Thank you.
So I think what that means is that on the surface, there's going to be things about the anti-Christ that even we don't like.
And I almost wonder if, like, the devil's doing all that so that the anti-Christ can come in and say, hey, I'm going to take care of this LGBT problem for you.
I'm going to take care of the Muslim problem here for you. I'm going to build your ear up towards Germany, all these things.
So that the whole world's like, yes, please do this. Because I think even on the surface, we would be like, that's cool.
You know what I mean?
I think the same exact thing.
Because they almost think they need to go to Germany.
And it has to be a village border.
Right.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think outside of the biblical culture, we all have to learn the closest title.
Because there's a lot of things that you do that on the surface kind of be like, oh, it's good.
Oh, yeah.
And if you were living in Germany, a lot of people would do it.
Decide what you ever saw in a nation's houses.
Everything was done.
And you saw this guy just wiping out the film, bringing coal back, fixing the economy, bringing back something.
You kind of got along with that very quickly.
Yeah, they did.
So I think that's really the crisis.
We're going to be like, OK, this guy's saying really bad things, but I don't like what he's doing.
And then he's going to clear himself to God and be like, well, OK.
You know?
I mean, after you get that out there, after you find some very good vegetables.
You're going to get some of us a son.
X, Y, 2, 1, 0, 9, 9, 3, 7, 2, 5, whatever.
Did I not say that?
That's, that's, that's, that's, that's.
How is the whole world going to have internet connection?
How can you see the internet connection?
Hey, we're going to bring it up here.
We're going to bring it up here.
Wow.
I was not surprised.
For sure, the infrastructure is being set up.
Absolutely, absolutely.
I don't think we're going to have those sorts of things.
I don't, I personally don't think we're going to have those kinds of things.
But I was kind of like, we should, you know, it's personal.
I think they definitely could be full.
Yeah, he said X is in everything.
That is weird to think about.
Is that what's working?
What a great guy.
Yeah, that's a good idea.
Very good to see each and every one of you here for our Saturday morning service,
continuing with our missions conference.
We'll get started this morning.
405.
This is the banner of the cross.
Hymn number 405.
And once you find your place, we will lift our voice together.
Starting on that first, there's a royal banner given for display.
Hymn number 405.
Sing it out together now.
There's a royal banner given for display
to the soldiers of the king.
And the signs there, we lift it up to there.
While the spares come, once we sing.
Marching on, marching on.
For Christ counts everything but loss.
And to drown in pain.
Soil and sing.
Beneath the banner of the cross.
Though the flow may range and gather as the flood,
let the standard be displayed.
And beneath it, expose us, soldiers of the Lord,
for the truth in our dismay.
Marching on, marching on.
For Christ counts everything but loss.
And to drown in pain.
Soil and sing.
Beneath the banner of the cross.
Over land and sea, wherever men may dwell,
make the glorious tidings known.
Of the crimson banner, now the story tell,
while the wars shall play their song.
Marching on, marching on.
For Christ counts everything but loss.
And to drown in pain.
Soil and sing.
Beneath the banner of the cross.
When the glory dawns, destroying very near,
it is hasting day by day.
Then before our King, the flow shall disappear,
and the cross the world shall sway.
Marching on, marching on.
For Christ counts everything but loss.
And to drown in pain.
Soil and sing.
Beneath the banner of the cross.
Amen.
Great start to our singing this morning.
We want to go and ask Lord's blessing on the service.
So I've asked for the Fedalcon's laws.
If you would lead us in prayer, please.
Father in heaven, we thank you for our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
We thank you for all the visitors
that are coming in, Lord.
We ask you to keep blessing the conference, Father.
Please bless our voices as we lift them up to you in praise.
And please bless every aspect of today's sermon,
and bless Brother Dylan Oz.
It's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Back to 394, hymn 394.
To the work, hymn number 394.
We'll start on that first verse now.
To the work, to the work, we are servants of God.
Hymn number 394.
Lift it up on that verse.
394.
To the work, to the work, we are servants of God.
Let us follow the path that our Master has drawn.
With the fall of His counsel, our strength to renew.
Let us do with our mind what our hands try to do.
Toiling on, toiling on, toiling on, toiling on.
Let us hold, let us watch, and labor till the Master comes.
To the work, to the work, let the hungry be fed.
To the fountain of life, let the weary be led.
In the cross and the banner our glory shall be.
While we herald the tidings, salvation is free.
Toiling on, toiling on, toiling on, toiling on.
Let us hold, let us watch, and labor till the Master comes.
To the work, to the work, there is labor for all.
For the kingdom of darkness and error shall fall.
And the name of Jehovah exalted shall be.
In the loud swelling chorus, salvation is free.
Toiling on, toiling on, toiling on, toiling on.
Let us hold, let us watch, and labor till the Master comes.
To the work, to the work, in the strength of the Lord.
And the robe and the crown shall our labor reward.
When the home of the faithful our dwelling shall be.
And we shall with the ransom, salvation is free.
Toiling on, toiling on, toiling on, toiling on.
Let us hold, let us watch, and labor till the Master comes.
Amen.
Good singing.
All right.
At this time, we'll just quickly go over a couple of announcements.
If you don't have a bulletin that has the schedule on the back,
stick your hand up nice and high so that you
can have a copy of that schedule for the conference.
Of course, we have the morning service now.
We're going to be hearing about Germany from Brother Dylan
Oz.
And then after the service here, you're on your own for lunch.
But maybe just get something light.
Don't go full like Kevin Rowe on a cruise ship
mode or anything like that.
So just get something light, because we're
going to be having the German picnic.
And the food's going to start being served there around 4.30.
So there is a soul winning opportunity here at 1 o'clock.
Again, if you're a little bit early for that, no problem.
A little bit late for that, no problem.
But around 1 o'clock, you can be sent out to do some soul winning.
And then we'll be showing up at the park for the church picnic
around 3 o'clock.
But again, you can get there early.
You can get there late.
It's not a hard and fast thing about 3 o'clock.
Just roughly around 3 o'clock, people will start getting there.
But again, the food's not going to be served until 4.30.
And the food is going to be amazing.
It's going to be really good.
You won't want to miss it.
And so lots of pretzels, cheesy pretzels.
And these are the most authentic pretzels on the planet.
Like if you literally went to Germany,
it would be less authentic than what you're getting here.
I'm not even joking.
That's not even a joke.
Stop laughing, because this isn't funny.
It is the most authentic possible pretzel imaginable
in any universe.
And then also, there's going to be bratwurst,
other little German treats and things, the roasted candied
almonds, and a lot of cool stuff.
There's also a special, the cheese dip, right?
Lola, did you?
Oh, I'm so sorry.
Cheese spread.
But that is part of the deal, right?
I'm pretty sure.
Yeah, there's going to be the cheese dip.
Apparently, it's based upon brie.
So if you like brie, you're going to like the cheese dip.
If you hate brie, well, then just skip it, all right?
And so it's going to be awesome.
And that's going to be this afternoon.
And then we're going to have another church service
tonight at 7 o'clock.
And so that'll be hearing from Brother Anselm Urban,
also about Germany.
And then tomorrow, we're going to have our normal church
services tomorrow, 1030 in the morning, 6 at night,
and then soul winning in the afternoon.
All right, that is about it for announcements.
So let's go ahead and sing our next song.
All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song
before the reading of the scripture.
You should find the answer in the brother hymnal
with the hymn entitled, The Regions Beyond.
If you don't have an answer, you can slip up your hand
and we'll get you one, The Regions Beyond.
To the regions beyond, I must go.
Sing it out.
To the regions beyond, I must go, I must go,
where the story has never been told.
To the millions that never have heard of his love,
I must tell the sweet story of old.
To the regions beyond, I must go, I must go,
tell the world, all the world, his salvation shall go.
To the hardest of places he calls me to go,
not thinking of comfortries.
The world may pronounce me a dreamer of old,
enough in the master I please.
To the regions beyond, I must go, I must go,
tell the world, all the world, his salvation shall go.
O ye that are spending your leisure
at powers and pleasures so foolish and fond,
away from your selfishness, slowly and sin,
and welcome the regions beyond.
To the regions beyond, I must go, I must go,
tell the world, all the world, his salvation shall go.
There are other lost genes that the master must bring,
and they must a message be told.
He sends me to gather them out of old land,
and welcome them back to his home.
To the regions beyond, I must go, I must go,
tell the world, all the world, his salvation shall go.
Thank you, good singing this morning.
All right, at this time we will read our scripture,
Matthew chapter number five.
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter number five.
As we always do, we'll read the entire chapter,
beginning verse number one.
We'll follow along silently with brother Nick
as he reads Matthew chapter number five,
starting in verse number one.
Matthew chapter five, the Bible reads,
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain,
and when he was set, his disciples came unto him,
and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you,
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.
Rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven,
for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth,
but if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted?
It is thenceforth good for nothing,
but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot of men.
Ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick, and it giveth light
unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass,
one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law
till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments
and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven,
but whosoever shall do and teach them the same
shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, that except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill
shall be in danger of the judgment.
But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment,
and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raka,
shall be in danger of the counsel,
but whosoever shall say, thou fool,
shall be in danger of hellfire.
Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar,
and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee,
leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way,
first be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come and offer thy gift.
Agree with thine adversary quickly,
whilst thou art in the way with him,
lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge,
and the judge deliver thee to the officer,
and thou be cast into prison.
Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence
till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say unto you,
that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee,
cut it off, and cast it from thee,
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members
should perish, and not that thy whole body
should be cast into hell.
It hath been said, whosoever shall put away his wife,
let him give her a writing of divorcement.
But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife,
saving for the cause of fornication,
causeth her to commit adultery,
and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced,
comitteth adultery.
Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them
of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself,
but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.
But I say unto you, swear not at all,
neither by heaven, for it is God's throne,
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool,
neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king,
neither shalt thou swear by thy head,
because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
But let your communication be, yea, yea, nay, nay,
for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
Ye have heard that it hath been said,
an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil,
but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also.
And if any man will soothe thee at the law,
and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile,
go with him twain, give to him that asketh thee,
and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away.
Ye have heard that it hath been said,
thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you
and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your father
which is in heaven, for he maketh his son to rise on the evil
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?
Do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only,
what do ye more than others?
Do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father
which is in heaven is perfect.
Dear Holy Father, Lord, thank you for allowing us
to be here today, Lord.
We just pray that you would fill
those dealing holes with your spirit, Lord,
and have us your children to be edified, Lord,
since you sent me to pray. Amen.
Amen. Well, good morning, everyone.
It is a great pleasure and honor to be here.
Thank you, Pastor Anderson, for inviting me
and allowing me to preach at this conference.
Faith Forward Baptist Church has been
a great inspiration to many
when it comes to missions,
and a lot of souls have been saved
as a result of the efforts of this church.
And, Lord willing, it's the same in the future.
That's why we go to missions conferences like this,
and thank you all for coming on a Saturday morning
to hear about missions.
It definitely is encouraging to see people care
about lost souls.
And today we're going to be talking about Germany.
In March, I got a chance to go to Germany
to a city called Pforzheim
and visit a soul-winning group that is there,
preach a couple sermons for them,
go soul-winning throughout that week.
And I had a great time.
Basically, it was just a random day in March,
and I get a phone call from Brother Segura
just saying, hey, you want to go to Germany?
Sure, let's do it.
And I just got out the Pimsleur app,
and I just started doing two lessons a day
and Duolingo all day, and my wife was so annoyed
hearing German all the time.
I was just trying to cram as much German as I can
into that, and I got to a pretty okay level
to survive there.
But the title of my sermon this morning is
Germany, Light Shining in Darkness.
Light Shining in Darkness.
Now, I want to break up this message into two parts.
First, I just want to explain how the trip went
from just a pure enjoyment perspective,
and just from a pure carnal perspective,
how the trip went, and then we'll talk about
some spiritual lessons.
So just some observations from going to Germany,
and this was the first time I've been to Europe
or to Germany, was that the place
was absolutely beautiful.
Pforzheim is located on the southwestern portion
of Germany, right on the edge of the Black Forest,
which is known as just a very beautiful place.
It kind of reminded me of Washington State
a little bit, the weather and beauty there.
But what was funny is I was told,
oh, sorry you had to experience the ugly part
of Germany, and I was like, okay, well,
if Pforzheim is the ugly part, I'd love to see
what the beautiful part is like, because I thought
it was wonderful. It was a great time.
The city Pforzheim is known as being
a jewelry and watchmaking city,
so its nickname is Goldstadt,
the city of gold. It's known
for making those things. The weather there,
if you are like me and you don't like sunburns,
the weather was wonderful.
If you love the weather here in Phoenix,
probably not going to like the weather
that much, but good weather.
The hospitality of the Germans
there was amazing, and
it was really encouraging to
meet these soul winners and Christians, how
we're separated by the Atlantic Ocean,
we're separated by multiple time zones,
but when I went to Germany, I just
instantly had great
camaraderie and fellowship with the Christians
there, and they really inspired
me. They're really just excellent, awesome
people. You know, I get off the plane,
and this guy, Brother Kai,
who's the most stereotypical looking
German you could possibly imagine,
he shows up, and he's like, here's some German pretzels
and some German water from the Black
Forest, and he's just driving me around
everywhere, and just, he's a great guy,
and that whole group there was really
wonderfully hospitable.
They put up with my thousands
of questions, Wiesachtmann
auf Deutsch, how do you say this in German?
Just asking them a million times, you know, how do you say this
in German? How do you say this in German? They put up with
it, great fellowship,
really encouraging.
The language, when it comes to
Pforzheim, at least this is my
experience, there was not really a lot
of English speakers there,
and the English that I did encounter
was very, very rudimentary,
to the point where even
the hotel staff, one of the hotel staff
members, I was trying to
communicate like, hey, the lights aren't working in my
room, because I didn't know you had to plug a card
into the wall in Germany to get the lights
to work, she couldn't communicate with me.
So I'm glad I hit those Pimsleur apps
really hard, because it kind of helped
me survive in asking like,
Wie viel Uhr ist die Fruchstücke, when's the
breakfast, and stuff like that.
I was able to kind of survive
with a little bit of Pimsleur,
but I would say if you go to Pforzheim, Germany,
you should spend some time learning German.
I was able to get
one person saved on this trip
because it was pretty much the only person
that I could find that could speak good
enough English to where I could preach them
the gospel. Now,
the Germans, of course, were getting lots and lots
of people saved, and that's because they speak German.
So, really, I was mostly
a silent partner on this trip, which,
but it was still really fun, and it was really
a good time. The food there,
I will say of all the missions trips that
I've been on, I've been to Mexico and the Bahamas,
I will say Germany had the best
food, by far, of any
of the missions trips.
Germans know how to cook steak,
and boy, that is important to me.
And that, that was wonderful.
The breakfast there, the coffee,
I mean, everything about the food there was great.
When it comes to the people,
one big issue
that Germany has right now is there's
so many Muslims
there. And when I
landed in the airport,
I landed in Stuttgart, I think,
when I was going through customs,
I was the only,
the only white person in
that entire line. Everyone else was
Muslim. And I was talking to people,
they're like, oh yeah, I'm a refugee, I'm
escaping, you know, the war that's going on right now in Israel,
so they were either Jews or Muslims,
basically. And even when we were
just walking around in Forte time, there
was just a lot, a lot
of foreigners there. So,
what was interesting about that is,
you know, in the United States, when
we go soul winning, at least for me,
I'm trying to go to, like, the Hispanic
areas, I'm trying to go to, like,
the African American neighborhoods, because, like, those
are, like, the most receptive people in the United States.
But it was kind of funny, because in Germany,
we were, like, looking for white people,
which is just so much different
than anywhere else, because
everyone else is pretty much Muslim. And
let's be honest, those are not the most receptive people in the
world. So it was like, we're, like, looking for
people that look like me. I was like, this is weird.
You know, this is the opposite of the United States.
But it was really fun.
One interesting thing
about the culture there was how
quiet it was. You never
heard any honking, shouting,
fighting, screaming,
cussing, construction.
It was just, like, eerily quiet
and peaceful. And especially
on Sunday,
on Sunday when everything's closed,
I mean, I was flying my drone
around to get some footage,
and I could fly that thing, like, a half mile away
and I could still hear, like, the bzzz,
because it's just so quiet
in Germany. It was just
kind of strange.
One of the things about the culture there, I drove
on the Autobahn, and
it was interesting seeing that the cars
people drive there, it's all German
cars. Like in America, you see
Japanese cars, American cars,
German cars, a whole just litany of
different cars. But in Germany, they were driving
German cars. It was Audi,
BMW, Volkswagen,
you know, things like that. You really didn't see Fords
anywhere. So that was kind of cool
to see the German culture
there. But I will say,
the German culture is kind of being overshadowed
a little bit by the influx of the Muslims
there. And that is something that's
a little bit unfortunate to see.
But,
when we get to the spiritual
lessons that I
learned from this trip, number one
is that there is still light
being shown in Germany.
There is still light shining there.
And, you know, the title of the sermon is Light Shining
in Darkness. You know, let's just be honest
about Germany. Germany is not the
Bahamas, right? Germany is not
Africa. Germany is not, you know,
going to be the greatest, soul-winning, most
receptive area you could possibly go
to in the world. But let me tell you something,
there still is the light of the Gospel
shining in Germany. And there
still are people getting
saved. Now, like I said, the title
of the sermon is Light Shining in Darkness. I kind of want to
explain to you some of the darkness
that's going on in Germany.
And specifically, Pforzheim itself
is a city that has
a very dark history.
And it's got a very
tragic history.
And the reason I say that is because
Pforzheim was virtually
wiped off the face of the earth
in World War II. It was
almost completely destroyed.
I want to read an excerpt
from a book that I read.
It's called Masters of the Air,
America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the
Air War Against Nazi Germany.
If you like history, this is a really good book.
I recommend it. This is a quote from
that book. As long as the German government
did not seek peace, there was no reason
to stop the bombing. It is
what was bombed and how
it was bombed that is questionable,
both morally and militarily.
The world's focus on Dresden
has obscured equal
excesses. You know, most people have heard
of the Dresden firebombing, right,
that happened in World War II. That's a very common
thing that people know about. But
not a lot of people know about how Pforzheim was bombed.
Pforzheim is a medium
sized city in southwestern Germany
that produced precision
instruments and had marginal value
to the Wehrmacht as a juncture for
military trains. Ten days after
the Dresden raid, Harris's crew,
Bomber Harris, he was the air commander
of the British Royal Air
Force, so this is talking about the British here.
Ten days after the Dresden raid,
Harris's crews destroyed
over 80%
of the town's developed area
and wiped out over a quarter
of its wartime population
compared to roughly
5% in Dresden.
So you know, everyone knows about the Dresden firebombings
and the Dresden firebombings
killed 5% of the
wartime population. But in
Pforzheim, it killed over a
quarter of the population
living in Pforzheim.
That's insane.
It says the, where did I
go here? The whole
place has, this is a quote from Bomber
Harris. The whole place has
been burned out, Harris reported
to his fellow air commanders on March 1st.
This attack, he added with
evident satisfaction, is
what is popularly known as a deliberate
terror attack.
Bomber command has now destroyed
63 German towns
in this fashion, he declared.
So according to the
Royal Air Force bombing commander,
he said this was a terror attack.
You want to talk about a holocaust.
Like this was a literal, like
Pforzheim was a literal holocaust.
It was a literal Holborn offering
where 25% of that
population was killed in bombing
in one night.
This is another article I read about this.
It said, the astronomical attack
that destroyed yet another
medieval city center occurred on the
evening of February 23rd, 1945.
The first bombs were dropped
at almost 8pm and the last
at a little past 9pm.
So an hour straight of bombing.
The attack on the clock makers
of Pforzheim included
379 aircraft
and they attacked from a height of 8,000
feet, dropping half
a million high explosive and
phosphorous incendiary bombs.
With a weight of
1,825 tons.
Having been there, it's really hard
to imagine this because Pforzheim
is so small, you could walk the entire
city. And when we were going soloing there, we
didn't use cars. You know, some of the
Germans, they don't understand why Americans need cars.
Well, when you come to America, you realize, yeah, we need
cars here. But there in Pforzheim, like we were just
walking everywhere. And
imagine just this little small city being
bombed for over an hour. The amount of
devastation that happened in this place
is really mind blowing. It says
a firestorm immediately enveloped the heart
of the town in complete devastation.
The bombed gas works
provided fuel to the fire. The smoke over the town
was so high that returning bomber crews
could see the glare of the fire
160 kilometers away.
In an area about
3 kilometers long and
1.5 kilometers wide, all
buildings were reduced to rubble.
17,600
citizens
or one out of every three Pforzheimers
were officially counted as dead
and thousands were injured.
Think about those numbers. This is 1945.
You know, we think about 9-11
in 2001 and
roughly 3,000 people died.
And that's burned into the American
psyche, into the American conscious,
just thinking like, wow, 9-11 was crazy.
How many people died in 9-11? 3,000
people. That's a lot of people. Well, here
in Pforzheim, in 1945,
17
plus thousand people died
in one night. That is a major
tragedy right there.
I'm just
trigger warning. It's going to explain
how they died here. But you know some
rough stuff in the Bible and some rough stuff in life
and I think this will help you appreciate what God is doing
now in Pforzheim.
Some died instantly from
the impact of the explosions. Those were the ones
that were lucky.
Many from burns due to the
hellish burning phosphorus that
seeped into the cellars of houses where they hid
and others suffocated from
lack of oxygen and poisonous gases
or were crushed to death by collapsing walls.
Many drowned in the river into which they
had jumped, trying in vain
to escape from the burning materials in the streets
but even the rivers were burning as the
phosphorus material floated on the water.
The phosphorus bombs formed a burning
gel which water, while extinguishing
normal fires, did not quench.
The gel would reignite instantly
when the victim re-emerged, giving
them a choice between drowning or burning
to death. And some people
drowned themselves and or their
burning children to end their suffering.
That is
the tragedy that happened in
Pforzheim, Germany. That is just
insane. But you know, to me
and before I move on
let me also explain how devastating this
was. On the edge of the city there's
this mountain. But it's not a real
mountain. It's simply the Germans
after World War II just took all the rubble
of the city, put it on the side of the city and just
trees overgrew it and grass
and it looks like a mountain but it's just the rubble
from World War II. And everywhere
you go in Germany you can still see the scars of World
War II to this day. That country
was pretty much pulverized
and Pforzheim specifically was
basically razed to the ground.
Okay. Now
the reason I bring this up is not just because
you know I like history which I do.
You can't go anywhere in Pforzheim without
knowing about this and thinking about this because
all over the city there's these little memorial
placards saying like
1945. You know Pforzheim
1945. And it'll show pictures
of the city and then it'll be like hey look at
this building where part of it is still standing.
You know look at this monument where part of it is
still standing. All around the city you can see
the scars from World War II
and this is something that they think about all
the time. Right. And that river where
so many people died like it's a big part of that
city. Everywhere you go you see monuments to
the bombing of World War II.
So that's why I bring that up but look at Matthew
chapter 5 verse 14.
The Bible says ye are the light
of the world. A city
that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle
and put it under a bushel but on
a candlestick and it giveth light
unto all that are in
the house. Let your light
so shine before men that
they may see your good works
and glorify your Father
which is in heaven.
You know why is this
sermon light shining in darkness?
Well because this city has a dark past.
Dark tragedy happened there.
But today basically 80
years since this happened
the light of the gospel is
still shining forth in Pforzheim Germany.
And you know what even though in the past
several thousands of people
died there in a very just hellish
experience. You know now
the gospel is going out and people are getting saved
from the fire. From the eternal fire
of hell. And you know yeah it may
not be as many people get saved in the Bahamas
or Africa or
Mexico but you know what there's still
real souls that are escaping
the fires of hell and you know what
that is amazing to see God's mercy
and love being extended towards a
people who was once destroyed.
That is encouraging to me.
And you know what there's about 15
to 20 soul winners there
in this soul winning club and last
year they had over 400
salvations. That
is amazing. 400
salvations in Europe?
I mean that's great news. That's
encouraging to see that the gospel
still has power. You know the German
people are still listening to God.
There's a remnant there getting saved.
This year there's been about 175
salvations. So you know in
two years time 575
souls being
saved from hell by a small
number of people. You know what there's light
shining in darkness in Pforzheim Germany.
And that is encouraging
to me. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 4
When I went on this trip
brother Anslem added me to
their WhatsApp group
and I'm still in it and I
see the reports that they get of
salvations and it's very often that
I saw when they went soul winning to have
equal number of salvations to soul
winners that they had. And that's great by
even standards in the United States.
I mean if we go out and we send out
10 soul winners and get 10 people saved
like that's a great day of soul winning.
That's fantastic. And I was seeing
that happen multiple times
in Germany. Like that
is pretty cool. Now obviously that doesn't
happen every time. There's times where you go out
and you don't get anyone saved. But
what I'm saying is that people are still getting
saved in Germany. That excites
me. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 3
it says,
God should shine unto them.
So you know what is the light
of this world? It's the gospel of Jesus
Christ. And when you have
a country that's historically
dark spiritually and that is
dark spiritually right now. You know
the cure for that is the light of the gospel.
And it doesn't matter how dark
it gets in this world. The
light of the gospel will always have
power. Why? Verse 5
For we preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord
and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake
for God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness
hath shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ.
And to me
it is encouraging to see a group of people
in Germany that face persecution
that don't live in the most
receptive place in the world where it's not the
easiest place to be a Christian
yet they recognize
hey the light of the gospel
has been shown in my heart and so
you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to go out and shine that light
where I am in Germany
and that was exciting and encouraging to see.
These people don't have a pastor
these people don't have a new IFB church
they don't have someone holding their hand
and you know teaching them every single
thing and these people are going out
traveling huge distances
many of these people are driving four hours
away from different parts of Europe and Germany
just to go
soul winning.
Yet there's Christians today that
can't be bothered to show up to a soul winning
time once a week
when someone will drive you
someone will give you the material
someone will give you a soul winning seminar
you got the freedom to do it here
and there's Germans that are sacrificing
so much and preaching in a dark
place just out of the love of souls
out of love of the gospel
and you know what that is encouraging to see.
Go to Psalm
126
Psalm 126 and you know what it also
is just amazing to me to see
a place that was once
virtually completely destroyed
yet we're seeing hundreds and hundreds
of people being saved.
That is the long suffering of God
right there.
Psalm 126 verse 1
the Bible says when the Lord turned again
the captivity of Zion
we were like them that dream.
You know talking about the children of Israel
that were under the Babylonian captivity
and of course God turned again
that captivity and that's something
to rejoice over right.
Well in the same way you can look at the Germans
as being people that have experienced
some really dark terrible things
and now there's some good things
happening in Germany the gospel being
shown. Verse 2
Then was our mouth filled with laughter
and our tongue with singing
then said they among the heathen
the Lord have done great things
for them. And you know that's what
the Germans are doing. The German
soul winners there are going under the heathen
and they're saying hey the Lord has done
great things for God's people.
What is the great thing that God has
done? Well God commandeth his love toward
us and that while we were yet sinners Christ
died for us. That's the great thing
that God has done for all of us and that's
the message that these Germans are bringing
to the lost in Pforzheim.
Verse 3 the Lord has done great things for us
whereof we are glad
turn again our captivity O Lord
as the streams in
the south. And I would imagine that's the prayer
of the German soul winners there
is that Germany would become more
free more godly more open to the
gospel. But
look at verse 5 they that sow
in tears shall
reap in joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth
bearing precious seed shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing
bringing his sheaves with
him. You know a lot of people would be down
on a mission strip to Germany
or dedicating so much time
resources money into Germany. But you know
what it doesn't matter where the word of God
is being preached if you go forth
weeping bearing precious
seed you will doubtless come again
with rejoicing. And you see that even
in Germany yeah it's not the most receptive
place in the world but still
they're going forth with the word of God with
a tear in the eye with love in
their heart for their fellow man and for Jesus
Christ and they are doing a
great work for God there.
Go
to 2 Timothy chapter 3
2 Timothy chapter 3
number 2
there are still
steadfast Christians in Germany
number 1 hey the
light of the gospel is still going out there
number 2 there are still steadfast
Christians in Germany
2 Timothy 3
the Bible says but thou hast fully known my doctrine
manner of life purpose
faith long suffering
charity patience persecutions
but out of them all the Lord
delivered me. Yea
and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall
suffer persecution.
You know the Bible promises us that
if you have a desire
to go out and live godly
for Christ Jesus you will
suffer persecution.
And it doesn't matter where you live in this world
here in America we've experienced
some persecution you know we've gone through
protests we've had our money stolen
we've had lawsuits we've had stuff like that
but I'm going to be honest the persecution
that the Germans have gone through in my
eyes is way more than we've gone through
and these guys are like my
heroes in the faith seeing the things
that they have been through and the steadfast
attitude that they have. Now I
understand brother Anselm this evening
is going to get into depth as far as to
some of the things that they've gone through as far
as persecution so I'm not going to get too much
in depth into that this morning but I do
just want to touch on the surface a couple
of things.
So first
these Christians there they are not
just preaching the gospel
which in and of itself is great and something to be
celebrated but the Germans there
they are taking a bold stance
on every word of God
and let me tell you something in America we're
so blessed where we can get up and preach
whatever we want and very rarely do we face
any consequences for that but
the men in Germany that have done this
that have stood up behind a pulpit and
preached the word of God they have faced
real consequences for doing
that and to see their attitude
and their steadfastness and their love
for God and just continuing through that
is inspirational to me.
You know one thing that they constantly go through is that
they're constantly in the news media over there.
Let me read a couple of headlines
for you. German Baptist
Church wants death penalty for
gay people.
Good job Germans. That's great.
That's wonderful.
That's good preaching right there. Leviticus
2013.
Here's another headline. Fourth time Baptist
Church prays for the death of a theologian.
Now it's not just a theologian
that's saved. It's a false prophet
that teaches you could lose your salvation
that's damning people to
hell and one of the preachers
there got up and prayed for
the death of that false prophet
and you know what they got hated by the community
for it. They got on the news for it.
Fourth time congregation
prays for the death of a pastor again.
Just keep praying for it.
Here's another one.
Gay hatred and death wishes
the balance sheet of the radical
sect in fourth time. So
you know in the eyes of the world
God's people preaching the Bible is radical
and they think that
Christians are so radical
when I showed up to Germany I somehow made
the news in fourth time. I didn't even do anything.
All of a sudden
I just see this German article it's like it could be
confirmed that Dylan Oz is
in fourth time.
The guy that said that faggot
should be lined up against the wall and shot in the
back of the head. It's just like
you just show up as a Christian
and all these atheistic
fag loving freaks in Germany
are like ah the Christians are here.
But to me that's a testament
that these are some steadfast Christians.
Not only are they soul winning
they're preaching the whole word of God.
Thank God for that.
They also receive opposition from false prophets.
Go to Acts chapter 13.
Acts chapter number 13.
Acts 13
verse 5 the Bible says
when they were at Salamis they preached the word of God
in the synagogues of the Jews.
And they had also John to their minister.
And when they had gone through the isle
to Paphos they found a certain sorcerer
a false prophet
a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus.
That's a good trifecta right?
Sorcerer, false prophet, Jew. By the way
in Germany it's a little
it's not politically correct to talk
about Jews. I don't know if you realize that in Germany.
And so the
Germans there called them Brazilians.
So when I was preaching I was
preaching about the Brazilians.
And just every time the Bible said the word Jew I said the word
Jew. But when I was just talking I said Brazilians.
Trying to become all things to all men you know.
Fit into the culture there.
Verse 7 which was with the deputy of the country
Sergius Paulus a prudent man who called for
Barnabas and Saul and desired to
hear the word of God. So there's a deputy
there. He wants to hear the word of God. He wants to get
saved. But Eliamus
the sorcerer for so is his name
by interpretation withstood them
seeking to turn away the deputy
from the faith. So what did this
false prophet wanted to do? He wanted to
turn people away from the truth.
And this is what false prophets always do.
And they've got a big name false prophet
that the German Christians there deal with.
This man named Lothar Gossmann.
And he is a guy
that teaches that you can lose your salvation.
And he's constantly preaching
against the soul winners there.
And he's constantly trying to turn people away
from the truth of the gospel.
But verse 9 says then Saul
who is also called Paul
filled with the Holy Ghost
so he's not in the flesh here
set his eyes on him
and said oh full of all subtlety
and all mischief thou child of the devil
thou enemy of all righteousness
wilt thou not cease to
pervert the right ways of the Lord.
So notice when someone is trying to turn
people away from salvation
Paul being filled with the Holy Spirit of God
called this man a child
of the devil.
And he should have no love or respect
or friendship with false prophets.
And yes if someone is a false prophet
turning people away from heaven
there's nothing in the world wrong
with praying for that person's death
like the Germans have done.
And of course that causes a lot of problems for them.
You know the community thinks they're crazy.
But look at the result verse 11.
And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee
and thou shalt be blind
not seeing the sun for a season
and immediately there fell on him a mist
of darkness and he went about seeking some
to lead him by the hand.
Then the deputy
when he saw what was done believed
being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
You know even though
Paul had to deal with this false prophet
even though he called him out
even though this false prophet was trying to
stop the gospel from going out
trying to stop people from getting saved
there still was this deputy
that believed. And you know what I saw
in Germany? I saw a group of people
being steadfast Christians
preaching the whole word of God
being persecuted by the community
and people still getting saved.
And there's actually a funny story
where I was soul winning with brother Moses
and brother Moses was preaching the gospel to someone
in German. And I noticed
these two big dudes
near us. One looked
like kind of an Arabic guy and another one was a
black dude. And I'm looking at these guys
and like they are just staring at me
and the way soul winning worked in Fort Sime
like I said, we're not going door to door
we're just walking around the city. We usually
walked down this common strip mall area
all the way down one side, all the way back
and you pretty much just do that all day long
talking to people. So we start on one side
I see them, they're looking at us
they're watching us, I'm like okay I'm going to keep an eye
on these guys. We keep walking and going on
doing our thing, soul winning, and I notice
there they are again, they're still staring at me.
And we move a little further down the road
there they are again, they're still staring at me
and I was like, we're about to get jumped.
We're about to get jumped in Germany here.
We're going to experience some sort of fight
I'm like, oh man, hey Moses, these guys are following us
like I don't know what their intentions
are and I'm just like preparing for this
I was like man, what's going on?
Well he gets done preaching to someone
and all of a sudden these guys, they start walking
over and they start talking to him
and I'm like, oh man, it's about to go down
and I don't understand anything they're saying
they're speaking German super fast and my German
was not at that level of proficiency
but turn to find out, they weren't
wanting to fight us, they didn't hate us
they saw him in the news
and they saw the persecution of the church
they're just like, we just want to encourage you
we agree with your stance, we like you guys
you guys are doing awesome, and I was like
that is amazing, that is so cool
you know, you got
Lothar Gossman trying to turn people away from the faith
trying to teach you can lose your salvation
you know, calling the cops
against the Christians there, trying to get them arrested
trying to get them to deal with all this stuff
yet you got the community there
God cares about it, and they're on God's people's side
and that is
that's a cool thing to see
many of them receiving
persecution from the government
I'm going to let brother Anselm talk a lot about that
I just want to say one story that I heard
of a lady who was a first time visitor to the
soul winning club, and she showed up
to hear the preaching, and she came home
and was greeted by the police at her home
interrogating her simply
for showing up to a preaching service
and people in America
like to complain
oh, you know, the police are so bad here
dude, you don't even know what you're talking about
there's Christians in Germany that get questioned
by the police simply for listening to a
church service
and that was incredible to me to see her
here she is with the group
I mean, how many Americans, if they came
to our church for the first time
and then they were followed by the police
and questioned by the police would ever come back
probably wouldn't happen very often
yet this lady, she was questioned, and then she came back
and she was there when I was there
that was great to see
they face oppositions from their
jobs, many of them have lost their jobs
they face oppositions from the laws of
Germany itself, being that it's illegal
to homeschool in Germany, it's illegal
to spank your children in Germany
it's illegal to preach hate speech
volksverherzung
which doesn't that mean heating
people up? Yeah, you can't
heat people up in Germany, okay
I just love
how these atheistic
liberal Germans
they just want to get away from their history
of being Nazis so bad
that they end up being like the Nazis
you can't say this
we're going to dictate what you can and cannot say
oh, you can't raise your children
give your children to the government
it's like, wait, I thought you were ashamed of your
Nazi past, now you want to be a
Nazi saying you can and can't do this
it's like, what is wrong with these people?
volksverherzung, can't heat people up
no hate speech
can't preach against the Jews, that's for sure
the Brazilians
go to Matthew chapter number 5
Matthew chapter 5
verse 10
blessed are they
which are persecuted for righteousness
sake, that's that group there
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you
and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely for my sake
rejoice and be exceeding
glad for great is your reward
in heaven
and you know, one of the reasons why I was so encouraged
when I went to Germany and I met these people
is I saw a group of people
that was experiencing more persecution
than any of us in America have faced
and I saw them have a good
attitude
I saw them rejoicing
I saw them happy to be a soul winner
happy to preach the word of God
that is a great example for us
that we too should rejoice
when we're persecuted for righteousness
sake
number 3
last spiritual lesson that I learned, we're almost done
this morning, is that there is still
a lot of work to be done
in Germany
I'm not going to sugar coat it
Germany is a tougher place to exist as a Christian
than in the United States
than in the Bahamas, than in other places
there's 84 million people
in that country
and there's
as far as I know
one soul winning group in that country that I know of
so there is
am I right on that? Is there one that you know of?
or is there more?
one that I know of
now, it's going to take a lot more
than one
soul winning group to reach Germany
with the gospel of Jesus Christ
look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 13
we are the salt of the earth
but if the salt has lost
his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?
it is thenceforth good for nothing
but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot
of men
you know, though it is a harder place to preach
than here, you know those soul winners there
are still the salt
preserving that nation
because what if Germany didn't have that soul winning group
well, then those 575
people in Pforzheim would be going to hell
when they die
well, yeah, you could just choose to look at Germany
and have a pessimistic attitude
well, it's a liberal nation
well, it's got all these issues
yeah, but you know what? There is still salt in Germany
there are still soul winners there
and there is still a lot of work to be done
and what we should do
is we should be praying for those soul winners there
we should be encouraging them
and if you can join them
if you can go on a trip to encourage them
that's really what they need more than anything
is just encouragement
because a lot of them, they feel kind of alone
because they don't have a church there
they don't have a Pastor Anderson there
they don't have a missions conference there
they don't have all these independent fundamental Baptist churches
on every street corner
like we do here in America
and so, you know, they really need
some encouragement from God's people
go to Matthew chapter 9
Matthew chapter 9
and if you also get your place in 1 Corinthians 15
those will be the last two verses we go to this morning
Matthew 9
1 Corinthians chapter 15
Matthew 9 verse 36
but when he saw the multitudes
he was moved with compassion
on them
because they fainted and were scattered abroad
as sheep having no shepherd
that really is
the spiritual case in Germany right now
there's a lot of sheep without a shepherd
thus then sayeth he
unto his disciples the harvest
truly is plenteous
laborers are few
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest
that he will send forth
laborers into
his harvest
God is ready to reap a harvest
the fields are white unto harvest
the work is available
to be done in Germany
but the problem is that the laborers are few
the same problem that they have is the same problem
that everywhere in the world has
that every community has
is that we're lacking soul winners
and what they need they need some more soul winners
in Germany they need some more soul winners
to go there or to be trained there
but they need more laborers
so you know my
assessment for Germany is no
it's not the most receptive place on earth
but yes people are still being saved
and for that reason it is worth it
to invest in that country
it is worth it to invest in those souls
yes God's people are being persecuted there
but they're still doing great
works for God
they're receiving opposition from the community
from false prophets from the news
but you know what they're doing a great work there
they're shaking things up there
Germany needs more soul winners
needs more soul winning clubs
and Lord willing in the future it needs more
churches
because I think when you go out
you try to do a great work for God
especially in a dark place like Germany
where the devil has pretty much conquered
and you're trying to fight against that
you're going to experience a lot of persecution
there is hope for Europe
and I would love to see in the next 10-20 years
churches being started all over Europe
and trying to
turn the tide there a little bit
most importantly I think that
Germany needs a German
born pastor
a German citizen pastor
because I just don't see it in the cards
of you know it's already
hard to find pastors in this world
I don't really see it in the cards of taking an American
pastor and sending him to Germany
where it's illegal to homeschool his children
where it's illegal to spank your children
where you're going to be facing all these issues
to me it makes sense of course
common sense missions you know let's go to the
receptive first but
you know if there's a German out there
that has a heart for reaching his country
you know I want to encourage that man
to take the work of God seriously
to get qualified to work hard
because Germany does need
a German born pastor
for sure to lead the work there
first Corinthians 1558
this will be the last place that we go
first Corinthians 1558
the Bible says
therefore my beloved brethren
be ye steadfast, unmovable
always abounding in the work of the Lord
for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord
you know I just want to encourage
the soul winners that are there in Germany
to know your labor is not in vain
you know you might be going through hard times
but you need to remain steadfast
because the work that you are doing
is of eternal value
it is making a difference
you are saving lots of people
and so don't give up even though it's hard
even though you're in persecution
don't give up continue to be steadfast
continue to fight and for us
I just hope that you would join me in praying
for the brethren in Germany
let's pray Lord thank you for this day
thank you for this great conference
and for Pastor Anderson's vision here to reach the world
I pray that the gospel would go forth powerfully
in Germany and in Pforzheim
I pray that you would bless and protect
the soul winners that are there
that they would be encouraged
to be a light in their community
in any way that they can
we love you, pray for safety
and blessing for the remainder of this conference
in Jesus' name we pray, amen
Amen, let's take our psalm books together
go to hymn 384
in the service of the king
hymn number 384
384 begins
I am happy in the service of the king
let's sing it out together
384
I am happy in the service of the king
I am happy
oh so happy
I have peace and joy
that nothing else can bring
in the service
of the king
in the service
of the king
in the service
of the king
every challenge
I will bring
I have peace
and joy and blessing
in the service
of the king
I am happy
in the service of the king
I am happy
oh so happy
I am happy
through the sunshine and the shadow
I can sing
in the service
of the king
in the service
of the king
every challenge
I will bring
I have peace
and joy
and blessing
in the service
of the king
in the service
of the king
I am happy
oh so happy
all that I possess
to him I gladly bring
in the service
of the king
in the service
of the king
every challenge
I will bring
I have peace
and joy and blessing
in the service
of the king
all that I possess