SALVATION AND THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST

Choir Sings
Dr Mnisi opens in prayer
Baba Dube
Thank you , Dr Mnisi for praying for me especially. It has strengthened me, the singing of the choir has also given me strength. I remember how Rev Stegen preferred to preach after a choir had sung. Singing often prepares the hearts of the listeners to be open for the preaching of God’s word.
You probably noticed how few choir members there were, some have gone out to preach at different branches, others are still resting and a group has gone to India for a conference. In India they eat a lot of curry, it helped me to have something to drink close by when eating. We pray that the Lord will be with them there in Guntur, Andra Pradesh. It was there where Mr Olsen was taken by the Lord 8 years ago. May the Lord bless their ministry.
Today I will speak about salvation and the blood of the Lord Jesus.
Before I speak about that, I am reminded of when Jesus came to Jericho and saw Zaccheus in the tree. Right there He stopped and said to him that he wanted to go to his house. Zaccheus came down with great joy, but some people criticised Jesus. Imagine that, Jesus the Messiah, and they find fault with Him entering a sinner’s house. When He came to Nazareth, there too He was disrespected, He was mocked as they said, is this not (just) the son of Joseph? The disciples were also persecuted and mocked, consider John the Baptist who was beheaded, because of a girl dancing and her evil, conniving mother.
Why do I say that? Those who preach and who love the Lord Jesus, are usually not loved. The prophet Jeremiah, when he delivered the message from God to the king, was thrown into a pit because they did not agree with the words he spoke.
People do not love it when you bring Jesus to them, or when God uses His people. Someone preaches the Word, and then people find fault, wishing that someone else had preached. That is why they miss out on that which God has for them. It was evident how God used Peter, John and Paul, but then these men were persecuted and imprisoned. It is said that when a dog sees a stationary vehicle it won’t bark, but the moment the vehicle begins moving, the dog begins barking.
Some ministers of the Gospel came to support and strengthen us during the difficult time we went through not long ago. One of them said, I have many ministers under me, but when we see this work opposed in this way, we know that God is at work. Even the Lord Jesus says, it is not good if everyone speaks well of you, as we read in Matthew, when people speak evil of you, you should rejoice.
I am thankful that there are people listening overseas, and those who wish they could be here with us, but unfortunately cannot be here, blessed are you when people curse you, you will be rewarded.
I think of God the Father who sent His Son to this evil world and people criticise Him for going into a sinner’s house. I thought of other men, like the prophet Jeremiah who was fortunately not hated by everyone, because it was reported to the king that he had been thrown into the pit and the king commanded that he be rescued. Brethren, it is a wonderful thing if you desire that your brother who is in the pit, can be rescued and not have to die there. People may mock you for speaking up for him, but the Lord Jesus did that for Zaccheus so that salvation could enter his house.
Does something like this sound familiar: Have you heard that so-and-so’s child has failed or that so-and-so’s car has been in an accident? Does that make you happy? No, you should rather pray for that person. Yet instead of going to strengthen and comfort that person, you gossip.
The apostle Paul says it so clearly - I’m not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God to save. This salvation he experienced himself, after being struck by lightning from heaven. The Lord Jesus came to save sinners, so let us have the same attitude, if we see someone in a pit we should not continue to push them down, but rather encourage them to come up out of the pit. Even if someone is in prison, we should pray for them to be saved, not to die in their sin.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The heading in the Zulu Bible is The Wisdom of Christ and the Wisdom of this World
The wisdom of this world is evident in scholars and philosophers. An example of the wisdom of God is visiting the sick in hospital. To us who are being saved, we experience how it is possible to have the power of God at work in us, through the Cross. It is an ongoing process, our salvation. If the Lord convicts you, as His child, of something that you did wrong, you obey and bring that thing into the light, make it right and ask for prayer for your close relationship with the Lord to be restored.
It is heartbreaking when a person says year in and year out that they are saved, yet still live in sin. Did you not receive power to leave your sin? What would you say about someone who says, I have been saved, but I am still drinking alcohol, I still steal, I swear and curse. That is not salvation. One can recognise in their actions and expressions that the fires of hell are licking at them. Let us stand out as those who have parted from and been saved from sin. Rev Stegen preached on this word on 5 February 2001. While you are here on earth you should live a holy life and experience heaven already.
It is a frightening thought, that the word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, because you are in church, yet you want to sleep or you wish the service to end. So if you have not experienced the joy of salvation you can live in hell right here on earth.
Verse 19 For it is written:“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
The wisdom of the wise is destroyed, and intelligence made futile. We saw a video recently of Rev Stegen preaching, saying that some people’s faith is only on paper or in their brains, are you perhaps not understanding spiritual things because of your cleverness? Your discernment can then be taken away from you by the Lord if you are too intelligent for it.
The Gospel of John puts it very clearly.
John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
Matthew 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Wherever you are, listening in or sitting here, do you know the Lord Jesus? Have you accepted Him, do you know Him as it is written in the Bible?
The Sadducees and the Pharisees came to John the Baptist, wanting to be baptised too. John said, you brood of vipers, who told you to escape the wrath to come? Show fruits of repentance, he saw through them. Do we criticise John for saying that?
If you are saved, may your family around you see the fruits of repentance. When John says, show fruit of repentance, ask your family members whether they see that fruit in you. If not, do something about it.
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name
In Zulu it is written: he gave the power to be called the children of God. In English it says, the right to become children of God.
There are different translations, but if you receive Him, you receive the power to be called a child of God, and to be saved. If you receive the Lord Jesus, you cannot just live in any way, the Bible says you receive the power to overcome and resist the devil. Did you receive that power when you were saved, when you accepted the Lord Jesus, or does Satan still ride you as a jockey rides a horse.
In Proverbs it says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It continues to say that a person must hate sin. If you look around and say, my father and mother don’t see me, I can do this wrong thing, you must know the Lord hasn’t saved you yet. That day where the Lord shows you how to fear Him, you will not sin. The way that you live, stealing, being a burglar, hijacking and taking cars, know this, you do not fear or know God. How much more tragic are they that call themselves children of God but live in sin, they don’t know God. Does God’s word lie when it says that you have received power and the right to become children of God? There is a song which refers to the precious Cross which helps me part from sin. Are you able to sing that song? If you are still bound by the chains of Satan, you have nightmares in your sleep, and your intentions regarding others are evil, these things show that you cannot sing about deliverance. The Word says each one must carry his cross and follow Him. If you are carrying your cross, and you leave it outside a shop, go in to steal, then you pick it up again when you leave the shop, can you be called a child of God? How is it possible that you say you carry this cross, (one doubts that it is the Cross of Christ) and yet you scold an elderly person. You answer older people and your parents in whichever way you choose, yet you call yourself a Christian.
A wife wants to have another husband, a second one, desiring this is life from hell. This is the life of Sodom and Gomorrah, being lived out right here on earth; a woman wanting another woman, a man another man.
I was saved at the Cross where Jesus died and cleansed me from my sins, that is the cross that I am carrying. That is where you must cry out for yourself, ask for prayer support if you say that you have not yet overcome sin. Once you have had victory, you can sing in truth that the Cross is precious to you.
That is why, when the choir sings here, you can see they bear testimony to what they sing, they have been set free from their sins. I am touched when they sing. Does their singing move you? This wonderful salvation that can save a person, we can agree that we can see it in them.
We are set free by the blood of the Lord Jesus, it is only that which can cleanse and set us free. Jesus did not come to just wash one part of the heart, with the other part still belonging to Satan, He came to set us completely free. They thought they had annihilated the Lord Jesus by crucifying Him, but they did not realise the blood had to flow so that we can be saved. I asked Rev Stegen in 1963, if you sing of this blood, what do you mean? That time I was not yet saved. I asked the question: you say this story of the Lord Jesus is great, what is the story you refer to?
This word is amazing – the word of the Cross is folly for those who are perishing. People hear the word, but don’t understand it. Those who are perishing run after boys and girls, but to us the Word is the power to be saved. There are those who can testify and say, we experience this power in our bodies. Not like those poor people who are in bondage to their cell phones which takes them onto the highway to hell.
The prophet Jeremiah says, you looked from afar and pulled me up. God sees you in your pit of sin and He sends His word for you to be saved and rescued from the pit of sin.
God’s word puts it so clearly, salvation is a gift of God. You are not born saved because of your godly parents, or because you have been born into a preacher’s family. If you think like that, you think you are important or greater than others. You deceive yourself, it is a gift imparted by grace to each person who receives Him. Do not be proud of who you are, the Lord saw you in the pit of sin and God sent His Son for you so that you could receive Him to come out and be a new person. But His Word says that to those who are being destroyed, this message is foolishness. They don’t even understand when and how the Lord speaks.
When Jesus came into your heart, you saw your evil and sin, that was when the Lord Jesus could save you. There is a song which says, oh, how great the day when I was saved. When you sing that song, you are just praising God, for that great day when you were saved. Is that day still precious to you – or have you trampled it underfoot?
Let us live for God, let His name not be mocked because of our lives. May people say, is this what people live like who are saved? You tell people, in our church we girls don’t talk to boys. Why don’t you say that the Lord Jesus has taught me not to do this?
A preacher told a legend about hunters on a hunting trip. The dogs were chasing the buck that they had seen. Suddenly a leguaan appeared and spoke to a man. He said; “These dogs are going to kill me! Please help me, please hide me.” The man asked the reptile how he could hide him. He said, “allow me to enter your mouth” to which the man retorted: “how can you do that?” He said, “just open your mouth, I will make myself small.” He thanked the man who had opened his mouth and he disappeared down his throat. The dogs came running, but couldn’t find the leguaan. The hunters couldn’t find the leguaan either. After they left, the man said, “now you can leave, the dogs are gone”. The leguaan said, “I am so comfortable here, and getting hungry now, here are delicious things around me, and he began eating the man’s organs. The young man couldn’t understand what was happening, the leguaan fed on him from the inside, and so he died.
In the same way young men can lie and say to young women that they love them, but as time goes by sin starts eating away at them, and they end up with AIDS. Nowadays it is not the leguaan that comes, but they are enticed by a new cell phone or what they watch on it and are deceived. If you obey Satan and his lies, you speak any way you like, until you find yourself at the top of a branchless tree, unable to come down because you have lost the Lord Jesus.
God sent His Son so that we who believe in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. But, if we compromise, we will not experience the beauty, joy and glory of salvation.
Choir Sings