Polish (9) — George Verwer

Running the Spiritual Marathon

...gives us another beautiful picture of following God in real commitment. Again we have the use of the analogy of sports. Speaks about running the race again. I'm trying to remember whether in fact we ever did read 1 Corinthians 9.

Did we read the passage? I think it would be good to read that. 1 Corinthians 9. Read 24 through 27. And then we'll read Hebrews 12. And then Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 1 and 2. Let us pray. Father, we realize that we are called to run in this spiritual marathon.

All during these days together we have been learning what this really involves. And we thank you for this. And we're asking you to teach us even more from your Word right now. We know we're not called to run a short race, but to run a marathon right to the end.

Father, we want to, as Paul, buffet our bodies and bring them into subjection. Give us wisdom, we pray. Wisdom from above. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. I want to share with you... I want to share with you... some of the principles that I have learned these thirty or so years running in the spiritual race.

Surviving Satan's Attacks

We have been emphasizing a lot the word discipleship. When I was living on the ship, traveling around Africa and India... we had to learn principles of survival at sea, how to get in a lifeboat in case the ship was sinking.

So I created a new word in English. And I've been preaching on that all over the world. It's called survival ship. I don't know what you're going to do with that word. Survival ship. Basically it means principles to survive heavy attacks from Satan.

We sometimes use that expression, you know, we're just battling for survival. I asked someone once, how is their local church doing? He didn't say, everything is wonderful. He said, we're just surviving, somehow we're just making it.

Sometimes we have the idea that to be a dedicated Christian... everything is always wonderful. Every day we're filled with the Spirit. People are being saved. And wonderful things are happening. We're rejoicing in the Lord.

Singing our praises to God. Ministering to people. And there are days like that. There's a verse in the Old Testament about God lifting us up and soaring on the wings of eagles. But I believe there are other days in our lives.

When we're not living way up here. We're having a hard day. Things are going wrong. Problems are taking place. Maybe misunderstanding. Maybe we're not feeling physically well. Maybe doubts are coming into our minds.

Maybe we've been strongly criticized and we're hurting. Maybe we tried to have our quiet time in the morning and fell asleep. Difficult days. Maybe in prison. Maybe in a hospital. Maybe all alone. Loneliness is one of the greatest problems in society today.

So if we're going to follow God and Jesus Christ in obedience... we need a strategy of survival. We need a strategy for the hard days. We need a strategy for when things are going wrong. We need a strategy for when we're praying for sunshine and all we get is rain.

We may need a strategy tomorrow when we're trying to get our bus out of here in the mud. I have developed this strategy over 30 years in Christian service. I have got these principles from the Word of God.

Got them from some of these great books. I've got them from sitting at the feet of many great speakers. And I've got them from making a lot of mistakes. And so I'm going to give them to you free of charge.

And I hope you will write them down. Because I'm convinced if you will put these practical principles into practice... Satan will have a very difficult time trying to stop you. We can call these principles of marathon running for God.

And I know that some of you know more about this than I do. Some of you dear elderly saints who've been sitting here patiently listening to me each day, I'm amazed. I'm sure you know more about many of these things that I have talked about than I do.

And I would appreciate your prayers. Now I have 18 principles. But I don't know if we'll have time for all of them. But let us just share. The first principle is to know that you are really accepted and forgiven.

Acceptance and Forgiveness in Christ

We talked about that a few days ago. Just as a reminder. It is absolutely basic when we are under pressure. When we have failed the Lord. That we know we are His child. Our forgiveness is not based on our present behavior.

Whether it's a good day or a bad day. Whether it's sunshine or rain. Our forgiveness is based on what Jesus Christ has done on the cross. We are His forgiven people. You can study Ephesians 1 .6. Where it says we are accepted by the Beloved.

Psychologists tell us that rejection is one of the most difficult experiences to go through. To feel that we are rejected. To feel that we are not wanted. Have you ever had that feeling? Maybe in your own home.

I counsel quite a few children who don't even know who their parents are. I don't know if any of you are from that background. You will have some struggles because of that. I have seen people claim victory over that situation.

And be mightily used of God. No problem is too big for God. And when we feel rejected by man. We must know even more what it is to be accepted by God Himself. That has been a great strength in my life.

I think of a very close friend of mine. When he was a young boy. He never knew his parents. And he was just passed from one family to the next. Sort of adopted but then they sent him on to somebody else.

When he finally came to me for counseling. I guess he was about 20 years of age. He was living a double life as a result of this. He was going to Bible college. He was speaking messages from the Bible.

People thought he was a dedicated Christian. But he was living in sin. Especially in sexual difficulties. And he was just being torn apart inside. And he talked to me. He didn't tell me first of all what his real problem was.

He said, I think maybe God is leading me to go to India. So we talked for a while. And I said, look, is this the real issue with him? Do you have something you want to say? You know he had never talked to anybody about these problems.

And so he talked to me for about two hours. He told me things. Sins that he had committed. Things that he was being tormented by. He had never told anybody. I did not reject him. And if you have a ministry of counseling.

And people share their sins and their problems with you. Be careful not to overreact to what they say. Oh, I have a problem! But to listen. And to show that person love. I often, when someone has shared some sin with me.

I share some of my own struggles at that point. Instead of pointing at them. I am the righteous man. You are the sinner. I will show you how to repent. Instead of doing that. I usually share some of my own struggles and my own sins.

Then the person will talk even more. Because often when you are talking with people. What they say in the beginning. Is not what they are really wanting to say. And with this young man. His big problem was not really sex.

That was the symptom. The real problem was insecurity. And lack of love. And so I accepted him. And we became friends. I would not even share this testimony. Except that he shares this personally now.

So now that is. It took him three years. In God's therapy program. Every week sharing with me his problems. He had further failures. Even after he recommitted his life. This fellow had recommitted his life at summer camp.

Every year for six years. And every winter time for six years. He back slid and got away from God into sin. This is why we are emphasizing here. God's process. You are not going to get all of your problems.

Sorted out in this tent. It is going to take many years. To lay a solid spiritual foundation in your life. And many times during the three years. I worked with this young man. He was ready to quit. He failed the Lord.

And he would come to me. He would say I am finished. God can not use me. I have just been in trouble with this woman. I am no good. And I said this is a lie of Satan. And we looked into God's word. And we read his promises.

And we claimed his cleansing. And I pushed him back out the door. And then after those two or three years. Saw him become stronger and stronger. That was seventeen years ago. He is now an outstanding Christian leader.

Preacher. Being used mightily of God in many nations of the world. I can give you hundreds of stories just like that. God is in the people business. And if you have problems. Then you are God's specialty.

But you have to learn. God has accepted you. One hundred percent. Whether you are running in the marathon. Winning men to Christ. Or whether you have fallen flat on your nose in sin or failure. God loves you.

God accepted you. The second principle. Is the principle of casting every care upon him. 1 Peter 5, 7. Memorize that great verse. Casting every care upon him. He careth for you. That's what the verse says.

Casting Every Care on God

I got a book many years ago called. How to win over worry. I was a worrier. Someone said that men have a problem with lust. And women have more of a problem with worry. I've got both problems. And I picked up this little book on the subject of worry.

Written by John Haggai. How to win over worry and care. Basically it was a book on how to survive. Worry can bring at least 50 different illnesses upon the body. And if you just perpetually engage in worry.

You lay in your bed at night. Tossing around. Worrying about this. Worrying about that. You know what you are saying? Without verbalizing it. You are saying God I want to be ill. I want to be ill. I want to be ill.

So I want to get nice and ill. Because worry creates illness in the mind and in the body. Every Christian must have a strategy to deal with anxiety and worry and tension in his life. Do you know that many of our major preachers and pastors in Europe have had nervous breakdowns?

One of our leading pastors in England whose tapes are all over the world. A great Bible teacher. Three. Three nervous breakdowns. He has left the pastorate, which I think was wise. He has learned how to accept his own weaknesses.

He has developed a strategy for perseverance or survival. Survival means the same thing. And he is back preaching all over the world. You know, many people don't learn these truths until they are 30, 40 years old.

If you can learn some of these things as young people now, it can make all the difference. How to deal with worry and care. In fact, many of these other principles I share with you are helpful in dealing with worry.

And when someone is really gripped with worry, it's no good just to say to them, Oh, don't worry! Because that is a very serious situation they are in. And people who are caught in worry cannot easily stop worrying.

The Bible says, be not anxious concerning tomorrow. Jesus was very strong in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, commanding us not to worry. And I have learned to deal with worry the same way that I deal with whiskey.

I don't take whiskey. I don't take even a little bit. If someone pushes something in my mouth, I spit it out. And worry, in my situation, I treat the same way. If I find myself worrying, I repent of it.

I know it's linked with unbelief. It's probably linked with my own pride. It's linked with lack of confidence in the living God to take care of me. I am a child. And then I purposely use my mind for other things.

Praise. Prayer. Witnessing. Writing a letter. Making a phone call. Many things we can do with our minds rather than sit, worry. The third principle, making God your goal. That's why we have pushed the books by A .W. Tozer because he is a God-centered man.

Making God the Goal

Focusing on God. That's why we have been emphasizing worship. Now, it's very easy to say these things. But let's ask ourselves a question, right? Are we really God-centered? Is knowing God the greatest goal in our life?

Matthew 6 .33 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. And, of course, there are many other verses. I found that in my life it was God plus my vision.

Maybe for the ship. Maybe for India. It was God plus many ideas and burdens that I have. And I had to really get on my face before God. And I had to ask Him to do a new work in my heart. That my main joy in life would just be to be His child, to be in communion with Him.

And all these other things will be like water above the top of the glass. God, by His grace, is filling our glass, filling our lives. We're not against these other things. Answers to prayer. People being saved.

New churches being born. Revival. But it's all water above the glass. It's extra-blessing. The glass is filled with God Himself. When that kind of reality gets in the depth of your soul, you will never be the same person.

And when things go wrong, it will not shake you. Because you're rooted and grounded in God Himself. That's why I strongly recommend this book on the Attributes of God by A .W. Tozer. Even better, read through the whole of the Bible and make a study on the Attributes of God.

Reading the Whole Bible and Seeking Wisdom

Now, let me take another survey. Get ready for another survey. Get your hand warmed up. It takes about 60 hours to read the whole Bible. 60 hours, that's all. You say, I believe this is God's Word. We all have our Bibles.

I want to know. I want you to be honest. How many of you have never read the Bible through? You've not read the whole Bible. Raise your hand. Come on, let's be honest. About 90%. I want to challenge you.

I give that survey all over the world. Let me just say that that's one of the worst. I want to challenge you that in the next 12 months you'll read the whole Bible through one time. Now, if you don't know how to read you are completely forgiven.

And in India we have many, many, many people who love the Lord Jesus Christ but they don't know how to read. I do not think of those people in an inferior way. In Nepal where I live 95 cannot read. 95 in Nepal cannot read.

Nepal. Afghanistan. 90 cannot read. So we are not wanting those people to feel bad. But this is Poland. A very intelligent, literate nation. So we are hoping you can read the Bible through once. Now, you don't have to just start in Genesis and only read Genesis and next month slowly, slowly, little bit again.

You read six chapters a day maybe start two chapters in Genesis. Start two chapters somewhere in the middle of the Old Testament. Psalms is a good place to start. Two chapters in the New Testament. By next summer at this time the whole Bible you will have read.

And as you read focus on the attributes of God. He is the inspirer, the giver of this book. That's what it's all about. The author of this book, Ralph Chalice, was a very godly man. And when we listen to that man speak we sense that the presence of God in an extra way.

And the biggest emphasis in Ralph Chalice's life reading the Word of God. I've never met personally a man except Buck Singh of India who spent so much time in the Word of God. And you know, if we're not willing for some of these practical steps then to some degree we have wasted our time here in this tent.

Because you cannot carry out from this tent buckets of blessing. You can get buckets of water but you can't carry out buckets of blessing. So you store these buckets in your house and when you're feeling lonely or discouraged next week you go and you take the bucket of blessing.

Every day you must meet with God. You know one of the big hindrances to this? You'll find it written in many, many places in the Book of Proverbs. It's a great problem in my life. Lazyness. When I was a young man I had the capitalist dream.

I was going to sit back and let other people work and so I had my little business and I had about 40 people working for me and they were selling fire fighting equipment fire extinguishers. And I was sitting on the beach enjoying the sun and the money was coming in actually not very much but I was lazy and when I became a Christian I saw this strong word in God's Word.

If a man not work let him not eat! Wow! Extremism! Oh yeah! It's extreme! And then I started to read the Proverbs. I sold my fire extinguisher business and I bought some Christian books and I went door to door with my Christian books and I sold a lot of books and I met a funny old lady one day she was a Christian she said come in, come in sit down she bought many books and then she said to me she said a proverb a day young man will kiss the death.

Ever since I met that funny old lady I have tried to read the Proverbs every single. How many of you read the Proverbs regularly? Raise your hands. Not too many. What about the Psalms? How many read the Psalms?

Oh! Everybody reads the Psalms. This is a real problem in our churches in England. There is a big emphasis on praise and we are always having praise meetings. Everybody is making Psalms based on the Psalms.

So everybody is reading the Psalms but they stop at the end of the Psalms. So what is the result in the church? There are lots of praise but no wisdom and so we end up with a gospel circus. We need the Psalms.

I try to read the Psalms every day. We need the Proverbs. There are 31 one for every day in the month. And what are some of the big things the Proverbs speak about? It speaks against the sins of the tongue.

That's why I need it every day. It speaks about laziness. The man who wants to sleep a little more. He says, Oh, I cannot go out today there is a lion out there. It speaks about the man who when he is supposed to get up in the morning he swings on his bed like an old door on the hinge.

And you know no matter how filled you are with the Spirit no matter how crucified you are with Jesus Christ that does not mean you are going to automatically pop out of bed in the morning like some kind of a pop-up toaster.

You have those pop-up toasters. It doesn't mean that you are going to wake up because you have been in this great week of blessings that you are going to wake up next week feeling spiritual. When I wake up often in the morning I have a tremendous passion to go back to sleep.

And I have developed many methods to get up in the morning. But I discovered there in the book of Proverbs strong exhortation against my laziness. Lazy mind don't want to read easier just to sit except see what's on the television.

And God is wanting us to have disciplined minds. So if you are going to make God your goal you are going to have to get into God's Word. And I am excited about what's going to happen as a result of steps of faith taken here during these days.

Learning to Handle Emotional Hurt

The fourth principle of survival is learn how to be hurt. I wonder if you have ever heard anybody tell you that before. I never heard anybody as a young Christian tell me that before. And yet I discovered in God's work that I would be hurt.

Emotionally by things people say. And we can be very unrealistic as Christians. And we are especially unrealistic about other Christians. If you have a friendship with someone sooner or later that person is going to hurt you.

When you get married your wife is going to probably say something that hurts you. And we must as God's children learn how to turn those hurts. We must accept the reality of our humanity. And discover that those hurts can actually be stepping stones in our road to becoming more like Jesus Christ who was hurt more than anyone.

What are we going to do with Matthew 5 38 and 39 where it speaks about blessing those who persecute Matthew 5 38 and 39. And what about that teaching of Jesus Christ. Someone hits you on one cheek. Hey, try that one.

Or for Jesus the other cheek. A principle not emphasized very much in this rugged day of individualism. And I cannot get immediate cleansing from it from the Lord. I may say things. Brother, I'd like to talk to you alone.

Go out for a walk in the woods. And I say, look I have to be honest. What you said to me yesterday really hurt. And we talk it out. We pray it out. Many of our problems today emotionally are a result of repressing hurt repressing anger and never talking about it to anybody not even to God.

Pursuing Unity Through Compassionate Disagreement

Many people or some people have been giving me little papers with their prayer requests. And I've been reading them. And one person has asked Please pray for unity among the different churches in Poland.

And I've met young people who get discouraged because they see different churches. And sometimes they hear criticism. And so they think oh you know how can God bless us if we're not all united as one big happy family.

We need a lot of wisdom. The church consists of weak super saints. And I'm amazed at the unity I often find among God's people. I'm never surprised anymore by the disunity I've seen. And one of the beautiful things about this gathering this week we've had here.

People hear from different churches. And we're all learning. We're patient with one another. It's going to take time. There are legitimate differences in our thinking and in theology. They don't disappear just overnight.

And this is where we need to learn communication and compassionate disagreement on certain issues. And if someone said something about your church. Don't take it so personally. Doesn't love me to believe the best.

And you know sometimes God is doing more in some of these churches than we think. We are not so wise. We know everything. We just look at the church and we look at the pastor. We now know everything. This kind of pride is very, very obnoxious before God.

Sometimes in some of our churches we judge people's spirituality by the amount of noise they can produce. In some churches they think George Brewer is very spiritual. Many of the most godly people I know are very quiet over whether the hand should be in the air or the hand should be down in the pockets.

And when you go to a church meeting in England half the people have their hands in the air. The other half of the people they sit in the back and watch them. They have their hands in their pockets. Who are the more spiritual?

That's the question I ask you. Hands in the air or hands in the pockets? And if we get arguing about these things You know what Billy Graham said? He said we've taken the sword of the spirit and we're using it to carve more relaxed.

Don't be afraid of Pentecostal Christians. Don't be afraid of Lutherans. You wouldn't be here if you were afraid.

Of Lutherans. Don't be afraid of Roman Catholics. Don't be afraid of loud-mouthed Baptists from America. Now you think. Ah, I finally found out he must be a Baptist.

I'm not a Baptist. But my wife is a Baptist. She's a quiet-mouthed Baptist. And we're going to introduce her to you this evening at the prayer meeting. God is working in different ways in different people.

And if we are going to move together as God's people If we are going to build the kingdom we must learn how to be hurt. And so when we're hurt we can forgive. We can love. We may not always agree. But we will not develop an attitude which will destroy our spiritual reality.

Praise, Thanksgiving, and the Rest of Faith

Now number five we must move a little faster. Learning the reality of praise and thanksgiving. Praising the Lord even when you don't feel like it. Giving thanks when you don't see many things to be thankful for.

We talked about that the other day. Number six. Learning the rest of faith. Hebrews chapter 4. To me that's a beautiful concept. Resting in the Lord. Rather than struggling with all my own energy and strength.

Realizing God's Character and Mercy

Number seven. And I got this from A .W. Tozer. A very beautiful statement. Realizing God. This has helped many people. Because many have a wrong idea about God. They think of God in his holiness. With the ten commandments.

All the other rules and regulations. They think of the God with a big stick.

Ready to hit them on the head if they do anything wrong A lot of Christians are dealing with.

Full. I have counseled with this problem. Especially when we come to the area of sex. And in many other areas. People living in The mercy of God. Because he's quick to notice. Do you remember that scripture?

A cup of cold water In the name of Jesus. Will be given a reward. Isn't that beautiful? God loves you. Satisfied enough. You're not reading the Bible enough. You're not witnessing enough. You're a bad boy.

I don't know if your mother ever treated you that way. Some of our problems go back to our relationship with our parents. Some parents are too strict. They're not positive enough. So little junior no matter what he does.

Never good enough. And if you. And if you've been in that kind of family You probably have some emotional problems as a result. Don't hold it against your parents. There is no purpose in holding anything against your parents.

I want to write a book about parents. I'm going to call it Parents are human. Father. I thank God that as far as I know my children have forgiven me of my failures. God is easy to live with. Probably a lot easier even than your own earthly father who also probably loves you.

Accepting Spiritual Growth as a Process

Then I have number 8. Accepting our growth pattern. It speaks to Peter about growing in grace. Actually we've been talking a lot about spiritual growth. Weeds grow very quickly. Trees grow slowly. Every morning I go out to the woods.

Beautiful trees just right over here. I love those trees. Now if you go over there and you see somebody standing by a tree just looking at the tree and you say excuse me what are you doing? And he says I'm watching this tree grow.

You may wonder if he needs some counseling. That tree is growing. Some of you are too worried about your spiritual growth. If you are walking with the Lord each day in His Word confessing and repenting of any sin that you commit then you will be growing.

Stop worrying about it. Focus on the Lord Jesus not on your own self. And don't measure yourself by the other man next to you. We sometimes think oh that brother is so spiritual. God is using him. But I'm such a slow poke.

He seems like a gospel horse galloping along in his Christian life. And I just seem to be a gospel donkey on the road with the people. God used a donkey in the Old Testament. I'd rather be a donkey for Jesus than a stallion for the devil.

A stallion is a great horse. God has all kinds of people. Heck. After all of these messages I pray today will be your New Year. You're like if you're not born again. You're like a caterpillar. You know a little fuzzy caterpillar crawling along in the desert.

Can you imagine being a caterpillar in this weather? Out there crawling through the woods on your belly. All miserable and wet.

And you know we look at that caterpillar. Yet what. And soon there's a beautiful butterfly. That's God's grace. Some people have come into this tent crawling on their bellies and they have gone out of here flying because they have been born again right here.

And that's not just because our brother Matt has preached the gospel. It's because people have been working for many months.

It's because people have been praying. It's because people gave money to buy this tent and to buy a chair. And people have put posters up all around. God has used our brother Matt to bring in the harvest.

But it's because everybody has worked together. Let's learn to be patient. We're all different. We're growing. Some are very very very slow. I have seen those people go on for years. Some are like me.

I grew very quickly. 17, 18 years of age grew very fast. But then I had to slow down and consolidate and become strong. And then number nine. The freedom of a discipline and ordered life. Real discipline doesn't bring bondage.

Discipline, Refueling, and Fellowship

It brings freedom. The kind of discipline we read about in 1 Corinthians 9. Ordering our life in practical areas. Having a file where we keep letters that people may send to us. Keeping phone numbers and addresses in a neat way so we don't lose them.

I could give you a list of 30 areas where we need to be more ordered and more disciplined and it helps us spiritually. And number ten. Learning to refuel and relax. I thought it was 10 minutes to 12 but I saved 10 minutes to one.

So it is time to refuel. But not only physically we need to refuel. Spiritually we must refuel. Maybe through music. Maybe a walk in the woods. Maybe through sports. There are many ways to refuel. And I know some of these things you won't realize.

Till a few years. Number eleven. Real fellowship. Taking off the mask. Being real. Number twelve. Keeping a positive attitude. Too easy to be negative. Memorize Philippians 4 .8. Positive attitude toward people toward God toward yourself.

Actually produces spiritual and physical energy. And then number thirteen. Constant in the word and prayer. We've been emphasizing every day. Number fourteen. Keeping active. In the service of God. When you're busy for the King of Kings Satan can't catch you with some of his special tactics.

Nothing wrong with being tired at night. You sleep better when you're tired. There's much work to be done. And then number fifteen. Don't neglect your family. A little recreation. Keep your sense of humor.

Because with God's people Often you're either laughing or crying. There's no middle ground. And number sixteen. Keeping a balance in all these areas. We have touched on that almost every day. And number seventeen.

Returning to the Basics and Living by Commitment

Go back to the basics. You may be thirty years in Jesus Christ. Go back to the basics every once in a while. You have to relearn some of these lessons again. Reread some of those old books like Calvary Road and True Discipleship.

Final principle. None of this is a substitute for Jesus Christ reigning and ruling in your heart as we talked about in our first session. None of it is a substitute for the crucified life and the spirit-filled life.

None of it is a substitute for the life of a full commitment to God of daily crucifixion. These are just practical ways to keep that going every day. And the last one is this. Struggle is normal. I am a person of great struggles.

I've got struggles today. We are soldiers. We must get used to the bullets and the bombs the ditches in the ground the airplanes overhead spiraling in. Now I want to do something I do all over the world.

Prayer for Perseverance and Unity

First time I've ever done it in Poland. I want everybody to stand up. And I want you to find one other person. You won't have to look too far. Just form a little couplet. Two people Two people. Shake hands with that person.

If you can't find someone Join the two. Become free. Don't want anybody left out. I want you to take one minute and share a prayer burden for your own perseverance. Then that other person to pray for you.

Then the next minute he shares his prayer burden and you pray for him. Just pray loud enough for your own little couplet. You don't have to pray for the other group on the other end of the tent. One minute share.

One minute pray. Third minute the next person share. Fourth minute pray. And then you can go. Amen.