I greet everyone who is listening. This is the first Sunday when the KSB branches can be visited again. There are many branches that must be visited. From 1951 when Rev Stegen started preaching and when the revival began, many branches started. God is still at work today in a way that is not easy to explain. If it could be explained it might be difficult to believe.
People from overseas have requested prayer for various issues and God is working there, as well as in our country. Many who have been in drug addiction have requested to come here but cannot. They are prayed for, where they are, and have been set free. At various places we realise that Satan is very busy using the evil spirit called the Tokoloshe. This evil spirit comes to women and sleeps with them. It can change into a woman and sleep with women. Pray that the Lord will overcome the work of that evil spirit. It also comes to young men and young girls in various forms and shapes. If you want to be delivered and be a pure young man or woman, you need to confess your sin and remove it by its roots, otherwise this spirit will come to you in the embodiment of a person and defile you. Such evil spirits bring about divorce. The root cause of which may be these spirits. If these things happen to you, walk in the light, tell your mother or father and they will send you to your counsellor for prayer.
Your husband/wife should not be your counsellor. I learned this from the leader of the mission, Rev Stegen. Many spouses err by confessing their sins to one another. It is also inappropriate for a child to confess their sins to their parents. Let me illustrate: if you have a thorn in your hand and you ask your parents to remove it, by nature, they will feel sorry for you and will rather leave it because they see the pain you experience when they try to dig it out. If you confess your sins to your parents, it will be painful for them, and they will feel sorry for you. However, if you go to someone else, that person will treat you as a doctor would. Your tooth will get extracted, no matter how painful it is. The counsellor will treat you in the same way as a doctor would, to enable you to walk correctly and not limp. Some people do like to be pruned. Your counsellor will prune you, despite your tears, because they know that it will help you. If salt must be put onto the wound and it burns, the counsellor does it to help you. If you go to a particular counsellor who does not really help you spiritually and who is soft on you, that will explain why you are lukewarm. If someone corrects you and you run to your wife and she feels your pain with you, you will never grow spiritually, you will remain stunted.
As children we grew up with the rod. Nowadays one can see how different children become when they have not been brought up in that manner. They backchat you. They contradict what you say. Eventually you have to say to them, “I was not born yesterday. Speak the truth as it is.” A person retorts that they are more educated than the person trying to correct them. These days I took a service where I spoke about honouring one’s father and mother, how one should honour one’s mother even when she is old. Honour your father who gave you birth. Some people treat their fathers like small children. You feel sorry for such a person and think that you would never have treated your own father in the same way. When your mother grows old, you must respect her. Nowadays you say, what is my mother, what does she know? I am intelligent and educated. Years ago, when my father passed away, I said, “Oh God, help me show my mother respect, that she will not notice that my respect towards her has decreased due to my father’s passing.” Until the day she was taken, she never had to say that I did not show her respect. Young people, show respect even if you must learn it from scratch. Respect your father. Zulus call anyone a father who is the age of their father.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8
If you ask a young person, “Why are you a Christian?” He may answer because my parents or my grandparents are. It is not by our own doing that we are believers, it is the gift of God. It is from God. It is not through anything from ourselves. Jesus prayed and said, “Father, I thank you for those whom you have given me to be the children of God.” That touched me. Those were given by the Father to the Lord to be believers. I was taken out of the mud of sin and brought into the kingdom of God – God did it. It is a gift of God that we are children of God. If you are not a believer, wherever you are, ask the Lord that you may become a believer too. Why don’t you take after those who have come with their prayer requests asking for intercession for their brother who is drinking and smoking that the Lord would intervene in his life? A young man from CYPSA said these days to me that after he brought his request, he heard that his brother had stopped drinking and smoking.
My mother prayed that the Lord would give her one child who would be the matchstick that would kindle others and when I was 13 years old, I asked the Lord that I could be that child. Rev Stegen has often said that children aren’t automatically believers. I was a member of a church, but I had not repented. God heard this prayer that I prayed in my heart. You can pray that prayer in your heart and say, “Lord, I want to be saved and be a child of God. I am troubled by anger, stubbornness, grudges, bad dreams and irritability. Please set me free from these things.”
I will read a word that was read in July 2005 by Rev Stegen.
“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance,[a] but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; 2 who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt! 3 Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame, and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation. 4 For though his officials are at Zoan and his envoys reach Hanes, 5 everyone comes to shame through a people that cannot profit them, that brings neither help nor profit, but shame and disgrace.” Isaiah 30:1-5
May this word be food for you. Chew on it. At that time there was turmoil in the church. We were like the disciples of whom Jesus said one would betray Him. Each one asked himself if it was him. I asked the Lord that I would not be one who turned against Him. Pray and say, “Lord, may I not forsake you in my old age.” The danger increases in your old age, when your mind is affected or in some way or another you turn away from the Lord. Pray, that you will not be counted among those who forsake the Lord. May the Lord make this word penetrate deep into our hearts.
The word I have on my heart for this service is from Malachi.
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. Malachi 4:1,2
A great day is coming that will burn like an oven. In the Zulu is says …it will burn like a fireplace. When you make a fire, you take brushwood and tinder to kindle the fire and slowly add bigger pieces of wood. It eventually becomes a fire where you can sit, warm yourself and prepare food. You can even cook on it in a three-legged pot. We used to cook in this way on the mission before we had the kitchen. We used wood for heating water and cooking. That food would be delicious, and everyone could enjoy it. When God speaks, He uses a language and illustrations that we can understand. If He would use heavenly examples, we would never understand.
We need to remind ourselves, before we pass way from this world, that there is this day that is coming. Many people are dying because of COVID-19. Recently, we had some funerals here where we could thank the Lord for the way in which the people passed into eternity. We must remind one another that a day is coming, whether you are young or old, that will burn like an oven. The axe is at the roots of the tree and chops down young and old. Do not think death happens to old people only. We heard over the radio the shocking news about a particular homestead that caught fire and all those inside burnt to death. No one knows how the fire started. We do not know how that day will come to us. It may be through an accident.
When an oven is heated you cannot even put your finger or hand inside because it will burn. You cannot poke your head in there.
What type of people will burn in this oven or furnace? The arrogant. The arrogant will burn on that day. Brethren, arrogance is a disease. When you think you are something or somebody when in fact you are nothing. When you wear those clothes, how arrogant are you not? When you speak, your arrogance is displayed. A mature girl was told that she had a ‘beard in her mouth’ - a Zulu expression suggesting arrogance - because girls who have not met with the Lord Jesus, speak in a particular way - like someone with ‘a beard in their mouth’. A married woman who takes the lead and prescribes to her husband also has a ‘beard in her mouth’. When a young girl or boy begins thinking that they are somebody, they have a ‘beard in their mouth’. Let that person get a beautiful house, car, or livestock – what arrogance springs up! Such an ego rises because that person thinks they are somebody. Are these things not ruling our lives? When people strut about, they look down like a peacock that looks at it feathers and swings them from side to side.
One day when my father was still alive, we were waiting for somebody. He said, “We have been waiting so long, we wanted to leave already!” I told him that the person was still looking at herself in the mirror because she was so beautiful, and she would have to see herself from every angle. When the person finally arrived, she seemed out of breath, but she never apologised for keeping us waiting.
Who does the mirror really trouble? The ladies. Whether your hair is short or long, every hair must be in place. If it is long, you must shake your head to see how it flows. Many fail job interviews just there when they flick their hair or jingle their bangles. If they do get the job, these things will take over. This arrogance is in the hair, the makeup, the nail polish. Look at a peacock when it struts about, it looks proud. It is terrible when the spirit of a peacock rules in the child of God. Such a person cannot even greet properly. If you want to be someone, you must humble yourself to nothing.
I love it when people in our midst take after Reverend Stegen and follow in his footsteps. I am just like a donkey or a crow, I am nothing, but listen to this crow that caws, listen to what I have on my heart. If you do not want it, leave it. It is up to you.
The text says …and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze… Each one is aware in his own life of the evil that might cause them to be set ablaze on that day. What enslaves you? What are you in bondage to? When the Lord comes to fetch you, will He still find you in that evil? When are you going to part from it? It says on that day we will be like stubble. (When you chop down trees and cut off the branches, it becomes dry stubble which makes the fire burn.) This is what it will be like in your life.
I recently asked someone, “How many times will you come back and confess the very same sin?” If you sin deliberately, where are you heading? For heaven or hell? Where are you headed to, young person, with the lust which is aflame in your life? Come for prayer that the Lord might set you free. How can you even call yourself a Christian if sin is still burning in your life? Where are you heading? Tell me, have you met up with the Lord Jesus? Have you been saved or not? When you answered your father, mother, brother, sister with a bad attitude, where was Jesus in your heart? Not there? Where are you headed? We need to find and receive heaven while we are still in this world. If I still have racism in my heart towards whites or blacks, where am I headed? If you still have apartheid in your heart towards your black or white brother, where are you headed? We see it. It is like a cockroach that is difficult to kill. Other people see it. They notice it where you work in your office, they notice that racism. Repent so they can see that you have changed. Repent so that they can see that you have become a new creature. Just by the style of walking, it is clear whether a woman is loose or not. The look in the eyes of a young man when they look at a girl shows that the man is impure. His eyes are flirtatious. Some girls almost trip because they look aslant at the boys. She may not feel free to chat him up, but her look is flirtatious.
When that day comes which burns like an oven, what will happen to you? Brother, sister, believer or unbeliever, that day is surely coming. The arrogant and evil doers will be stubble. They will be set ablaze on that day, and they will be left with neither root nor branch.
2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.
We who fear His name will leap with joy and energy like calves released from the stall, calves that have just drunk from their mothers. Are you testifying through your daily life that you receive the heavenly milk? Your daily life should testify to that fact that you are fearful to do what is wrong. You say, because I am from the Khumalo or Mkhize family, how can I do something like this? I am from the Joosten family, if I do something like this, what will be said of the Joosten family or the Stegen, or Combrink family? It is like that with a name. What will my father say when he finds out I have done something like this? This is what a name means. What will they say if they find out that I am from such a family and yet I have done this?
…the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. If I do something evil when my parents are absent and then it is discovered, what will be said? At the beginning, when Rev Stegen was away, he gave us homework. He told us that he wanted to hear what God had said to us on his return. We would go before the Lord and ask Him to reveal something to us so that we had an answer when he returned. We were young and only a few. The revival had not started yet. I knelt before the Lord and asked Him to speak to me and then I would take it to Rev Stegen and it would be tested, whether it was really from God or not. If one had a dream or a vision, one got up immediately and wrote it down. Then one would share it so that it could be tested whether it was from God or not. When children nowadays remain alone, they get up to mischief. They are not busy with the things of God which can be shared when the parents return.
What rules in your life? Your cell phone? Pornography? Watching porn under the blankets on your cell phone? The cell phone enslaves people. The cell phone was invented for communication purposes but today it is used to defile the minds of people. I thank the Lord I cannot even use the cell phone to send a message. I do not know how to operate it to access porn. I do not want to know how to, because it is of the worst poisons that exists. When you start with it you are never satisfied. You just crave more and worse porn. You are enticed into it by evil spirits. People who produce porn pray that people will be drawn in and captivated by Satan. People bring a curse upon themselves by looking at the body of an older person. You can see that such people are enslaved. This bondage troubles people day and night. If anyone stands in front of that person, they undress the person in an instant. This spirit rules the lives of people. It is aggravated by the clothing styles people wear - tight-fitting pants. Young men see their fathers wearing these tight-fitting pants. Those pants are evil because they arouse lust in women.
In Revelation 2 it says we must be faithful and endure to the end that we may receive that crown. Brethren, we will only receive that crown if we are faithful to death. Even though people’s sticks hit us right and left, we must be faithful. No matter how people smear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must be faithful. As a young man and young girl, you ought to lead a pure life. Fathers must be faithful. Some widows are visited by their husbands in a dream. This woman says, “I do not know what to do with that evil spirit, I am afraid at night.” Evil spirits have gone out to attack people. Satanism is rife. They cut themselves and suck their blood and the blood of others. They will shake hands and pass on spirits in that way. Others will pass on spirits by embracing you. Some shake hands with you in a certain way, thereby asking Satan to enter - after which that person is troubled by evil spirits. If you have Jesus, the Holy Spirit in you, nothing happens to you.
Conclusion Dietmar Joosten
We thank the Lord for this word. It can be something that you just hear and it seems far from you. You can acknowledge the truth of the message, but you do not see it as relevant to you now. We must take things seriously because we do not know when that day will be upon us. It is not only because of that day in the future, but the Lord wants to use you today. He warns you today to wake up. Do something about it today. Do not waste your time. You will never be the age you are today. You will never get this day again - which is why the Lord speaks to us like this and tells us to wake up.
Asaph was walking in a certain way. It also seemed far away to him. He said see how the evil people are making progress. Brethren bring the things which are far way, close to you. Go on your knees and say, “Lord, what will happen if it is today?” Asaph said, “My eyes were opened when I saw the end of these people.” Our eyes should be opened when we hear these words. God warns us that this day is coming. You do not know when or how, but do not be misled. It can happen at any time in your life. Young people, use your time. God is warning you. He tells you clearly that this thing will happen, do not do it. Even when you live in sin and you do not overcome it, it feels like you are in an oven. You know how you are in anguish and how you are troubled. You cannot even sleep at night because these things trouble you. You compromise. You do not go full out for the Lord. You do not give everything for Him.
You say, “Look at that person, he got a stove, fridge for nothing. He got chairs and couches. He is well off. Look how beautiful his house is now!” You have seen others looting, and now you are jealous. You know what goes on in your mind when you see your neighbour and his/her wife or husband – you are like Asaph. May God open your eyes. Asaph was drawn by what other people were saying. Talk is cheap. You are drawn because you want to live like that, and you have forgotten what God requires of you.
When you look at the life of a person who talks a lot and is arrogant, it is empty. They speak of their big plans, of what they will build, do and plant but when you look at what they have got right, there is nothing. Look at Rev Stegen. If we take visitors around, we do not need to say much. The work speaks for itself. Why? This man understood, the Lord took hold of Him and said, “The day is coming. My day is coming – wake up.”
The text says …the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. This is indescribable. You will have wings that can fly. It will feel different when that Son of Righteousness rises in your life. In 1974 when I came here for the first time and confessed my sins, afterwards I said to myself, “I could fly!” This is when those wings are lifted and God does something in your life. The Lord wants to come into each one of our lives. That sun wants to rise and do something in each of our lives. If the world is as dark as it is at present and South Africa is as dark as it is, that Son in our lives will change everything. May we experience the Lord rising and creating a new spirit in our lives so that people will be able to see that your surname is Christ.