Believing as the Scripture Says — Erlo Stegen

Lord, we thank you for this opportunity, that we can come together under your word.

Lord, we thank you for this opportunity, that we can come together under your word.

Jesus’ Invitation to the Thirsty

Lord, the matters of you and your kingdom are the best. There's nothing on this earth that is as bright and as wonderful as that. Amen. Our text will be in John chapter 7, from verse 37. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Believing as the Scripture Says

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the spirit. Let's just end there. I'd like to speak about this, he who believes on me, as the scripture says, so that it's not too long.

If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Rivers of living water will flow out of his innermost being. This word was a real problem to me. It was at Mapumulu in 1966 when I was there. This word troubled me day and night. He who believes in me, as the scripture says, rivers of living water will flow out of his innermost being.

And I said, but I do believe. And I don't doubt that I believe. But the rivers of living water, I don't see. We have a river down here, the Tugela. One river. The desert turns to be a garden. All sorts of fruits and vegetables grow from it.

In 1966 I was in real trouble and I said, Lord, you say in your word that if anybody believes, as the scripture says, rivers of living water will flow out of that person. I believe, but I don't see the waters.

Preached for 12 years, day by day, but I still don't see any rivers of living water flowing in KwaZulu. And then I looked in the Bible and I said, now where does it speak about rivers of living water coming out of a person?

Testing Faith Against the Word

Now I'd go to the service and the service was in an old, was actually in the stable, an old house that was built out of corrugated iron and wood. And that's where we had the service. And in the service, I said, men and women, you Christians, the Bible says, if you believe in the Lord, then there will be rivers of living water.

Who of you believes in the Lord Jesus? And they all put up their hands. Now I should have been very pleased because everybody there said that they do believe in the Lord Jesus. And I said, but here's a problem.

The Bible says, if you believe in him, as the scripture says, there will be rivers, not one river, rivers of living water flowing out from that person. As you say that you believe on the Lord Jesus, are there rivers of living water flowing out of your life?

Nobody could answer in the affirmative. And I said, I too must, I'm still looking into the word and praying because this thing's got me beat. And then I realized that I mustn't make a mistake. The Lord Jesus is he that believes on me as the scripture says.

And then I realized that the Lord Jesus says that the Bible speaks about believing on the Lord Jesus. They said, let's, let's now have a look to see what does the Bible say about believing on the Lord Jesus?

Then we started studying the Bible to see what does the Bible say? It was a word that really piqued me and that really worried me. When the Lord Jesus says, I haven't come to judge the world, but the words that I have spoken, they will judge the world.

Then I brought the two together and realized, but these words will judge us on the day of judgment. And I said, Oh Lord, speak to me through your word. I want to know what does the Bible say? We used to come together twice a day at seven in the morning before the store opens.

And after five, when the stores closed, we'd come together again to read and study and to see what does the Bible say? And then we read the book of Acts and it came to the day when one day it was a Saturday.

Seeking God Despite Human Opposition

Then some came to me and said, can't we go home today to do our washing, to see to the children? Can't we have the service earlier at half past one or at two o 'clock? And I agreed. And when we came together, now across the road from us, there was a magistrate, assistant magistrate, postmaster, the chief of the police, other police.

They were all together just across the road to play tennis. And I was here in this old stable together with the blacks having a service. Oh, magistrate. The junior magistrate was an atheist. And they used to not like me at all.

They used to say that things are wrong and go wrong in South Africa is because of the missionaries. The missionaries have done all the damage in this country. Now we came together brokenhearted and sincerely seeking the face of the Lord.

And suddenly I realized that this was a bad time because they might hear us. They might hear me crying because they're just across the road from us. Now that building had the old fashioned sash windows that you've got to lift up and then lock.

And then I got up and I thought, well, let me just go and close the window that those that are outside don't hear how we are crying to the Lord on our knees here.

We literally cried. When last did you cry and shed tears before God? If you've never done it, you haven't got only a head of wood, you must have got a heart of wood or a heart of rock.

And I got up and I pushed the window up and I closed it properly. And when I closed the window and I closed it properly, then I heard the voice of the Lord speak to me, said, yes, close it properly, because then I'll be on the outside and you'll be on the inside.

I didn't need anybody to interpret that. I understood that word very well. God isn't kept out by the glass at all. He is kept out by the heart of man. I turned around and I thought I would stop the service.

God Resists Pride and Haughtiness

I suddenly saw like a big words written in front of my eyes, like the screen here, only bigger as it were hanging in the air.

God resists the proud. No, no, no.

It was like a spear that pierced my heart. And I said, I've always thought it's the devil that's resisting me. It's the devil that stops the people from coming to the service. It's the devil that stops the people from getting converted.

Is it God that resists me?

All these years, I blamed the devil for making it so hard and difficult for me. And all of a sudden, God reveals himself to me and said, I am in your way because there's still haughtiness. There's still pride in your life.

I am resisting you. Then I said, oh God, if only the devil would resist me, there'd be still a chance by your grace to overcome him. Overcome him. But if you resist me, no hope.

God opened the curtain a little bit and I saw his holiness. I saw his fearful holiness. And I just cried out, said, oh God, have mercy on me. I'm a hopeless sinner. And I cried out, I said, Lord, deal with this haughtiness.

Deliver me from every form of pride that this may be the end of God resisting me.

And I cried to the Lord. I said, Lord, save me. Lord, deliver me that there may be no pride, no haughtiness in my life. Many things the Lord spoke to us in those days and spoke to me. I'll just touch on here and there something.

The Fear of People and Pleasing Them

I was like a blind man and it was as though the Lord took me by my neck and pushed me with my nose into things. One day I arrived by motor car because I'd been away. And when I arrived, I heard them already singing in the service, the Christians.

Something within told me and pushed me, go to the service immediately. And I said to myself, I can't go like this without a suit, without a tie in my working clothes. I can't go and hold the Bible in my hands before the congregation dressed like this.

And then suddenly three people stood before me.

And I thought, what will so and so say if I stand in front of them having the Bible and being dressed like I am? And so and so, what will he think about me? And what will the third person feel when they see me like this?

Such foolish, idiotic things can play a role in a person's life. What people think, what people feel and what people say. Oh, what a sinner I was. Laughing is like a bolt out of the blue. The words of Paul, if I still try to please men, I'm not a servant of Jesus Christ.

That was a knockout blow to me. Umlang Pete wanted me to meet a person at Hathabias Potem. I had met his brother-in-law. A huge, tall fellow. He's going to Germany now for the world championship, heavyweight championships.

Boxing. He boxed with the world champion's brother. I think in three seconds or three minutes, the person was on the ground, on the floor. Now he's got to go and meet the real champion.

And I said to Umlang Pete, I'm going to Germany.

For that boxing match, he gets 40 million. Whether he wins or whether he loses. But he says he wants to knock him out like his brother.

But I got a worse knockout blow than that man because God knocked me out.

For 12 years, I told the Zulus, I come to you as a servant of Jesus Christ. And now all of a sudden, I'm disqualified. Paul says, if I still try to please men, I'm not a servant of Jesus Christ.

I'm still a servant of Jesus Christ.

I'm still a servant of Jesus Christ. It really knocked me out. There was another word.

Elijah’s Example of Standing Before God

The prophet Elijah is one of my favorites. I loved his story. He prayed that it shouldn't rain and for three and a half years, it didn't rain. Then he prayed again, put his head between his knees and he prayed.

And the cloud came up the size of a man's hand. And he sent a message to the king, hurry to get home. The rain is coming and the rain came and it got them on the way. He prayed and fire came down from heaven.

I love that man. And I respected Elijah. And I said, if I ever get to heaven, I'd like to shake his hand if there's such a thing. But he was just like us, just a human being, just like ourselves. I heard how he stood before his wicked king, King Ahab.

And he said, your majesty, God, before whom I stand. You know what it's like if you stand before a very important person, you get, you forget about everything else. You just think about this person whom you're facing.

If you stand before an important person, you will be very careful how you stand. You won't stretch and yawn. You'll be very careful to have a right posture when you stand there. And you will have your best manners.

Forgetting everything else, just looking at this moment. He stood before his king. And the king in those days was not like the kings today, that are just like a puppet. These were real kings. They could have just commanded and he would have been beheaded.

He said to the king, oh king, God, before whom I stand. So he forgot about everything else. He just remembered God, the Lord of lords, the king of kings, and realized he stood before him. And my heart broke.

And I cried. And I turned to go to the service with the car. And then I saw the temple of the Hindus in my mind's eye. And it was as though the Lord took me and showed me a film of my life, what I was.

Idolatry, Repentance, and Revival

And I saw, as it were, myself going into the temple of a Hindu. Do you ever been in a Hindu temple? There are plenty idols made by men. Some idols in the image of a man with horns or hands like a snake, like real spooks.

And I went to the first idol in my mind's eye. I saw myself kneeling down, worshiping this idol with my forehead on the ground. And I saw myself get up, go to the second idol, kneel down, bow right down with my forehead on the ground, worshiping this idol.

And I got up and went to the third idol. And I went right down and I bowed down and worshipped this idol with my forehead on the ground. And so I saw myself praying and worshipping idols. And I got up.

And I heard the word saying, I don't want you to worship idols, worship only the living God. And by that time I was at the end of myself. I went into a side door, through a side door into the service, wiping my tears, hiding my face, got to the first chair and I just said, let's get down and pray.

There was nothing that I was going to preach or teach anymore. I just got down on my knees and said, God have mercy on me. Save me. I am a sinner lost. That's how God took me through the mill.

And he didn't do it in a nice way with the feet first. He took me upside down with the head hidden first and he crushed me and he milled me. By God's grace, that's how I got revival. That's why revival means something to me.

Have you got it? Have you gone through the mill? Have you been cleansed and sanctified? Many people carry on and they live like devils. They speak like them. Why? They haven't been changed. You don't just see and hear Jesus.

You hear some other voices as well. Some other voices. We heard a lot of voices last night. Many, many, many. You can't imagine what can be in a man and in a woman. I want to tell you, you won't get places in any way with God.

Rivers of Living Water Through Faith

The streams of living water won't break forth out of your innermost being unless you believe as the Bible and as the scripture says. Now you test yourself. Even if I just spoke a third of what I wanted to speak, you test yourself.

Do you believe as the scripture says? That will determine where the rivers of Holy Spirit water will break forth out of your life.

You can't imagine what can be in a man and in a woman. Let us pray. You Lord got up and you cried. You cried out aloud on that day even though people wanted to kill you. You had to call out because you just couldn't keep quiet about this.

You had to call out that he who believes in you. As the scripture says, rivers of living water will flow out of their innermost being and the desert will bloom like a garden.