No matter how much we wish for it to be, there is simply no father without the son. No one can claim a relationship with our heavenly Father without abiding in Jesus Christ the word of God.

Being under authority is the norm in the body of Christ, this is the same for men and women. There can be no ministry unless  we are first discipled in a church and then sent.

The gifts may work, so will the devil against us, because we stand alone.

This question of accountability and submission is so vital that I tell people that when they meet a minister for the first time, the first question  they should ask is “Who sent you?” or “Who do you submit to?” If the minister or pastor says “God” then, I warn that they should run from these quakes as fast as they can!

You see, if such women/men of God are sent, there is submission, obedience and accountability, If not they simply don’t want to submit to anyone else or have someone over them telling them what to do!

The Lord Jesus set an example by constantly referring to the fact that He was “sent” or “given” things to Him by His Father to do the work He gave Him to do. This shows He never called Himself to minister; Jesus needed to be sent or given ministry by someone higher than Himself for His ministry to be legitimate, even though He is God the Son (John 17:2-4, 6-9, 11-12, 18, 21, 23-25).

The early church also functioned with this concept of sending. For example, even though Saul and Barnabas had already felt called by God into ministry they didn’t dare send themselves until the leaders of the church in Antioch also received a confirming word from the Lord to send them. (Read Acts 13:1-2, in which the tense of the original Greek wording shows that God had already called Saul into the ministry before the leaders of the church received the confirming word.)

Even Paul the apostle submitted the gospel of grace he was preaching (to the Gentiles) to the leading apostles of the Jerusalem Church (Peter and John) for fear his work was in vain (Galatians 2:2, 9).

• Galatians 2:2 2 I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.
• Galatians 2:9 9 James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.

The bible specifies that while it is the God who calls, it is the church that sents.

Jesus said in Mathew 9:37 that the harvest is ready, but the workers are few. This shows that it is not just a matter of calling. In Matthew 22:1-14 we understand that many are called but a few are chosen. Even among those called, there was one present without the wedding garment who resolved to yield no homage, but to assert his independent self-sovereignty. What that symbolizes about that man is that

• He came into the banquet when he was told to, but he came only in appearance, he came not in heart.
• The banquet was intended for the honour of the son, this man was willing to eat the good things, but he intended no respect to the prince.
• He said, “I will come, but it shall be in such a way that the royal purpose shall not be served, but rather my purposes and needs be met.
• I shall be present myself as an onlooker, but take no share in the ceremony
• I will, on the contrary, show that I have no care for the business in hand, except so far as it serves my turn.
• The man came in full exercise of self-will and self-love.

The Lord calls every one to his kingdom regardless of sex.  The wedding garment highlights in a special way that he also expects all of us to abide by his expectations. Those who do not will be cast into the exterior darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. These are called but not chosen.  ( cf Mt 22:14).  THEY CAN NOT BE COUNTED AS WORKERS OR LABORERS FOR THE HARVEST.

Jesus stated his expectations for preparations of the laborers in Matt 28: 18-20

i)        ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said,

(1)    “All authority in

(a)    heaven and

(b)   on earth has been given to me.

ii)       ¹⁹Therefore

(1)    Go (Remember, they are already his disciples, not untrained strangers)

(2)     and make disciples of all nations,

(3)    baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

iii)     ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

iv)     And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul tells Timothy “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” (NIV). How will they be qualified? By being entrusted with the things Timothy has heard, they will be qualified. They are reliable, they can be relied upon to walk the talk, to obey and to do, to submit to their calling.

Jesus discipled the 12 and sent them. Jesus expects them to make disciples of all nations. Discipleship requires submission to authority. It is those proven disciples in the church who are marked by the Holy Spirit to be sent by the elders.

This is the way it is according to the Bible. The choice is ours to abide or not.

A sister in the church has this line at the bottom of all her emails “A man cannot touch his neighbor’s heart with anything less than his own.” The fact is that we do touch others with the contents of our heart, and if our heart is set on rebellion, it will affect others in the church. This is the principle behind 1 Cor 5:9-11,  2 Timothy 3: 1-5, and Eph 5:11; where the bible tells us to have nothing to do with them, talking about those who call themselves Christians: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”

There is simply no Father without the Son. No one can claim a relationship with our heavenly Father without abiding in Jesus Christ the word of God.

Those who claim to do so are under deception. Have nothing to do with them.

Richard Wurmbrand (March 24, 1909 – February 17, 2001) was a Romanian evangelical Christian minister, author, and educator.

In 1945, when the Communists seized Romania and attempted to control the churches for their purposes, Richard Wurmbrand immediately began an effective “underground” ministry to his enslaved people and the invading Russian soldiers. He was eventually arrested in 1948.

He spent spent a total of 14 years in confinement in Romania, out of which three years were in solitary confinement, seeing no one but his Communist torturers.

Following his release he founded the international organization The Voice of the Martyrs.

This article he wrote shook me, and I felt I need to share it here.

PREPARING FOR THE UNDERGROUND CHURCH

By Pastor Richard Wurmbrand

Christian pastors must learn what an underground church looks like and what it does. I spoke with a bishop in Britain for an hour or so about underground church work. Finally, he said, “Excuse me, but you speak of my hobby; I am very interested in church architecture. Would you please tell me if the underground churches use Gothic styles in the building of churches?”

The Underground Church is comparatively unknown. We have it right next door, but we are not ready to join it and we are not trained for it. Every Christian pastor must know this because we might pass through tragic circumstances. Even if we do not pass through these tragic circumstances we have a duty to help and to instruct those who do pass through them.

In Muslim nations, in Red China and so on, many believers have become victims. Many have gone into prisons and many have died in prison. We cannot be proud of this. The better thing would have been to be well instructed on how to do underground work and not to be captured. I admire those who know how to work so well that they are not caught. We have to know the underground work.

PREPARING FOR SUFFERING

Suffering cannot be avoided in the Underground Church, whatever measures are taken, but suffering should be reduced to the minimum.

What happens in a country when oppressive powers take over? In some countries the terror starts at once, as in Mozambique and Cambodia. In other places religious liberty follows as never before. And so it begins. Some regimes come to power without having real power. They do not have the people on their side. They have not necessarily organized their police and their staff of the army yet.

In Russia, the Communists gave immediately great liberty to the Protestants in order to destroy the Orthodox. When they had destroyed the Orthodox, the turn came for the Protestants. The initial situation does not last long. During that time they infiltrate the churches, putting their men in leadership. They find out the weaknesses of pastors. Some might be ambitious men; some might be entrapped with the love of money. Another might have a hidden sin somewhere, wherewith he may be blackmailed. They explain that they would make it known and thus put their men in leadership. Then, at a certain moment the great persecution begins. In Romania such a clamp-down happened in one day. All the Catholic bishops went to prison, along with innumerable priests, monks and nuns. Then many Protestant pastors of all denominations were arrested. Many died in prison.

“Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he has done to Thy saints at Jerusalem: But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake “-(Acts 9:13, 15 and 16).

Jesus, our Lord, told Ananias: “Meet Saul of Tarsus. He will be My underground pastor, My underground worker.” That is what St. Paul was – a pastor of an Underground Church. Jesus started a crash course for this underground pastor. He started it with the words, “I will show (him) how great things he must suffer…”

Preparation for underground work begins by studying sufferology, martyrology. Later, we will look at the technical side of underground work, but first of all there must be a certain spiritual preparation for it.

In a free country, to be a member of a church, it is enough to believe and to be baptized. In the Church underground it is not enough to be a member in it. You can be baptized and you can believe, but you will not be a member of the Underground Church unless you know how to suffer.

You might have the mightiest faith in the world, but if you are not prepared to suffer, then when you are taken by the police, you will get two slaps and you will declare anything. So the preparation for suffering is one of the essentials of the preparation of underground work.

A Christian does not panic if he is put in prison. For the rank and file believer, prison is a new place to witness for Christ. For a pastor, prison is a new parish. It is a parish with no great income but with great opportunities for work. I speak a little of this in my book, With God In Solitary Confinement.

In other books I mention Morse code, which is also part of the training for the Underground Church. You know what this is – a code by which messages are conveyed. Through this code you can preach the Gospel to those who are to your right and left.

Free parishioners look at their watch; “Already he has preached for thirty minutes. Will he never finish?” When arrested, watches are taken away from you; you have the parishioners with you the whole week and can preach to them from morning to night! They have no choice. There have never been, in the history of the Romanian or the Russian Church, so many conversions brought about as there have been in prison. So do not fear prison. Look upon it as just a new assignment given by God.

Men can accept this. But what about the terrible tortures which are inflicted on prisoners? What will we do about these tortures? Will we be able to bear them? If I do not bear them, I put in prison another fifty or sixty men whom I know because that is what the oppressors wish from me, to betray those around me. Hence comes the great need for preparation for suffering, which must start now. It is too difficult to prepare yourself for it when you are already in prison.

TRUTH ABOUT THE TRUTH

How much each one of us can suffer depends on how much he is bound up with a cause, how dear this cause is to him, and how much it means for him.

In this respect we have had in Communist countries very big surprises. There have been gifted preachers and writers of Christian books who have become traitors. The composer of the best hymnal of Romania became the composer of the best communist hymnal of Romania. Everything depends on whether we have remained in the sphere of words or if we are merged with the divine realities.

God is the Truth. The Bible is the truth about the Truth. Theology is the truth about the truth about the Truth. A good sermon is the truth about the truth about the truth, about the Truth It is not the Truth. The Truth is God alone. Around this Truth there is a scaffolding of words, of theologies, and of exposition. None of these is of any help in times of suffering. It is only the Truth Himself Who is of help, and we have to penetrate through sermons, through theological books, through everything which is ‘words’ and be bound up with the reality of God Himself.

I have told in the West how Christians were tied to crosses for four days and four nights. The crosses were put on the floor and other prisoners were tortured and made to fulfill their bodily necessities upon the faces and the bodies of the crucified ones. I have since been asked: “Which Bible verse helped and strengthened you in those circumstances?” My answer is: “NO Bible verse was of any help.” It is sheer cant and religious hypocrisy to say, “This Bible verse strengthens me, or that Bible verse helps me.” Bible verses alone are not meant to help.

We knew Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want… though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death….” When you pass through suffering you realize that it was never meant by God that Psalm 23 should strengthen you. It is the Lord who can strengthen you, not the Psalm which speaks of Him so doing. It is not enough to have the Psalm. You must have the One about whom the Psalm speaks. We also knew the verse: “My Grace is sufficient for thee.” But the verse is not sufficient. It is the Grace which is sufficient and not the verse.

Pastors and zealous witnesses who are handling the Word as a calling from God are in danger of giving holy words more value than they really have. Holy words are only the means to arrive at the reality expressed by them. If you are united with the Reality, the Lord Almighty, evil loses its power over you; it cannot break the Lord Almighty. If you only have the words of the Lord Almighty you can be very easily broken.

SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

The preparation for underground work is deep spiritualization. As we peel an onion in preparation for its use, so God must “peel” from us what are mere words, sensations of our enjoyments in religion, in order to arrive at the reality of our faith. Jesus has told us “that whosoever will follow” Him will have to “take up their cross,” and He, Himself, showed how heavy this cross can be. We have to be prepared for this.

We have to make the preparation now before we are imprisoned. In prison you lose everything. You are undressed and given a prisoner’s suit. No more nice furniture, nice carpets or nice curtains. You do not have a wife or husband any more and you do not have your children. You do not have your library and you never see a flower. Nothing of what makes life pleasant remains. Nobody resists who has not renounced the pleasures of life beforehand.

I personally use an exercise. I live in the United States of America. Can you imagine what an American supermarket looks like? You find there many delicious things. I look at everything and say to myself, “I can go without this thing and that thing; this thing is very nice, but I can go without: this third thing I can go without, too.” I visited the whole supermarket and did not spend one dollar. I had the joy of seeing many beautiful things and the second joy to know that I can go without.

DOUBT MAKES TRAITORS

I am Jewish. In Hebrew, the language which Jesus Himself spoke and in which the first revelation has been given, the word “doubt” does not exist. To doubt is as wrong for a man as it would be for him to walk on four legs – he is not meant to walk on four legs. A man walks erect; he is not a beast. To doubt is subhuman.

To every one of us doubts come, but do not allow doubts about essential doctrines of the Bible such as the existence of God, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, or the existence of eternal life to make a nest in your mind. Every theological or philosophical doubt makes you a potential traitor. You can allow yourself doubts while you have a nice study and you prepare sermons, and you eat well – or you write a book. Then you can allow yourself all kinds of daring ideas and doubts. When you are tortured these doubts are changed into treason because you have to decide to live or die for this faith.

One of the most important things about the spiritual preparation of an underground worker is the solution of his doubts. In mathematics, if you do not find the solution you may have made a mistake somewhere, so you continue until you find out. Don’t live with doubts, but seek their solution.

TEST OF TORTURE

Now to come to the very moment of torture. Torture is sometimes very painful. Sometimes it is a simple beating. We have all been spanked as children and beating is just another spanking. A simple beating is very easy to take. Jesus has said we should come to Him like children, which is rather like candidates for spanking!

However, with us, Communists did not stop at beatings – they used very refined tortures. Now torture, you must know, can work both ways. It can harden you and strengthen your decision not to tell the police anything. There are thieves who resist any torture and would not betray those with whom they have co-operated in theft. The more you beat them the more obstinate they become. Or, torture can just break your will.

Now I will tell you of one very interesting case which was published by the Czech Communist Press. Novotny, who was the predecessor of Dubcek and who was a Communist dictator, had arrested one of his intimate comrades, a Communist leader, a convinced atheist, and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. (Not only Christians, Jews or patriots were in prison. One Communist arrested another and tortured him just as they would do anybody else.) They arrested this Communist leader and put him in a prison cell alone. Electromagnetic rays, which disturb the mind, passed through this cell. A loudspeaker repeated day and night: “Is your name Joseph or not Joseph?” (His name was not Joseph.)

They tried to drive him mad. Day and night. He felt that he would lose his mind. At a certain moment, he got an illumination. “I have now met unmitigated evil. If Communists torture a Christian, it is not absolutely evil because Communists believe that they will construct an earthly paradise. Christians hinder them, so it is right to torture Christians. But when a Communist tortures a Communist, it is torture for torture’s sake. There is absolutely no justification for it. But wait a little bit. Every coin has two sides, every electric cable has two poles. If there is an unmitigated evil, against whom does this unmitigated evil fight? There must be an unmitigated good. This is God, and against Him they fight.”

When he was called to the interrogator, he entered smiling into the room and told him that he could switch off the loudspeaker now because it had attained its result. “I have become a Christian.” The officer asked him, “How did it happen?” He told him the whole story. The officer said, “Wait a little bit.” He called a few of his comrades and said, “Please repeat the stop before my comrades.” He repeated the story, and the captain told the other police officer, “I told you that this method will not work. You have overdone it.”

The Devil is not all mighty and all wise like God. He makes mistakes. Evil torture is an excess which can be used very well spiritually.

MOMENT OF CRISIS

Torture has a moment of explosion, and the torturer waits for this critical moment. Learn how to conquer doubt and to think thoroughly. There is always one moment of crisis when you are ready to write or pronounce the name of your accomplice in the underground work, or to say where the secret printing shop is, or something of that kind. You have been tortured so much nothing counts any more; the fact that I should not have pain also does not count. Draw this last conclusion at the stage at which you have arrived and you will see that you will overcome this one moment of crisis; it gives you an intense inner joy. You feel that Christ has been with you in that decisive moment. Jailers today are now trained and refined, aware that there is a moment of crisis. If they cannot get anything from you in that moment, then they abandon torturing: they know its continuation to be useless.

There are a few more points in connection with torture. It is very important to understand what Jesus said: “Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for itself.” I have had fourteen years of prison. Brother Hrapov had twenty six, Wong MingDao had twenty-eight. It seems impossible to bear long years of prison. You are not asked to bear it all at once. Do not bear even one day at a time – bear an hour at a time. One hour of pain everybody can bear. We have had a terrible toothache, a car accident – passing, perhaps, through untold anguish. You are not meant to bear pain more than this one present minute.

What amplifies pain is the memory that I have been beaten and tortured so many times and that tomorrow they will take me again, and the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, I might not be alive – or they might not be alive. Tomorrow, there can be an overthrow, as in Romania. Yesterday beating has passed: tomorrow’s torture has not come yet.

LOVE SUPREME

The Bible teaches some words very hard to take: “Whosoever does not hate father, mother, child, brother, sister – cannot be My disciple.” These words mean almost nothing in a free country.

You probably know from The Voice of the Martyrs literature that thousands of children had been taken away from their parents in the former Soviet Union because they were taught about Christ. You must love Christ more than your family. There you are before a court and the judge tells you that if you deny Christ you may keep your children. If not, this will be the last time you will see them. Your heart may break, but your answer should be, “I love God.”

Nadia Sloboda left her house for four years of prison. Her children were taken from her, but she left her house singing. The children, for whom the police waited with a truck to take them as she left, told their singing mother, “Don’t worry about us. Wherever they put us, we will not give up our faith.” They did not.

When Jesus was on the cross He not only suffered physically; He had His mother in front of Him, suffering. His mother had the Son suffering. They loved each other, but the glory of God was at stake and here any human sentiment must be secondary. Only if we take this attitude once and for all can we prepare for underground work.

Only Christ, the Great Sufferer, the Man of Sorrows, must live in us. There have been cases in Communist countries when Communist torturers threw away their rubber truncheons with which they beat a Christian and asked, “What is this halo which you have around your head? How is it that your face shines? I cannot beat you anymore.” It is said of Stephen in the Bible, that “his face shone.” We have known cases of Communist torturers who told the prisoner, “Shout loudly, cry loudly as if I would beat you so that my comrades will know that I torture you. But I cannot beat you.” Thus, you would shout without anything happening to you.

There are other cases when prisoners really are tortured, sometimes to death. You have to choose between dying with Christ and for Christ or becoming a traitor. What is the worth of continuing to live when you will be ashamed to look into the mirror, knowing that the mirror will show you the face of a traitor?

LEARN TO BE SILENT

In the Underground Church, silence is one of the first rules. Every superfluous word you speak can put somebody in prison. A friend of mine, a great Christian composer, went to prison because Christians had the habit of saying, “How beautiful is this song composed by Brother _____.” They praised him, and for this he got fifteen years of prison. Sing the song, but do not mention the name of the one who has written it.

You cannot learn to be silent the very moment the country is taken over. You have to learn to be silent from the moment of your conversion.

The secretary to Solzhenitsyn was put under such pressure by the Communists (and she had been denounced by Solzhenitsyn’s wife) that she finished by hanging herself. If Solzhenitsyn had kept silent, this would not have happened.

Another question which is very important: I thank God for the years which I passed in Solitary confinement. I was, for three years, thirty feet beneath the earth. I never heard a word. I never spoke a word. There were no books. The outward voices ceased. The guards had felt soled shoes; you did not hear their approach. Then, with time, the inner voices ceased.

We were drugged, we were beaten. I forgot my whole theology. I forgot the whole Bible. One day I observed that I had forgotten the “Our Father.” I could not say it any more. I knew that it began with “Our Father…,” but I did not know the continuation. I just kept happy and said, “Our Father, I have forgotten the prayer, but you surely know it by heart. You hear it so many thousand times a day, so you assign an angel to say it for me, and I will just keep quiet.” For a time my prayers were, “Jesus, I love You.” And then after a little time again, “Jesus, I love You. Jesus, I love You.” Then it became too difficult even to say this because we were doped with drugs which would destroy our minds. We were very hungry. We had one slice of bread a week. There were the beatings, and the tortures, and the lack of light, and other things. It became impossible to concentrate my mind to even say so much as, “Jesus, I love You.” I abandoned it because I knew that it was necessary. The highest form of prayer which I know is the quiet beating of a heart which loves Him. Jesus should just hear “tick-a-tock, tick-a-tock”, and He would know that every heartbeat is for Him.

When I came out from solitary confinement and was with other prisoners and heard them speaking, I wondered why they spoke! So much of our speech is useless. Today men become acquainted with each other and one will say, “How do you do?” and the other answers, “How do you do?” What is the use of this? Then one will say, “Don’t you think that the weather is fine?” and the other thinks, and says, “Yes, I think it is fine.” Why do we have to speak on whether the weather is fine? We do not take earnestly the word of Jesus Who says that men will be judged not for every bad word, but for every useless one. So it is written in the Bible.

Useless talking in some countries means prison and death for your brother. A word of praise about your brother, if it is not necessary, may mean catastrophe. For example, somebody comes to visit you and you say, “Oh! I’m sorry you were not here before – brother W. has just left.” The visitor could be an informer of the secret police. Now she will know that bro-ther W. is in town! Keep your mouth shut. Learn to do it now.

PERMISSIBLE STRATAGEMS

You cannot do underground work without using stratagems. I know of one case which happened in Russia. The Communists suspected that the Christians were gathering somewhere and they surveyed a street. They knew that the meeting must be there somewhere. They saw a young boy going toward the house where they supposed the meeting would be. They stopped the boy and the police asked him, “Where are you going?” With a sad face, he said, “My oldest brother died, and now we gather the whole family to read his testament.” The police officer was so impressed that he patted the boy and said, “Just go.” The boy had not told a lie.

We are not obliged to tell an atheist tyrant the truth. We are not obliged to tell him what we are doing. It is indecent for his side to put questions to me, an impertinence.

RESISTING BRAINWASHING

One of the greatest methods is not only physical torture; it is brainwashing. We have to know how to resist brainwashing. Brainwashing exists in the free world, too. The press, radio and television brainwash us. There exists no motive in the world to drink Coca-Cola. You drink it because you are brainwashed. Water is surely better than Coca-Cola. But nobody advertises, “Drink water, drink water.” if water were advertised, we would drink water. Some have driven this technique of brainwashing to its extreme. The methods vary, but brainwashing in my Romanian prison consisted essentially of this: we had to sit seventeen hours on a form which gave no possibility to lean, and you were not allowed to close your eyes. For seventeen hours a day we had to hear, “Communism is good, Communism is good, Communism is good, etc.; Christianity is dead, Christianity is dead, Christianity is dead, etc.; Give up, give up, etc.” You were bored after one minute of this but you had to hear it the whole seventeen hours for weeks, months, years even, without any interruption.

I can assure you, it is not easy. It is one of the worst tortures. Much worse than physical torture. But Christ has foreseen all things because with Him there is no time. Future, past, present are one and the same: He knows all things from the beginning. Communists invented brainwashing too late! Christ had already invented the opposite to brainwashing – heart washing. He has said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Stephen, the first martyr for Christ, had around him hundreds with big stones in their hands to throw at him. He said: “I see.” And the wife of Stephen probably thought he saw the danger he was in and would run away. But he said: “I see JESUS standing at the right hand of God.” Perhaps she said (it is not recorded), “Don’t you see all the mob around you ready to throw stones at you?” “Oh yes! I see some little ants there below not worth mentioning. I look to JESUS.” He did not look to those who wished to kill him. Blessed are the pure in heart.

I had passed through brainwashing for over two years. Now the Communists would have said that my brain was still dirty. In the same rhythm in which they said, “Christianity is dead,” I and others repeated to ourselves: “Christ also has been dead, Christ also has been dead.” But we knew He rose from the dead. We remembered that we lived in the communion of saints.

OVERCOMING SOLITUDE

One of the greatest problems for an underground fighter is to know how to fill up his solitude. We had absolutely no books. Not only no Bible, but no books, no scrap of paper, and no pencil. We never heard a noise, and there was absolutely nothing to distract our attention. You looked at the walls, that was all. Now normally a mind under such circumstances becomes mad.

I can tell you from my own experience how I avoided becoming mad, but this again has to be prepared by a life of spiritual exercise beforehand. How much can you be alone without the Bible? How much can you bear to be with yourself without switching on the radio, or a record player, etc.?

I, and many other prisoners, did it like this. We never slept during the night. We slept during the day. The whole night we were awake. You know that a Psalm says, “…bless you the Lord,… which by night stand in the house of the Lord.” One prayer at night is worth ten prayers during the day.

All great sins and crimes are committed during the night. The great robberies, drunkenness, reveling, adultery – this whole life of sin is a night life. During the day everyone has to work in a factory, college, or somewhere. The demonic forces are forces of the night, and therefore, it is so important to oppose them during the night.

In solitary confinement we awoke when the other prisoners went to bed. We filled our time with a program which was so heavy, we could not fulfill it. We started with a prayer, a prayer in which we traveled through the whole world. We prayed for each country, for where we knew the names of towns and men, and we prayed for great preachers. It took a good hour or two to come back. We prayed for pilots, and for those on the sea, and for those who were in prisons.

After having traveled through the whole world, I read the Bible from memory. To memorize the Bible is very important for an underground worker.

THE JOY OF THE LORD

Just to make us laugh also a little bit, I will tell you one thing which happened. Once while I lay on the few planks which were my bed, I read from memory the Sermon on the Mount, according to Luke. I arrived at the part where it is said, “When you are persecuted… for the Son of man’s sake, rejoice you, in that day and leap for joy….” You will remember that it is written like this. I said, “How could I commit such a sin of neglect? Christ has said that we have to do two different things. One to rejoice, I have done. The second, to ‘leap for joy,’ I have not done.” So I jumped. I came down from my bed and I began to jump around.

In prison, the door of a cell has a peep hole through which the warden looks into the cell. He happened to look in while I jumped around. So he believed that I had become mad. They had an order to behave very well with madmen so that their shouting and banging on the wall should not disturb the order of the prison. The guard immediately entered, quieted me down and said, “You will be released; you can see everything will be all right. Just remain quiet. I will bring you something.” He brought me a big loaf of bread. Our portion was one slice of bread a week, and now I had a whole loaf, plus cheese. It was white. Never just eat cheese; first of all admire its whiteness. It is beautiful to look upon. He brought me also sugar. He spoke a few nice words again and locked the door and left.

I said, “I will eat these things after having finished my chapter from St. Luke.” I lay down again and tried to remember where I had left off. “Yes, at ‘when you are persecuted for My Name’s sake, rejoice… and leap for joy because great is your reward.” I looked at the loaf of bread and the cheese. Really, the reward was great!

So the next task is to think of the Bible and to meditate upon it. Every night, I composed a sermon beginning with “Dear brethren, and sisters” and finishing with “Amen.” After I composed it, I delivered it. I put them afterwards in very short rhymes so that I could remember them. My books, With God In Solitary Confinement and If Prison Walls Could Speak, contain some of these sermons. I have memorized three hundred and fifty of them.

Out of bread I made chessmen, some of them whitened with a little bit of chalk and the others gray. I played chess with myself. Never believe that Bob Fisher is the greatest chess master of the world. He won the last match with Spassky. He won eight games and lost two. I, in three years, never lost a game; I always won either with white or gray!

Never allow your mind to become distressed because then the Communists have you entirely in their hands. Your mind must be continually exercised. It must be alert, it must think. It must, everyone according to his abilities, compose different things, etc.

I have told you all these things because they belong to the secrets of the underground worker when he suffers. May God bless you.
Richard Wurmbrand

http://www.persecution.com

http://www.torturedforchrist.com

This is old but still gives you something to think about, especially given the situation in the Middle East now.

The historical accounts are, for the most part, accurate.  What is left is the question of what do they mean?  Believers say it means that if the U.S. wants to avoid natural disasters…be nice to Israel.  Skeptics say that going through all the events in a particular span of years and finding apparent correlations doesn’t mean they were connected.

You decide…

Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

1. October 30, 1991: The Perfect Storm—As President George H. W. Bush is opening the Madrid (Spain) Conference to consider “land for peace” in Israel’s Middle East role, the “perfect storm” develops in the North Atlantic, creating the largest waves ever recorded in that region. The storm travels 1000 miles from “east to west” instead of the normal “west to east” pattern and crashes into the New England Coast. Thirty-five foot waves crash into the Kennebunkport home of President Bush.

2. August 23, 1992: Hurricane Andrew—When the Madrid Conference moves to Washington DC and the peace talks resume, Hurricane Andrew, the worst natural disaster ever to hit America, comes ashore and produces an estimated $30 billion in damage and leaving 180,000 homeless in Florida.

3. January 16, 1994: Northridge Earthquake—President Bill Clinton meets with Syria’s President Hafez el-Assad in Geneva. They talk about a peace agreement with Israel that includes giving up the Golan Heights. Within 24 hours, a powerful 6.9 earthquake rocks Southern California, This quake, centered in Northridge, becomes the second most destructive natural disaster to hit the United States, behind Hurricane Andrew.

4. January 21, 1998: Lewinsky Scandal—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Clinton at the White House and is coldly received. Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refuse to have lunch with him. Shortly afterwards on that day, the Monica Lewinsky scandal breaks into the mass media and begins to occupy a major portion of Clinton’s time.

5. September 28, 1998: Hurricane George—As Secretary of State Albright works on the final details of an agreement in which Israel would give up 13 percent of Yesha (Judah and Samaria), Hurricane George slams into the United States Gulf Coast with 110 mph winds and gusts up to 175 mph. The hurricane hits the coast and stalled. On September 28, Clinton meets with Yasser Arafat and Netanyahu at the White House to finalize this land deal. Later, Arafat addresses the United Nations about declaring an independent Palestinian state by May 1999, as Hurricane George pounds the Gulf Coast, causing $1 billion in damage. At the exact time that Arafat departs the country, the storm begins to dissipate.

6. October 15-22, 1998: Texas Flooded—On October 15, 1998, Arafat and Netanyahu meet at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland. The talks are scheduled to last five days with the focus on Israel giving up 13 percent of Yesha. The talks are extended and conclude on October 23. On October 17, awesome rains and tornadoes hit southern Texas. The San Antonio area is deluged with rain. The rain and flooding in Texas continue until October 22 and then subside. The floods ravage 25 percent of Texas and leave over one billion dollars in damage. On October 21, Clinton declares this section of Texas a major disaster area.

7. November 30, 1998: Market Capitalization Evaporates—Arafat comes to Washington again to meet with President Clinton to raise money for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. A total of 42 other nations were represented in Washington. All the nations agreed to give Arafat $3 billion in aid. Clinton promised $400 million, and the European nations $1.7 billion. On the same day, the Dow Jones average drops 216 points, and on December 1, the European Market had its third worst day in history. Hundreds of billions of market capitalization were wiped out in the U.S. and Europe.

8. December 12, 1998: As Clinton lands in the Palestinian-controlled section of Israel to discuss the “land for peace” process, the House of Representatives votes four articles of impeachment against him.

9. May 3, 1999: The Powerful Super Tornado—On the day that Yasser Arafat is scheduled to declare a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital, the most powerful tornado storm system ever to hit the United States sweeps across Oklahoma and Kansas. The winds are clocked at 316 mph the fastest wind speed ever recorded. The declaration is postponed to December 1999 at the request of President Clinton, whose letter to Arafat encourages him in his “aspirations for his own land.” He also writes that the Palestinians have a right to “determine their own future on their own land” and that they deserve to “live free, today, tomorrow and forever.”

10. Week of October 11: Hurricane, Earthquake and Dow Collapse—As Jewish settlers in 15 West Bank (Israel) settlements are evicted from the covenant land in Israel, the Dow-Jones financial averages lose 5.7 percent in the worst week since October 1989. On October 15 the Dow lost 266 points, and a hurricane slams into North Carolina. On the next morning, October 16, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocks the southwest in the fifth most powerful earthquake in 20th Century. The earthquake was centered in the California desert and did little damage but was felt in three states.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/t/tenmajorevents.htm

Love 1Jo 4:16
Spirit Jhn 4:24
The Holy One Psa 16:10
The I Am Jhn 8:58
Yahweh Exd 6:3
The Alpha & Omega, The Beginning & End Rev 1:8
God Almighty Exd 6:3
A Miracle Working God Gal 3:5
The Creator of the World Jhn 1:3
Infinite 1Ki 8:27
All Powerful Jer 32:17, 27
All Knowing 1Jo 3:20
Ever Present Psa 139:1, 13
Unchangeable Num 23:19
Jehovah Psa 83:18
A Covenant Making God Hbr 10:16
The Everlasting Father Isa 9:6
A Father of Lights Jam 1:17
A Father of Mercies & God of All Comfort 2Co 1:3
The Author of Salvation Hbr 2:10
Full of Power Rom 13:1
A God Who Raises the Dead 2Co 1:9
A Quickening Spirit 1Co 15:45
Mighty to Save Isa 63:1
Our Maker Isa 54:5
Our Heavenly Father Mat 6
The Justifier of the One Who Has Faith in Jesus Rom 3:26
Metting Our Needs through Jesus Phl 4:19
Giving Us the Peace that Surpasses Understanding Phl 4:7
Jesus of Nazareth Jhn 19:19
The Door of the Sheep Jhn 10
The Way, Truth & Life Jhn 14:6
The Prince of Peace Isa 9:6
The King of Kings & Lord of Lords Rev 17:14
The Lamb of God Rev 5:6
The Bread of Life Jhn 6:48-58
The Bright & Morning Star Rev 22:16
The Light of the World Jhn 8:12
Immanuel Isa 7:14
Wonderful Counselor Isa 9:6
The Great Shepherd of the Sheep of Sheep Hbr 13:20
The Head of the Church Eph 1:22
Jesus Mat 1:21
The Same Yesterday, Today & Forever Hbr 13:8
Our All Sufficiency 2Co 3:5
The Word Jhn 1:1
Dwelling in Us 2Co 6:16
Easily Touched Hbr 4:15
Faithful & True Rev 19:11
A Sure Foundation Isa 28:16
Upholding All things by the Word of His Power Hbr 1:3
Watching Over His Word to Perform It Jer 1:12
A Rewarder of Those Who Diligently Seek Him Hbr 11:6
No Respecter of Persons Act 10:34
The True Light Jhn 1:9
The Author & Finisher of Our Faith Hbr 12:2
Mediator of the New Covenant Hbr 9:15
The Truth Jhn 14:6
Working in Us Hbr 13:21
Greater in Us Than He That Is in the World 1Jo 4:4
Unto Us Wisdom, Sanctification & Redemption 2Co 1:30
For Us Rom 8:31
Never Leaving Us or Forsaking Us Hbr 13:5
Always Leading Us in Triumph in Christ 2Co 2:14
Faithful Over His House Hbr 3:1-6
Ruler of the Kings of the Earch Rev 1:5
Our Lord & Our God Jhn 20:28
Our Life Jhn 11:25-26
Our Savior Luk 2:11
Our Redeemer Isa 48:17
Our Teacher Mat 28:18
Our Healer Isa 53:5
Our Deliverer Rom 11:20
Our Resurrection Jhn 11:25
Our Justification Rom 3:26
Our Strength Phl 4:13
Our Righteousness 1Co 1:30
Our Peace Eph 2:14
Our Advocate 1Jo 2:1
Our Faithful High Priest Hbr 9:11; 10:21
Our Bridegroom Mat 9:15
Our Hope of Glory Col 1:27
Pleased to Give Us the Kingdom Luk 12:32
Equipping Us Eph 4:11-16
Giving Us Revelation Knowledge 1Co 2:10-13
Giving Us the Keys to the Kingdom Mat 16:19
Giving Us His Name Mar 16:17-18
Giving Us the HOLY SPIRIT Luk 11:13; Act 2:38-39
Anointing Us for Service 1Jo 2:20
Filling Us With Wisdom & Spiritual Understanding Eph 1:17
Giving Us His Armour Eph 6:10-18
Providing Us Angels Hbr 1:14
Faithful to Complete the Work He Began in Us Phl 1:6
Rich in Mercy Psa 136
Teaching Us How to Profit, Leading Us in the Way We Should Go Isa 48:17
Giving Us All Things to Enjoy 1Ti 6:17
Saying Well Done My Good & Faithful Servants Mat 25:21
Receiving All the Glory 1Co 10:31
Worthy of Praise Psa 18:3
Saying to Everyone, “Surely I Am Coming Quickly.” Amen Rev 22:20

We Are…

Loved by God Jhn 3:16
Forgiven Col 1:14
Confessing the Lordship of Jesus Over Our Lives Phl 2:11
Saved by Grace through Faith Eph 2:8
Loving God with All of our Hearts, Souls & Minds Mat 22:37
Born Again Children of God Rom 8:16
Delivered from the Powers of Darkness Col 1:13
Redeemed from the Hands of the Enemy Psa 107:2
Called with a Holy Calling 2Ti 1:9
Created in His Image Rom 8:29
Not of This World Jhn 17:16
Of God’s Household of Faith Gal 6:10
In Love with God 1Jo 4:19
Seeking First His Kingdom & Righteousness Mat 6:33
Abiding in His Love 1Jo 4:16
Healed by His Stripes 1Pe 2:24
Free from Fear 1Jo 4:18
Crowned with His Loving Kindness & Tender Mercies Psa 103
Redeemed from the Curse of the Law Gal 3:13
Free from the Law of Sin & Death Rom 8:32
Heirs of Eternal Life 1Jo 5:11-12
Heirs to the Blessings of Abraham Gal 3:14
Heirs of God & Joint Heirs with Jesus Rom 8:17
Blessed with All Spiritual Blessings Eph 1:3
His Workmanship Created in Christ Jesus Eph.2:10
Strong in the Grace That Is in Christ Jesus 2Ti 2:1
In Rightstanding with God 2Co 5:21
Established in Righteousness Isa 54:14
Living in His Kingdom Col 1:13
Humbling Ourselves, Casting All Cares Upon Jesus 1Pe 5:6-7
Getting Our Needs Met by Jesus Phl 4:19
Able to Be Partakers of the inheritance, Giving Thanks to the Father Col 1:12
Studying to Show Ourselves Approved of God 2Ti 2:15
Awakening to Righteousness & Sinning Not 1Co 15:34
Commended to God & the Word of His Grace Which Is Able to Build Us Up Act 20:32
Believing God’s Word Mar 13:31
Blessed Because We Hear the Word of God And Keep It Luk 11:28
Abiding in Jesus & His Words Abide in Us Jhn 15:7
Always Meditating on God’s Word Jos 1:8
Living by Every Word That Proceeds from God Mat 4:4
Rooted & Built Up in Him & Established in the Faith Col 2:6-7
Building Our House Upon the Rock Mat 7:24-25
Being Transformed by the Renewing of Our Minds Rom 12:2
Increasing in the Knowledge of God Col 1:10
Letting His Truth Set Us Free Jhn 8:32, 36
Covenanted to God Hbr 8:6, 10
Filled with All Joy & Peace in Believing Rom 15:13
Doers of the Word Jam 1:22
Sons & Daughters of God Gal 3:26
The Body of Christ Eph 1:22-23
Laborers together with God 1Co 3:9
Servants of the Most High Act 16:17
Having the Mind of Christ Phl 2:5
Walking in Newness of Life Rom 6:4
Led by His Spirit Rom 8:14
Trusting in the Lord Acknowledging Him in All Our Ways Pro 3:5-6
Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ Gal 3:27
Partakers of His Divine Nature 2Pe 1:4
Walking with Love & Living by Faith 1Co 13 & Rom 1:17
Predestined to Be Conformed to His Image Rom 8:29
Pressing on to His High Calling Phl 3:14
Allowing the Greater One to Dwell in Us 1Jo 4:4
Letting Our Request Be Known to God Phl 4:6
Asking in the Name of Jesus Jhn 15:16
Receiving the Request We’ve Asked For Mar 11:24
Receiving All the Promises of God 2Co 1:20
Fully Convinced That What God Has Promised He Is Able to Perform Rom 4:21
Believers Mar 9:23
Abiding in His Rest Hbr 4:3
Walking & Acting Like the Word Is True Jam 2:17-18
Holding Fast Our Confidence Which Has Great Reward Hbr 10:35
The Elect of God Col 3:12
Filled with the Holy Spirit Act 2:4,39
Complete in Him Col 2:10
Going in His Name Mar 16:15-18
Strong in the Lord & in the Power of His Might Eph 6:10
Filled with the Knowledge of His Will in All Wisdom & Spiritual Understanding Col 1:9
Not Moved by What We See Rom 4:19
Strong in Faith, Giving Glory to God, Not Wavering with Doubt or Unbelief Rom 4:20
Imitators of Jesus Eph 5:1
Walking As He Walked 1Jo 2:6
Praying without Ceasing 1Th 5:17
Walking by Faith Not by Sight 2Co 5:7
Casting Down Vain Imaginations, Bringing Every Thought into Captivity to God’s Word 2Co 10:4-5
Holding Fast Our Confession of Faith Hbr 10:23
Calling Things That Be Not As Though they Were Rom 4:17
Fighting the Good Fight of Faith 1Ti 6:17
Reigning in Life Rom 5:17
Exercising Our Faith & Patience Hbr 6:12
Considering Jesus, the Apostle & High Priest of Our Confession Hbr 3:1
Observing & Doing the Lords Commandments Jhn 14.21
Putting on Love Col 3:14
Loving Our Neighbors As Ourselves Mat 22:39
Walking in the Wisdom of God Jam 1:5
Kings & Priest Rev 1:6
Givers Luk 6:38
Intercessors 1Ti 2:1
Wearing God’s Armour Eph 6:10-18
Doing All Things through Christ Who Strengthens Us Phl 4:13
Daily Overcoming the Devil 1Jo 4:4
More Than Conquerors Rom 8:37
Overcoming by the Blood of the Lamb & the Word of Our Testimonies Rev 12:11
Exercising Our Authority Over the Enemy Luk 10:19
Destroying the Works of the Devil 1Jo 3:8
Convinced That Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of God Rom 8:35-39
In Everything Giving Thanks 1Th 5:18
Establishing God’s Word Here on the Earth Mat 16:19
Receiving Abundantly, Above All We Ask or Think Eph 3:20
Walking Worthy of the Lord Col 1:10
Telling Everyone about Jesus Rom 16:25
Thinking on these Things Phl 4:8
Giving God All the Glory Rom 16:27
Blessing the Lord at All Times. Continuallv Praising the Lord with Our Mouths Psa 34:1
Definitely Looking For His Soon Return 1Th 4:15-18

Taken from http://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/ogiwa.cfm

He is the King of the Jews
He is the King of Israel
But He’s also
King of all the Ages;
King of Heaven;
King of Glory;
King of Kings;
..and Lord of Lords.

He is
a prophet before Moses;
a priest after Melchizedek;
a champion like Joshua;
an offering in place of Isaac;
a king from the line of David;
a counselor above Solomon;
beloved, rejected, and exalted
like Joseph;
and yet far more…

The Heavens declare His glory…
and the firmament shows
His handiwork.

He who is, who was, and who always will be;

The first and the last
He is the Alpha and Omega
the Aleph and the Tau
the A and the Z;

He is the ego eimi,
the “I AM that I AM”

The voice of the burning bush
the Captain of the Lord’s Host
the conqueror of Jericho

He is our Kinsman-Redeemer
and He is our Avenger of Blood;
and He is our City of Refuge;

He was crucified on a cross of wood;
Yet He made the hill
on which it stood.

By Him were all things made
that were made;
without Him was not anything made
that was made;

By Him are all things held together!

In Him dwells
the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
The very God of very God.

He became
the first fruits of them that slept.

He is our Performing High Priest;
Our Personal Prophet;
Our Reigning King.

He is enduringly strong;
entirely sincere;
eternally steadfast;

He is imperially powerful;
immortally graceful;
impartially merciful;

He stands alone in Himself:
He’s unique,
pre-eminent,
supreme,
unparalleled:

He’s the Loftiest idea
in Literature;

He’s the highest Personality
in Philosophy;

He’s the Fundamental Doctrine
of Theology;

He’s the Supreme Problem
in “higher criticism”!

He’s the Son of God!

There is no means of measuring
his limitless love:

It was written in blood,
on that wooden cross
erected in Judea
2,000 years ago.

He was born of a woman
so that we could be born of God;
He humbled Himself
so that we could be lifted up;
He became a servant
so that we could be made joint-heirs;
He suffered rejection
so that we could become His friends;
He denied Himself
so that we could freely receive all things;
He gave Himself
so that He could bless us in every way.

He
is Available to the tempted and the tried;
Blesses the young;
Cleanses the lepers;
Defends the feeble;
Delivers the captives;
Discharges the debtors;
Forgives the sinners;
Franchises the meek;
Guards the besieged;
Heals the sick;
Provides strength to the weak;
Regards the aged;
Rewards the diligent;
Serves the unfortunate;
Sympathizes and He saves!

His Offices are many;
His Reign is righteous;
His Promises are certain;
His Goodness is limitless;
His Light is matchless;
His Love never changes;
His Grace is sufficient;
His Mercy is everlasting;
His Word is enough;
His Yoke is easy and
His Burden is light!

He’s indescribable;
He’s incomprehensible;
He’s irresistable;
He’s invinceable!

The Heaven of heavens
cannot contain Him;
Man cannot explain Him

The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him
but soon learned
that they couldn’t stop Him;

They railroaded Him
through 6 illegal trials,
and yet

The witnesses couldn’t agree against Him
and the personal representative
of the ruler of the world,
couldn’t find any fault with Him;

Herod couldn’t kill Him
death couldn’t handle Him
the grave couldn’t hold Him!

He has always been and always will be;
He had no predecessor and
will have no successor;
You can’t impeach Him and
he isn’t going to resign!

His name is above every name;
That at the name of Yeshua
Every knee shall bow
Every tongue shall confess
That Jesus Christ is Lord!

His is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory…
for ever, and ever.

Hallelujah! …and Amen!

From http://www.khouse.org/articles/1993/566/

Dodie Osteen, wife of the late John Osteen, was miraculously healed from terminal cancer in 1981.

These are the scriptures she believed in for her healing.

I’ve had them with me for a long time, and they are available for download from the Lakewood Church site.

Healing Scriptures

Exodus 15:26 – He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”

Exodus 23:25 – Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you.

Deuteronomy 7:15 – The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt…

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 – If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock–the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity–in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground–in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 – This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

1 Kings 8:56 – Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.

Psalm 91:16- With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.

Psalm 103:3 – Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.

Psalm 107:20 – He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

Psalm 118:17 – I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

Proverbs 4:20-23 – My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.

Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 53:4-5 – Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Jeremiah 1:12 – The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”

Jeremiah 30:17 – But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD, `because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’

Joel 3:10 – Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, `I am strong!`

Nahum 1:9 – Whatever they plot against the LORD he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time.

Matthew 8:2-3 – A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.

Matthew 8:17 – This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

Matthew 18:18-19 – “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

Matthew 21:21 – Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.

Mark 11:23-24 – “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 16:17-18 – And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

John 10:10 – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Romans 4:17-21 – Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Romans 8:11 – And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 – The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Galatians 3:13-14 – Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Ephesians 6:10-17 – Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Philippians 2:13…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Philippians 4:6-7 -  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:7 – For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Hebrews 10:23 – Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:35 – So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

Hebrews 11:11 – By faith Abraham, even though he was past age–and Sarah herself was barren–was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

James 5:14-15 – Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

1 Peter 2:24 – He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

1 John 3:21-22 – Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

3 John 1:2 – Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

Revelation 12:11 – They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

After Sunday service, I was asked about Witness Lee and the “Local Church”. I felt it important that I share what I have found.

Are the teachings of Witness Lee and the Local Church biblical?

Witness Lee became the leader of the “Local Church,” also known as the “Lord’s Recovery Movement,” and the “Living Stream Ministry” using the credibility of Watchman Nee—his predecessor and a well-known missionary to China—for his teaching authority.

This is what Witness Lee has said in his own publications about Christians and Christianity: “We do not care for Christianity, we do not care for Christendom, we do not care for the Roman Catholic church, and we do not care for all the denominations, because in the Bible it says that the great Babylon is fallen. This is a declaration. Christianity is fallen, Christendom is fallen, Catholicism is fallen, and all the denominations are fallen. Hallelujah!”

Not only is this a ridiculous misuse of the term “Great Babylon” as used in the Bible, but God Himself has said that he would preserve His people, the followers of Christ (the church) throughout history. And yet, Witness Lee claims that God has failed in this promise, and Witness Lee responds to this blasphemous idea with a “Hallelujah!” Among the other things Witness Lee has said in his publications:

“To know God is not adequate. To know Christ is also not adequate. Even to know the church is not adequate. We must go on to know the churches which are local. If we are up-to-date in following the Lord, we will realize that today is the day of the local churches.” “Because we have been born of God, we have the life and nature of God, and in this sense we are God.”

“God’s ultimate goal is the New Jerusalem, and for this He became man. Our ultimate goal is also the New Jerusalem, and for this we must become God.”

These statements reveal the true source of the teachings. They are anti-biblical and satanic in nature. They embody the same lie Satan has been telling since the Garden of Eden: “You shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5). Any man or organization that claims to attain god status is retelling Satan’s lie. There is only one God: “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:5-6). (See also Isaiah 44:8, Isaiah 45:5-6, 18).

Witness Lee’s teachings about God and man are truly blasphemous. Just as with other non-Christian cults, the “Local Church” teaches a diminished view of God and an elevated view of man, along with the practice of extra-biblical revelation and extra-biblical authority. The “Local Church” teaches that anyone not baptized in their church is destined for hell. The Bible, however, teaches that salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), not by baptism into any church. Only those who reject Christ as the sole means of salvation will go to hell.

Additionally, the leaders of the “Local Church” have such an elevated view of themselves that they teach a doctrine which they call “coverage.” This doctrine states that all church members are completely subject to the church leaders in all aspects of life, including which schools to attend, which subjects to study, who they should marry, and how often they should or should not have sexual relations with their spouse. This doctrine further teaches that to disobey the instructions of a church leader—even if the instructions violate the teachings of Christ or the commandments of God—is a far worse sin than disregarding what God has said in the Bible. Also, they teach that any sin a church member commits while under the instruction of a “Local Church” leader keeps him/her “covered” from any guilt for their sin. This is typical of a mind-control cult, and in direct contradiction of the Bible, which clearly states that only the blood of Christ covers sin (Colossians 1:19-20).

The “Local Church” leaders place only one church in each city in which they are present and teach that they are the only people who are saved. These churches are referred to as “the local church” as an intentionally vague reference to avoid being recognized for the cult that they are. Their use of the phrase “the Lord’s recovery movement” has to do with their false claims to have discovered or recovered “new truth.” This claim completely contradicts the book of Revelation which states that anyone who claims to add “new revelation” to the Bible is under God’s curse (Revelation 22:19).

As wildly unbiblical as their teachings are, their practices are no less distorted. Early in the process of getting to know new church service attendees, the congregation practices what they call “love bombing.” Love bombing is the practice of overwhelming the new attendee with such a great degree of kindness from as many people as possible that these new attendees will disregard suspicious behaviors and requirements and begin to trust the congregation. Once trust has been established, the new attendees are required to develop a “sin list” of all the sins they have ever committed against others. This list is kept by the leaders, and if the new attendees should ever decide to leave, this “sin list” is used for blackmailing purposes to prevent defection. Other forms of threats and intimidation—also typical of cults—are used when the person’s sin list does not have significant blackmailing qualities.

Unfortunately, many people in our world today desire to be told that they are not accountable to an ultimate creator God, and that they themselves can become their own personal god. Witness Lee and the “Local Church” eagerly await to deceive such people. In response, we should be even more eager to share with them the truth of God’s Word. “For a time is will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Taken from www.gotquestions.org