PREPARING FOR THE UNDERGROUND CHURCH by Richard Wurmbrand

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ginnyrose Jun 20, 2012

Many years ago when Richard Wurmbrand was head of "Jesus to the Communist World" they issued a series of tapes titled "How to Form an Underground Church" or something like that. We have these tapes - somewhere, still. I was hoping SI would have these recordings in their archives but I could not find it there.

I went online and found what appears to be a transcript of these talks. Richard gave it to a gathering of believers in Mozambique,I think, as they were looking at possible persecution coming to their country in the near future. This presentation was given many years ago but believe it to be just as informative for us today as it was back then.

Here is the link:
http://richardwurmbrandbio.info/prepare.html

In his talk he instructs how a Believer can/must prepare for persecution. Very insightful...I would encourage all to check this out.

ginnyrose

sermonindex Jun 20, 2012

Thank you so much for posting this.

sermonindex Jun 20, 2012

This is very important:

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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.

sermonindex Jun 20, 2012

The truth that is found only in Jesus himself. For he Saud I am the truth.

Bear.

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ginnyrose Jun 20, 2012

QUOTE:
"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."

This section on "Truth" has had a profound impact on me for years...

sermonindex Jun 20, 2012

"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."

Awesome quote. When I think of how many threads we have had trying to convey these points, and here brother Richard simply outlines the fact that without Jesus burning at the center of your heart, without the passion for someone you actually know ( Jesus) you would never survive the storm. He rightly seperates words from the reality of Jesus. Without the reality of Jesus burning in the center of your heart, all words carry no meaning..............bro Frank

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ginnyrose Jun 20, 2012

As I read through this article, I felt as though it was a condensed version of Richard's talks on this subject. After doing a more thorough search I found what appears to be the longer version. Here is the link to the site:

http://preparingfortheundergroundchurchbook.blogspot.com/

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pernvic Jun 20, 2012

thank you

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Lysa Jun 20, 2012

ginnyrose wrote:
Many years ago when Richard Wurmbrand was head of "Jesus to the Communist World" they issued a series of tapes titled "How to Form an Underground Church" or something like that. We have these tapes - somewhere, still.

Ginny,

If you find these tapes, I know that there are several on this site who can digitize those tapes for those of us who would love to hear them (me for one! (grammar?)) and maybe Greg could post them!

Just a thought, God bless!!
Lisa

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Lysa Jun 20, 2012

I used the quote button but nothing was inserted. Hmmm. I will type it out by hand...

appolus wrote:
Awesome quote. When I think of how many threads we have had trying to convey these points,

I thought the same thing brother when reading this!!

God bless,
Lisa

sermonindex Jun 20, 2012

If we are to endure persecution. Jesus must be more than a book of words to us. Jesus must be the Word in us.

Bear.

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Lysa Jun 20, 2012

bearmaster wrote:
If we are to endure persecution. Jesus must be more than a book of words to us. Jesus must be the Word in us.

Agreed brother! I found this quote on wikipedia on Richard Wurmbrand and he agrees with you as well!

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At the beginning of his first imprisonment, he recalls being in deep remorse as thoughts of past sins and duties undone were remembered. Unlike the discipline that helped him through later days of imprisonment, he later wrote that God came to him and fellow prisoners in a vision not unlike that which Stephen experienced:

We didn't see that we were in prison. We were surrounded by angels; we were with God. We no longer believed about God and Christ and angels because Bible verses said it. We didn't remember Bible verses anymore. We remembered about God because we experienced it. With great humility we can say with the apostles, "What we have seen with our eyes, what we have heard with our ears, what we have touched with our own fingers, this we tell to you."

God bless,
Lisa

sermonindex Jun 20, 2012

Wiw!!!! That was an in incredible quote. May we know Jesus that way. Totally incredible.

Bear.

sermonindex Jun 20, 2012

Ginny read the article on the kink. Very good. God give us grace ti take this to heart.

Bearmaster

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ginnyrose Jun 20, 2012

Interesting idea, Lysa. First I will have to see if I can find them. Next thing is who wants the job to digitize them? I know nothing about this technology other then that it exists. In any case, I will be happy to share it with someone. Might be a good idea to check to see if there is a copyright although I do not think there is.

Will come back later and give an update on this...

ginnyrose

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ginnyrose Jun 21, 2012

Lysa, I have looked all over - at least it seems that way - for this album and I cannot find it. I know I had it in Feb. 2011 because we moved on March 1, 2011 and it was in our bookcase back then. Where on earth I put it I do not know. It is not with the other boxed tapes...likely some day it will show up in a stupid place - like a few other things did that I thought were lost (like a pieced quilt top). SIGH (I still have not found a ten inch cast iron skillet - how on earth one can misplace such a large item and not have it show up anywhere beats me!)

There is only one other option and that is I may have thrown it away because the tapes have gotten brittle and tore. I do not recall doing that to this album but have done it to other tapes that had gotten old and brittle. I do not throw tapes away unless they become useless. If it is still payable it is somewhere and don't know at the moment where that is.

So sorry....

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ginnyrose Jun 22, 2012

Hey, y'all, I found this album and, yes, it was in an unlikely place.

Anyhow, I put the tapes into the player and the one worked fine; the other, the end came off the spool. So, I opened the cassette thinking it would be no small matter to reattach it to the spool...WRONG. Then I went online to see how one can repair a cassette tape and found I would need to buy a new one. I think I do have one that would work. At the moment it lies on my kitchen table awaiting a decision about how I will proceed from here.

Is there anyone who wants the tapes with the idea they know how to repair it and then digitize them? I would send it to you free...

There are four tapes in this album: two by Richard Wurmbrand; one by his wife, Sabina; one by John Noble titled "I Was a Slave in Russia".

If you want to contact me you can do so by email. My addy is listed in my profile.

ginnyrose

sermonindex Jun 23, 2012

Sister,

It would be great who ever digitizes them to get the mp3 to us on sermon index.net to put it up for the saints.

sermonindex Jun 23, 2012

Thank you very much for putting this here, it's been years since I've read Tortured4Christ. And this article had good instructions.

sermonindex Jun 23, 2012

It would be great who ever digitizes them to get the mp3 to us on sermon index.net to put it up for the saints.

Ginny, I have the software to do tape recording and editing tools into mp3 format. If you have no one else to do them I would be happy to do them and when they are done, I'll send the whole lot back to you with your cd's with the mp3 sermons free of charge and then you can send them off to Admin Greg.

I'll leave this option open if your not able to get them transferred on your end.