus. Don't be a fool, listen to him. And with your heads bowed and eyes closed how many of you right now will commit yourself to missionary service wherever God wants you to be anywhere in the world he wants to place you? How many of you are ready to say, Jesus take me, I'm totally yours everything that I possess everything that I am is yours I surrender myself to you without any reservations. Would you lift your hands high right now if that will be your commitment to Christ and his kingdom? Lift them high! Be strong! Be bold! Do not be afraid! God wants to move through us in Jesus' name. Amen! Put your hands down. I am at the end of the message. I say that we have done more here today than preach the word. We have watched God initiate a movement because if you were not lying when you raised your hands if you were not simply swept away with the effervescence of the meeting if this was a real decision we have not had a good meeting we have witnessed the beginning of a movement we have seen the beginning of the end of the age of darkness we have seen the beginning we have seen the beginning of a new day I belong to a church in West Philadelphia it is a black church it wasn't always black but black people moved into my community and white people moved out our family was the only white family left we are Italians we do not leave for anybody beside my father donated the offering plates and I did not want to leave them behind so we stayed it is fun to preach in my church as difficult as this is to say it is more fun to preach there than here you are a wonderful congregation considering you are predominantly white white people are very difficult black people always let you know how you are doing one time I was preaching in my church and I knew it wasn't going well George, have you ever had that feeling? three quarters of the way through the sermon you know you are dying and as I was dying some black lady in the back of the church yelled, help him, Jesus! help him, Jesus! likewise in my church when things are going well they always let you know the deacons sit right up front whenever you say something good they yell, preach man, preach, preach and the women wave at you and they say, well well well, well and the men in the congregation they yell, keep going keep going, brother, keep going Germans do not do that Germans do wait, wait stop, stop once a year in our church we have a preach off we don't know what a preach off is and I understand that that's when you get about seven preachers and you preach back to back you do it to see who's best you never say that you say it's for the glory of God but we know what it's about and it was my turn to preach and I got up and I was good and I was good nobody had to tell me I was good I knew I was good people were yelling, preach women were yelling, well and people were yelling, keep going and I feed on that and I kept getting better and better and better I got so good I wanted to take notes on me and when I finished the place exploded I sat down my pastor reached over and squeezed my knee he said, you did all right, boy I hate it when he calls me boy I don't think he's getting this no, I got it did you get it? certainly so I said pastor, I said pastor you're next I said pastor, you're next I said, you gonna be able to top that? he said, son sit back cause the old man is gonna do you in no, no, no the old man is gonna do you in and he got up and for the next hour and a half he did me in and he did it with one line over and over again, one line the one line was, it's Friday but Sunday's coming it may not sound dramatic now but it was dramatic then he said Jesus was dead on the cross but that was Friday Sunday's are coming he said it was Friday Friday and Friday and the disciples were running like shepherds without a sheep, without a shepherd and on Friday Jesus suffered but that was Friday Sunday's are coming Friday Friday they're saying evil will always rule and injustice will always prevail but that's Friday Sunday's are coming and he went on like that for an hour and a half one line over and over again it's Friday, Sunday's coming Friday, Sunday's coming when he finished I was exhausted he just yelled at the top of his lungs he yelled Friday he yelled Friday and instantly automatically all 1,500 of us shouted back Sunday's coming people of God they're saying the new age movement will win but they don't know that we are the future they are saying that secularism will win but we are the future this world will not end with a nuclear holocaust this world will not end with pollution the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God the kingdom of our God become pure because purity is revolutionary give yourself and all you have to the poor and the oppressed because that is revolutionary tell every person about the Jesus who died for them because that is revolutionary the world is waiting for us all of creation is on tiptoe longing for us to come we have good news for this world and the good world news is summed up in this line are you ready? are you really ready? then the good news is this go ye into all the world and declare Sunday's coming