Security in the Midst of Insecurity — Corrie Ten Boom

Security in the Midst of Insecurity — Corrie Ten Boom

This is Statement No. 1501 from the East Bergen State Library. Boys and ladies, this is your insecurities in the midst of insecurities.

Personal Experience as Illustration of God's Word

I will tell you a little bit about my experience. You know, I am used and I prefer to speak for the same people several times. But it is so organized here that I can speak only for you once. And if I had spoken for you several times, I should have prayed the Lord that we can go deeper and deeper in the victorious life.

And I should have used my experiences as illustrations. As illustrations for the Word of God. But now I can speak only once for you. I will do just the opposite. I will tell my experiences and I will use the Word of God as illustrations.

But I hope that you will pray that the Holy Spirit will speak to all of us. And even when I tell about my own experiences, that you may forget the channel, that you may forget seeing only the Word. That God's Word may be hidden behind the cross.

Awakening to the Urgency of the Present Time

I will read now for you in Romans 13, a letter from the translation of Philips. After Paul has showed how every Christian has to behave to be a child of the light, then he says, why all this stress on behavior?

Because as I think you have realized, the present time is of the highest importance. It is time to wake up to reality. Every day brings God's salvation nearer. The night is nearly over. The day has all moved on.

Let us therefore fling away the things that men do in the dark. Let us arm ourselves for the fight of the day. Let us live cleanly as in the daylight, not in the delight of getting drunk or playing with sex, nor yet in quarrel or jealousy.

Let us be Christ's men from head to foot, and give no chances to the flesh to have its fling. It is time to wake up to reality. Let us be Christ's men and women from head to foot. In 1850, there was in Haarlem, in Holland, an old watchman.

A Family's Commitment to Saving Jewish Lives

And he got a visit from a minister who asked him, won't you pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the salvation of the Jews? And that man loved the Jews. And he said, I surely will do that. And not only that I will pray for them, but I will ask my friends to come every week that we may have a prayer meeting for the Jews.

This man was my grandpa. About 100 years later, in that very same house, grandfather's son, four of his grandchildren, a great-grandson, were arrested because they had saved Jewish people. And my father, my brother, his son, and my sister all died in prison.

That was God's divine answer for the Jews. He gave them the honor to give their lives for God's answer. Father knew that it was dangerous. Often friends warned him and said, stop that work to save Jewish people.

You will end up in a prison and therefore you are too old. And then father always answered if that should happen. It will. I am too old for prison life, but it will be an honor to give my life for God's things in people with Jews.

And that happened for after 10 days, father died in prison. All his children were in the same building. Three daughters, a son, and a grandson. But the prison walls were between him and us. But father was not alone when he died.

In the valley of the shadow of death there must be a light, otherwise there could not be a shadow. And father knew that Jesus is alive in that valley. Death is for a child of God the old family servant who opens the door when the children come home.

Jesus Carries Believers Through Suffering

I learned very much in the time that I was a prisoner. You know when you are in a difficult class of school, you learn much. And Jesus was my teacher. And I will tell you some of the things that I learned.

In my book, A Prisoner and Yet, you read my experiences first as an underground worker and later in three prisons. I can understand that you say, but I don't like to read about prisons. But don't be afraid to read that book.

For although it tells about suffering, by the grace of God I could show that Jesus' light is stronger than the deepest darkness. And a giant of God cannot go so deep. Always deeper are the everlasting arms of God.

Some people ask me, has your faith helped you through this time? But I must confess you, my faith was very wavering and very small. How did I come through? It was Jesus who had carried me through. And that's good that I can tell you that.

For if I should say it was my faith, and you should come in difficulties and terrible circumstances, you could say, but I have not carried a broom's weight. But if I say it was Jesus, then you know that the same Jesus who has helped me through will help you through.

Knowing Christ Above All Else

There was a Jew whose hand was chained at the hand of a guard night and day. And he was in the hands of his enemies. And he wrote a letter to his friends. That letter you have in your Bible. This Jew was Paul.

And he wrote in Philippians 3 .8, I read it from the translation of the Amplified New Testament, I count everything at once, compared to the priceless privilege, the all-forbearing preciousness, the surpassing worth and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, and of progressively, more deeply, and ultimately getting acquainted with him.

That's what Paul has experienced. That's what I have experienced. And you will have the same if you surrender your life to the Lord Jesus. There is a danger in looking unto our faith. You know, in New Zealand, we had often to go over very primitive bridges.

Before we went over it, we examined the bridge if it was strong enough to carry a car. We did not examine our faith in the bridge, but we examined the bridge. So let us not look unto our faith, but unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Hebrews 12 .2.

Before the war, I was a watchmaker, and I had a jewelry store. Sometimes I had a new watch that did not run exactly. I never tried to repair it, but I always sent it back to the manufacturer and wrote him a letter, saying, sir, this watch doesn't run right.

Will you repair it? And after he had repaired it, it went absolutely exactly. When my faith doesn't work, I don't try to repair it. I send it back to the manufacturer, Jesus, the manufacturer, the author, the finisher of my faith, and when Jesus repairs it, then it works.

So let us not look unto our faith, but unto Jesus. And I can tell you, when you pass through the waters, he said, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not overflow you. That's what you can read in this book, A Prisoner and Justice.

The Power of the Name of Jesus

When you read this book, pray for the film that people are going to make of it, and we pray that this film will be used by God to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ into the theaters. So pray that we may, that the people who are making it will be guided by the Lord.

When I was arrested, the man asked me, where is your secret room? I knew that when I told that, that should mean a cruel death for six Jews that I had hidden there. So you understand that I did not tell him where it was.

Then he started to slap me in the face, cruel, and suddenly I got so scared that I cried, oh Lord Jesus, cover me. The man said, if you say that name, I'll murder you. But he could not beat me any longer.

The wonderful name of Jesus. I have learned that that name has a great power. I heard that after the war, when the Russians entered Germany, they molested all the girls, and there was a Christian lady who invited all the girls in her surroundings to come into her basement.

And when the Russians came, she stood in the door and said, don't enter, Jesus is here. And no one could enter. The wonderful name of Jesus. And that name you made, you must use. And I invite you, besides your daily Bible reading, just take your time to read how often Jesus says, in my name, in my name.

What does it mean, the name of Jesus? Is the question, what is behind that name? And I give you a check of two thousand dollars, and I write my name for it, and boom, on that check, and you go to a bank, you do not get a penny.

Why not? Because there is behind my name no two thousand dollars. That is, we must understand what is behind the name of the above all. And we must understand that the name, and must use that name. Just imagine that you give me a check, and you write it on Corrie ten Boom, and then you write your name.

And then I go to a bank, and I endorse that check. Then I do not write at the other side, I sign this check in my name. I don't do that, I write Corrie ten Boom. You see, so many people pray, and then they say at the end, I pray this in the wonderful name, Amen.

Why not say in the name of Jesus? And it is not Christ. Christ is the title. It is not the Lord. It is not God. It is people. That is the name that is above all names. And you and I, may you use that name.

God's Presence in Solitary Confinement

When we were arrested, I was brought into a cell in solitary confinement. That was a terrible thing. For long months, I have been alone in the cell. I love people. And I have really never been alone in my whole life.

And now I could go by a footstep so, and two so, and always alone. And I remember that once, I rebelled against God. I said, God, why must I be alone in this cell? I know, Lord Jesus, that you have said, like the Father has sent me, so I sent you.

And I know, Lord, that the Father has sent you to seek and to save that which was lost. But you understand that I cannot do anything to seek and to save that which is lost when I am alone in this miserable cell.

Lord, in this very prison, a thousand prisoners, many don't know that you died at the cross for their sins. But I can't tell them. No, Lord, I can't do anything to be what you have told us to be, the light of the world, the salt of the earth.

I hardly said it. I have nothing. Now, I must confess you that I have made a little hole in the wall. I have taken a bone and I have made it sharp on the floor and I have cut between two bricks. I have nothing to do, night and day.

And when I knew that there was no God in the neighborhood, I started to cut and to cut. And at last, there was a little hole. I had a needle. Can you understand what it means to have a needle when you have nothing to do the whole day?

Someone had sent me a colored towel and I took the colored threads and I embroidered all my underwear. My slip was a whole picture. First, I embroidered a house. Next day, flowers in the windows and then a pussycat in front of the house and then birds in the sky.

Now, the people at the other side of the wall, there were five prisoners. They had no needle. So, sometimes I tied the needle at the bone and I gave it through that little hole to them. So, when they knocked, I said, Yes, we need my needle.

Wait a moment, I'll get it. But please don't break it. It is the only one I have. But I heard a voice, No, Corrie, we don't need your needle. But please pray for us. We have such a black day. One of us must be questioned.

Now, and she is so scared. Now, questioning was the most dangerous moment for a political prisoner. Not only you were in great danger, but also the Jews you had hidden and the people with whom you had worked.

So, I understood that she was afraid and I said, Sure, I will pray for you. But don't forget that Jesus has said, No, I am with you always. Till the end of the earth, that means he is also in your shell.

But I will pray for you. And I said, Oh, Lord, I can do a little bit to be the light of the world. I can pray. And I prayed for these people there, but not she. But I was called out to be questioned. They brought me into a little room where I was alone with my judge.

I knew that my life was in the hands of that man. If he should say that I was to be shot, I should have been shot. He asked me much about my childhood, my certificates, my spare time, and I told him all.

Then he asked me about my misdeeds. I did not tell him all. He has known of only 8 Jews that he had saved, and perhaps there were 800. But when he asked me about my spare time, I told that I had a Bible class, what they called their church, for feeble-minded people.

You know, feeble-minded people cannot go to a church. They cannot understand sermons. And I experienced that when, in a very simple way, you bring these people the gospel, they need the Lord Jesus just as much as you and I.

I experienced that the Holy Spirit does not need a high IQ or common sense to reveal Himself to them. In my booklet, Common Sense Not Needed, I tell about that work, and I show how these people became happy children of God, because the Holy Spirit changed their hearts.

When I told that to a National Socialist officer, he said, What nonsense! Don't you think that's a waste of time? Don't you think it has far more use to convert a normal person than an abnormal one? Then I said, Sir, if you should know Jesus, you should know that He has a great love and concern for everyone who is despised or is envied.

It is possible that a poor, feeble-minded person or child has more value in His loving eyes than you and me together. Then he didn't answer, but called the policeman and said, Bring her back to her cell.

Testifying to Christ Before a Judge

The next day, I was again brought before him, and then he said, I couldn't sleep during the night. I had always to think over what you told about people. We have time enough for the questioning. First you must tell me what you know of Him.

Boy, that was a challenge. I said, Jesus has said I have come into this world alive, that everyone who believes in Him does not remain in darkness. Is there darkness in your life? In your heart? Is there darkness?

There is no light at all in my life. I hate my work. When I go to bed, I dread a moment that I must awaken. And then I told him, When you ask Jesus to come into your heart, He will fill your heart with a peace that passes all understanding.

You must bring Him all your sins, and He will cleanse your heart with His blood. I brought him the old, old story of Jesus and His love. After me, Betsy, my sister, was questioned. With great joy she testified to her faith.

And when she was through, she said, It is important to speak about the Lord. It is more important to speak to Him. Will you allow me that I pray with you? And she said, Yes. And she prayed with Him. She, the prisoner, with her judge.

Four times Betsy was questioned. Four times she prayed with Him. Betsy died in prison. But after the war, I met that man in Germany. And he said, Never in my life I can forget your sister's death. No, also in solitary confinement you can be the light of the world.

Hope in the Coming Renewal of the World

Peter van Woorden, the youngest son of my sister, he has written the little booklet in the secret place where he tells of his experiences during the war. Peter was in my house when I was arrested. He came there just to play the organ.

And so he was also brought into prison. When he was questioned, the judge asked him, Why, Peter? Do you think that the war will give us a better world? Peter said, No. A war is never a blessing. Then he said, And Peter, do you believe that there ever will come a better world?

I have the idea that he would give him an opportunity to say, Oh yes, the natural socialistic philosophy will make a better world. But Peter did not think about it, but said, Yes, there comes a better world.

Jesus has said, I will come again and I will make everything new. And then this world will be covered with the knowledge of God like the waters cover the bottom of the sea. And the judge was so surprised about that answer that he said, Yes, yes, yes, I believe that too.

And Peter said, Do you? Are you ready for Jesus coming? I always must laugh when I think of that monkey of 16 years old that said that to his judge in whose hands his life was. But God used all this testifying to our faith to touch the heart of that man.

And I experienced that on a terrible moment. Suddenly he showed me papers found in my house. And to my horror, I read names, addresses, particulars that could mean not only my descendants but the descendants of my family and my friends.

Some of my friends were still in freedom and here were their addresses. You will say, How in the world could you have such dangerous papers? In your house? But don't forget that I worked in the underground work as we called it, together with many teenagers.

And God blessed them for the courageous good work they had done. But they were not always careful. And that's why these papers were found in my house. The judge said, Can you explain these papers? I said, No.

I have never felt so miserable. Here, by my fault, the life of my beloved was in great danger. But because the Lord had touched the heart of that judge he knew how dangerous the papers were. And he would help us.

And suddenly he turned and he opened the door of the stove and threw all the papers into the fire. Oh my, how happy I was. I can tell you that moment I was 100 happy. If you had told me at once I should be 100 happy when a prisoner in the hand of an enemy I should never have believed.

But that moment I was 100 happy. And it was as if for the first time I understood Colossians 2 .40 where it's written that Jesus has taken the handwriting of ordinances that was against us he has taken them out of the way and has nailed them at the cross.

Salvation Through Christ's Finished Work

My friends, there are very dangerous papers in heaven. Do you know that? They all, if we like it or not if we believe it or not every human being has to come to the judgment day of God. And then there will be opened a book where are written down our sins from the moment that we came in this sinful world as a baby to the moment that we die or at Jesus' return.

And if you have rejected Jesus in this life then you will hear that you are lost for eternity. But if you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior in this time and repented of your sins then you can be absolute sure that your sins, the handwriting of your sins is by Jesus taken out of the way and nailed at the cross.

What a joy! And if you have not received Jesus as your Savior do it tonight. And if you need any help then just stay a little bit longer and the pastor or I will help you. For all that had to be done was finished at the cross of Golgotha.

But salvation is a gift and you can give a gift only to one with an outspread hand. And this I can tell you that those who come to Jesus he will in no wise cast out. Yes, I learned much in that time. After the time that I had been alone in the cell the Allies came into a part of Holland and liberated it.

Trusting God When His Answer Is No

And then we prisoners were many were shot by the Germans and then the rest were all brought to concentration camps in Germany. I could not understand that. I must tell you that every day in prison I prayed the same prayer.

I said, O Father, in Jesus' name I pray you that you will make that we never will be brought to a German concentration camp. So brief confinement was terrible but I was still in my home country. But God gave the no answer.

That's not a mistake of God for God never makes a mistake. But God knows what we do not know. God knows all. I had a little Bible hidden under my dress on my back. It was specially printed for the underground workers because we all knew that we could end up in prison.

But it was the whole Old and New Testament but very thin and very small. When we entered into Ravensbrück that concentration camp north of Berlin I saw that we had all to stand on the line and everyone was searched and they took away everything that the prisoners had hidden under their clothing.

I was afraid. I was so afraid that I prayed, O God, send now your angels and let they surround me. And I thought, yes, but angels are spirits and you can lift through a spirit and these people may not see me.

So I said, O God, let your angels that they are not transparent today. You can pray very unorthodox when you are in great need. It can't be good. The woman who stood in front of me was searched and then my sister stood behind me and they did not see me.

Then there was joy in my heart. I said, O God, if you are such a healer of prayers I believe I can even stand the concentration camp. But an hour later we were again called out in the street and again we were searched.

I was not afraid. I said, Father, leave your untransparent angels just a moment around me. And God did it again. And so I came with my Bible in the prison building. Strange story? No. It is written in the Bible that angels are ministering spirits sent to this planet for your and my help.

And I like to pray with an open Bible and say, Father, you have written it in your Bible in your love letter to me. Now you may do it. And God likes it. When we pray with boldness for God has meant business with His promises and He likes it when we children of Him also mean business with His promises in the Bible.

Gospel Ministry in Ravensbrück

Now I came in a room perhaps just not bigger than this room and we had to live there with 700 people. We had to live on small bunks of three-tire bunks and 30 inches wide with two or three on everything, night and day.

Very soon we experienced that it was horrible filthy and our clothing was soon full of lice. Those lice had caused many epidemics but in some way they had helped us. The guards and the officers would never come into our room.

They were afraid to get lice from us. That was good. The Bible was a forbidden book but in Baruch 28 we had twice a day a Bible message and for that God used angels and lice. God can use everything. And what a joy it was when I opened that book and I looked around me and I saw these people there sitting around so full up here.

Every day about 600 were killed or died. All in all, 97 ,000 women were killed or died in Ravensbrück. And there was great fear and bitterness and hatred. And then I was told about a joy unspeakable and full of glory even in the most difficult circumstances in your life.

I told them that our happiness in Jesus Christ is not dependent on happenings but upon relationships that persist in the happening. And I experienced that the worst can happen in the life of a child of God.

The best remains. Now you understand that when I opened the Bible and my friends came sitting around me that above and around were people are silent out of politeness. But they also heard the gospel. Many had never heard of Jesus and they could not hear of him afterwards because they were killed or died.

But many died with Jesus' name on their lips. And God used Betsy and me to bring them to the Lord. Then I started to understand. Once there came a woman to me, Mrs. Bass. And she said, Oh, I will make acquaintance with you.

I live on that third bed there at the right. Every day I hear you talking about a certain Jesus. You read from a little booklet. And today I am so afraid. I have seen that a woman was raped till she died.

It was so cruel. And now I am scared when will be my time to be killed and I am not ready. I am not prepared to die. Do you think that that Jesus of yours can help me? Is there in that little booklet of yours an answer for me?

I said, Yes. In this booklet is the answer. For this booklet brings you together with Jesus. And all that you have to know of him is written in this book. And it says in John 1 .12, Those who receive Jesus, he gives them the power to become a child of God who are born by the Spirit.

But Mrs. Walsh said, that doesn't say me anything. What does that mean? I have never been in a church. I have never read in that booklet of yours when you say, I must receive Jesus. What does it mean?

I can't understand such words. I pray for wisdom. And I am so glad that one of the checks in the Bible written on our name and signed by Jesus Christ is James 1 .5 where he says in this translation, If in the process any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem, he has only to ask God who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him.

I said, Father, give me the wisdom to help Mrs. Walsh to understand what it means to receive Jesus. And the Lord gave me an illustration. I said, do you remember years ago that when Mrs. Walsh proposed to you what was your answer?

She said, I said, yes. And that was it. From that moment on you belong to Mr. Walsh and Mr. Walsh belongs to you. And now Jesus says, will you receive me as your Savior and Lord? And if you say, yes, Jesus.

So really with your heart. That means that you have received him. Is it as easy as that? Yes? That's only the beginning. After you have received, said yes to Mr. Walsh, then you send cards to your friends, I'm engaged to marry Mr. Walsh.

After you have received the Lord Jesus, this book is your book, the Bible. All the promises are for you. And you read that you must also testify to your faith. And you tell the people, I belong to Jesus.

Jesus belongs to me. Do you remember at the end of the day of your marriage? From that moment on, you really belong together, you and Mr. Walsh. And the Bible tells us that we can only have a victorious life when we surrender 100 to Jesus.

And then Mrs. Walsh said, yes, to Jesus. The next day she came with her friend, Mrs. Amoria. Oh, she had such a different face. She said, I know that the people here around me can do with me for their life.

Even they can kill me in a cruel way, but nobody can take away the joy and the peace that is in my heart since Jesus is here. I said to Mrs. Walsh, why don't you do the same? She said, you see how she has changed.

She said, sure, she has changed. She looked always so gloomy, and now she looks so happy. But do you mean that I must become a Christian? That's good for good people. But I'm not good. I have done very mean things to come into this prison.

You have done good things. I'm a criminal. I said, listen. There was one kind of people that came to Jesus and Jesus would not and could not help them. That were the people who came to Jesus and said, I'm good.

And Jesus said, I can't help you. They were the Christians. But when people came to Jesus and said, I'm a sinner. I'm not good. I have done wrong things. Then Jesus said, come to me, and I will put you to rest.

I came, and then Mrs. De Moya also. And I told her how the Bible tells us that when you bring your sins to Jesus, that he draws them away from you as far as the east is from the west. He brought them out like a cloud.

Have you ever seen a cloud again after it had disappeared? Never. The cloud that you see after that is a different cloud. That is what Jesus does with sins that you bring to him, the sins you repent. He casts them into the depths of the sea, forgiven and forgotten.

And I'm sure he put a sign, no fishing allowed. What Jesus does, it was some months later that I stood before the gate of Rathensburg, waiting to be set free. And that door should open. But five minutes before that happened, a friend came to me and said, sorry, I must tell you that today Mrs. Wass and Mrs. De Moya both died.

And then I looked for the last time at the three and four chrysanthemums. And I said, thank you that I have been here. Oh Lord, if it had been only for these two women that I'd know to have used Betsy and me for many things, to bring them on the way of salvation.

Lord, it has been worthwhile. While all are suffering, even Betsy's death. Betsy had died a week before I was set free. But to be used to save souls for eternity is worthwhile to suffer, to live and to die.

Eternal Priorities Over Doctrinal Disputes

Now I understood why God had given the no answer. When I was sitting around the Bible with the other prisoners, often we had talks afterward. But these talks were always about the most important things.

You know, we did not ask such questions as, say, what do you think about the millennium? What do you think about predestination? What kind of baptism do you think is biblical? These things are important, but there are times that we must talk about such things.

When I came in America, I learned several words that I had not learned in high school in Holland. And three words were A, millennium, pre-millennium and post-millennium. Now, I learned from Dr. J. at Renaud that he said A, pre-post-millennium is a preposterous question.

You know, Dutch people always speak about predestination. But we did not speak about that in these talks. You know what? I never asked, say, what church do you believe in? You know what I asked? Do you know that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, also for your sins?

And then the priest said, yes, I know. Then I asked her, did you kiss your husband? Then she said, yes. Then I told her, did you repent of your sins? Do you realize that Jesus not only died for you at the cross, but that he lives for you, and that again and again when you repent of your sins and you bring them to him, that he will cleanse your heart with his blood?

And then I told much about the house of the Father with the many mansions. You know, when such a person said, yes, I know that, I did it, and I saw her disappear in the gas chamber, then I was so happy to know that she was saved.

And the children kept telling me to know what denomination she was, or what she thought about predestination, or the biblical way of that statement. There are moments that you speak only about the most important things.

Redeeming the Time and Proclaiming the Gospel

And now I know you and I are not standing before a crematorium or a death chamber. But everyone who has brains knows that we are living in a terrible, dangerous time. And this is a time that we must not quarrel about doctrines.

We must bring the gospel to the people. We must redeem the time. The days are evil. Sometimes I use this illustration. Just imagine that this house is on fire. Oh, I hope your church is on fire. But I mean in flames.

Now, just imagine that you see these flames and that you call the firemen and that some firemen come and that they stand here in front of the piano and that one gives a beautiful talk about the best way, the best method of extinguishing flames.

And just imagine that one fireman says, say, I think my uniform is far more practical than yours. What is that? That's a crime. These men must put out the flames. But listen, isn't it important the best method of extinguishing fire?

And isn't it important to have a good uniform? Yes! But it is time to wake up to reality. And the reality is that we must redeem the time and speak about the most important things and win souls for eternity and stop wealth.

And the Holy Spirit leads you. And you, it's your time. Also, what you tell the people around you, oh, let us not forget that every human being has an eternity to lose or to gain. And you know that Jesus basically said to heaven, tell it, and use your time.

God's Miracles in the Prison Camp

Redeem the time. Yes. There I understood what was the most important thing. And I believe that the Lord must guide us. You know, what I also have experienced is that God is a God of miracles. In my book, A Prisoner in Check, I tell that I had a little bottle with vitamin oil.

Now, the lack of vitamin was a great danger for the prisoners. So I said to the people, come to me with a little piece of bread. And I gave everyone one or two drops of vitamin oil. Sometimes it came 20, sometimes 40, sometimes 60 people.

After two or three days that bottle of oil was to be emptied. It was not emptied. I could do that more than six weeks. And after the first week, the people did not ask, say, have you still something left in your bottle of vitamin oil?