More About Jesus — Erlo Stegen

Let us pray. As Valenna Metro standards. Bless the reading of thy word, Lord.

Go see. We'll see some food the ways we like. Be in our midst. And speak to us. You've got to wait. I'm going to go to Miss Annette.

That thy name may be glorified. Because they come a lot.

Because in your lease me.

Seeking God With All Our Heart

I would like. This morning to ponder. About a certain word in the Bible. Which has touched me of late.

I'm standing up physical distress. Really no must be. She said, easy. L .T. Lippe. Bellini. L. L. N. T.

N. O. J. L. A. O. K. L. Z. N. Z. One. Z. One. And that is. That we seek God with all our heart. Oh, we look. We'll go to. One. I just. I'm. Sim. Uncle. Uncle. Gets. Increased. To. Song. Because. When you look. Into our lives. As Christians. You get the impression. That we don't seek. With all our heart.

Go. Move. Vega is. Pillows. A. To. Jane. Abando. Abbas. Visa. No. Goatee. Bah. My. Christ. To. We are. Who told. The. Goatee. Yeah. Boom. Chris. Talk. Us. With. The. I got. Little. Mood. To. Uncle. Uncle. I'm. Fooling. In. Please.

Okay. Okay. We get. So. Used. And. They're. Customed. To. Things. In. This. World. We don't. Shower. Is. Pillow. Go on. As. Is. Tolerance. Abando. Oh. Sunday. We go. To. Church. House. Thing. Guess. One. To. Bail. Who. Made. A good thing.

Yes. On. Twin. Because. It's. Our. Tradition. To. Go. To. A service. On. Sunday. Go. Back. We. See. Go. Late. To. Goatee. Woman. I. Beg. We. Saw. On. To. Yeah. And. Give. Okay. And. The. Go. Okay. And. Here. And. Allow. God. To. Speak. To. Me. Me.

It's. This. Okuna. Genova. Silla. Eagle. Loki. Sealing. Dale. Oh. Good. Thing. You. So. Goatee. You. Busy. Saga. You. Move. So. Uncle. Uncle. Lekuloma. Basing. Iban. And. Jebe. You. Use. A. That I come into the presence of the Lord expecting him to speak to my heart.

And that is my desire and my prayer for us every day. Goatee. That is. Who's. No. Sing. Abba. Now. Look. Bella. Now. Look. She's. David. In one of the Psalms. I think it's Psalm. Sixty. Nine. He says.

Because the zeal. I have for your house. Has eaten me up. Go. Um. Um. David. Um. Melo. Bag. Well. You know. I'm a. Boa. Okay. Mama. Pussy. I'm a. Shumai. Punish. Shaka. And. It's. Shaka. Lulu. You're. Sixty. Nine. What. Now. In. Coulomb. Coulomb. Coulomb. In. Just. Gay. You're. Putting. It. Cause. And. I'm. P. Lane. Ian. G. Da. I'm. Packard. To. Go. Now. We know. The Lord. Doesn't. Have. A house. Built. With. Bricks. It is. Built. By. You. And. By. Me. We. Call. Ourselves. Christians. And. Here. David. Says. Oh. That. Z. Is. Eating. Me. Up. That. That. That. The house. Of the Lord. May be. Complete. And. If. You. Are. Not. There. Something's. Missing. The house. Isn't. Complete. Know. Be. The. Jehovah. Pellet. No. I. Pellet. The. Sea. Way. Go. When. I woke. All up. When. The. When. You. There. Isn't. That. Zeal. To. Be. Together. With. The. Lord's. Children. To. Sit. At. The. Lord's. Feet. Or. That. The. Lord. Is. In. That. House. And. Fully. Satisfied. That. We. Come. Together. A. Waiting. God. To. Speak. To. Us. In. Such. A. Way. That. We'll. Be. Blessed. By. It. What. Time. One. Got. This. In. About. Bound. To. S. Is. The. Last. Time. Change. Say. To. Go. On. Naughty. My. Honest. Who. Say. Now. Only. For. The. Sunday. It is. My. Desire. And. I. Seek. God. With. All. My. Heart. That's. Why. I. Go. Into. A. Church. Service. That. I. Might. Find. When. A. Sunday. It. Should. Be. Like. That. Every. Day. In. Our. Christian. Life. But. It. Is. An. Opportunity. On. When. There's. A. Service. That. I. Have. A. Zeal. To. Go. There. That. I. Have. A. Longing. That. I. Want. To. Seek. God. With. All. My. Heart. Until. I. Find. Him. And. Is. My. Life. Is. That. Your. Life. Is. That. My. Life. That. We. Seek. God. With. All. Our. Heart. It. Doesn't. Suffice. That. I. Come. To. A. Church. Service. On. On. A. Sunday. One. Lazy. Buzz. I'm. To. To. All. End. Lean. Cool. Cool. All. Your. S. On. Twenty. Guess. On. To. Pay. I've. Got. To. Seek. Him. With. All. My. Heart. And. If. I. Go. On. A. Sunday. To. The. Service. It. Must. Be. My. Aim. And. Goal. Oh. Lord. Speak. To. My. Heart. Speak. To. Me. In. Such. A. Way. That. I. Might. Understand. Amen. Because. It's. Opportunity. Where. Can. Come. Together. With. The. Congregation. And. Ask. God. To. Come. Down. And. Speak. To. Us. In. Such. A. Way. That. The. Congregation. Will. Be. Blessed. By. It. That. Our. Aim. And. Goal. And. Our. Zeal. Every. Day. But. I'm. Speaking. For. The. Congregation. This. Morning. That. I've. Got. A. Longing. To. Be. In. Next. Church. Service. On. Next. Set. Sunday. Listening. To. It. To. What. God. Has. Got. To. Tell. The. Congregation. I. Want. To. Be. In. The. House. Of. The. Lord. And. If. I'm. Not. There. Is. Something. Missing. Where. God. Is. There. Where. God. Is. At. Home. Where. His. House. Is. That's. Where. I. Want. To. Be. That. I. Long. For. The. Fellowship. Of. My. Brethren. That. I. Will. Be. Together. With. My. Brothers. And. Sisters. And. The. Lord. Dwells. Amongst. Us. In. Us. That. Is. My. Desire. That's. Why. I. Go. To. A. Church. Service. That. I. May. Be. A. Partaker. Of. That. What. God. Is. Going. To. Tell. Us. This. Morning. You. Can't. Stay. Away. From. Service. That. I've. Got. To. Be. There. I've. Got. To. Be. There. There's. Something. Drawing. Pulling. Me. And. That. Is. The. Zeal. Which. Is. In. Me. To. Be. In. The. House. Of. The. Lord. And. When. Pondered. Over. This. I. Thought. Who. In. The. Bible. There. Are. So. Many. Whom. We. Can. Mention. Who. Had. This. Zeal. In. Their. Hearts. And. To. Mind. When. Pondered. Over. That. A. Certain. Woman. Came. To. My. Mind. And. That. Is. Rebecca. Rebecca. Listen. What. She. Said. When. She. Wanted. The. Blessing. For. Her. Children. Or. For. Her. Child. Something. Beautiful. That. When. She. Heard. That. Her. Husband. Is. Bless. His. Oldest. Son. She. Said. My. Son. Jacob. Must. Have it. Get. He. That. And. What. Did. She. Do. She. Came. To. Him. And. She. Said. This. Now. Therefore. My. Son. Obey. My. Voice. What. We. A. Don't. And. Am. Me. La. La. La. My. Top. Bella. E. P. Molami. According. To. What. I. Command. You. Got. Local. Enzo. Guyana. Here. Is. A. Woman. She. Wanted. The. Best. For. Her. Son. And. Question. Came. To. Me. Have. We. Got. Those. That. Tell. Sons. These. Were. Grown. Up. Young. People. That. Said. My. Son. Obey. My. Voice. According. To. What. I. Command. You. She. Commanded. Her. Son. She. Didn't. Say. You've. Got. To. Choose. Whether. You. Want. To. Obey. Or. Not. Shown. Always. Father. Don't. Tell. I. Couldn't. Don't. Tell. Her. You. Got. Choose. Whether. You. Want. To. Obey. Or. Not. I. Got. Mama. You. Enough. You. Are. Of. Age. You. Must. Decide. Whom. You. Want. To. Serve. Because. She. Had. A. Zeal. In. Her. Heart. She. Had. A. Goal. In. Her. Heart. And. She. Said. I. Command. You. Listen. To. My. Voice. Do. That. What. I. Tell. You. And. He. Had. To. Do. It. When. She. Heard. That. Her. Husband. Wanted. To. Bless. The. Oldest. She. Immediately. Said. That. Blessing. Must. Come. Upon. My. Youngest. And. She. Said. Obey. My. You've. Got. Obey. What. I. Tell. You. To. What. I. Command. You. To. Do. And. I. In. My. Heart. I. Said. Oh. May. God. Raise. Mothers. Again. That. Have. The. Authority. Over. Their. Sons. To. Say. Listen. To. Voice. And. Do. What. I. Command. You. To. Do. I. Want. To. Ask. You. Mothers. Who. Are. Here. This. Morning. Is. That. Your. Life. Is. That. What. You. Do. That. You. Speak. To. Your. Children. And. You. Command. Them. What. To. Do. And. They. Do. It. Oh. Are. You. One. Of. Those. That. Say. Well. You've. Got. To. Choose. Whom. Serve. But. Because. Of. Her. Blessing. She. Had. Heard. Her. Husband. Speaking. About. That. Blessing. She. Said. Jacob's. Got. To. Have. That. This. It's. To. Have. Such. Women. In. In. God's. Word. In. The. Bible. Now. I'm. Including. Everyone. This. Morning. Have. You. Come. For. That. Blessing. Or. Haven't. For. That. Blessing. Have. You. Come. Here. This. Morning. To. Receive. A. Special. Blessing. That. When. God. Speaks. When. God. Blesses. That. Am. Blessed. That. My. Life. Is. Blessed. And. That. My. Life. Change. Changes. Into. Something. Which. Will. Benefit. The. Church. Will. Benefit. My. Life. Was. To. Do. Any. Pillar. Who's. Who's. The. E. Banda. Long. Ghana.

Jacob’s Hunger for the Birthright and Blessing

And. Jacob. Was. Of. That. Time. He. Knew. That. His. Brother. His. Elder. Brother. Has. A. Birthright. And. He. Said. Wanted. He. Said. No matter what happens. I. Want. That. And. He. Waited. For. An. Opportunity. To. Be. Able. To. Get. That. Birthright.

And. Out. Hunting. Working. Came. Back. Tired. He. Said. Here. Is. My. Opportunity. He's. Hungry. He's. Thirsty. It. I'll. Tell him. I'll give him. Because I've. Prepared. Some food. I will give him. To eat.

But he's. Going. Pay it. With. The price. And Jacob said, you can have this to eat if you sell me your birthright. And to Esau it wasn't a problem. Because he was hungry, he was thirsty. And to him the birthright wasn't something precious.

And to him it was an easy thing to give it away. To him it wasn't important to have the birthright. As long as I am satisfied and get whatever I need, I am still the son of my father. And I still keep my mother.

I've got nothing to lose. You know, and many of us Christians are like that. If we look at our lives, aren't we like Esau? There is no zeal, there is no fire in us that says, Lord Jesus, I need thy blessing.

I'm satisfied, I've got everything. I am a Christian. I'm the son of Isaac. And what more do I need? I've got all the blessings I want. And I'm a Christian. Everything is well. I've got a father, a mother, I've got brother, I've got everything I need.

And many Christians are like that. That we are satisfied with that. There is no zeal in our lives to get more. No, I'm a Christian and I'm happy, I'm satisfied, the Lord has forgiven me my sins, and I'm satisfied.

What more do I need? I become a nominal Christian. With no fire in me. With no zeal in me. I just do what I'm supposed to do. I'm a hunter and I go out hunting and I find meat enough to eat. What more do I want?

What more do I need? I get up in the morning, I pray. And when I set a table, I pray. But there's no fire in me. There's no zeal in me. There's no longing for God to work above what we can ask and think of.

I'm not losing anything. I give away my birthright, I sell it to my brother. I've got everything I want, I've got a home, I'm fully satisfied. But Jacob was different. Jacob sought the blessing of God.

At birth already, Jacob clung to the heel of Esau. He didn't let go because he didn't want Esau to be born first. He wanted to be born first. There was a zeal in him. There was fire in his bones. All run the race but only one receives a prize.

Jacob was one of those who said, I'm not satisfied to run to be born. I want to be first. I want the birthright. I want the blessing of my father. And he obeyed his mother and he did what the mother told him.

We all know and we all have read the story of Jacob where he went to his dad and the meeting with his dad who was blind concerning the skin, concerning the smell of his clothes, what Jacob and Rebekah all did to gain that blessing.

And that is what I tried to aim at in the beginning to say, what for did I come here today? Just to do something because we are used to it, it's our tradition to go to a service and we sit there and we walk out and we miss the blessing.

It's that cry in my heart that I say, Oh Lord, if I go to be with my brothers and sisters, come down and work in our midst that we are blessed, that I am blessed, that my life will change. And that is the danger with us Christians.

We get used to things and there is no zeal anymore, there is no fire in us anymore. And that is the danger we Christians are in. There is nothing wrong with the preaching. There is nothing wrong with the Bible.

It has become part of us. But there is no life, there is no fire, there is no zeal anymore. David says, the zeal for your house has eaten me up, has consumed me. And that is important. That's why in Revelations 3 we read, hold fast what you have that no one take your crown away.

In Revelations 2 verse 10 we read, be faithful until death, I will give you the crown of life. Oh that we might be faithful to the Lord, that we hold on to that what we have, that we don't lose it. That there is only one desire in my heart, more, more, more about Jesus.

Becoming Like Christ and Showing Christ to Others

That I may be transformed into the image of Christ.

That I walk as Christ walked.

That I talk as Christ talked. That I have compassion as Christ had. That my whole being reflects the beauty of Jesus. Is that our desire? Is that what we have come for here this morning? That God will speak to me, that he will change my very nature.

Oh but no, we are satisfied, we just live, whether we get angry, whether we get irritable, whether we get unfriendly, oh we just live with it, we come into the meeting and we walk out with the same, nothing has changed.

Nothing has changed, the young people are still the same, the way they came in they walk out again. Nothing has changed, we haven't had the blessing of God, we haven't experienced a meeting with the living God.

You know, I have one desire in my heart. That whoever sees me, whoever speaks to me, might seek God with all his heart and say, that what that man has, I want as well. How many people have I been able to lead to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?

That is my desire, I'm an old man and yet I plead with the Lord every day and I say, Lord, oh let me not waste my time. May I show forth, may I be able to inspire, may I be able to have compassion that people might see Christ and turn to Christ.

There are so many in this world that don't know Christ. And God has given us that opportunity to present Christ to others. Whom do I present? What do people see in me? Do they see Christ? That is important to me.

What does my wife see in me? Does she see a hard and fast ruler? Or does she see Christ in me? What does your husband see in you? Does she see the glory of Jesus in you? Does he see the beauty of Jesus in you, dear sister?

What do the children see in us? What do we see in our children? Oh, I have a zeal in my heart to become like Jesus. That is why I want to seek God with all my heart until I find him. I can't be satisfied before I have received that blessing.

Oh, may God help us. May God be merciful to us. We have come here today that God should bless us. May that be so in our lives. And when Isaac sent Jacob to their home country to look for a wife of his kind, don't get married to one of these women where we live now.

Isaac’s Charge to Jacob and Esau’s Imitation

And when Esau heard that, let me read it.

Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and said to him, you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan Arim, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

May God Almighty bless you, make you fruitful and multiply you. So Isaac sent Jacob away and he went to Padan Arim, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Arim to take himself a wife from there. And as he blessed him, he gave him a charge saying, you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

And that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Padan Arim. Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mehaleth, the daughter of Ishmael, Abram's son, the sister of Nebuchadnezzar, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

And he took Abraham, the son of Abraham, and gave him a charge saying, you shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

And now he does exactly the same with the marriage. He had wives already, but when he heard what Isaac said to Jacob that he should go and take a wife from their kind, he said, oh, I best do something like that as well.

And he went and took a wife from his step-uncle. You see how the devil is. He brings Esau to that place where he imitates. He does as if he's fulfilling the law and the requirement of his father. But he takes a woman from the one Abraham had sent away.

He was family. It was Abraham's family. And it was Abram's son, Ishmael. And he goes and he sends Abram away with his mother. And he goes and he marries one of them. He makes believe as if everything is in order.

He's obeying his father. There's no repentance. There is no humbling. Nothing. He just carries on in his own way. No wonder that God hated Esau. It is so important that we have an ear to hear, to listen to that what God tells us.

To be able to humble ourselves. To be the least. That we hold on to that what God gave us. Or that we don't do our own thing. Although God had told Jacob to go back into the country which he had promised his father, Jacob.

And he obeyed God and he said, alright, I'll go back. With a lot of trepidation because he knew Esau was after him. He wanted to kill him. Esau couldn't humble himself when that happened with the blessing that he didn't get the blessing.

He wanted to kill Jacob. Instead of humbling himself and say, oh, I'm not worthy to have received the blessing. Do you see what happens to us? If we can't humble ourselves. If we can't be the least. If we can't accept God's ways.

If we fight for our rights. Hatred comes into our hearts. And here he wanted to kill his brother. Instead of humbling himself right in the beginning. He never did that. He fought for his rights. He fought for that which he thought belongs to him.

Pursuing Revival and More of Jesus

But Jacob was otherwise. His heart was only set upon one thing. More of Jesus. To fulfill that which he was looking for. He had a zeal. He had a desire. He sought God with all his heart. And he had only one goal and that was, I've got to get that.

I want that blessing. And I take every opportunity where God is, I want to be there. I want to be partaker of that what God has for me. That wherever God comes down and speaks, I want to be there. I want to have that blessing.

And that's why I'm going to a church service on Sunday expecting that blessing which God bestows upon his people. And wherever Christians meet together for a meeting, for a service, no matter what it is, I want to be there, I want to be part of it.

I remember in the beginning of the revival in 1966, there was only one desire. I want to be partaker of that revival. I want to receive that blessing. I want to be blessed. I need Jesus in my heart. And everything fell away.

We were people that did a lot of sport. There were many things which were so important to us. But there was that in our heart, we want more of Jesus. And all those things became strangely dim. They had no meaning to us anymore.

They weren't important to us anymore. We had one desire, oh Lord, we need that blessing. We want revival. Or better said, I want revival. I didn't have time for my wife. My wife didn't have time for me.

We didn't have time for our children or whatever. We didn't have time for the business. We had one thing in mind, and that was we're seeking revival. We're seeking the blessing of God. And I asked myself that question, is it still like that today?

Is that fire still burning? Is that zeal still in my life? Where everything else is not important anymore to me. Oh, but the fellowship with Jesus, that he can lead and guide me, that I'm obedient when he speaks, that I obey him.

The zeal for your house has eaten me up. I don't even know whether that's proper English, but that's how it stands in the Bible.

I don't even know whether that's proper English, but that's how it stands in the Bible.

Seeking God, the Lost Sheep, and Final Exhortation

And I seek thee with all my heart. The Lord looks at our heart, not at what we are doing or what we are. He looks at our heart. He wants to see whether our heart is in it or not. Are we seeking God with all our heart?

Young people, whom are you seeking? Are you seeking God with all your heart?

Are you seeking God with all your heart?

And we, old people, are we seeking God with all our heart? Is that our prime aim? Is that our life? To seek God with all our heart. And the Lord said there were 99 sheep. One was missing. It was supposed to be a hundred, but there's only 99.

And the Lord left the 99 and he went to look for the one that is lost. And he looked for that lost one until he found it. Is that my life? May God help us that we'll have that same heart as he had. Let us pray.

Lord, I want to thank thee for speaking to my heart. And I hope that it spoke to many others here this morning. That we won't be an Esau, but that we'll be a Jacob, who sought the birthright, who sought the blessing, who sought the right wife.

May God be merciful to the generation that follows us, old people, that they will not be an Esau, but a Jacob, who sought the blessing, who sought the right wife.

And may God be merciful to the generation that follows us, old people, that they will seek thee with all their heart. That it won't be a tradition which they follow, but that it'll be something which they experience.

Revive thy work, O Lord. Amen.