This sermon emphasizes the need for spiritual awakening and revival, highlighting the challenges faced by Christians in standing firm for the truth and enduring persecution. It addresses the importance of rooting out hidden sins, standing against societal moral decline, and serving with humility and love. The speaker also discusses the impact of negative thoughts, pride, and greed on individuals and society, calling for a return to foundational truths like the Ten Commandments and a focus on spreading the gospel despite challenges.

You know, some people spend so much time in detours that they never seem to make any real progress. They are traveling in circles. Now, folks, I want to complete what I had begun this morning. You know, we left it rather incomplete, you know, in the fourth chapter of Mark. We saw how these fair-weather Christians, you know, there is a little book of mine on John Wesley. If you have not read it, please do so. Once again, we need to see a spiritual awakening and upheaval in this continent. Mark you, and when it is revival, it will affect all the rest of the world. That's what should be the outcome. Now, John Wesley wrote in his diary, I have a fair summer religion, but let death look me in my face, and I am afraid. You know, of course, that many of you are aware that I was looking at more than death because my heart had stopped. But you know what was the deep underlying consciousness? The Lord had told me, I am the resurrection and the life. My soul was just anchored even under anesthesia, you know. So folks, I am the resurrection and the life. So, a fair summer religion is simply no good. Here we see that as soon as persecution arises, for the word's sake, 17th verse, now we cannot imagine how many pastors in the Sudan and in that area have been martyred, how many children left orphaned, and after all, over here, you're so close to that region, just about six hours, five hours away, and yet, the world is so hypocritical, they talk about doing something, and all the time, it looks as though it's America that must initiate all this work or all the counter work to these oppressing governments. Why is that? Because this country has lost its moral leadership, lost its conscience. Anything goes, you see. Formerly, it wasn't like that. The nation would protest and be horrified. Today, oh, leave them alone. They are just like that. They're okay. Leave them alone. As long as we get on fine, that's fine. Oh, my, what a national debt. America has gotten into by trying to lift, to free Iraq and to lift Iraq from the dictatorship which it has suffered for years. Now, you know, some of these things are costly. When the Lord wanted his children to be freed from slavery, it was a costly undertaking. Moses was putting his life at risk. He had earlier fled Egypt, and now to go back to that country where he had been a fugitive, you see, was a dangerous thing. Now, the history of this country and the history of several of these nations that followed the word of God is that many people paid a heavy price for fighting for the truth, standing for the truth, very heavy price, you know. And one of the famous martyrs, you will see their monument in Oxford, as the fire was lit and was burning. He felt that the hand which had signed an earlier recantation, which is, okay, for my own life and for my safety, I will admit that I wrote and said things that are against what Rome teaches. Now, he put out his hand into the fire and said, let this hand burn first in the fire, because I recanted after standing for the truth. You know, today we scarcely see people standing for the truth. So, they are just a bunch of washouts. They talk big, but they don't stand for the truth. They are not zealous for the truth, says the Bible. Truth is not precious to them. You know, I meet a lot of people who have suffered a great deal for following Jesus Christ, and they have not done it unwillingly or grudgingly. No, they have done it willingly. So, the 17th verse says, 4th chapter, Mark 17, they have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth, for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. So, the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about people who don't bring forth fruit. There is hidden sin in their lives, and they are so weak-kneed, fearful, and they don't stand the time of testing. Now, if you turn to Mark 7 chapter and the 21st verse, did somebody say that it is almost an offense if you give out a tract? You know, people used to speak regularly in the markets, the open markets, and some of them saw amazing results in cities like Glasgow, and I'm sure in London and so many other cities of Europe. But those days when the word of God was boldly and properly proclaimed, are you going to tell me that they are over? I have preached on the streets. In fact, I spoke at Trafalgar Square, and several of those tourists who were desperately appearing not to listen, in spite of themselves, they would turn around and listen. It was an afternoon when I was asked to speak several times at the square. I was very happy. There was a great gathering of people, and people did not seem to worry about the birds for that time being. As they sat and listened to God's word. Now, friends, what do we see here in the seventh chapter? For from within, out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. You know, friends, this is the heart of man, and we see it all the time. You would see it in yourself. For out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts. Well, we need to go to the Lord and say, Lord, my heart does not have to be a flood of sewage. My heart should be filled with your thoughts, great thoughts, positive thoughts. You know, every negative thought weakens you. A loveless thought weakens you. And you know, most of the talk that goes on when people sit at the family table is negative talk. It's some talk about somebody else, something that depresses you, brings you down. And children get affected. They get infected more than nearly get slightly affected. They become strongly infected. So a whole family is polluted by a single thought which a dad or a mother brings in, or some member of the family does. Is it a thought of love? Is it a thought which is going to make you spring into positive action? Is it a challenging thought? No, we do not consider these matters at all. And so, you know, friends, I'd hate to hear negative talk. Some people spend all their time over just negative. They are just negative quantities. They are big minus quantities. So wherever they go, all that they can do is pollute the atmosphere and bring down faith. Now, it's very damaging, very damaging. You know, if I can't speak words that elevate you in faith, what's the good of my talking? I'd better keep quiet and sit quietly. But, you know, people begin the day with money, for instance. Money talk. Now, there was no money talk in my home where I grew up. And there's no money talk at our table. You see, I don't know what my children learn. I expect them to take care of themselves. And serve the Lord. That's all I care. Are they sacrificing to serve the Lord? Are they putting the kingdom of God first? That's all I care. I don't even know what they are. But it would be very alarming to me if they are going to be, you know, just measuring out, doling out mud. Their offerings, like one of the grocers measuring out butter. You know, the butter merchants are so careful, they can't afford to give you a few extra grams. No. And those that sell costly commodities. Now, is that the way we give to God? Now, money talk. And your whole mind is cluttered with money. And, you know, when marriage comes, I find there are very few people like old City Stud. City Stud, that English cricketer, international cricketer, who became a missionary to serve the Lord, he made his wedding so simple. And it was in China, I believe. And then, when he moved to a resort place up in the mountains of India, he didn't have not want to just hobnob with the top people in society, because he was an outstanding cricket player. He was famous. And all the big dinners and the governor's house would invite him and so on and so forth. He didn't care. He didn't want to hobnob with them. You know, it's a different mindset. A very noble mindset. I want to serve. I want to serve the needy. I don't care to hobnob with these top fellows, these nobles and dukes and others. You see, look at the difference. And so, what do we see here? Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders. I don't know. We are living in such a sick society. And by banishing the Ten Commandments from our schools, I suppose most of the children these days would not even know the Ten Commandments. What would be the result of that kind of ignorance? They don't know that stealing is sin. So you will see that there's so much stealing. You know, actually in this country, if you dropped something on the ground, it would just lie there till you came back and picked it up. And you know, it was almost very, very difficult to lose anything in this country. That was the mindset of people today with so many people of all sorts and the word of God being withheld from them. You know, I don't know how many of you help in Sunday schools. It's a very valuable work. And some of you, I presume, are grandmothers. The grandfathers are missing, I suppose. They went missing when? Nobody knows. What kind of culture is that? You see? Grandmothers. There are too many people in this generation who are being brought up by their grandmothers. And of course, where a grandfather is present, they share the responsibility of raising those children at a time when they should be enjoying their retirement. And you know, you will see a heathen system. Sometimes I see a heathen system when a father and mother who renounce their old responsibilities and say, what bother is all this? While we are busy gathering some money or something, we'll send our little children back to the old parents. And whenever I come across such wickedness, I say to them, look, it's your responsibility. You begat those children. You'd better take care of them. Not leave them with their grandmas. Surest way to spoil them. You know that. My dear people, so we are facing a school situation where teachers have to be protected from violence. And how are we going to educate children if they are in the midst of a violent atmosphere? It's terrible. And as you well know, the situation is getting worse. I am so sorry that so many of these ideas and educationist theories have spread very often arising from America. Because the state schools of America were essentially started to save the children from Christianity. They were atheistic men who came forward because there they have a history of all the great colleges and universities having been started and founded by godly people and churches. And education prospered. Today it has become such a difficult matter. The children have got to be escorted into the school bus. The teachers are held responsible for any violence or injury. And then in the school bus, fights break out. And the rest is common knowledge to all of you, I believe. But the Ten Commandments went missing. And with that, the country has plummeted. The streets have become dangerous places. Oh, how sad. How sad. I used to walk through Birmingham and London in the middle of the night all alone, not one person on the streets. And nobody would bother me, miss my last bus or something. And how different things are today. My dear people, listen. This all puts it at the door of our churches. In other words, our doors. What have we done with the gospel? Some people have no vision about, I have seen some people have no vision about radio work and television work. As a matter of fact, this television expert who heard one of our messages in Canberra, Australia, when he contacted me with a letter, you know, it took me some months before I decided to even write him. All he wanted was this message should be heard around the world. That was what he wanted. And then this Australian brother. He had to come. Of course, he came at our invitation. And then he had to persuade me. You take so much time addressing retreats, conferences, going to little places. No, you need to find the time to attend to television work. That's the only way by which you can get people to hear the word of God. At long last, because I was a great enemy of the television, I didn't like all the evil that went through the television tube. And therefore, at long last, I knew God was in it. And today, when we use so many channels and people are simply amazed that we never ask anybody for a penny. No, it speaks to them. They may, of course, assume that I'm very wealthy or something. But whatever it is, someone said to me, a dentist said to me last week when she was talking to one of our patients, a very orthodox Hindu gentleman. He said, I listened to this one preacher, this preacher, and he never asks for money. Probably that's the thing that impressed him most. I don't know. However, how do you reach such people? They will never come to a retreat. Or a meeting or a church. Never. There's dark in the doors of a place of Christian worship. How do you reach them? It's a costly business. You've got to do it. But many people have no vision whatever. So, the television channels are just full of filth. Or some of the religious channels. You know, I happen to listen. I don't have time to view, you know. I'm sorry. I need to improve a great deal in many directions and learn a lot. And so, but I can't find the time to sit and watch. On one occasion, I was listening to a few preachers. And I could see how, of course, when you present yourself before the camera, you may have noticed Brother Johannes wants me well-groomed as well as others. I don't think very much of that. But when you appear on the screen, well, people must not flip the channel and say, Hey, this is rubbish. There must be a certain amount of decorum. Okay. But self-advertisement is not the thing. You know, I wanted to focus on pride. If you turn to the 22nd verse, it says, Out of the heart proceeds theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. You know, oh my, I find that the platform is such a dangerous place. It generates such dangerous qualities. Now I say, look, Lord, I want you to be seen on the platform. I don't care for anything else. I want you to be seen. That's all I want. And so all the fights, the undercurrents that there are for the platform, they're just a matter of pride. You know, where there is pride, there is strife and every evil work. So pride comes in. And the Lord here tells us that out of the heart proceeds pride. You know, getting out of a nice car can give you a lot of pride, a feeling of self-consciousness. Is it God-consciousness or self-consciousness? Now what is there in me? Nothing. You and I are just a bunch of ordinary people, human beings, whose breath is in our nostrils. How long are we here? Can anybody tell us? No, you can't. Just for a very short span, God has permitted us to be living. And what are we doing? Is it only a matter of acquiring this and buying this and accumulating this, that and other? Or is it a life that flows in love and service? You know, service does not come easily to a proud heart. I find that today you have to pay somebody something for every service. Oh, I'm doing this, so I need to be paid. Listen, folks, I've never been paid a paycheck in my life because I never asked for one. However, you see, if there is love, the love of Calvary lodged in your heart, then there will be an outflow of service. You do not look for recognition at all. You will be surprised to find that I still go to such remote places and other preachers find out that I go to such places. And they say, what? Does he go to such places too? Yes, of course. Some of the poorest, disadvantaged places. And I say, what shall I do to lift the people out here and get them away from some of their native limitations and their native fears and superstitions? Folks, it's amazing when you're free from pride and self-consciousness. You can serve, you can love, you will be such a blessing. I'll pause there. Let's pray. Gracious Father, you want us to be such a great blessing. At a time when this world has lost sight of the foundations to all morality, the Ten Commandments. Oh, Father, they are trying to knock down these ten pillars of truth. But they hardly know that they cannot knock truth down. They might go around with blinkers as though it does not exist. But alas, they're hurting themselves, hurting their families, hurting their nations. Oh, my Father, why is it that Christians have become such a bunch of pessimists and negative thinkers? Oh, full of all kinds of small bickerings. Absolutely out of place in a Christian heart. Loveless thoughts, negative thoughts, bickerings and strife over nothing. I can't understand, Lord. And that's the way they seem to carry on. And that's the chosen way of life. For some of these people who have no compassion, no burden for the lost. How sad, Lord. Do we really believe that the name of Jesus is the touchstone? And everyone who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ has no hope. Lord, our God, what a fearful and dreadful thought that is. And so many people have not even heard the name of Jesus in this world today. We boast of our education. We boast about our IT, information technology. We boast about this, that and the other. Lord, what is all this gloating and boasting over trifling things? When the larger issues, the eternal souls of people are at stake. When the destiny of nations is at stake. Is this all we are capable of? Is there no compassion, no tears, no love in our hearts? Save us, Lord, from this stony heart of pride and self-consciousness and covetousness, greed, deceit. Oh, save us, we beseech you. And enable, Father, that though we may not be as articulate as some of these radio announcers and so on, nevertheless, Lord, what powers you have given to us, we may employ. We may confess Jesus with our mouths. Loving Father, have mercy upon those that seem to have apparently shut their hearts. We pray for the bishops gathered in Canterbury. Speak to them, Lord. Speak to them, Lord, that they are trying to do what cannot be done, to make an amalgam of truth and untruth. They cannot do it. Oh, my Father, these are different commodities that do not mix. We pray and ask you that they will reverence your holy name and hallow your holy name and not tread upon your blood as they do. Oh, God, speak to them. Speak to them. Oh, my Father, when homosexuality has come into our pulpits, oh, Lord, how Britain has begun to plummet right from there, back in 67, when homosexuality was legalized. Oh, my Father, what damage it has done to the nation. We do plead with you and ask you and all the hidden homosexuality within the Catholic Church, whereby the little choristers get corrupted. Oh, my Father, have mercy that there will be an acknowledgement of all these abominations. Thou didst tell the prophet, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their sins. Oh, my Father, raise up in Britain men and women who will not be zealous for their own skins and safety, but rather be zealous for the King of kings. We beg you. In Jesus' holy name, amen.