The Value of a Man!
By Richard Wurmbrand
Beloved brothers and sisters,
Wherever the communists are in power, they persecute the Christians. You must know that in China alone, one-fifth of mankind is in the hands of the Communists. And in North Korea and Cuba, Vietnam and Laos, they also have control. They have closed thousands of churches. They have killed unnumbered Christians and the jails are, even now, used to hold religious prisoners. On top of this, Christians face terror in the Islamic world.
One day I also arrived in jail. I will tell you how it happened. One Sunday morning I walked toward a church gathering and, while I walked, a van of the secret police stopped beside me. Four men jumped from the van and they pushed me into it. They chained my foot to my hand.
Now I will tell you what was the first thought which came into my mind.
Two days before I had read from the book of Joshua and I wondered very much. In this book, endlessly repeated, are the words, I wondered why these words were repeated all the time. When you tell somebody something once, twice, thrice, that is enough. I became curious. I counted in the Bible how many times the words are written and I found they are written 366 times. For every day of the year it is written, including once for every fourth year. Therefore, it is written not 365 times. It is written 366 times.
Foe every day of the year, the Christian should know he does not have to fear.
The communists put Christians in jail. They killed the Christians; but the communists feared, not the Christians. They feared; we sang. We sang every day in those prisons which were 30 feet beneath the earth. We never saw the sun, moon or stars. We never had a Bible or any other book. We were terribly hungry, beaten and tortured. The communists torture very well. Blood ran many times.
There we said to each other, We were human and God understands if you cry in your suffering. He is God and His son, the Savior of the world, suffered and cried. He understands if you cry when your suffering is too deep. He understands if you weep and cannot stop weeping - but keep your smile and sing to the glory of God.
In communist prisons very strange things happen. Some things appear to be very tragic.
A brother by the name of Nikolai Camara was put in jail. When he was put in jail, he was not a brother. He became a brother while he was in jail. He had been a robber and was sentenced to ten years.
When he was in jail he saw there Christians and he wondered very much what kind of beings these men were. They were men but they were something else than men. They could show joy when the suffering was great. They could sing in very dark hours. When they had a piece of bread, they shared it with someone who had none. In the morning and in the evening, they would fold their hands. Their faces began to shine. They would speak to somebody whom Camara could not see. He wondered to whom they spoke.
One day two of the Christians sat down on the bedside of Camara and they asked him, Camara told them his sad story. In the beginning he had been a thief, then he stole more and more, then he became a robber. Now he was sentenced to ten years for robbery. He finished his sad story by saying, . One of the Christians, with a smile, said to the robber,
The money in Russia is called rubles and the Christian asked the robber, Camara did not understand the question. said the Christian.
Camara understood. "A lost man is a man. He has the whole value of a man. A lost man who is a thief or an adulterer or a murderer has the whole value of a man. He is of such value that the Son of God forsook heaven for him. He had such value that the Son of God was able to die on the cross to save this lost man."
The Christian said to the robber a few words which I can tell you.
Every one of you is valuable to God.
I love the Gospel very much. I love also things which are missing from the Gospel. I like it so much that some things never appear in the Gospel. In the whole Gospel, you will not find that Jesus ever asked anybody what sins he had committed. He was with drunkards, robbers, prostitutes. He never asked anybody, tell me how many sins you have committed?
When he met men who had committed great sins, he told them. I also tell you that your sins are forgiven because Jesus died for you. You have only to believe. Camara was converted. He became a Christian. He finished his term and was freed. He then became a member of the secret church in Russia. In Russia and other communist countries, there was a secret church, as there is in China and North-Korea today. They cannot gather as you can. Those who wish to preach the Gospel do it secretly.
Camara was a member of this secret church, but he was a former robber, a man without any conscience, a simple member of the church.
One day the pastor was arrested. They beat and tortured him to try to get him to tell them the secrets of the church. They wished to find a Judas who would tell them the names of the members of the church. If he had, thousands would have been arrested. They wished to know how they secretly printed Gospels and distributed them. He was tortured, but he did not tell them anything.
Then the captain of the investigation, after he had beaten the pastor so much, said. They arrested Nikolai Camara who had become a Christian. They brought him before the pastor and they told the pastor, you do not tell all the secrets, we will torture Camara before your eyes.
The pastor could not endure that somebody should suffer for him. He asked Camara,
Camara said to him, Then they gouged out Camara’s eyes. When they approached Camara’s eyes with a knife, the pastor could not suffer it. He said to Camara, You will remain blind". Camara replied, Then they said to the pastor, "If you do not betray, we will cut out Camara’s tongue".
The pastor in despair said, Camara’s last words were, Camara died a martyr’s death. It is such terrible suffering when you thing about it.
We received a picture of his tortured body. They had ripped open his belly with a knife. They had cut the soles of his feet with a knife. You see from the photograph of the corpse the suffering which hew endured.
This is a terrible sad story, but there is also great beauty in it. The one who had been a robber, understood the value God placed on a repentant soul and he became a saint to whom the angels locked with admiration. He gave his life for the Savior. We know of many such brethren and sisters in communist countries. We are proud of them and we thank you for helping us to help them.
God bless you,
Richard Wurmbrand
Beloved brothers and sisters,
Wherever the communists are in power, they persecute the Christians. You must know that in China alone, one-fifth of mankind is in the hands of the Communists. And in North Korea and Cuba, Vietnam and Laos, they also have control. They have closed thousands of churches. They have killed unnumbered Christians and the jails are, even now, used to hold religious prisoners. On top of this, Christians face terror in the Islamic world.
One day I also arrived in jail. I will tell you how it happened. One Sunday morning I walked toward a church gathering and, while I walked, a van of the secret police stopped beside me. Four men jumped from the van and they pushed me into it. They chained my foot to my hand.
Now I will tell you what was the first thought which came into my mind.
Two days before I had read from the book of Joshua and I wondered very much. In this book, endlessly repeated, are the words, I wondered why these words were repeated all the time. When you tell somebody something once, twice, thrice, that is enough. I became curious. I counted in the Bible how many times the words are written and I found they are written 366 times. For every day of the year it is written, including once for every fourth year. Therefore, it is written not 365 times. It is written 366 times.
Foe every day of the year, the Christian should know he does not have to fear.
The communists put Christians in jail. They killed the Christians; but the communists feared, not the Christians. They feared; we sang. We sang every day in those prisons which were 30 feet beneath the earth. We never saw the sun, moon or stars. We never had a Bible or any other book. We were terribly hungry, beaten and tortured. The communists torture very well. Blood ran many times.
There we said to each other, We were human and God understands if you cry in your suffering. He is God and His son, the Savior of the world, suffered and cried. He understands if you cry when your suffering is too deep. He understands if you weep and cannot stop weeping - but keep your smile and sing to the glory of God.
In communist prisons very strange things happen. Some things appear to be very tragic.
A brother by the name of Nikolai Camara was put in jail. When he was put in jail, he was not a brother. He became a brother while he was in jail. He had been a robber and was sentenced to ten years.
When he was in jail he saw there Christians and he wondered very much what kind of beings these men were. They were men but they were something else than men. They could show joy when the suffering was great. They could sing in very dark hours. When they had a piece of bread, they shared it with someone who had none. In the morning and in the evening, they would fold their hands. Their faces began to shine. They would speak to somebody whom Camara could not see. He wondered to whom they spoke.
One day two of the Christians sat down on the bedside of Camara and they asked him, Camara told them his sad story. In the beginning he had been a thief, then he stole more and more, then he became a robber. Now he was sentenced to ten years for robbery. He finished his sad story by saying, . One of the Christians, with a smile, said to the robber,
The money in Russia is called rubles and the Christian asked the robber, Camara did not understand the question. said the Christian.
Camara understood. "A lost man is a man. He has the whole value of a man. A lost man who is a thief or an adulterer or a murderer has the whole value of a man. He is of such value that the Son of God forsook heaven for him. He had such value that the Son of God was able to die on the cross to save this lost man."
The Christian said to the robber a few words which I can tell you.
Every one of you is valuable to God.
I love the Gospel very much. I love also things which are missing from the Gospel. I like it so much that some things never appear in the Gospel. In the whole Gospel, you will not find that Jesus ever asked anybody what sins he had committed. He was with drunkards, robbers, prostitutes. He never asked anybody, tell me how many sins you have committed?
When he met men who had committed great sins, he told them. I also tell you that your sins are forgiven because Jesus died for you. You have only to believe. Camara was converted. He became a Christian. He finished his term and was freed. He then became a member of the secret church in Russia. In Russia and other communist countries, there was a secret church, as there is in China and North-Korea today. They cannot gather as you can. Those who wish to preach the Gospel do it secretly.
Camara was a member of this secret church, but he was a former robber, a man without any conscience, a simple member of the church.
One day the pastor was arrested. They beat and tortured him to try to get him to tell them the secrets of the church. They wished to find a Judas who would tell them the names of the members of the church. If he had, thousands would have been arrested. They wished to know how they secretly printed Gospels and distributed them. He was tortured, but he did not tell them anything.
Then the captain of the investigation, after he had beaten the pastor so much, said. They arrested Nikolai Camara who had become a Christian. They brought him before the pastor and they told the pastor, you do not tell all the secrets, we will torture Camara before your eyes.
The pastor could not endure that somebody should suffer for him. He asked Camara,
Camara said to him, Then they gouged out Camara’s eyes. When they approached Camara’s eyes with a knife, the pastor could not suffer it. He said to Camara, You will remain blind". Camara replied, Then they said to the pastor, "If you do not betray, we will cut out Camara’s tongue".
The pastor in despair said, Camara’s last words were, Camara died a martyr’s death. It is such terrible suffering when you thing about it.
We received a picture of his tortured body. They had ripped open his belly with a knife. They had cut the soles of his feet with a knife. You see from the photograph of the corpse the suffering which hew endured.
This is a terrible sad story, but there is also great beauty in it. The one who had been a robber, understood the value God placed on a repentant soul and he became a saint to whom the angels locked with admiration. He gave his life for the Savior. We know of many such brethren and sisters in communist countries. We are proud of them and we thank you for helping us to help them.
God bless you,
Richard Wurmbrand
Labels: Richard Wurmbrand
Posted by Dominique Péladeau for the Rev. Radu Roscanu | 4:36 AM
1 Comments:
Would you please tell me if you have the original sermons from Pastor Wurmbrand? I see there are some mistranslations of words and incomplete sentences that are confusing. If you still have the originals, I will email you the sentences that need to be completed so that the sermons give the messages intended by Pastor Wurnbrand. Thank you for providing these sermons and for this website. God bless you.
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