The Reality in Jesus (Spanish) — George Verwer

Unalit in the year 2000, my wonderful father died at the same time. He was the son of an atheist, and I had the joy when I first came to Christ of seeing my own father stand up in one of my meetings and trust Christ.

So he was 94 when he went to heaven, so those that are hoping I'm going to heaven might be a little disappointed yet. What a privilege to be back in this Expolit again, and I believe God is really working in our midst there, and we'd appreciate prayer for this special banquet tonight when I also will have the opportunity to speak again.

We brought with us a few of the books that are on display, and we're going to give them at between 50 and 80 discount, and these books fit into the message that's on my heart this morning. We're going to touch on the subject of moral purity, one of the greatest problems that even the church is facing, and this is one of the most important books on this subject, and I hope you might pick that up.

All over the world I'm speaking about HIV and AIDS. I've had 130 meetings since January 1st in 15 different countries, and above all I speak about Jesus and his salvation. Jesus has put it on my heart to do something about the AIDS epidemic.

Forty million people are infected, and we as the body of Christ have the message that the world needs about this subject, and I'm so glad this book is in Spanish, and I want you to get a copy. I also speak a lot about what women are suffering around the world.

This was my book of the year about two years ago. It was so important in my life that it became the book of the decade, and I've been able to see, thank you, gracias, I've been able to see 100 ,000 copies in many languages go out around the world.

We all know that women suffer in many different ways. Tens of thousands are sold at 13 years of age into the sex traffic industry. It happens right here in Miami. Atlanta is one of the leading cities in the world in sex traffic.

We know that women suffer. This book showed me that women are suffering more than I ever realized, and that I was not doing enough about this. It also has wonderful stories of women being used of God around the world.

I also speak all over the world on television and radio in favor of the unborn, the pre-born children. I don't have time this morning to speak about all these things. So I personally brought these books, and we're giving them at this very, very low price.

All the books except one we're giving for $2. This was just released yesterday. We waited 50 years for this book. And when you read what God has done, not through George Werber, but through 140 ,000 people who have worked with us, you will be encouraged in your own faith how God uses ordinary people, and we've been able to give the gospel to 1 billion people across the world.

And we stopped counting 15 years ago. We lost track. There are now 5 ,000 people on OM full time. In India alone, we've started 2 ,500 churches since I was last with you. This is a testimony of the grace of God, the power of God, and that God answers prayer.

So please do not tell them at Unilit that we're giving you this book at half price. And tomorrow, this afternoon, I have to sign books. I'm hoping only a few will come. Many of my other books are available.

About 1 million of my books have gone out across the world, which is amazing because I'm not even a writer. But I get help. People listen to my tapes, and they help me put it into writing. So I have hope then.

Yeah, there's tremendous hope. Probably 100 books in the next 10 years. But this is the main book, the Word of God. And this morning, I want to share with you some of the most important passages from God's Word in my life.

Jesus’ Compassion and the Call to Global Mission

God sent me to Mexico when I was 19 years old, and it changed my life. Then he sent me to Spain, and then to Russia. Due to my own stupidity, I was arrested, and that trip ended in four days. Then he sent me to Great Britain, and then he sent me to India, where I lived for a number of years, and then Nepal.

Then he gave me the vision for these ships. I ended up living on the ships. And I just thank God for the grace that is available to weak, needy, struggling people like me. And let me share some of the verses that really have helped keep me going.

First, in Matthew chapter 9. We'll just read from verse 35 to the end of the chapter. We have this powerful picture of Jesus. Let's just read in Spanish. Let's just read in Spanish. Let's just read in Spanish.

You have an amazing name for your church. I've been in about 90 different countries, and they're all represented on my global jacket. And if you think my jacket is really interesting, you should see my underpants.

But I'm afraid not this morning. It's for private showings for my wife. I just hope that Colombia is not there. But we know that the nations of the world are on the heart of God. And here we have a clear command from Jesus to pray forth workers into the harvest.

That's been going on for 2 ,000 years. And in the last 100 years, in a way that's very hard to explain, suddenly everything escalated. And the church just began to explode. And you and I are living in the greatest time of church growth in the history of the world.

It's amazing. And we should be thanking God every day for what He is doing. We think of what's going on in China, where there may now be up to 100 million believers, more than in the United States. We think of what God is doing in Brazil.

I've just been in Brazil. I've been in Brazil again. It's just amazing. I've just been in Chile and Bolivia and Paraguay. And in those countries as well, the church is growing. Actually, Paraguay is a lot less than, say, Chile.

Every country in South America and Central America, every country is distinct. But one of the things that's been going on in the last 25 years is that the Latin American church and our ships were very much part of this, our ships were part of this, has got this vision for the nations of the world.

And now thousands of Latin Americans are launching into global missions. And now thousands of Latin Americans are launching into global missions. And it goes back to passages like this passage. God's biblical strategy for accomplishing global mission.

It starts in prayer. I'm not from a Christian home. My grandfather from the Netherlands and my father. My grandfather was an atheist. On my mother's side, my grandfather was Irish, Scottish and English blood mixed.

It's basically toxic. He was an alcoholic, a drunkard. My grandmother divorced him. This was my spiritual heritage. And at 16 years of age, I started on the road to addiction. By God's mercy, in the very early days of sexual addiction to pornography, I had also an addiction to money.

So at 16, I owned three businesses. I had 200 people working for me part-time. And as a famous pop singer said, I was on the road to hell. When a woman of God near my high school, she heard about me.

I had a little trouble with the police. And I was causing a big stir among the students. They were about to elect me the president of the student council. And so she put my name on her Holy Ghost hit list.

And specifically prayed for me. And sent me a Gospel of John through the post. And I began to read this little book. Literally one hour, I'd have pornography in the hand. The next hour, I'd have the Gospel of John.

And there was a battle going on in my life. I realized looking back now, that even as a child, I was actually a seeker. I ended up in a church that was a social club instead of a proclamation center. We have many churches like that in America.

It's the saddest thing in America. The great problem in our country is not in the White House, it's in God's house. As so many churches say, they don't believe the Bible. This is just a good book like Shakespeare.

And they don't believe the basics. Concerning Jesus, the son of God who died on the cross for our sins. And yet they have the name Christian. And this is a nationwide scandal. That is hindering us from reaching people with the Gospel throughout the whole world.

As in so many parts of the world, they think of America as a Christian nation. And yet they watch our movies, they hear our news. And they just say, this is completely bizarre. And one of the things that feeds extreme Islam.

And we have 800 workers among Muslims. We are one of the largest groups in the world evangelizing Muslims. But these movies and the immorality in our country is a huge stumbling block to the Muslim mind.

Of course, when we study their way of living, they have often these very high goals. Don't do this, don't, don't, don't, don't. But when you get to know them, they don't live according to these rules.

And there's massive immorality among Muslims. But they're all very hidden. And outwardly it looks, in some places, very strict and very moral. And many Muslim young people, they don't even know what's going on among the leaders.

And so we're facing a huge challenge in reaching the Muslim world. When I was with our leaders in Brazil, they shared with me their vision to see 100 more Latin Americans thrust out to work among Muslims.

And we really need your prayers. Because it's such a huge challenge. So this lady prayed for me. I found out she had been praying for me for three years. She had been praying for this high school, totally non-Christian high school, for 15 years.

Conversion, Grace, and the Hope of a Second Chance

And the answer came. As I went to a Billy Graham meeting in New York City, I heard the Gospel. And I believed on Jesus. And the transforming grace, like a tornado out of heaven, invaded my life. And by the grace of God, and now I'm a very old guy, I've experienced that grace every single day.

But that's a miracle. A miracle. People who knew me, they knew I was up and down. Very emotional kind of guy. Many different girlfriends. Even after I became a Christian, I'd lead a girl to Christ. And kiss her for the next two hours.

That's not in the Bible. And people would say, George Verwer will not last one year as a Christian. He's a hopeless fellow. And he'll fall back into this pornography thing. And people were very pessimistic.

About this New Jersey loudmouthed son of a Dutch immigrant. But they left God out of the equation. And that's what makes the difference. And as a young Christian, I did make mistakes. I did some stupid things.

I sometimes fell back into some of those magazines. But I learned from the Word of God. About forgiveness, about grace. I knew that God would give me another chance. There wasn't just plan A. If we make a big mistake in our life, there's plan B.

Maybe we make more mistakes. Sometimes I speak in prisons. They've made a lot of mistakes. Some of them say I'm on plan H. You know what I say? Praise God for a big alphabet. Press on. And maybe you're sitting here this morning.

And you feel that you've failed in your life. You feel you've made some wrong turns. I pray that the grace of God would flood your heart. Because He wants to use you. He has a tremendous plan for your life.

I, of course, know He's already using you. But He wants to use you more. About 140 ,000 people have come on OM. They've been on the ships. Including many, many from Latin America. And all over the world.

More of our work is on land. Many of our OMers have never been on the ship. And you can now finally find out about all this in the book. Because when something gets this big in 115 countries. People are always saying to me, I don't understand it.

And sometimes people think, if I don't understand it, I can't get involved. Well, praise God, you can get involved without understanding. I don't understand all that God is doing. But I'm 100 committed to Him.

The grace of God. I don't know if you've ever heard of Tony Campolo. Sometimes we speak together in a conference. And I love that. Because after he speaks, I seem so mellow and balanced. But he sent out an email about several years ago.

That ministered to my heart. It was about a family in a big thunderstorm. There was lightning, loud thunder. Even the adults were a little nervous. Then they realized. Then they suddenly realized. Their little girl was upstairs in her bedroom on her own.

They ran up the stairs and they opened the door. There the little girl was looking out the window. Boom, another flash of lightning. They said, are you okay? She said, I'm fine. I think God is taking my picture.

That so ministered to me. Does God love me that much? Would He take my photo? Would He look at that photo? Actually at my age. The mirror experience is not very pleasant. I had to do a television program at Unilith the other day.

And before I could go into the camera. I had to go to this lady to put makeup on. With Rosie. I thought she was going to be there forever trying to fix my face. And yet God loves me. He loves me with an everlasting love.

And He sent His Son Jesus Christ. To live on this planet as a human being. To suffer beatings and bufferings like we saw in that film The Passion. And to die on the cross a horrible death. That we may have eternal life.

And if you have not yet responded to this by yielding and believing on Jesus. I pray this morning may be your moment of destiny. That's what happened to me that night in that Billy Graham meeting. I went back to that high school.

And at 15 years of that woman praying. Things began to happen. We started prayer meetings in the high school. I got permission to give out Gospels of John. I told the principal we'll only give them to those who promise to read them.

By then in God's mercy I was the president of the student council. And so the principal said well okay. It's actually illegal today. But it was legal then. Amazing. And a thousand students promised to read the Gospel of John.

And we had some meetings. And people came to Jesus. I then went off to university and I came back at Christmas. And 600 came to a special meeting. And I shared the Gospel. I was 18 years old. I didn't know how to preach but I shared it anyway.

And when I gave an invitation to believe on Jesus. 125 stood up. Including my own father. That was the beginning. Of a movement. That really only exploded several years later in Europe. God was starting a European movement.

Which is 10 times more known in Europe than the United States. 10 times more known there than in Europe. But he started it in New Jersey. And Mexico. Only a few of us went to Europe. I met my wife at Bible college.

Moral Purity, Marriage, and Faithful Discipleship

I left university and went to Bible college. That's a miracle. Because I had so much difficulty with girls. I didn't love girls. I worshipped girls. Pictures of them all over my room. After I became a Christian.

I didn't understand. I was looking for a verse. Thou shall not kiss. I didn't find one. So I kept kissing everything available. And some girls got very hurt through this. And I felt this was wrong. That I was a liar.

I was a liar with my lips and with my words. And God showed me that I needed to go cold turkey. Cold turkey. Fasting. No more. No more. No more dating. No more kissing. The word of God. Evangelism. Serving Jesus.

That's when he sent me to Mexico. And God changed my life. As he showed me that he could use a weak, struggling, needy person. When he showed me that he could use a weak person with weak struggles. And that I could resist the greatest temptation in my life.

Can you imagine Mexico? Beautiful Mexican girls coming out of the trees. But by the grace of God. My commitment to Jesus was so radical. I never touched a woman. I kept this fast. Then I went to Bible college.

That was another test. These are all born again. They're all committed girls. All carrying big Bibles. You try to kiss one, bang, they hit you with a Bible. I was infatuated with seven girls in the first week.

I didn't do anything. I didn't do a thing. Just preaching, praying, studying. And my passion to evangelize Chicago. I went to rent a Christian film. To get a Christian film. And I stepped out of the elevator on the seventh floor of Moody Bible Institute.

There was a woman sitting at the desk in charge of the films. It had been two years I'd been waiting. Two years I'd been waiting. I saw that girl. It was love at first sight. I broke my fast, moved in on the target.

I said something really stupid. For me it was love at first sight. For her it was fright at first sight. She was not interested. But she heard about what was going on in Mexico. She thought maybe I was a man of God.

She had committed her life to Jesus. She wanted to only marry a man of God. So I got her to go on that first date. I tried reverse psychology. I said probably nothing going to happen between you and me.

But you need to know I'm going to be a missionary. If you marry me you'll probably be eaten by cannibals in New Guinea. She was not in love. But I mobilized prayer. And God broke her heart. Slowly she started to respond.

Especially when she heard me preach. She wanted to marry a Bible teacher. So I took advantage of that. I took her into a very special George Verwer Bible study. Ephesians 5. Not the whole chapter. Just the key verse.

Submit her husband as unto the Lord. She was very young. She said I believe that. When I asked her to marry me she said yes. And we went to Mexico. I didn't believe in honeymoons. I didn't believe in spending any money.

We sold her possessions. And gave it to the work in Mexico. We slept on the floor in the back of a bookshop we just opened. And we had a wonderful marriage. For several weeks. Then she read the other verses.

Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. I want to be really honest at this point. We've had quite a few difficulties in our marriage ever since. But we discovered forgiveness. We discovered how to deny self, take up the cross and follow Christ.

And next year we celebrate 50 great years of marriage. Hallelujah. And the miracle of miracles. Y el milagro de milagros. Because of the grace of God we've been both 100 faithful to one another. I say that because today people are saying that's not possible.

Especially say it about men. The books, and I've read these secular books. Well women often can be satisfied with one partner. But for men that's not possible. Man, these books are horrendous. And I want to say with all my heart.

And I know thousands of men who live in moral purity. Radical disciples of Jesus Christ. Our work has been going 50 years. Thousands and thousands. Almost no divorce in our whole movement in 50 years.

Because the Bible is true. Because Satan is a liar. And because the Bible is also a very practical book. It gives us the strategy for living our Christian life. So we're not people who don't enjoy life.

We're not evangelical monks. All we do is read our Bibles and pray. We as God's people can experience all the good aspects of life. Music and the arts. The beauties of marriage. The beauty of sexuality in marriage.

500 verses about sex in the Bible. And yet I'm sorry to say especially in our Anglo-Saxon church we don't speak about sex. If you speak about sex somebody will complain. I had a pastor in England. He was going to speak about sex from the Word of God.

In the evening service. He had to announce it in the morning service so that certain people they would not come. Like an X-rated sermon because he mentioned sex. And I thank God that in Spanish and in many churches in Latin America they're more open and honest in speaking about this issue.

And I want to shout from the housetops there's victory in Jesus. But the road will not always be easy. The fiery darts. The Bible speaks about the fiery darts. One of my favorite passages is Ephesians chapter 6 where we read about spiritual warfare.

We read about fiery darts. We're told to put on the whole armor of God. And yet we have many Christians today they don't even know where Ephesians 6 is. They don't get into the Word of God. They're too busy playing computer games or watching their sporting events.

I believe there's a place for many of these things. But for the radical disciples that's going to be a very small amount of their time. Because when you become a disciple of Jesus you're going to be a very busy person.

You're going to be helping people. And you'll be blessed helping people. And your work, your ministry will become more exciting than these other things. So it's not that it's wrong for me to watch my old New York Yankee team.

And I'd like to visit the new stadium as I went to the old one as a little boy. But I've got something more exciting than baseball. And you and I need to understand reality in Jesus. The fullness of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit in Everyday Life

Commitment to world missions. Serving one another. Denying self, taking up the cross and following Christ. And it says that three times. And so without that deny self, take up the cross and follow Him.

You're not going to follow Him. It's a great mistake. Some people think I go forward in a meeting a man of God prays for me. I'm filled with the Spirit. Or baptized in the Spirit. Different churches have different terminology.

You know what Billy Graham said? My spiritual father speaking about the reality of the Holy Spirit. And this has been one of our mottos in OM. I don't care how you get it. Make sure you get it. And that's going to be seen not just on Sunday but seven days a week.

Not just in the church but in the marketplace. Not just in the church but in the kitchen. For us men the kitchen sometimes is the hardest place to live for Christ. Maybe it's just in my house. Or in mine.

My wife is a Spirit-filled person but she's also a human being. We're all clay pots. But our God is big into pottery. But my wife likes to have a nice clean orderly kitchen. Everything has its place.

And so she has about 10 rules for me just in connection with the kitchen. 49 years breaking the rules. Ten misericordia de mi, Señor. So no matter how filled we are with the Holy Spirit we are still very human.

And I say this because years ago there were a lot of legalisms in the church. And people were condemning themselves for things that weren't wrong. When I just became a Christian people were condemned for wearing lipsticks.

People were condemned for the kind of bathing suit they wore. Men were condemned because their hair was long. And when I went to Moody Bible Institute I had to sign a document. All these things I will not do.

Some of it was okay. But much of it was the trappings of legalism. And I believe in the last 30 years especially through Charles Swindoll's book Grace Awakening. Philip Yancey's book Amazing Grace. We've seen a grace awakening.

We realize that Christian life is not mainly rules. We are free in Jesus. You want to wear lipstick or don't wear lipstick. You want to have long hair or short hair. You like rock music or you like country music.

We're not going to agree on a lot of these issues. Can you imagine on our new ship and we hope some of you will come and give us a chance to bless you on our ship. We have 350 people from 40 nations from all different churches though mainly biblical churches.

We can't live together if we emphasize these minor issues. We don't agree on the minor issues. Swindoll in his book Grace Awakening has a brilliant chapter. In Spanish it's called Despertar de la Gracia.

And he has this great chapter graciously disagreeing and pressing on. That is the way ahead for the body of Christ. And we're not going to agree on every issue. And maybe your pastor someday he'll say something and you don't agree.

That's okay. You're free to disagree. If it's a small thing it's not worth talking about. If it's a big thing and after thinking and praying it's bothering you you can talk to him. That's why he's your pastor.

In our movement in 50 years we have hardly ever had disunity. It's a miracle. I led this movement for 46 years. I was led to step out of all leadership six years ago. And I've enjoyed these six years almost more than the previous years.

Persevering in Service Without Retirement

And I want to finish with this final exhortation. For those of you that are a little older there is no retirement program in the kingdom. There are many changes and we need to know how to change by the grace of God.

We may not have the same job. And if you're now 60 years of age and you've been playing the drums here for 35 years it may be time to give a younger man the drums. You can go home and play drums in your bedroom.

Or go play out in the street and win someone to Jesus. We have a great God. He's doing great things. And if He if our great God is able to take a character like me a son of a Dutch immigrant with a lot of weaknesses and a lot of faults and I'm still struggling with some of them and if He can use me in His work then I know He can use you more than you ever dreamed.

God bless you. Hallelujah.