God Sees — Erlo Stegen

The Gospel as Light and Salt

The word says, you are the God who sees and I have seen. I'm going to ask you to pay special attention as you listen very carefully. Nothing in this world can be compared to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the light. It is the salt. If there is no light, there is pitch darkness. If there is no salt, the food isn't seasoned. You need just a little bit of salt in the food and the seasoning is tasted and appreciated by all.

Watching and Praying for Spiritual Life

I was asked these days by somebody as to what I should do to remain spiritually alive. Let me explain to you tonight about what you need to do. If you've taken the step of giving your life to the Lord Jesus, you've confessed your sins, in other words, you've made that decision.

Now, you must watch and pray that Satan doesn't get you. Watch that Satan finds no room in your life through sin. A certain congregation in Malawi, it had been really blessed and their pastor was a man who really preached the gospel.

But he was disturbed as he noticed the dwindling numbers in his church on Sundays. There was no interest. The members were not going forward. There were 40 or 50 every Sunday. If a child is born and doesn't grow, things have gone wrong.

There's something unhealthy about the child and the church. If it stands still and doesn't grow, there is something wrong and unhealthy with it. This preacher then gathered his members together. He said, brethren, I'm disturbed by our lack of growth.

Look at the empty benches. Then he said, how about us meeting every Sunday morning early to pray for the congregation? That is what they did. Time went on and things began to move in the church. People would come.

Until the church was packed full, there wasn't any more space. They praised God for His working, but from a certain Sunday they began to notice that there were gaps again in the congregation. The next Sunday, more gaps.

The next Sunday, ever decreasing numbers. One of the elders said, preacher, can't we meet once a week to pray? Instead of as had been arranged before, they would get up every morning at five and he said, we get tired, we have to go to work.

The preacher said, instead of meeting just once a week, let's meet every day. Let's seek fervently the Lord in prayer because we have gaps in the church. Our members are falling asleep. That elder was disappointed because the pastor said we cannot slacken in prayer.

So they began to pray on a daily basis. After just two or three days, the very elder who had asked them to slacken in prayer said, brethren and pastor, there is something which I have fallen into. My neighbor had become diseased.

He passed away, but just before his death, he called him and said, brother, because you are a believer and you are upright in the Lord, I fully trust you. I have a lot of livestock, goats, sheep and cattle.

And as you can see, I'm about to die. My wife and children will be orphaned, but I don't want them to be distressed. So brother, help me because there is a lot of cattle theft around. When my wife is a widow and my children are orphaned, the neighbors will take advantage and start stealing and then leave my family in financial distress.

So I want you to help me. Wouldn't you please, as soon as I pass away, take all my livestock and sell it? My wife is unsophisticated with regards to finances. I want you, brother, to see to it. So sell all the livestock, put the money in the bank and let them live off the interest.

And the elder said, no problem, I'll do it for you. And indeed, the man passed away, he was buried. The church elder then revealed the instructions of the deceased husband and father and said, he's instructed me to sell all the livestock, to put the money in the bank where no robbers can get at it.

That's what he did. He sold the cattle and that. He went to the bank in order to put the money into an account. But on the way, with the lump sum of money,.

He said, no problem, I'll do it for you.

He thought to himself, well, look, I've worked so hard to sell all this and to do all the financial arrangements. I deserve a slice. So nobody will notice and they won't suffer anything if I just take a little bit.

And it was that very Sunday when the congregation began to declare through the sin of one person who was in the church. Yes. He fell under conviction of sin. As he was on his knees with the others in the prayer meeting, he cried out aloud for mercy from God and from the congregation, saying, I am the guilty party.

I'm the one who has stolen. I've been entrusted with this money. He had said I would look after it, but I had taken a slice. I was a thief. They prayed for him that the Lord would forgive him. He also went to the widow and the children and said, I confess what I've done.

I stole and I'm returning all the money which I had stolen. The following Sunday, the congregation was full of people. You see, young people, how the Holy Spirit works. If you are busy with sin, giving room to the devil in your life, don't expect the Lord to work in your denomination and your congregation or in your life.

Revival Through Confession and Reconciliation

In 1966, as we sought God earnestly, pleading and crying to God, we confessed our sin.

We were reconciled.

Revival began. God poured out His Holy Spirit, which continues till today. We would go around holding services. Starting at Mapumulo, we would hold services on local farms. One day, we were due to begin the service at two or one in the afternoon, but the people had arrived from six in the morning already.

One day, we arrived at that place and we found an Indian lady with her little child. They said, no, she insists that she wants to speak to you. So I went to her. She said, Pastor, I gave birth to this child in very painful circumstances.

The head had been deformed as she gave birth and it had an elongated abnormal shape. The doctors said that this child is deformed and brain damaged and it's irreversibly damaged. She said, the child is sixteen now.

It cannot speak. Deformed. Abnormal. She said, just recently, some Zulus came to me and one Zulu man said, the Lord has begun working at Mapumulo. If only you'll take your child there, that child will be healed.

But when I was about to take the child, I got the news that you were going to come to this farm to preach. And I decided I'd go with my child. She said, when I heard from these black people that the Living God has poured out His Spirit there and there are people who serve the Living God, I made the decision right there and then that this is the God whom I will serve.

And she said, at the very instant that I made that decision, right there and then my child began to speak.

She said, the Lord has begun working at Mapumulo. If only you'll take your child there, that child will be healed. But when I was about to take the child, I got the news that you were going to come to this farm to preach.

If only you'll take your child there, that child will be healed.

The Gospel as the Power of God

Do you understand now why I say that the gospel is incomparable? The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it.

In primitive days and olden days in Europe, they also lived in very primitive lifestyles, but the gospel reached them. Missionaries came and people got converted. Even the Germanic people were dressed in skins.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it. But with immorality, drinking, smoking and things like that, you can make no progress. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it.

The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul said, is the power of God and I'm not ashamed of it. That is how a nation is built up. The end of stealing, stop with lies. People are made into upright, honest people and then the whole nation benefits and is built up.

Confession, Judgment, and the God Who Sees

The gospel is able to help a person. When we part, remember that you need to watch and pray that Satan would find no room. I remember here at KwaSisabantu when we had just begun. A man came, an old man.

He had been a witch doctor using magic potions. When he was here, he asked for prayer. I said, well in James 5 .16 when it speaks about prayer for healing, it says, confess your sins one to another that you may be healed.

Pray for one another. But it was difficult for him to confess. One day as we were praying for people, I heard a big noise and I ran there. I found a whole crowd in the hospital ward there, crowding around this place.

The man's wife was already out in the passage and pleaded with me saying, please pastor stop him. I don't know what people think of me. I used to defend him but now he's admitting all these things. In the bedroom, there was this old man lying on the bed with his legs astride.

It looked like his eyes were bulging out of his head. He was saying, woe to me, woe to me for the blood cries out. I had murdered that person and I killed that person. I did it in secret. I thought nobody saw me.

But now I understand that the true and faithful witness was there. He was present when I did it, when I used black magic on these people. Jesus Christ is the true and faithful witness. He is the witness that is true.

He was like in a vice grip with invisible hands squeezing him. Remember, please no persons going in and out of the service. He said, woe is me. What will become of me? I thought it was all in secret. I thought that nobody saw me.

But Jesus tells me now that he was there. He saw me. And after that he began to admit all his promiscuity. The girls that he had robbed of their virginity. And I told all the children to get out of that room.

I didn't want them to hear these terrible things. But now I'm telling you, it's because you live in these shameful things too. One finds now girls who aren't even in puberty. They already are pregnant.

They already have a little baby. One wonders what will happen. Little children with AIDS, they are dying. They are dying. You know in your home area how people are dying. Things are depraved. And girls and boys are dying.

And you young people are dying at a faster rate than we elderly. There are some areas where the families can't even afford coffins and they are buying from a company which produces plastic bags and they are just burying them in that.

Repentance Before Death

Now back to the Lord.

Now back to this old man. Here he was crying out by name the girls who he had spoiled, whom he had deflowered. And he was saying the true and faithful witness, the judge of judges was there. You too. You are before the judge of judges.

When your sins will come to light. Afterwards he began to cry out, it was I who had stolen that milk or who had milked that person's cow. God sees every detail of your life. No sin is hidden from his eyes.

Even if you have forgotten them, he will remind you. But that old man died in that state crying out, woe is me. I was chatting to some today and we were discussing a very painful matter. Somebody I had known as a Christian, they said no that person has died a long time ago.

Maybe some of you would know him. When he died. He asked that the preacher would be brought and that certain people would be brought to him so that he could be reconciled. He was reconciled with them before he died.

But the children didn't do it. They didn't go and fetch them. And he died in that state. The Bible says seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. If you despise your opportunity, it could be that in death though you cry out, it's useless and the gates of heaven are closed.

If you despise your opportunity, it could be that in death though you cry out, it's useless and the gates of heaven are closed.

In the days of Noah, the people mocked and ridiculed Noah and his family as they built the ark. And they continued with their mockery for a long time till the storm came and the rains came. Then they began to knock at the door and say, Noah, open for us, but it was too late.

Daily Scripture, Prayer, and Fellowship

If you have heard the word of the Lord and been convicted and you've made your decision for the Lord, make a note of that. Even write it in your Bible. Remember the day. When you go home, live for the Lord.

Tell your people immediately that you've turned your life over to God. Now something else. Something else for growth. Read your Bible. Have your quiet time. Seek the Lord in a very personal, intimate way in reading the word and in prayer.

Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone. Every day. Take the Bible.

And before you do anything, take the word of God and prayerfully open it, asking the Lord to speak to you. Have that quiet time with God before you go out to work. And at night, before you go to sleep, grab an opportunity with the word and snatch opportunities even the day.

Look at smokers, how they sneak opportunities to have a puff. Well, your soul needs food. Here is the food of the soul. Don't part from the word of God. Then also. Then also. Then also, seek fellowship with those who are surrendered to the Lord.

Seek their company. Part company with those who are bad friends. Seek those that you can have intimate fellowship with in prayer and reading the word together. If you take a red hot coal and you isolate it, it quickly loses its heat.

But if you put that coal with others and more, they only generate more heat together. So too you need to have fellowship with God's people. Then also, you young men, you young ladies, seek to witness of the gospel.

Holiness, Sexual Morality, and Christian Witness

Seek to preach and propagate the word all over. Winning other souls. Visiting other people. Avoiding bad company. You get some boys who use an excuse for playing around and flirting with girls saying we are going to have fellowship.

They are not having fellowship, they are flirting. Then you sometimes find that there is even sexual perversion among boys. There is homosexuality and you avoid any such bad company. Seek those who know the Lord.

Here at the mission, we practice apartheid. Not racial apartheid, but between girls and boys. You watch out for those who are trying to chat up the opposite sex. They are cheap. In their promiscuity, they seek an early death.

They bring their tombstone closer. Nations of Africa, stand up, arise and depart from evil and bring forth light. Let your homes be a bright outshining, not a nest of the devil, but let it be seen that this is where the Lord resides.

Bring the gospel to your schools, your churches, your homes. Stop completely with sleeping around. Let there be an utter stop to promiscuity. Animals do that, not living, healthy human beings. The nation where there are just children who it's not known who the fathers are, well, that nation is a fallen nation.

And we can't progress. We can't go anywhere. And we are so clever in wickedness, but foolish regarding righteousness.

But not so with you who have surrendered to the Lord.

But not so with you who have surrendered to the Lord. Let your life be a bright outshining. Go home fully in the light and then spread the gospel. You are welcome to write to us. We would love to receive letters from you and hearing how your progress is and how things are going with you.

Witnessing to Every People and Resisting Rival Messages

Be a light, be a witness to the nations and all the different types of people and cultures around you, to the Indian people, to the white people, to the Muslims, to whoever it is. Don't be caught up in the same.

And don't wear promiscuous clothing that only arouses lusts in the opposite sex. Boys who are attracted to you when you dress promiscuously, they are worth nothing, they are cheap, they are just flies attracted to you.

Don't cry when you get raped and destroyed by them. These days? These days? I was behind two people and I wasn't sure are they male or female, is this girl and boy. Don't be like that, don't be like those who try and be effeminate.

There are some boys who actually try and cross dress.

There are some who are transsexuals.

They cross dress and pretend to be girls, come for prayer if you are troubled by that.

You find that even homosexuals get married now.

Where a boy will arrive with another boy. That shows utter depravity. You have fallen like Lucifer fell. Come to the Lord Jesus, I invite you to come to him. Come and seek counselling that you will be prayed for, that you will get rid of this terrible thing.

So young people go home and be a witness, be a light. Win others to the Lord. Next time when we have the July Youth Conference bring others along. Let the gospel consume every other power. Don't be consumed but rather let the power of this gospel destroy other things.

And show its superiority in being victorious over other things. Where are the young people, the young girls and the boys will go out and win others. If you go to university, remember to go with the Lord.

Remember that you have praying parents and we also pray for you. Let the gospel be victorious, let its victory be shown. Remember if you do not spread the gospel there are others who will spread their message like the Muslims.

You have seen in that film these days what they are busy with. Let's bow and pray. We can stand to our feet as we pray. We ask you Lord that you would work by your Holy Spirit in the heart of each and every one.

Increase the knowledge of you.

That your people would part from Satan and live for you. Thank you for bringing us the gospel. This gospel which is the power of God to save people is able to wash a person from their sins. Work Lord in those who have surrendered their lives to you that they would go being a light and truly living for you.

Reading the Bible daily. Having their quiet time in prayer. Being able to win others and evangelizing. Work Lord in a marvelous way. That Africa might repent and that it might be the source of spreading this living gospel to the whole world.

Amen.