Engagement of Jan Gideon Redelinghuis and Louise Pretorius
Introduction Nico Bosman
It is wonderful that we can meet in God’s house and hear His word. If anyone is here for the first time, we trust it will not be the last time.
Today is an engagement service. There are some things in this revival that we have heard about but there are other things that we experience up until this day. God still reveals to His children what He expects of them. No one told these two people that it was time for them to marry and how they should do it. They felt led by God to take that step. Through this, God confirms that this is still what He expects today. I do judge or condemn a person I meet in the street who feels differently but God confirms that this is what He expects of us. There are many other things God confirms daily and the standard of the revival remains the same. We thank the Lord for that.
Albu van Eeden
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” Revelations 22:10
(Couple requested to come forward.) I stand as usual between the couple. Why have I read the text first? We live in a time when the unjust and the filthy are becoming more and more so. Before young men get married, they throw a bachelor’s party which ends in a filthy, drunken feast. The world around us is becoming more and more filthy. One staggers under the filth that is being poured out. If God is not merciful, our country is going down the drain. This verse speaks about the tendencies in the last days. The Amplified Bible uses the word vile - people will become viler.
But here is the amazing miracle – the righteous will become more so. These two people are an example. They will marry in absolute holiness and purity. There has been no contact. No messages. They have not courted. Before I met this revival and saw what the Holy Spirit revealed to his children, the highest standard of holiness that I knew was not really flirting, but courting which is when the couples’ families spend time together. The couple is never alone so there is no filth. But when I saw what God revealed through the revival, it seemed as if God was calling His people to an even purer life than ever in the history of mankind. There has been no contact. Each person focussed on God and not on the person they were getting engaged to. This is the ultimate form of holiness and a sign of the end times. We are proud of you, young people. Let the world become filthier and viler but you demonstrate that God calls His children to a purer life than ever before. Each person focussed on God to hear what He said about their lives. They testify to the fact that they have heard from God, not that they dreamed about one another, or thought about one another but that they were focussed on the living God and He instructed them to marry.
This is not a man-made tradition. It is what the Holy Spirit communicated when he came down in 1966 and He continues in this way. Do not ever lose this standard and fall into a lukewarm tradition. Jan Gideon testifies that he heard from the Lord that he should marry Louise and Louise testifies that she heard from the Lord, according to His will, to marry Jan Gideon. Continue until the day of your marriage to stay separate and focussed on the living God.
I fear for this time. I fear for our country. There are daily rumours of more corruption – money that has been defrauded, stolen. New laws are created daily which clamp down on the church and prohibit true preaching and preaching against sin. We are faced with blasphemy daily. The world can speak and blaspheme God but we should remain silent. Politicians can say things like they should use helicopters because they must be everywhere like the Holy Spirit. Recently Julius Malema said, ‘We can’t wait for Jesus to return, we are Jesus. Say goodbye to the ANC, Jesus arrived 5 years ago. Jesus is the EFF.’ On another occasion he said, ‘We don’t need a silly cross to save our people.’ In the meantime, everyone of all races notices how service provision is going backwards in our country. Daily we see more promiscuity promoted to such an extent that we will be unable to use the whole Bible and some verses will have to be removed from the Bible. How do we get into such a state?
There are some examples from the Bible that I will use to demonstrate how the nation sank into such a godless state.
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. 13 The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
22 Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. 24 No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. 25 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.
1 Samuel 2:12-14; 22-25
No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear…This is all this old man had to say. There were terrible abominations taking place, but all the high priest said was No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear…. It is time for the church across South Africa to stand up for God’s standards otherwise we will lose everything. We will end up preaching a pathetic lukewarm gospel. We go to church on Wed, Frid or Sundays and we praise the Lord, but we tolerate the filth. We do not take a stand against what is wrong because we are afraid. If we fear to speak the truth, even the bit we have will be removed. Do not be surprised if even parts of the Bible are removed.
We need to speak the truth fearlessly. If a preacher speaks against sin, it is not with hatred, it is with the love of God burning in his heart to snatch people from an eternity in hell. It is not because he despises sinners, but he calls them to repentance in love.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
21 For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools…
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonourable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:18,21,22,24-32
This is what the holy word of the living God says. God’s word fearlessly calls a spade a spade. How will we be able to take this as the word of God if we remove sections of it? What has happened to the church? Have we become Elis? No, my sons what you are doing is not good. Do not play with God.
When the nation was at war with the Assyrians, Eli sat and waited for news of the battle in which his two sons were fighting. He eventually received the news that Israel had been conquered, both sons killed and the ark of God had been taken captive. How did the enemy get hold of the ark of God? It should have been in the temple, not on the battlefield. Their lives had become useless. They tried to force God to help them by taking the ark onto the battle field. How many people have taken a holy institution like marriage (which can be compared to the ark of God which was a symbol that God was in their midst) which is a sign to society that God is in our midst. Marriage has been cheapened. Every Tom, Dick and Harry marries, and marriage becomes a debacle, a joke. 7 days ago, I read an article in Marula media; more people choose not to marry and those who do marry, their marriages do not last very long. Marriages last an average of 10 years before they break up.
The gospel has become cheap. Allow me to share what a cheap gospel is that results in our present condition.
A cheap gospel preaches forgiveness without repentance. Continue with your life. The Lord has saved you but you can continue with your old life. A cheap gospel teaches baptism without church discipline. I will submit myself to God’s discipline but who are they to discipline me, they are people like I am. A cheap gospel preaches communion without personal confession. A cheap gospel preaches grace without discipleship. You do not need to be a disciple; you can continue with your life. It preaches grace without the cross. There is no grace that does not begin with the cross. There is no grace without Jesus Christ. There is no grace without the death of Christ on the cross and a realisation that your sins held him there.
If we preach a solid gospel, it is not to despise anyone. It is to bring a person to the cross to receive forgiveness of sins. A costly gospel is different. It is like the treasure that was hidden in the field where it was discovered by a man. He looked left ad right and wondered whether anyone had seen it. He hid the treasure and to buy that field he sold all that he had - his horses, his possessions, his house. He even sold his wife and children according to one commentary. That does not mean that he did not love and care for them. It means that Christ was more important than any of them. The true gospel is like the pearl of great price and this is what we need in South Africa. We will be stuck with dishonest leaders and politicians. We will be stuck with ministers who mess around with other women unless they have discovered this pearl of great price. This merchant sold everything he had to buy the pearl.
If God leads you to marry you will not lose anything of God in the process because you are doing what God has told you to do. You will not sell or betray God in the process. No, you will hold onto that pearl during engagement and marriage. How many young people have lost the fire of God when they get engaged and married? We will watch this couple to see that God’s fire continues in their lives as before.
The true gospel is a gospel that preaches and teaches that Christ is the king of all and for the sake of this King I am willing to remove my right eye if it makes me stumble. It does not matter how important your cell phone is for your job but if it causes you to stumble, remove it.
What is the true gospel? The call of Christ which made the disciples leave their tents and boats to follow Him. Friends, have you left your boats and nets to follow Him, the King of kings? It’s only when a king calls you that you will do something like this. A precious gospel is one that must be sought for again and again like someone who keeps knocking on the door and asking the Lord to let him in. The door is the Lord Jesus. Such a gospel is precious because it calls us to follow which may mean a sacrifice from our side. It costs us something. It is a gracious gospel because it brings you in contact with God’s grace and calls you to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life (a person is willing to give his life) It is the only sacrifice through which you obtain true grace and forgiveness of sins. It is a costly gospel because it condemns sin. This was the problem with Eli, No my sons, what you are doing is not a good thing. He did not condemn their sin. The gospel is gracious because it justifies and brings grace to the sinner. What a gospel this is! It cost God His own Son to make it available to us. It is gracious because God did not consider His son too precious to die for our sin. It is a precious treasure. It is a pearl of great price and we will have to sacrifice many things but in the process we receive forgiveness of our sins - what grace, eternal forgiveness of sins. Have you purchased that pearl of great price? Have your received forgiveness of your sins?
The Philistines captured the ark of God and put it next to Dagon, their idol. The next morning the statue of Dagon had fallen onto its face in front of the ark with broken hands and a broken neck. You can have you idol, marriage can be an idol but do not bring that idol into the presence of God and expect God to bless your marriage. The ark was sent to another city and boils broke out there. How many people are stuck in marriages that are covered with boils? Parents cannot get along, parents and children cannot get along, it is full of boils because you keep idols while you invite God into your life. Then the Philistines decided to get rid of the ark. Wherever the ark went curses followed it. They put the ark on an oxcart and took two cattle that had never been yoked and allow them to walk freely. The cows walked with the ark back to Israel, Jerusalem. When they came to Jerusalem, King David, the hero of God was afraid to take the ark of God into his house.
9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. 2 Samuel 6:9-11
Young people do not be afraid to take the ark of God into your house. Even if it is said that the bulk of South Africans have marriages that do not last. May you be like Obed-edom and when you marry one day, may your marriage be like Oben-edom. In this waiting period until marriage, may you remain holy and pure that God’s blessing will be on your lives. We thank you that you are an example to the world that we are fearless to follow God and marry in God’s way.
12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 2 Samuel 6:12
This is how I have experienced this day. These young people who serve God with all their hearts are taking a step that many people in the world are afraid to take, they rather live together because of the many problems that result from marriage. They turn their backs on God. These two young people decided that they would not live like the world but would marry in God’s way. May God bless you. Don’t be afraid to follow God.
Conclusion Nico Bosman
The ark with the Philistines was a curse but to others it was a blessing. If we are obedient to how God guides us, it will be a blessing. If we take what God has given us and do not live that way being disobedient to it, it may be curse on us. We can never turn back from what God has shown us. We will be the worst of the worst if we do that. May God help us and may we be faithful.