Foundation Stones — George Verwer

There are many, many conferences in this room and yet this conference we feel is more special than any others that we've had and we're sorry for the inconvenience you've had in the delay yet we know that we've learned some very precious lessons even through this experience.

Trials as Training for Christian Reality

Lessons that are very valuable. Because I think that any of us who have intentions of continuing in evangelism in India must be ready to face constantly the unpredictable situation. All the messages in the world, all the conferences, all the books mean nothing if when the test comes of the unpredictable, we're unable to face it and plow through it.

Christian leaders know that this is one of the reasons that a time with OM is often such a valuable training. Because it's not a matter of just getting more messages and more talks but it's a matter of being thrown into very difficult, nitty-gritty, living, awkward situations in which you have to produce reality on the spot and demonstrate.

I know this was a tremendous experience for me because if I didn't know Jesus Christ, this kind of situation is the kind of thing that would anger me and upset me beyond words. It's just the kind of situation I detest the most.

Because see, some situations are hard but at least you can be doing something, you can be working in trying to solve it. But if we were stuck out in the water and then stuck here, there's nothing we could do.

A week ago when my wife disembarked in Vizag, I said, look, she didn't really want to disembark, I said, look, it's nothing. One night, she'll be back in the ship tomorrow night. That was a week ago. When my wife and I disembarked in Vizag, I said, you disembark, it's just a matter of one night.

After that, we'll be together again. And of course, my wife, just like the rest of you, she could not come. My wife and I were on the shore. And those kind of experiences before I knew Christ, just drive me into a total wall of tension, which is not very healthy.

And I, during this week, was just praising God and rejoicing in that we as believers are on a totally different level of life than the unsaved men. And there is no experience, nothing that can come to us that we cannot face and handle calmly and graciously by the power of God.

Nothing. And we see things from a totally different view point than the world. And so many of these things that the devil tries to use to upset us, when we see it in the light of eternity, we just smile.

Because we can see in the light of eternity, these things are very small. And what we learn through it, the character building that comes through it, that is valuable as gold that can never be taken away.

And reading a new book on the subject of James, written by George Sweeting, the president of the Moody Bible Institute. Reading a new book on the book of James. And we just see the tremendous importance of testing and trials and waiting in the Christian life.

Just invaluable. You just can't grow in Christ without it. It's impossible. And I can just imagine, I can barely imagine, only a little bit really, what it must have been for men like Watchman Neal to sit in a prison cell for 14 years, always wondering, always waiting if he would ever get out.

Of course we realize that most of the trials we have in OMA are extremely small, but praise God, he's got to begin somewhere with the likes of us. Well I'd like us to begin by looking at the book of Philippians.

Philippians 4 and the Foundation Stones of the Christian Life

And especially I would like you to turn to chapter 4. What a tremendous chapter in God's Word. I hope, though I know you've had two days of conference, I hope that we can give you some foundation stones on which to build a successful conference.

That's the title. Foundation stones of which to build a successful conference. And we'll start in Philippians 4. We'll just read in English. Please follow in your Hindi Bible. Read very carefully right through verse 9.

Meditating on the Word of God. Now those of you in that other room, it's much easier for you to go to sleep because though you can see me, I cannot see you. Perhaps once in a while I will send a spy in to see if everyone is awake.

Unfortunately even when I turn around and look, I still cannot see you because you don't understand television. Please do not think that these groups release any kind of evil or worldly spirit. We don't want anybody worried about that.

Because some have heard, even from the West, that television is of the devil. Now that may be true, but all these sets are duly converted. They only handle the programs that we feed into them. None of the devil's programs can come here.

Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. And I beseech Theodias and beseech Synthesis that they be of the same mind in the Lord.

And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.

Let your moderation, that is your mildness, your patience, your kindness, your meekness, your gentleness, be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. And be careful for nothing. In other words, don't worry about anything.

But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, and whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.

Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do as the God of peace shall be with you. Praise God for this passage from His word. The first foundation stone to build on in a conference.

And I have now taken part in over 100 OM conferences. And in case any of you don't feel relaxed or you don't like conferences, you can join me because I don't like conferences either. But I praise God that a long time ago, I learned that the Christian life does not consist in what I like.

The Christian life consists in a much higher level of living. And that level of the will of God. And I love the will of God. And I want to be able to say, as Jesus my meat is to do the will of God. And I believe it is the will of God that we are here today.

And I believe it's the will of God and it's a tremendous privilege for me to be a small part of this conference. And I think that's important to keep in mind. So I would like to put as the first foundation stone, the spirit of praise and rejoicing.

The First Foundation Stone: Praise and Rejoicing

Now beloved, remember that Paul was writing this epistle from Princess. He hadn't just finished his favorite three course meal in his favorite restaurant with his favorite girlfriend, in his favorite town, in his favorite planet.

He was in a crummy, dirty prison. And he wrote verse four, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. As you go through your Bible, it always takes me a while to get my motivation up to decide to read right through the whole Bible again.

I always start with a great burst of speed. And I just started this two days ago again. And I've gone through almost 50 chapters. Almost the whole of Genesis and the whole of Isaiah in two days. But I tried after a while.

It's good to read right through the whole Bible. You just take a six month period and in six months go right through the whole Bible or three months or one year, whatever your speed is. When you do this, you see there's a theme that you just constantly find in the Word of God.

I would put it among the top five or ten things that are just repeated again and again and again in the Bible. And that's the theme of praise, thanksgiving and rejoicing. Such an important thing in the Word of God.

Even in the Book of Genesis. I've seen in the last few days how much emphasis there is on praising the Lord, on worshipping the Lord. Yesterday I was reading how Eliezer was sent out to find a wife for Isaac.

How he took the matter to God in prayer. And God answered his prayer. It's an amazing story you know. He prayed specifically, the girl who comes to the well and offers not only water for me, but water for the camel.

Lord, may she be the girl. And Rebekah came. He offered him water and offered his camel's water. And he said, there she is Lord. And he bowed down and worshipped. And in OM India, if we could get a man of that perception and faith, we could give him a full-time job.

But I'm just amazed that right through Scripture, such an emphasis on praise, on rejoicing, on worshipping the Lord. I wonder how many of us are willing to take this at face value. Rejoice in the Lord always.

Not half the time. Not when everything is going your way. Not when you're being appreciated and understood and accepted. But rejoice in the Lord always. All the time. In Thessalonians it says, give thanks in what?

All things, for this is the will of God. So many areas where God will put us to a test in this. So many areas. OM is a tremendous place for getting tested in this area. Just one example. You're a team leader.

And you get a tremendous team of young men. Disciplined. Ready to work hard. Man of prayer. Right hot with the literature. Always keeping the truck clean. Always loving one another. And this is such a tremendous team of young men.

And so you praise the Lord. You haven't done much. Anybody would praise the Lord with such a group of men. I'm sure to say even an unscathed team leader would praise the Lord with such a group of men.

Take another situation. You get a team. Nobody wants to work. Nobody's getting up on time. Everybody's backbiting and speaking against one another. Everybody's complaining about the food. I don't like the looks of your face.

I don't like the way you drive the truck. Everything is going wrong. No literature is going out. Hardly any food. No money to buy any food. Bombay has forgotten all about you. Everything is going wrong.

If you can praise God and worship God in that situation, then you're beginning to learn something of New Testament reality in your heart. Think of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a hopeless team he had. One was stealing the money.

Others were arguing who was going to sit at the right hand when we get to heaven and have a tremendous argument over such a ridiculous thing. And yet the Lord Jesus loved them unto the end. And never ceased to give thanks to the Father and worship the Father.

So as we come together in this conference, there are many things to talk about. But as we discuss and as we speak, we must be speaking and building on the foundation stone of thanksgiving and praise, or otherwise our discussions will be in vain.

You see, it's completely different to talk about something or discuss something or even disagree with somebody while at the same time yourself, you're resting in the Lord, you're worshiping the Lord, and you're rejoicing in His promise.

This is completely different from discussing and arguing and talking on your own foundation, spinning your wheels in your own carnal thoughts and carnal actions without the foundation of praise and prayer.

So rage through this conference. May the echo of praise go in the prayer meetings, before the preaching meetings, in the morning, in the evening. May praise and thanksgiving and worship just go up from this place.

This, I believe, is one of the most important things in our gatherings. The book of Psalms, of course, is still the truth. The second foundation stone, the fifth, let your moderation be known unto all men.

The Second Foundation Stone: Moderation and Freedom from Bitterness

The Lord is at hand. Now, moderation means self-control. It means patience. It involves gentleness and meekness. And what an important foundation stone that is for a conference. We are well aware that there are many problems that we are facing in the work in India.

Certainly, we, as leaders who met in Pondicherry, were very, very aware of our own failure, our own weakness, and our own sins. But if we are going to find solutions to some of these problems in this conference and after the conference, we must be building on a foundation of self-control and moderation in our own lives.

If we allow ourselves to be upset, if we lose our spiritual balance and our rest of faith, we will be unable to solve the problems we are facing. The word of God tells us to beware of any root of bitterness.

I think that verse is found in Philippians. Who can find it? Where it says to beware of any root of bitterness. Is that Philippians? Where it says to beware of any root of bitterness. It can be found in Hebrews 12.

It can be found in Hebrews 12, verse 15. And I would just ask, even at this very early stage in this conference,. And I would just ask, even at this very early stage in this conference, Is there any, even a slight root of bitterness in your heart?

Toward any brother? Someone who has wronged you? Maybe he has spoken against you? Maybe he has hurt you? Does it matter? God has allowed that. God has excused him, but God has allowed it. To test you.

To see if you know how to return love for unkindness. And to make sure you don't have any root of bitterness toward any brother or sister or even anybody outside the work. That your heart is clean before the Lord in that area.

No greater foundation for what God wants to do in these days than a heart that is barren or cleansed and pure and broken before him. And in that way, in that way alone, you will be able to demonstrate the self-control, the poise, the moderation that every child has got.

And that is an important foundation stone. And then the next foundation stone, The third stone, Be careful for nothing. Be careful for nothing. I praise God for that. I discovered years ago that worry was one of the greatest methods Satan was trying to use to destroy my life.

The Third Foundation Stone: Freedom from Worry

Satan knows that a mind caught up with worry is a mind that cannot function, cannot pray, cannot do the work of God. And so Satan does everything he can to get the brothers and the sisters worrying about this, about that, and there are hundreds of things you can worry about.

Many a man sitting in a meeting got nothing from the message whatsoever because his mind was worrying about even some trivial small things. And I would beg of you, beloved brethren, to hold the shield of faith against any fiery guard of worry that may be plaguing your mind in these days.

I am convinced that worrying is probably doing more harm in the church of Jesus Christ than immorality and even materialism. Many a brother and sister has had their spiritual graves dug literally through worry and anxiety and tension, unwillingness to obey the Lord and pass every care upon Him.

I hope we can play the videotape of John Haggai who speaks about this subject of winning over worry and conquering over worry in life. So God doesn't say, just don't worry. He doesn't just say that. We move on to the fourth foundation.

The Fourth Foundation Stone: Prayer with Thanksgiving

Also found in verse 6. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. And that's what we can do here. And one of the main functions of this conference will be our united time together in prayer.

This is God's method of working. Do you think that we can solve the problems we have in India through discussion and debate and preaching? Never. Only through prayer and prayer alone will we move these obstacles out of the way.

And that's also true of whatever problem, whatever worry, whatever frustration may be nagging away at your own heart in these days. Through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, lay it before the Lord and watch Him do wonders even in your own heart.

And as we have the prayer meeting, we're all human beings. We'll be tired. It's all another prayer meeting. It doesn't take too long to let your head drop. It's not important. Nobody will notice. When a man is preaching at us as I am now, you tend to pay attention.

Not too many of you go to sleep. But when the Holy Spirit of God, when the Lord Jesus is looking at us, wanting our attention in prayer, we're daydreaming and we're heads are sleeping on the table and all kinds of things that we do.

It's easy to hold conferences. I can tell you the thing that makes most OM conferences distinct is the emphasis of prayer and worship and praise. And if we lose that in OM, we might as well close up shop, sell the ship, dump the truck and all go back to work.

And then the next foundation stone. Now we have to number five. We've got the list. We move on to the next verse. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

The Fifth Foundation Stone: The Peace of God

Now that's a promise. That's one of the most glorious promises in the world. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus. That is the foundation we want to build.

You know I love that great hymn that says, stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed. The foundation stone of a real time with God is getting your mind on the Lord, getting your attention on the Lord of glory.

That's what's going to make the difference in these days. As you do that, the peace of God will roar through your heart. This is tremendous. I've experienced this so much in the last seven days. I don't think there was a tremendous hesitation in me to worry, to be upset about this whole situation.

We didn't know what was happening, whether the family was ordering us out of India and all kinds of wild ideas came flooding into my mind. And I found as I just kept my mind on the Lord, He kept all these days flooding my heart with this perfect, perfect, unending.

The week before that I was very ill. I hardly ever get ill. I hate being ill. I went off to the quiet corner for a couple of days with Thomas Samuel and my family. And to climb the mountain. I've climbed that mountain ever since I first saw it next to Thomas Samuel's quiet corner which is very quiet.

It's not quiet because it is the most interesting bird sanctuary I have ever been in. Many years ago, before I was a Christian, I was a great bird watcher. South India has over 400 species of birds. It is a bird watcher's heaven.

So I decided to have this restful, beautiful experience in the quiet corner. I got some binoculars from the bridge and my bird book which I bought in Ceylon and I went to the quiet corner. And I had fellowship with only a few birds.

I'd seen them, I mean, when I felt very ill. And so the whole time I was laying flat on my back, I got out of the room and with high fever. That was my quiet corner expedition. And I know many of you have had experiences of being sick.

It seems to be very basic to Operation Mobilization in India. Praise God, whether we're sick, whether we're healthy, whether we're under temptation or whatever, we can know this peace of God. This is a real, definite reality and experience for all believers in Jesus Christ.

So take that verse 7, take that foundation stone and by faith claim it for these days and then you can build a solid foundation. It says, keep your hearts and minds true. And this is very important. When we get our eyes on others, that's easy to do.

So and so and so. Did you hear what he said the other day? What is going on here? And we get our eyes on one another. To whom the peace of God is flown. All kinds of other things are there. The peace of God is flown away like a dove.

And we get our eyes on the situation. Oh, this is happening. That is happening. Oh, my. Things are going wrong. We get our eyes on the situation. I'm a problem. And the dove of peace. And we're left doing in our own circle of carnal thinking, carnal activities.

And the dove is sitting on the hilltop watching us. So that's the fifth foundation stone. And the sixth stone is found in verse 8. One of the greatest verses in the word of God. And I dare to say that real obedience to this verse would bring a revolution in our hearts and lives.

The Sixth Foundation Stone: Renewing the Mind through Philippians 4:8

It would be amazing. It's the revolution, the foundation stone of positive thinking and a positive attitude. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, lovely, good reports, should be any verse, should be any phrase, think of these things.

I'd like to just give a testimony that if God hadn't taught me something of this principle, the principle of maintaining a positive attitude and a positive mind in all situations, without any question, I would not be here today.

I was reared in a home with two parents, the mother and the father, who were both perfectionists. Especially my mother kept an immaculate home with not one thing ever out of place. And in everything my mother and father did, they were perfectionists.

They wanted to do it right. And I was drilled into my head from a very young age. And a person with a perfectionist mentality very easily becomes negative and cynical and develops a judging and critical spirit.

Very easily a man moves in that direction if he comes from a perfectionist background. Many years ago I slowly began to see how negative my mind was and how easily I was cynical, how easily I was critical.

And I saw that this was destroying spiritual reality in my heart. Thank God for certain books and for His words which showed me that my mind had to be revolutionized. Romans 12 speaks of the renewing of the mind.

And this verse, Philippians 4 .8, shows the direction in which the mind must be renewed and what we must think upon and dwell upon if we are going to have this renewed mind. And I began to think along this line.

I learned to see good in everybody. And I found very soon that God developed a tremendous trust for people and a great belief in people. And that has been one of the major factors that has kept me going over all these years.

I believe in people and I know God is working in people. And it's just exciting and tremendous to see God's progress in people. Anybody can see weakness and failure and sin in his brethren. Any idiot, any fool.

You don't need any insight in the world to see weakness and sin in everybody. But it takes a revolutionary, it takes a man with a renewed mind to see what God is doing in the people. It takes a revolutionary mind to see what God is doing in the people.

And if you will allow God to give you that positive attitude, that positive mind, that positive experience of heart, that positive disposition, because God is concerned about your disposition. He will make all the difference in the world and in your entire life.

The world is filled with despair. The world is filled with sadness. The world is filled with problems. And because of that, it is very easy for us to dwell in that time. You don't even need any eye. Just what you hear is enough.

You try to draw yourself to what you hear. But the way of God is different. He says, the one who is holy, the one who is true, the one who is good, everything else is a seed. Dwell on these things. Feed your mind with these things.

You will become a different person. But take these as foundation stones of this plan to justice. And as we do, God is going to meet with us in this world. God is going to give us the wisdom we need to move another month, another year in this world.

In the world today, no matter what country you are in, you never know what is going to happen. And as we gather here, we don't know what the future holds. Even tomorrow. Even this very afternoon. We never know what the future holds.

But we know what the future holds. So let's keep our eyes on Him. Commune with Him. Nothing is more important than our communion with God. Man will disappoint you. I am sure I have disappointed many people.

The very thought of it has almost caused me to quit a hundred times. But as we look unto the Lord, as we commune with the Lord, as we feed upon the Lord, there is no disappointment. For in Him is no variableness nor shallowness.

Conclusion: Building on God's Foundation Stones

O Living God, we praise and worship you this afternoon. We lift our hearts in thanksgiving unto you. We know that you have a great plan for this conference. Give us this privilege of dwelling together here and worshipping you together before we move out again separately across India.

We thank you for your words. Thank you for this passage in Philippians that we have been studying. The foundation stones that we have seen help us to lay these. Help us to walk upon them daily by your grace and by your power.

And we will be sure to give you the praise in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us continue in a time of praise. Those praying Hindi there in the lounge, just carry on with your time of praise.

One brother after another leading in praise. If there are some here that want to join them, no Hindi, feel free. Let us just worship the Lord and praise the Lord and let us by faith lay these foundation stones.