Dead to Sin; Alive to God — Erlo Stegen

The Great Commission and the Meaning of Baptism

We read from Mark 16, from verse 15. And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

And these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues. They will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them.

They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to meet like this at this baptism service. We ask you to be with us now and to bless the reading of thy word.

Amen. Today we have a baptism service. Those who get baptized should be those who are truly discerning. For what is lived by a person is seen and written in books and known in the world and in heaven.

And what he testifies by being baptized before people is recorded.

The person's witness by baptism is recorded there. If a person is declaring lies, because he is infatuated with the words baptism, with the word baptism, that one is only bringing a curse upon himself and demons, especially in this time.

One man of God said, if a person undergoes baptism and then doesn't live true to that statement, his hell will be multiplied. There will be a double hell. That was a Lutheran preacher who would sprinkle children.

He said, if you have undergone infant baptism, the sprinkling of water then, and you don't live a life that is true to that baptism, you will have a double hell. It is a terrible thing that Satan puts his dirty foot into holy things.

People like baptism. But if you enter into it unfitting for it, you must be a washed person, cleansed, and one without rebuke, not that there is something held against you.

What is the right word for it? Without blame, or nobody can point a finger. Blameless.

Blameless. It hurts me to see so many people making a trivial matter of Christianity. They treat it as if it was just a light matter. It's a superficial thing for them. And they do not reflect the fact that they are a holy temple of God's.

Repentance, Holiness, and Separation from the World

Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't just go and preach to the pagan. Raw heathen who truly repent. And it's a thorough break with the old life. Instead of Christians who hear so much preaching but they remain the same.

If you think back of yesterday's sermon where we mentioned that there must be a distinguished difference between the Christian and the world. Not that they run after the things of the world. Not that they run after TV fashions.

But there is a marked difference. Sometimes I wonder if I should just be so forthright that I don't even know what I'm talking about. If I mention people by name and say, you, by this name, come to the front.

You dress in this way. You come to church regularly like this. Is this appropriate? Maybe that would shock you out of your sleep because you're fast asleep. This is an evil age on earth. Now I say, these days I say a person who gets baptized shouldn't be one who's recently got converted.

The Evidence Required Before Baptism

Without there being the evidence of victory. But in the Bible, they got saved and were baptized immediately. Without the necessity of inspecting their lives, now it has become necessary for a person to show forth by their life that they've got converted.

And I ask God, why? Why is it that of old they would get converted and immediately could get baptized, but now you don't do it? Now a person has to show their life. Because people also pretend and lie.

And that kills the church of Jesus Christ.

And I ask God, why is it that of old they would get converted and immediately could get baptized, but now you don't do it?

The Carpenter Who Promised to Quit Smoking

Yesterday at the wedding, I told the audience about a story that Ms. Newlands recently told the school children about a carpenter who was busy cutting wood when accidentally he suddenly sliced off the fingers of his right hand.

And just his thumb was left out. A very commonist type of hand, I would say, where everything must be with sameness, absolutely equal, and a hand with different lengths of finger doesn't fit into their picture.

Sameness is never possible. Aren't there thick people and thin people, tall people, short people?

I ask God, why is it that of old they would get converted and immediately could get baptized, but now you don't do it? And I ask God, why is it that of old they would get converted and immediately could get baptized, but now you don't do it?

I ask God, why is it that of old they would get converted and immediately could get baptized, but now you don't do it?

The surgeon who was to re-suture his fingers was as young as the carpenter was. The saw had been very sharp and had made a very clean cut of his fingers. He pleaded with the doctor, please help me, please do something for me because I need my right hand, I'm a working man, I have a wife and children, two little children, I need to provide for them.

That young doctor was touched. He cross-questioned him and examined him thoroughly with x-rays and that. He asked lifestyle questions like, do you drink, do you smoke? He said, yes, I do smoke. He said, well, then we cannot re-suture your fingers if you are a smoker.

The man instantly pulled out his packet of cigarettes, threw it on the floor and said, doctor, I vow that I'll never smoke again. That young doctor was deeply stirred. He phoned his chief surgeon. He said to him on the phone, look, I'm in a very difficult situation.

I'm in a very difficult situation. I'm in a very difficult situation. I'm in a very difficult position. Here is a man, he's got a clean cut, lost his four fingers. The four finger looks like it might not be recoverable, but perhaps the others will be.

He asked the young surgeon, does he smoke? He said, yes, but he has promised never to ever smoke another cigarette.

He said, well, then we cannot re-suture your fingers if you are a smoker. He said, well, then we cannot re-suture your fingers if you are a smoker. He said, well, then we cannot re-suture your fingers if you are a smoker.

He said, well, then we cannot re-suture your fingers if you are a smoker.

Broken Promises and the Test of Genuine Repentance

We all seem to be schizophrenics. That's the sickness Nebuchadnezzar suffered of. I don't know why. Do we drink too much tea with too much sugar? Do we eat too many sweets or chocolates? Or were we spoiled as children already and we got too many things, too good clothing?

Maybe if we would have walked around in cheaper clothes, we would have been of a better character. I'm asking the question, why? Why? Why? I said with baptism, you can't baptize a man immediately because you can't believe what he says.

I said with baptism, you can't baptize a man immediately because you can't believe what he says. I said with baptism, you can't baptize a man immediately because you can't believe what he says.

I said with baptism, you can't baptize a man immediately because you can't believe what he says.

They speak one word and they keep it. And I know many men who play the part of a woman who are dictionaries.

They speak one word and they keep it. And I know many men who play the part of a woman who are dictionaries. You hear me? It's a pity if you are called male simply because you're trousered. You should be called a man because you are masculine, you are male, truly man.

You hear me? It's a pity if you are called male simply because you are trousered. You should be called a man because you are masculine, you are male, truly man.

They were very hard for the younger surgeon because he said, I know them all. Even if they vow not to smoke, they go back to their cigarettes again.

And he uttered harsh words. Says, I'm damned if I waste my time on a smoker's fingers. I know them. They say they won't smoke again. And when they've got their fingers, they smoke.

They say they won't smoke again. And when they've got their fingers, they smoke.

They say they won't smoke again. And when they've got their fingers, they smoke.

The younger doctor pleaded his case. He said, I'm so sympathetic towards this man because he's so young. He's my age. He needs to have his livelihood. It has to do with his right hand. He's got little children.

Let me try. The older said to the younger, look. It also means, if we go ahead, that it will be a very long, complicated, expensive operation costing many thousands of dollars, not rands.

That's a difficult Zulu word. But for those that learn Zulu, it means uncountable. And it comes from Afrikaans in the olden days when the Boers counted their cattle and they went and said, All right.

The old doctor was finally persuaded and they came, they did the operation. For hours and hours, they sutured his fingers. On the first day, when they checked, it was still dark.

He said, I'm so sympathetic towards this man because he's so young. He needs to have his livelihood. It has to do with his right hand. He's my age. He needs to have his livelihood.

And by the second day, still not very clear. But by the third day, the fourth day, there was a marked difference. You could see life was coming back into those fingers. And then, days later, it was not only evident to the doctors but also to him.

It is miraculous what doctors can do nowadays.

The wisdom God has given to men. Unless you're a duffer smoker, you're on drugs and drink, of course, you've got no brains at all.

On the tenth day, he said, you can go home. He was so glad. After just a little time, a short time later, the wife phoned that young doctor and said, sir, his doctor, his hand has gone black. His fingers have turned black again.

He said, come quickly and look. And indeed, they had turned dark again. The blood was no longer circulating. What? What in doubt? Cross-questioned him. He said, tell me, sir, have you gone back to smoking?

He looked down. He said, yes, I smoked a cigarette. After ten days, that was just ten days after his vow never to return back to tobacco again. You see the degenerated, perverse generation in which we live.

Falling Away and the False Security of Temporary Repentance

The Bible does say that in the last days, there will be a falling away of believers. Then the younger doctor wondered, what should he tell the older surgeon who had told him not to go ahead? He had tried to stop him, but he went ahead anyway.

They tried to remove the rot, and this time they had to remove even more than where the fingers had been cut because the rot had gone deeper into his hand.

They had to remove even more than where the fingers had been cut. They had to remove even more than where the fingers had been cut.

People helped while they were dying from AIDS. They come right, and as soon as they are healthy again, go back to their promiscuity where one asks, what is it? What drives them? There is a statistic that 80 of people who are dying make a decision to accept the Lord.

And still connected to that percentage, if they get well again, if they recover, 80 of them go back to their past life.

And still connected to that percentage, if they get well again, if they recover, 80 of them go back to their past life.

That's why I say, don't be over ecstatic about a person who repents on their deathbed. We'll have to see whether that was a sincere decision in heaven, because very often it's just the urgency of the moment, they are afraid of death, and we'll have to see if it's true.

If you've lost a loved one, a child, don't worry yourself as to whether that child is in heaven or in hell. That's not for you to know, but as for you, you press on to go to heaven.

If you've lost a loved one, a child, don't worry yourself as to whether that child is in heaven or in hell. That's not for you to know, but as for you, you press on to go to heaven. If you've lost a loved one, a child, don't worry yourself as to whether that child is in heaven or in hell.

That's not for you to know, but as for you, you press on to go to heaven.

Dying and Rising with Christ in Baptism

He who lives in the opposite direction, I forgot to say, baptism meaning that you've died with Christ, you've risen with Him. If you live opposite to that, you draw upon yourself a curse, curses. It'll be darker for you than in the beginning.

Brother John Powers gave me a wonderful verse this morning, Lamentations 4 verse 7, and no wonder it should be a lamentation. Something to bewail. They were whiter than... Sorry, verse 7. The hundreds of them, in their quantities, they were whiter than the frost or snow.

They were whiter than milk. Their bodies were more red than coral?

Yes, rubies.

Rubies, and their state was like sapphire. Their faces darker than coal. There was a time when their faces were snow white, but now they are found darker than coal. Terrible is the life of a Christian who has once experienced the purity and cleanness as of snow, but now is as dark as coal.

That is why we say those getting baptized should not be those who are weak spiritually. I don't know if this is fully understood. Do you hear? I don't want mumbling. Is it clear? Yes, yes. Young men, do you hear?

Do you hear? I want a clear answer. You young girls, young men, do you hear? Let me continue. You have heard what a person who is baptized ought to be. That is why we don't like to treat it as a trivial life.

That is why we don't like to treat it as a trivial life. That is why we don't like to treat it as a trivial life. That is why we don't like to treat it as a trivial life.

That is why we don't like to treat it as a trivial life.

Salvation by Faith, Not by Baptism

Preceding this, it says, he who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. It doesn't say those who are not baptized.

For instance, the thief on the cross was saved by faith.

It is not through baptism. The thief on the cross went to heaven, but he was not baptized. The person who says, I'm getting baptized in order to be saved, is lying. Baptism doesn't get you entrance into heaven.

Only faith. If you get baptized, you are making a statement. It is a sign to people saying, I have repented of my sins. If you don't have faith, you don't have the right to be baptized. There is no baptism excluding faith.

The Signs That Follow Believers

It says, and these signs shall follow them. These are the signs that will follow those who believe and are baptized. You know a jet? If it is very high, you can sometimes not see it. But you can sometimes see it by the trail it leaves of exhaust fumes.

Those lines are like pillars.

These lines crisscrossing the skies, especially overseas where it is much more noticeable. The Bible speaks about signs in the heavens above in the last days. The first jet that flew to Durban from Johannesburg, everybody was amazed and scared.

Even where we were at Balana, where we stayed, there were phone calls, there were questions. People asked, are we in the last days? Is this the end? Men who were riding bicycles dropped their bicycles and fled into the forests.

The men who were riding bicycles dropped their bicycles and fled into the forests. The men who were riding bicycles dropped their bicycles and fled into the forests.

I still remember what fear and dread there was. That plane, I still need to look up exactly when it was, but it was the first plane, the first jet that came. It couldn't land in Durban because the runway wasn't long enough.

It turned around and flew back to Johannesburg. But some, as it went by, you could see it glisten in the sun. And some said it might be the tongue of the snake that is up there. So you are followed by something.

The believer is followed by something. Otherwise, you are dead. And here are the works that follow. In my name, they'll cast out demons, they'll speak with new tongues, they'll take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them.

They'll lay hands on the sick and they will recover. There is such a thing as twisting the word. This doesn't encourage you to tempt God. There's nothing in this to encourage you to look for snakes to be bitten by, picking up rocks, trying to find a snake, trying to prove that you're really a believer because the poison doesn't hurt you.

The Bible does say, do not tempt God. If it happens accidentally that you are bitten, do not fear, because you are not guilty. A preacher from a certain denomination visited here once at Kwasi Zabantu.

I won't say which church you can think for yourself. I took him on a tour, we went around, and also into the hospital. There was a child as we walked through the prayer hospital that obviously had a disability, and he pounced upon the child, laying hands on her, vigorously saying, spirit of death and sickness, get out of her.

After that, when he had gone, that little child came to me and said, Pastor, where does that insane man come from? If this saying here that these signs will follow, that they'll lay hands on the sick and recover, that it encourages you to go around laying hands on people, even those with a disability and incapable of thinking clearly will see clearly that you are foolish, something wrong with you.

To Timothy it was written, Do not be quick in the laying on of hands, lest you participate in other people's sins. Let there be cleansing, let there be confession, because the greater power will win. They'll speak in new tongues, doesn't mean that the person will start using a bad language,.

It will be a heavenly language. It doesn't speak his old language, will be a new language.

People will say, what's happened, they are completely transformed. A husband will say of his wife, what's happened to her, she's totally different, and a wife of the husband and the children of the father, he is completely different.

Faith Must Produce Fruit

It says faith without works is dead. That's what the brother of our Lord James said, if a person says he has faith but there are no, there's no fruit, he's lying. He goes on to say even satan believes but trembles.

So we are something that does make you to tremble, for there must be the fruit. It mustn't be a misconception that you think it's a destination, that baptism is your arrival. No, it's just a stepping stone for greater things, for the marvelous things that God will do through you.

I would be glad if I'm speaking to those who really listen. So let me end with this, those of you who've been baptized, did you confess the truth or a lie? We've been baptized, have died with Christ, we are saying we've died with him, we've been buried with him, and now live a resurrected life, ascended with him.

That's what it was like in the Bible, they would get converted, they'd get baptized, and they would go forward living for the Lord. Shall we pray? Thank you Lord for describing clearly in your word how things should be.

Lord, we pray for those who are going to be baptized today, that there would indeed be good fruit, good results which follow from it, that the miracles of God would follow them, and that they would live brand new lives.

Amen.