Pentecost and Being Led by the Spirit — Erlo Stegen

Oh, so far away. You'll have to come here, right here. Can you come? This must be your day today. This is his engagement day. He's getting engaged today. But he's getting engaged to Sophie who is in France.

Now, the family have said it's difficult to come both on the engagement and on the wedding day. So he said, no problem, we'll have the engagement for him here and they can hold the engagement for her there.

But it's not just one engagement, there's another one too. We're going to pray but before we do, today is also a great day. His parents have been here at Kwasi Zabantu with Volta and his sister. But Victor and his brother weren't here.

But the family have been praying, asking the Lord to visit their two sons who weren't here. That's the oldest brother, Obot. But the Lord has worked and so Victor has been able to come here. Some time now and he said that he feels the calling to be here.

And so he's here together with us. Now, Sophie. Now, she had been the wife of Neil Vitov. Who passed away. Very young. And they had just a single child, very small still. Now, when it was said that Sophie would get engaged overseas, Sophie requested that Uncle Friedel should tell the little boy that he's getting a new father.

That was before the announcement, the public announcement of their engagement. And when my older brother spoke to him, asking, would you like a new father? He jumped up with joy, clapping his hands. Because he's staying there with his grandfather.

Who is trying to take the place of the father. But you see a child. The gap it feels in its heart to have a father. There is great suffering in this world because of children being born illegitimately and growing up without a father.

And even if there are the grandparents, nevertheless the child feels the gap of a father. When I was going to take a service, a little child ran up to me before the service and embraced me. Had always avoided me, but that day the child ran up to me and embraced me.

But I'm so glad that that child now is getting a new father. We're glad with the parents. And for the my son-in-law voter, this is a great day today. Now she's not here. I thought, should I get another girl to stand proxy here?

But then I thought, no, no. Remembering we in Africa, now overseas it has been the practice that if the girl is in another country when he's getting engaged, that they'll take a girl like the sister or someone else to stand proxy for her.

But I thought, no, we in Africa and I don't know how to be received here. So I am standing proxy for his betrothed. Thank you so much, the Lord bless you. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for your child.

Thank you for reaching him while he was afar and won his heart over. You heard the cry of his parents and all the family. And we together with them. What a great thing, Lord, if a person hears your voice and responds to follow you.

Amen. Now, Victor has been working in a job with the media, outside media similar to what you see here. But then he felt the call of the Lord. He was earning a big salary there to come here. Thank you so much.

May the Lord bless you. I'd like to read today and talk about something wonderful. To meet with and to walk with the Holy Spirit. Yesterday, pondering upon the fact that today is Pentecost celebration, that I speak about the Holy Spirit, Pentecost.

Pentecost, Abraham, and the Spirit-Led Life

But then remembering that it was to be an engagement today. I thought, let me bring the two together. Pentecost and engagement. I'm going to speak about the whole chapter in Genesis. Genesis 24. But because of time, I won't read the whole chapter.

But rather just highlight some verses as I speak. And take this matter out of the chapter. This is regarding Abraham. Abraham, known as the father of the believers. All believers have him as their father.

There is so much we can learn from him. No Isaac, no Jacob. We are told that they'll come from the east and the west. And sit at the tables together with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in heaven. But what is shocking is that that verse goes on to say, but the children of the kingdom will be cast out.

Every child of God should test and examine himself to make sure that he's not countered with those who are outcasts from the kingdom. Abraham was 75 years old. When God gave him a promise. Saying to him, leave the land of your forefathers.

He was 75 years old. Leave with your wife. And he left everything. He is the father of all believers. We can learn so much from him that if we follow Jesus, we must leave everything else behind. But his father said, Abraham, I want to go with you.

He should have responded, father, God told me I should go. But his father loved him and the son respected and honoured his father. And so he allowed his father to follow with him. He was 75 years old.

Then... He was promised that though he was 75 years old and had no children, his offspring would be as many as the stars in heaven. Then his father... Suggested to him, take Lot along as the nephew, you have no children from your wife Sarah, take her along, then you will have a child.

Do you see? So easy that a mistake is made. Lot was a very nice person and he followed. And he showed honour to his father. It was difficult for Abraham to say to his father, stay behind. So he went with him and with Lot.

They travelled as far as Haran. And when they were there, God stopped speaking to Abraham. Until his father died there. When his father had passed away, God said, Abraham, now you can continue. You see, when God calls us, we shouldn't take anything along.

Only take what God says you should take. Jesus said, if any man... If any man says he wants to be my disciple, but he takes along his father and mother or relatives, he cannot be my disciple. It will not work, we must stand on God's word.

Then after 10 years there, Abraham was very old. 100 years old. God said again, because he spoke again, Abraham, I will bless your offspring. Abraham was a very patient man, he could wait. God had said, I will bless your offspring, take Sarah with you.

But it took 25 years until his son Isaac was born. And even when Isaac was born, it was still to be 40 years later until Isaac would marry Rebekah. He waited many years. 25 years until Isaac was born, and then another 40 until Isaac married.

He was gifted in being patient, being able to wait. Now when Abraham was very old, many years had passed. God having blessed Abraham in many different ways, and when Isaac was 40 years old, Abraham called his chief servant, saying, I want you to go to the land from whence I come to seek a wife.

Abraham Sends His Servant for Isaac’s Bride

A wife for my son. At that time, the parents were wanting a wife for the son. And at that time, the parents, it was the tradition that the parents chose somebody. It was an arranged marriage by the parents to choose.

Then he said to his servant, I want you to go to the land of my father's to seek a wife for Isaac. Go and fetch her. His chief servant said, My father? If she refuses to come along with me, should I then fetch your son and take him to her?

He said, No, my chief servant. I will never allow that. I'll never take my son to the place from which I come. I want you to make a vow before Almighty God, putting your hand under my thigh as a sign of that vow that you will never take him back.

And do not take a girl from the nations that surround us. Sarah made a mistake. She said, Look, we're both old. She told her husband, Abraham, we're both old now. We don't have a child. Take my servant, Tess.

You take her and we need a child from her. Sarah's mistake was marrying off her servant to Abraham from Egypt. That deed is a curse till today. For their offspring have been the enemies of the Jews till today.

They have lived close by, like they're in Gaza, and they remain the enemies of Israel. We must be very careful not to follow our own thoughts and minds, because if we make up our own plans, there will be a curse upon it.

God said, call him Ishmael. And that name, Ishmael, refers to a mule or a donkey. If a donkey and a horse mate, the result is a mule, and a mule can be insane. It does wild things. It will bite even the person that leads it.

Look at the nation of Muslims today, and how the people who are Islamic, what they are like, offspring of Ishmael. After that, God blessed Abraham, and Isaac was born to Sarah. The nation of Muslims today, and the nation of Israel, is like a mule, and Ishmael is like a donkey, and Isaac is like a horse.

The Ishmaelites and those from Isaac, his offspring, are at war until today. They say, it is Ishmael that should be the heir, he's the older one. But Abraham had never said that he should be the heir.

Abraham teaches us that we should not marry an unbeliever, a person from outside, the offspring of that, the result is bad. But let's continue, for this is a very wide and broad matter. The chief servant promised and said he will do so.

Eliezer Seeks God’s Guidance at the Well

Eliezer said he will do as he was told, he took ten camels, he took gold and many other treasures along, and rings, and until he got there, he didn't know the people from there. It was his first time, and he wondered, where will I find a girl worthy of the son of my Lord?

And he arrived at a village, at a well outside where there was a pathway going by. When he got there, and it was, the sun was beginning to go down, he prayed, oh God, how will I find a girl who will become the wife of Isaac, the son of my master?

How amazing, God had said, I know Abraham. To have the authority to tell his household, and they will listen and obey. In the olden days, they didn't just speak about children. The household included not just the children, but all those who were working there too.

All those who worked for him were in his family, part of his family, and here was Eliezer. He doesn't tell him which girl, if you were the one chosen to go and seek a wife for your master, what would you do?

Eliezer had been taught by Abraham, and he prayed, when he got there, he knelt and prayed earnestly. Saying, oh God, how will I find a girl to be the wife of my master's son? I don't know what she'll be like.

I don't know who to choose, but I ask you, almighty God, to help me that I will meet the right one. While still praying, before he had finished his prayer, a girl arrived. It was Rebecca. The servant prayed, oh God, here is this girl, I don't know who she is, where she's going to, where she comes from, but I ask you for a sign.

That when she has drawn water, I'm going to ask her, Lord, whether she can give me water to drink. And having given me to drink, oh God, I ask that she will then say, I want to give water to your camels too.

And then Eliezer went to the girl who had drawn her water and said, please give me to drink. She put down her bucket in front of him with great respect, saying, oh my master, drink. And when you've drunk, I will give all your camels to drink.

In his heart, he rejoiced in his heart, because here was his prayer answered so soon. Now a camel has got its own water tank, it doesn't just drink a cup of tea, it drinks gallons, copious amounts of water.

And it stores it in its own water tank, so to say, so that it can cross deserts. And it is no small thing for Rebecca to have committed herself to give water to all these ten camels. And Abraham's servant then sat watching to see whether this which he had prayed would be fulfilled.

She gave water to the first camel, then the second, the third, till all ten camels had water to drink. Having finished, he went to put a ring on her, gave her bangles of gold, and gave her ring. I don't know whether it was for the ear or those.

Those were the customs of those days. He gave more and more, and he knelt down on his knees with his head bowed, thanking God for having heard him. After all that, she ran home to tell her mother what she had experienced.

When she had said all that, Laban, her brother, then ran out to that well. Rebecca went to Laban, her brother, and Laban had overheard what she had told the mother. Now Laban then, running out to that well outside the village, found that the chief servant was standing there outside next to the well with all his camels.

He blessed him and said, Come, we will host you. We have food aplenty, enough straw for your camels. Eliezer, I remember, had his own entourage of people who were helping him, and they all went there to the well, and they were taken in.

His room was prepared, all the rooms and everything for the animals, and he could stay in the home. Eliezer said, I haven't yet slept. I come from afar, from my master Abraham. I come from afar, from my master Abraham.

I come from afar, from my master Abraham. And God has blessed us with all manner of blessing and treasure and wealth, gold and silver, has the Lord blessed my master. And he has sent me to his relatives.

I didn't know what to do, but I prayed there at the well. And before I finished praying, your daughter arrived. I went to her, I prayed before the Lord, if it is her, then do this miracle, this sign, and God did it.

And now I'm with you. God has brought about exactly what he sent me to do. God Almighty has heard the prayer of my master, and then he offloaded his treasures, his many different things, and gave it for Rebecca.

Giving to the mother, the father, the brother, Laban, taking out all these different treasures and giving it to them. Saying, I thank God, for he has heard my prayer. Do you see how marvelous it is if a person is one with God?

Being One With God and Following His Leading

Even if you don't know what to do, God can lead you on the real and proper path. Then he said, I ask now, that tomorrow morning, that I am allowed to go back to my master. The mother and sisters and brothers said, what, so quickly?

Wouldn't you stay at least ten days? And then go? He said, I cannot. For my master waits for me. He wants to hear, to see what I'm coming with and to hear. He said, I cannot. They said, it's difficult for us to release her so quickly.

He said, I have no choice in the matter. Do you see what a faithful person is like? Here is a servant, a headman who was true. He had prayed in his heart, oh God, give me success. And then the family called Rebecca and said, let's ask her what her opinion is.

She didn't listen to her family. Instead she said, I will go with you tomorrow morning. What a marvelous story. Do you see what believers are like? Those who are led by the Holy Spirit? That's why I say, though it is Pentecost Sunday, this comes together exactly with this whole matter.

The Holy Spirit Leads the Church as the Bride of Christ

The coming down of the Holy Spirit and coming into and filling his children and leading them. And so she agreed. They agreed. And they went with her and some other girls to accompany her to their land.

And said, may God bless you, Rebecca. And may your offspring be like the stars of heaven, conquering all enemies forever. They traveled then for many days. When they got then to Abraham's land, they were on a plateau quite far off.

Rebecca saw a person far off and asked, who is that person I see over there? And the reply was, he is the son of my master. He is Isaac. Do you see the story of Rebecca? If you take this matter and read in it the church of Jesus who is the bride of Jesus, you will be greatly blessed to see the parallel.

For this is all an illustration of the church of Jesus. And so it was said to her, you see that one that you have asked about, he is the son of my master. Rebecca and all those who were with her went down and knelt.

And what was Isaac doing? The Bible says that it was at the going down of the sun where he went out to pray. He was busy praying. Whilst in prayer, asking God for his leading that God's will would come about that day.

They then got on to their animals and they went to him. She went down and knelt before Isaac. And then Eliezer then ushered them all into the home of the mother for she had passed away by then. And it says, verse 62, 63.

Isaac lifted up his head and his eyes and saw the camels coming. And Rebecca lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. And said to the servant, who is that man walking in the field to meet us?

The servant said, it's my master. She took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah's mother and took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her.

So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You see this matter of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. They who sit at the tables in heaven with those who come from the east and from the west.

From all over who are led by the Holy Spirit. It is so sad when you see people marrying, following the lust of the flesh, the enticement of the eyes, but blessed are those who are led by God. That's why you find so many divorces.

So much friction like cat and dog. But if God has brought them together, for God has said, that which is joined by God, let no man cut asunder. For there will be blessing. So brethren, the day of Pentecost.

Be Filled and Led by the Holy Spirit

Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be led by him. Now you've seen what being led by the Holy Spirit means. The wonderful things. Whether you're young or old, be led by the Holy Spirit. Even if the years have gone by, then be like Abraham.

Don't push for your own way, rather be led by the Holy Spirit. And God will bless you. Shall we pray? Thank you Lord that we've heard of these wonders of people who were led by your Holy Spirit. And one day Lord, we want to be seated together with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in heaven, united.

Lord may we be led like him, so that we would indeed be like the Father of all believers. And this we ask, O Lord, that the fellowship of the Holy Spirit would be with us all. Amen.