In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of giving thanks in all circumstances, even when everything seems to be going wrong. He refers to the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament, specifically chapter 3, verses 17-19, which highlight the need to praise God despite difficult circumstances. The speaker also discusses the concept of the "rest of faith" mentioned in the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, emphasizing the importance of stepping out and serving the Lord in order to experience true fellowship and survive the attacks of the enemy. The sermon concludes with the speaker encouraging the audience to develop a positive attitude, remain constant in the word and prayer, and actively engage in the work of God.

I don't believe in waiting for people to come and apologize. That's the world. That's the world. Oh, if he apologizes, well, maybe I'll forgive him. The love of Christ is forgiving the man even as the wound is being inflicted. At the very moment of the wound, forgiveness is coming out. Blessed so to persecute. Vengeance is mine, said God. Vengeance is mine, said the Lord. I think we know that verse. And that's the fifth principle. Learning the reality of praise and thanking. That we must learn to praise and thank the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 16. Be thankful for everything. Two days ago in Bombay, I spoke about the love of praise. Such an important principle. Nobody loves you. Your car is broken down. You owe so much money. They've just taken the television set back to the credit company. Just failed your exams at the university. What should you do? Worship the Lord. Thank the Lord. Look at Habakkuk, the last chapter. Way in the amazing verses. Way back there in the Old Testament. Chapter 3, verse 17, 18, and 19. Paint the most terrible picture. All of the fig trees shall not blossom. No fruit on the vine. The labor of the olive fail. No food in the field. The flocks are gone. There's no herd in the stall. That's pretty bad. I gave a paraphrase of this on the ship Landas. No money in the treasury. No books on the exhibition. The engine room is broken down. There are no men working on the deck. The captain has gone home. And there's no cars in the garage. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. What a tremendous verse. Is that your life? Is that your mentality? When everything's going wrong? You'll rejoice in the Lord, your God. Verse 19. The Lord God is my strength. He will make my feet like Heinz feet. And he will make me walk upon mine high places to the chief singer of my stringed instruments. And oftentimes, God allows circumstances to bring us to a place where we depend on him. That's where we learn to praise the Lord. Some of our people get put in jail. Just had two Dutch sisters in jail in Istanbul. Two girls, one of whom was Dutch, were put in jail in Turkey. That's part of the ministry in Turkey. That's the prison ministry. We find they really learn the life of praise when they're stuck in a Turkish jail. Many people have learned to worship the Lord in a Turkish prison. They aren't allowed to stay very long. Sometimes people start accepting Christ as their Savior in the jail. Praising the Lord. Not just in a group. That's wonderful. In our nights of prayer we sometimes spend hours in praise and prayer. But also alone. Praising the Lord. We're driving in our cars. We can be singing praises to God. Turn off some of that junk on the radio and just make your own songs. Then the sixth principle. The principle of the rest of faith. Mentioned over 13 times in the book of Hebrews chapter 4. There's a rest of faith. Let's look at that amazing chapter just for a few minutes. Hebrews chapter 4. Look for example at verse 10. This is a very important concept. The Christian life is not endless strain trying to be a dedicated Christian. It's God working in us. Now I know some people go extreme on that. And that's dangerous. It almost gives the idea that you become sort of an evangelical spiritual computer. You just go to the right conference. You say the right phrases. Like putting in a computer card. And from then on it's just automatic spirituality. There is no such instant spirituality. You may have a crisis. At a conference. Or in someone's ministry. If that crisis is not followed by a process it will become an abscess. In English an abscess usually refers to a tooth that has gone completely rotten. And it usually means the tooth has to come out. And sometimes it takes that kind of surgery to get some of the spiritual poison out of our lives. If we have had a crisis. A great spiritual experience. Without the process. The training in God's Word. The growing in grace. The walking in the Spirit daily. And many other principles. The rest of faith. Faith itself is a basic principle. And I hope that you know it. The seventh principle. See what time it is here. Realizing that God is easy to live with. I read that also in a book by A.W. Tozer. It's a tremendous help to me. Because I still had to some degree. A legalistic view of God. God knows me. He is watching every action. And if I don't please Him. He is going to judge me. Or He is going to let me get sick. Hit me on the head. And sometimes people that I counsel. They have a God with a big stick. Perhaps it's because their father had a big stick. We often transfer our view of our own father to our view of God. Now I don't know how it is in the Netherlands these days. When I came here 16 years ago. In going in many homes. I was a stern father. And all the children they went off to church. And Sunday we don't do anything on Sunday in this house. And I counseled some of these young people. I said, do you have any relationship with your father? Relationship with my father? We don't speak to him. I know so many young people in our generation. They have no relationship with their father. He is the big stern man with a big stick. And yet after they lived for some years. To their surprise. They discovered their own father wasn't quite the angel that he appeared to be. To their surprise. They discovered their own father wasn't quite the angel that he appeared to be. To their surprise. They discovered their own father wasn't quite the angel that he appeared to be. Praise God. There is a little more reality in this generation coming out. We often have a false view of God. We believe that it is difficult to live the Christian life. But that is not true. It is easy to deal with God. Because he loves us. He will very easily see even the smallest thing in our lives that we do out of sincere love for him. Even a cup of cold water. Given in his name. Brings a reward. Can you imagine how much more a cup of coffee will bring? And if we can only somehow get a greater view of God. He knows all about us. Do you have trouble telling God about some of your problems? I found that I had trouble telling God about the problems. I have real struggle with some of these magazines. Women has always been my weakness from age 5. I was first in love at age 5. I remember standing outside a school. I wasn't in school yet. Waiting for this girl to come and sharpen her pencil at the window. Between then and when I was 16 there were over 30 girls. Even after I became a Christian. You know the way some people preach. When you come to Christ. Born again. Filled with the Spirit. And after that everything is just wonderful. When you go to the newsstand. And there is a six color pornographic magazine. And there is no temptation. Just Bible verses come to your mind. But I have discovered. I can talk to God. About my problems. And I can confess them. Why should I hide what He already knows? Why am I afraid to say with my lips that which God already knows? And it is so wonderful to know. If we do fail the Lord. If we do sin. And it is sin to lust after. There is nothing wrong with a woman's body. But those women in those magazines. They are not yours. They are not mine. In most cases they already belong to somebody else. And it is a big thing in Europe today. The infiltration of pornography. And its effect on the minds of this generation. And yet many young people will never talk about it. And so it gets worse. One hand they want to serve God. On the other hand they can't get free from lust. And they get torn apart. They don't understand God's ways. And the ninth principle. The eighth principle. Accepting God's growth pattern. Philippians 1.6 What He has begun, He will continue to do. Now this is very important. Different people are growing in Christ at a different rate. We are not all the same. And I used to get so impatient. Lord why am I not getting stronger and growing spiritually quicker. And we can get very guilty. We see someone else. Why they are just two or three years in the Lord. And they become so strong. Here we are ten years. And we are chugging along. And it is so important. To see how God works in different ways in different people. And I am convinced. This is brought out in a tremendous book by Lane Adams. Why is it taking so long. That if someone is emotionally unstable. Bad family background. No proper love relationship with father and mother. When that person is converted. The process of true spiritual growth is often very very slow. And there will be relapses. And that person will need extra care. Extra love. To bring him through many years of spiritual therapy. To a place of maturity and security in Christ. Some of the people that I have been working with. I had figured it would take ten years. To bring that man to a place of spiritual balance. And some of my greatest and strongest leaders. Are men I started working with. Ten years ago when they were struggling. Failing and from very difficult backgrounds. In fact if someone is really stable. No great problems in their Christian life. I don't have much to do with it. I just let them get going. I end up fellowshipping the people that are really you know. Falling on their faces. I just let them get going. And yet some of those also have become great. Witnesses and missionaries in God's work. People with all kinds of problems. Now being mightily used of God. Number nine. The freedom of a disciplined and ordered life. I think of Galatians chapter five verse thirteen. We're called on the liberty. Only don't use the liberty as an occasion to the flesh. By love serve one another. Discipline is not the road to bondage. Discipline is the road to freedom. Now I always have trouble getting out of bed. I just love to sleep. In fact I went up and laid down during the coffee break. And I'm almost just the mercy of God I ever got back here. Because my body time it's already four in the morning. But I love to sleep. And I could not get up early. And I found that really a problem in my life. And therefore I wouldn't be able to get the time in prayer and in the word. So I acknowledge this weakness. And made this a major goal in my life. In an area of discipline. And I even got people to help me. They ring on my doorbell until I come down. And then go running out for a mile or so. Often in my Christian life. I've had to practice 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Where Paul said. He disciplined his body. He buffeted his body. Lest after preaching to others he became a reprobate. And I found this brought freedom. I was more free to do what I wanted to do. Rather than be a slave of my own feelings and my own emotions. In OM we have many emphases. But I think the one that so many young people have appreciated. Is the emphasis on self-discipline. It's a beautiful thing. And it produces strength of character. So we live by faith and not by feelings. If good feelings are there. Wonderful. But if they're not there. We still go forward. Tozer said feelings is like music. It's like marching to music. We like to hear the band play when we're marching. But with or without the music. We've got to keep on marching. With or without feelings. In our life. We've got to keep on living for Christ. That's the problem in many marriages. I thought the main thing in marriage was nice feelings. The Americans talk about vibrations. And I really feel your vibrations. I think we ought to get married. We've got the same vibrations. Three years later. No more vibrations. They decide to divorce court. Marriage is not mainly feelings. They can be there. They often go up and down. But a married couple in Christ. With or without feelings. They are committed to one another. Just as I am committed to Christ. I don't always feel some emotional tingle about Christ. Sometimes he seems so far away. And it all seems unreal. And I walk my faith. I am committed to Jesus Christ. And I am committed to my wife. If suddenly she is paralyzed. I cannot move from her bed. I am committed to her. I recently visited a woman. Her husband is totally paralyzed from the neck down. From here down. And his arms. Just to see her care for that man. He was a strong navy commander. Now he sits in that chair. Paralyzed. And she loves him. And serves him. And we need this kind of commitment in our lives. In our relationship with Christ. In our relationships with our wives. In our relationship with God. In our relationship with our wife. That will take more than a guitar and a new chorus. It will take discipline. To fall into the ground and die. Of course if we die we bring forth much fruit. And then just very quickly. The tenth principle. Learning to refuel and to relax. I had to learn this. I did not find it easy to relax. And I thought you always have to be doing something. Preaching, tract distribution, prayer, helping somebody. To put a terrific pressure on my wife. My wife is a totally different temperament. I am very fast. In almost everything. She is very slow. Not in the wrong sense. Probably in a good sense. And it is good that her temperament is different. If you marry a person of the exact same temperament as yourself. You are going to have real fireworks. And I had to learn. To understand her. Not think she was unspiritual. She did not want to get up in the morning to do the exercise program. We could not even walk down the street together. I would walk and she is so slow. And I would actually be pulling her along the road. Or I would give out tracts on the corner waiting for her to catch up with me. And I do not know your experience. But in marriage little things can become so big. And I believe in being thrifty. Taking care of money. Do not waste anything. Now we drink a lot of tea. And I feel out of each tea bag we should get at least four or five cups. And if you squeeze the bag on the side of the pot. You get more tea. And then you can refill the pot. And my wife refuses to drink my tea and the second filling. Now this may sound funny. This is a serious thing. And I have accused her of being wasteful. She, imagine, accused me of being stubborn. And little things. And the devil gets in. You know when I pack a suitcase. Takes about fifteen minutes. I just grab whatever I have to put it in and stab it. When my wife wants to pack a suitcase. She begins to plan twenty, thirty days. In advance. You think we were sending the suitcase to the moon. And every item has its place. And I just look at this. Is this a museum? I only say this. Because so often times. After we get married. We discover our partner is very different from ourselves. And we've got to learn. To adjust. To bend. To break. And it's linked to this thing of learning how to relax. And God had to slow me down. And he had to shut me up. And teach me to just relax. Let your wife live her own life. And you go take a walk. And I started to play tennis. A worldly game. Wasting time. I could have been giving out tracts. I could have been going door to door. Here was George Ver, the director of OM, playing tennis. People wanted to come and take movies. And I just so praise God. I still have a lot to learn. And I praise God that he is so patient. And just a couple of other things. Learning real fellowship and sharing. I'd like to talk about that a little more tomorrow. Real fellowship. Really being honest with people. It's so basic to survive. If we bottle it up. It does not resolve the problem. And then 12. Developing a positive attitude. Philippians 4.8 You may be a little like me. You tend to be a bit negative. A bit cynical. And there can be no place for that in God's work. We need to develop a positive attitude. Even in the midst of great negative situations. 13. Remaining constant in the word and prayer. That of course we know. And 14. Make sure you're active in the work of God. Nothing wrong with being busy in God's work. It's often when people are just sitting around. Nothing to do. That the devil gets them occupied. And I think it's so tremendous. When young people. Even in the summer. So many people get in trouble in the summer. And launch out and serve Jesus Christ. And we've seen so often. Young people who have a head filled with Bible knowledge. No reality. Until they begin to step out. And serve the Lord. And we need that. If we're going to survive. The enemy's attacks. And the pressures. Fiery darts of Satan. Well, you've been very, very patient. And so many of you taking notes. This is very encouraging. Unless you're writing love letters to your girlfriend. I trust God to give us a great day tomorrow. Let's just pray. Lord, I thank you for these principles. From your Word. I thank you for forgiveness above all else. That when we fail. With our eyes or our tongue. Or our disposition. You forgive us. You don't throw us away. But you love us. And we just breathe in this love tonight. Turn away from all that's not from you. And we embrace you and your cross. And your life. Through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Amen. Amen.