(Om Orientation) Our Weapons the Word - Part 2 — George Verwer

The Divine Inspiration and Human Personality of Scripture

Yes, the Bible is God breathed. It's God inspired. It doesn't mean that human personality is not brought into it. It does not mean that human feeling is not brought into it. And of course, there's many things that we would like to say concerning the inspiration of the Bible, but it is God breathed.

Doubts About the Bible and the Influence of Secular Indoctrination

Some of you might have doubt concerning this. Let's be honest. This is the real crux of the matter. And for those of you who have doubt and for those of you who don't have doubt, I want to recommend just a few books.

I think we need to realize why there's so many people who don't believe the Bible. We need to realize why our universities are filled with men and professors who don't believe the Bible. I've studied this very carefully as it's been something that's been on my heart.

And I've come to this conclusion. The reason that the average man says there's contradictions in the Bible. The reason that the average man says he doesn't believe the Bible is very similar to the reason why the average man would like to have a new car.

We've been indoctrinated. The Madison Avenue boys, the publicity boys of the United States are the fellows that run our country. And the same is true of other countries, including England. The high pressure salesmen, the high pressure publicity men, the men that flood the television screens, the men that pack our magazines and newspapers filled with subtle advertising, that deceive people into buying all things they don't need.

Many, many years ago, the advertising world in America decided they no longer could sell the American what he needed. They had to sell him what he didn't need. If you don't believe it, I suggest you read a book about Madison Avenue.

There's another book called Hidden Persuaders. That shows how through psychology, the advertising boys, these publicity men have managed to sway a whole nation to become the most materialistic nation on the face of the earth.

Oh, might God open our eyes to this fact. And it's the same way when it comes to the Bible. Most people don't believe the Bible simply because the publicity men, the agnostics who pump their books into the secular newsstands, the unbelievers who turn down publications to the tune of a half a million a printing, have indoctrinated us.

There are literally hundreds of books that prove the Bible to be the word of God. There are hundreds of books that show that Jesus is the Christ, that he's risen from the grave, and that we are not following a myth or a legend, but that we are following the truth.

But these books have had such a miserable distribution. Christians have so bitterly failed to distribute them that they've hardly reached the hearts and hands of the average person. And our university libraries are filled with books written by sharp unbelievers who are out to make a little money.

And Christian books stack the bookshelves of even some of us. Blindness. The devil has blinded us, and because of it, unbelieving books have gone out. I have in my possession a book that I purchased in the Soviet Union called The Funny Bible.

The first printing of this atheistic book was a half a million copies. Do you realize that I don't know of one single Christian book that ever had a first printing of half a million copies? In fact, there are few Christian books in all of history that have ever had a circulation of more than half a million copies.

But the communists in the Soviet Union turn out The Funny Bible, which presents all kinds of arguments that are outdated and that are all whack, but they turn it out in the first printing of over a half a million copies and they flood it around the world because they believe that when Lenin said every communist is to be a distributor of atheistic literature, that they're to do it.

Christian Literature Distribution and the Disciple as Learner

If you haven't done so already, I would ask you this week to read the literature manual that we've just published or printed. Printed actually, published by Moody Press in America. Read those chapters about distribution and about the power of a printed page.

Read them carefully and prayerfully. And if you come across something there that you can't agree with or that you don't think is the truth, I'd like to hear from you. In fact, in any of these sessions, as we go into the Word of God, if you hear something that you don't agree with, if you hear something that you do not believe is biblical, that you do not believe is based on the Word of God, I want to receive a letter from you.

I am open to criticism. I want to change. I found in the past eight years I've had to scrap an awful lot of things. I've had to get rid of a lot of things and bring in a lot of new things. And I think one of the most important things we need to realize about this life of being a true disciple is that a disciple is a learner.

The disciple isn't someone who knows it all. The disciple isn't someone who says, well, now I forsake it all. The disciple is someone who says, I'm learning to forsake all. I'm learning of Jesus. I'm learning to walk with him and talk with him.

I'm learning to love him. I'm learning to be his witness. I'm learning to evangelize. I beg of you to keep that in your mind and in your vocabulary. As you talk to other young people on your campus, all that God might deliver us from Pharisee-ism, that God might deliver us from becoming a little quick on our campus, and we think we've got some revolutionary principles, and all of a sudden we're more superior than anyone else, and we know more than anyone else, and everyone else doesn't have a vision, and everyone else is dead, and all the churches are dead, and we're alive.

At the moment we think this, we're probably deader than we could possibly imagine. Oh, might God show us that the life of a disciple is the life of a learner, constantly learning, constantly open to the teaching of the Word of God, and to the teaching that comes through the correction of other people, and through receiving information from other people.

I found often we Christians like to say, I got this from the Word of God, and the Lord gave me this from the Word of God, and I learned this from Him. But we aren't too free to admit what we learn from other people, but let's face facts.

One of the main ways we learn is through the experiences of other people, through listening to other people. And as you have conversations around your campus, and as you talk to people about this work, and about the Lord Jesus Christ, remember one of the main ways to carry on a conversation is by asking questions.

Don't just expect people to come to you and ask you all about what's going on, and ask you what you're doing this Christmas, and ask you about Operation Mobilization, but be interested in them. Ask them what they're doing.

Ask them about their work. Take an interest in them. Esteem them as better than yourself. Oh, how important this is. We might go burn all of these tapes if we're not going to come to grips with this revolutionary principle that we've been called to be learners, and we can learn from our professors.

We can learn from even someone who we think might not be on fire for Christ. We can learn even from a book written by someone who maybe isn't as zealous as you would like him to be. Let's not become the criticizers of the Church.

Let's become the lovers of the Church. Yes, the Bible is the Word of God, and as we go to it as learners, oh, what blessing we're going to have. And for some of you, as I've already mentioned, who maybe have some doubts, would like some reassurance, I want to recommend just a few books.

Apologetic Books Supporting the Truth of Christianity

I haven't got time to give you all the information about these books, but here's a short list of books that present clearly the facts concerning why Christianity is true and why the Bible is the Word of God.

Science Speaks by Peter Stoner. Lawsuit Against the Bible by Rimmer. Wonders of the Word, a new book just published by Nudie Press. Ten Reasons Why the Bible is the Word of God by Torrey. Evidences of God, the testimony of 40 scientists, 40 scientists who declare their faith in God, leading scientists who declare their faith in God, and many of them their faith in Jesus Christ, put out by Putmans of New York.

I might just insert here that because I'm recommending these books doesn't mean I agree with everything that's found within their pages, for there are naturally some things within these books that most of us would not agree with.

Just a few other titles, one in particular that has been a blessing to my heart, The Reason for Our Hope, published by Nudie Press, a little cold portage book. Then a new book just out by Nudie Press called Countdown.

Then a book, a number of authors contributed to it called A Miracle Book, I believe published by Back to the Bible, also Nudie Press. Biblical Criticism by Bromwell. 57 Reasons Why I Know the Bible is the Word of God.

Basic Christianity, Why I Believe, Are the Manuscripts Trustworthy, Harmony of Science and Scripture, Is the Bible the Word of God, Can We Trust Bible History, The Authority of the Bible, Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, Bible in Modern Science, Am I Intelligent, Verbal Inspiration, Creation's Amazing Architect, and one could go on and on.

There are literally hundreds of books in English that show that the Bible is the Word of God. And as I've read many of these books that thrill my soul, I've read the unbelieving books, some of them too.

They're subtle, they're stagnatizing, they're killing, they're destructive. One cannot even open the pages of an unbelieving book without feeling the powers of darkness. Beware. Better to get to know where you stand before you start delving in to these areas of unbelief.

Prophecy, the Resurrection, and Confidence in Scripture

Yes, we can trust our weapon. We can be sure that it is the Word of God. We can be sure that it is true. Prophecy tells us. Think of Isaiah 53. What a magnificent prophecy. I've heard of many cases where a Christian witnessing to a Jewish person has read Isaiah 53 and say, Now, tell me, is this from the Old Testament or the New?

And in most cases, the Jewish person has said, Why, of course, that's from the New Testament. And the person said, Who does it describe as a Jewish person? They said, Well, it describes Jesus. And then they said, But you see, it's from the Old Testament.

And then the amazing prophecies concerning the Jews themselves. Study these things. They're faith builders. And they give us the assurance that the Word of God is true. The great prophecies in the scriptures concerning Tyre, concerning Jerusalem, concerning Egypt, concerning Babylon, great prophecies in scripture concerning history.

And then that great faith-inspiring, crucial, vital thing and event, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whole books have been written. I think of a book recently written called Who Rolled the Stone? That presents page after page as to why the resurrection is a historical fact.

And if the resurrection is a historical fact, Jesus is alive and the Bible is true. And many an agnostic has never been able to answer and none really have been able to answer the question, Where is the body of Jesus?

Recently, I was witnessing to a French agnostic coming over from England on the ferry to France. And when I asked him this question, I asked him other questions, and he couldn't answer me. And young person, when we get to know the Word of God, and when we get to really know the reasons why we believe the Word of God, we're not hanging our lives on a myth or a legend.

We're not following after something because our granddaddies told us so. We, unlike the Muslims and the Buddhists and the other religionists, are not following after Christianity because so-and-so said so.

But we follow it because we know it's the truth. We study and we've studied and we've seen that it is the truth. If I wasn't sure that the Bible was the Word of God, if I wasn't sure that Christianity was the truth, I would be insane to go about Europe distributing millions and hundreds of tons of pieces of literature that present the message of the Word of God.

But because I know the Word of God is true, because you know the Word of God is true, it will bring rejoicing to your soul every time you can give a tract out, every time you can give a word of testimony.

You'll get up in public, you'll go everywhere preaching and witnessing with boldness because you know you have the truth. It was this great fact that transformed the lives of the apostles. They knew that Jesus had risen.

And in the book of Acts, it refers to the many infallible proofs. Praise be to God. Praise be to God. Then, and lastly, in considering our weapon, we need to use it. Simple, isn't it? We need to know our weapon, firstly.

Using the Word as the Weapon in Evangelism

We need to trust our weapon, secondly. And we need to use our weapon, thirdly. What a foolish soldier is the one who goes to war, who knows his weapon, who trusts in his weapon, and yet who never uses it.

And the enemy moves in, and they conquer him, and he never pulls the trigger. He knows where the trigger is, he knows how it works, and he knows that it will work, but he never uses it. It sounds rather ridiculous, but it's even more ridiculous when we go through hours of Bible study, and we go to Bible college, and we spend months absorbing the teaching of the Word of God, but then never move out in evangelism, never move out with the sword of the Spirit to conquer the strongholds of the enemy.

Oh, one of the things that grieved me when I was at Bible school was to see how few people were really engaged in intensive evangelism, who really had a passion to move out, as the witnesses of Jesus Christ, who are really redeeming the time.

Prioritizing Evangelism Over Secondary Christian Activities

So many secondary matters can take away our time there on the campus. So many wonderful, good little activities every weekend, nice little social functions we can go to, lots of good things. Mind you, lots of good things, and I wouldn't want to speak against many of these activities, and they're very good, but I want to tell you when a young man enters into a warfare, he lays aside to the good things that he might do, the one essential thing, and what we need to see in our lives, many of us, is the laying aside of the little good things, the little nice things, the things that are not immoral, they're quite moral, they're quite good, nice little Christian activities.

Might we get the vision of laying many of them aside to aim at this one essential, vital, emergency task of taking the Word of God to the lost souls around us, of becoming His witnesses, of giving all of our time for evangelism and preparation and study and prayer.

Love as the Balance of Christian Life and Truth

You say, well, this is off balance, and I know that many of our schools in England and America, they're saying, well, you need to have the balance, and I'll tell you what the balance is, and I'd like to know and like to see one other scripture that shows me otherwise, which is love.

This orientation session after next week's will be on this vital subject of love, and if you've missed that session, you might as well forget most of these other sessions. If you've missed love, you've missed everything, and so please, I beg of you, keep that in mind as you go back to your room tonight, and maybe face a roommate who you don't think has so much vision, will you keep this in mind, the balanced Christian life is the life where love controls everything, love is the controlling force, and we're rooted and grounded in love as the scripture says, for without this, we soon become sounding brass.

Is that what you want to be on your campus? Is that what you want to be there in your community, there in your church, sounding brass and tinkling cymbals, gonging of pots and pans? Then just go out, pretend to know it all, pretend that you've got more of a vision than other people, just go out and act as if you were somebody special, and those going on Operation Mobilization, those going to Mexico, have sort of a superior vision, and don't show love, and don't let love be the controlling force, for the Word of God and the truth of the Word, unless it's mixed with love, means nothing, and the stench of unloving orthodoxy sends many a soul to hell.

Applying the Word to Personal Cleansing and Holiness

Yes, we have the truth, that faith given unto our fathers is the truth, and we can come to know it through the Word of God, but then we need to go out and use it. We need to, first of all, use it in our own lives.

We need to realize that cleansing comes through the Word of God. The Bible says, now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you. How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to my Word.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done unto you. You see, prayer and the Word is linked together. Yes, the first place that we need to use the Word of God is in our own lives, to cleanse out those impure thoughts, to let the Word of God sink into our subconscious mind.

I believe that's where most of our problems are. You do things and you don't even realize you do them. Things that are offending the people around you, things that keep you from becoming effective for Christ, they come out of your subconscious mind.

They come from that inner cesspool, from that old man, from that ego, from that self. And one of the greatest ways to knock out that power of self, one of the greatest ways to cleanse that cesspool, one of the ways to get at it, is by meditating on the Word of God, memorizing the Word of God.

And the Word of God goes deep into our unconscious and subconscious mind and it cleanses. And pretty soon, instead of evil thoughts popping out of our unconscious mind, instead of having evil dreams and wrong dreams at night, the Word of God will cleanse us and it will even keep us while we're sleeping.

Remember that. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, commands the Apostle Paul. Then, after the Word of God begins to grip our own lives and begins to do and conquer sin and self and pride and vainglory and self-seeking and status-seeking and position-hunting, as it begins to cleanse all of these jealousies and all this rot in our own lives, then we move out to use the Word of God as an offensive weapon.

Taking the Gospel to the Lost

In evangelism, in soul winning, down to the bus stations, presenting men with the Gospel of Christ on the street corners, from house to house. Read, I beg of you, the manual on literature distribution and then move out using the Word of God, our weapon in this great warfare.

Worship, Praise, and Daily Victory Through the Word

Lastly in this session, I want to tell you what I believe is the most important factor in having daily victory through the Word of God, in having daily victory in this great battle for the souls of men, in having daily victory over sin and self, and I believe it's in the use of the Word of God in worship.

How little we know of worship, how little we know of taking time to gather together and to worship Him. Many times our prayer meetings become nothing but chain sessions and we go through our Protestant rosaries and we go through our evangelical prayer wheel.

Oh my God, grip us with this tremendous need in our midst to take time to worship Him, to take time to praise Him. Let's make many of our prayer sessions there on our campuses times of praise. Let's just praise Him for His mighty acts.

We have so much to thank Him for. Let's use the Word of God as the psalmist did, to praise Him and to glorify Him. Let's take hours, let's take nights out to worship Him, to be caught up in His glory, to be caught up in praise to Him and to love Him and to quote His Word and to meditate on it and to memorize it and to think upon it as we worship together in groups of two, in groups of twenty and in our individual times with God.

What's the secret to daily victory in our Christian lives? It's a daily experience with God, a daily worship experience in which our mind goes away and the mind of Christ is substituted in which our life goes and disappears and the life of Christ is substituted as we get to know Him, as His Word eats and burns its way into our hearts, as we get to know the power of God and the love of God and the peace of God which passes all understanding, which is far beyond anything we can imagine or comprehend.

He says, be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am for the weapon of our warfare, yet the Word of God. Let us pray. Father, don't let us ever be the same again. Revolutionize our Bible study.

Revolutionize our meditation. Revolutionize our evangelism above everything else, our worship, that we might use the Word of God to worship you, to praise you, to love you, and to exalt you above every name, knowing that someday every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ and Thy Word is truth.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.