========================================================================
  (SERMON CLIP) POSSESSING NOTHING BUT HAVING ALL THINGS
  by Richard Wurmbrand
========================================================================

Summary: This sermon reflects on the concept of having nothing and
finding value in it, drawing parallels to the experience of losing
everything in a prison setting. It explores the idea of being stripped
of possessions, names, and dignity, yet finding significance in the
nothingness. The speaker shares insights on the profound nature of
nothing, inspired by the example of St. Paul's humility. The narrative
transitions to contemplating the creation of the world from nothing and
the symbolic importance of nothing as a valuable material in God's
hands.

Topics: "Value in Nothingness", "Humility and Creation"
Scripture References: Philippians 3:8, Genesis 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:28, 2 Corinthians 12:10, Romans 4:17

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This sermon reflects on the concept of having nothing and finding value
in it, drawing parallels to the experience of losing everything in a
prison setting. It explores the idea of being stripped of possessions,
names, and dignity, yet finding significance in the nothingness. The
speaker shares insights on the profound nature of nothing, inspired by
the example of St. Paul's humility. The narrative transitions to
contemplating the creation of the world from nothing and the symbolic
importance of nothing as a valuable material in God's hands.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have nothing. And at once we had an illumination. Wait a little bit.

We have... We have something which is called nothing. If nothing would
be nothing, we could not have it. We have something which is called
nothing.

Now what is the value of this nothing? We have nothing. They're taking
away from us our families, our houses, our furniture, our libraries, our
churches, everything they're taking away from us. They're taking away
from us our own clothing.

They're taking away from us even our names. Every prisoner, if he was a
more important one considered by them, was taken away his name and given
a number. And he had not... he was not allowed to tell even a warden
what his real name is.

They feared that the warden at a glass of wine might betray the secret
who is in prison to a friend of his. So we were given numbers. The one
prisoner number 5,833, the other prisoner number 9,221, and so on.

And all the prisoners did not remember their numbers, and then they were
beaten because of this. I had the advantage to have a number very easy
to be remembered. I was prisoner number one.

That was easy to be remembered. But they're taking away from us
everything, even our names. We had nothing.

We were nothing. They mocked us. They did with us what they liked.

They opened forcibly the mouth of Christians and spat in this mouth, and
they did worse than spitting in the mouth. They throwed you under their
feet. We were nothing, and we had nothing.

There was another one who said, I am nothing. St. Paul. And when he
wrote this, he was free.

He said, I was nothing, and I am nothing. And then we had something, the
name of which is nothing. We had nothing.

And we began in these half-dark prison cells, subterranean prison cells,
in which all kinds of thoughts come to you which don't come in the pre-
world. We began to think about the value of the nothing. We all loved
this world with its beautiful multicolored butterflies and the chirping
birds and the scenting flowers and the pretty children.

And we remembered, but wait a little bit. Out of what did God make this
beautiful world? He made it out of nothing. So nothing is a very
valuable material.

You can make a universe out of nothing. If anyone would try to make all
these things out of gold and diamond, he would not succeed. But out of
nothing, God created this world.

Wait a little bit. But with what is Holy Communion taken in churches?

========================================================================
Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/m1jYLMq2jgs.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/richard-wurmbrand/sermon-clip-possessing-nothing-but-having-all-things/
========================================================================