The Holy Spirit — Friedel Stegen

I'd just like to say I'm a student of a Bible school and I joined a Bible school which never says to me, now you're a learned person, now you can go and preach. And I'm in that Bible school of which we heard this morning that heavenly church, that heavenly life, and I'm learning every day.

Unfortunately I'm getting a bit old and my mind gets rusted and it takes a bit longer for me to grasp that what I'm supposed to know. And I'm very thankful for that because I am totally cast upon the leading and guiding of God the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit's Power Must Transform Christian Lives

There is so much talk about God the Holy Spirit in these days in which we live. And everyone knows more about the Holy Spirit than the other one. But unfortunately we see so little of the power of God the Holy Spirit in our lives.

You even find Christians today that they say they're filled with the Holy Spirit and yet you find things in their lives that should never be in a Christian. You find churches that talk about the Holy Spirit and the infilling of the Holy Spirit but if you watch their lives, their lives tell a different story.

But I am in the school of the Holy, Holy Spirit who changes lives and who makes everything new. You remember the seraphims flying from one corner to the other and crying out, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord Sabaoth.

And that is my cry for every Christian. For everyone, every Christian should be filled with the Holy Spirit. But may we be a people where everyone will see, where every Christian will be known by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Who has only one zeal and one goal and that is to glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that He may work in our lives that our lives will be such that we'll be Christ-like. And that's the Bible school I'm in, that I say, Lord, burn away everything in my life that Christ may become more evident in my life day by day.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire

And I'm reminded of that what John the Baptist said, which we read in Luke chapter 3 verse 16. And verse 17, John answered saying to all, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I, who is coming, whose sandal strap I'm not worthy to lose.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And His winnowing fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly cleanse out His threshing floor and gather the wheat unto His barn, but the chaff He will burn with inquenchable fire.

When our dear brother spoke this morning about the church, what we're supposed to be and what the church was made for, I could understand why people mock the Christians today. Because they don't see the beauty of heaven, the glory of heaven in you and in me.

And I can't be quiet about it and I can't shut my mouth about it and say, Christians, what's wrong with us? Why have we lost the glory of heaven in our lives and in our churches? What are we presenting to the world today?

We heard about Mohammed-ism last night and Christ, He conquered, He overcame the enemy on Calvary. We Christians should be the greatest power on earth. We should be able to change the world. But what has become of us Christians?

Where are the Christians that stand up and proclaim the victory, the glory of heaven here on earth? And I had only one cry in my heart, Lord Jesus, it's time that You sanctify Your church, that You sanctify my life, that I may be truly called by Thy name a Christian.

And when our brother prayed and said, Lord, sanctify, purify us, as Thou didst sanctify and purify the gold and silver, I said, Amen, Lord, let that be truth in us who preach the gospel. Some years ago, a preacher went to the schools in England and he asked the school children and said, Who of you knows Jesus?

And the pupils looked at each other and they said, Who's that? A Christian country, England. Or must I say, a so-called. We heard what Duncan Campbell said. He said, If England doesn't experience a revival from heaven, England will experience a revival from hell.

And I was reminded of that when this preacher went to the schools in England. And they replied, this minister, and they said, Jesus is a swear word which daddy and mommy use when they quarrel. Jesus Christ, God, and it's become a swear word to our youth who are attending school.

Experiencing Christ and Proclaiming the Gospel

Isn't it time that we Christians show the world who Jesus Christ is? When Peter and John experienced Christ, when they experienced Calvary, when they experienced the risen Lord, and when they experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, they couldn't keep quiet and they changed and they put the world upside down within a couple of weeks.

How long have we been Christians already? How long have we been propagating the good news to the people? Have we been able to change, to put the whole world on its head? Something happened when they preached.

What did Peter know about the Bible school? Sorry, I'm not going against the Bible school. I praise God for every Bible school there is on earth. But these people, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, with the power of God, something happened.

Tell me, does something happen if you preach? And I've got to ask myself that question as well. I go around and I preach the gospel. But where are those that fall on their knees and acknowledge Christ as Lord and King, where the glory of heaven will be revealed?

And I say, Lord, burn, burn everything away out of my life which hinders that I might receive that power, that I might go, that the power of the word of God which is powerful, is life bringing, that it brings life to people and doesn't deaden people.

For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.

We read that in Malachi 3 verse 2 and 3. Oh, that we might be purified by the refiner's fire. And that is what John the Baptist told the people, there is somebody who is going to come after me and he is going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Compassion for the Lost

How terrible if we say we are baptized with the Holy Spirit and there is no love in us. We have heard it this morning. There is no joy in us. There is no peace in us. There is no long suffering. There is no humbleness.

There is no understanding. There is no compassion for the lost soul. Tell me if you sit in the airport of Durban or Johannesburg or Zurich or Heathrow or Frankfurt and these thousands of people are milling around you, walking past you, what goes on in your heart?

Have you got a compassion for those where you say, oh Lord, please meet the need of thy people. Is there any compassion in your heart? Are you prepared to give your life for the lost? Is there a cry in your heart where you say, Lord Jesus, please meet the need of that person and that person?

Whether it is your children, whether it is your wife, whether it is your husband, whether it is your daughter in law, whether it is your father in law, your next door neighbour, the Indian, the African, the white, is there compassion in your heart?

As the Lord Jesus had compassion, when the people came to him and he preached to them for three days, he sent his disciples and he said, go and get some food for them because he had compassion for those that had come.

Have you got that fire in you that you have compassion for the lost souls? Have you got that desire in your heart, oh God, that I may get closer to thee, Lord Jesus, work through thy Holy Spirit, that I may be drawn closer and closer to thee, that I may be conformed into the image of the one who forgave me my sins?

We heard this morning about the joy of being forgiven. Have you experienced that already? Have you experienced when you came to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? Where God the Holy Spirit and his power, he came, the Lord Jesus said, if the comforter will come, he will convict the world of their sin.

And I want to ask you, brother, have you given the Holy Spirit the chance to convict you of your sin that you come to the cross as a sinner where all pride, where everything is gone, and you just humbly bow at the foot of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and say, Lord Jesus, forgive me?

Repentance, Confession, and Cleansing

Will you forget confessing the sin of your brother? Will you forget confessing the sin of your wife? Will you forget confessing the sin of your mother-in-law? Will you come down to the cross and you only see your sinfulness and say, oh Lord Jesus, I'm a dreadful sinner.

I'm worthy to go to hell with all my sins. There's nothing good in me. Have you ever experienced that? Have you given the Holy Spirit, God, the Holy Spirit, the third person of our Trinity, of our Triune God, has he had the opportunity to speak to you and lay his finger on your sin and say, my child, with that you are an abomination to me?

Where you don't excuse yourself anymore, where you weren't like Eve. When God came to Eve, she said, it's my husband. Or Adam said, it's my wife. She said, I should eat. And Eve said, God, it's the snake, it's the serpent.

And that's what we tend to do. We always push the guilt onto the next person. And instead of saying, Lord, I'm the sinner. Lord, I need forgiveness. I need cleansing with thy precious blood, Lord Jesus.

I can't live with that thing in my heart. Burn it away, Lord. Oh, that my relationship, we heard it this morning, towards my brother, will be in perfect unity and perfect oneness. That we will be able to go out.

And Peter and John, they went. Do you know what they did? They didn't preach a theological message. They only preached from that what they had seen and heard. And it makes it so easy for every Christian to become a missionary.

Because all we do is we tell them, we tell the people what I've experienced this week with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not that happened 2 ,000 years ago. Yes, we praise God for those testimonies.

We praise God for his word. Because this word is life-giving. It's got life in it. Whenever you read it, it speaks to you. It convicts you. Or do you read it as a history book, and you read it as a history book, you learn about it, but you don't know anything about it.

And John and Peter, they could go around, and they could tell the people what they experienced, what they had seen. And they set the whole world upside down within a short time. That's what I'm waiting for.

A Worldwide Revival Through Christian Unity

A God-given revival throughout the world. Where we Christians will stop fighting one another. Where we Christians, no, I don't go to that church because I belong to this church. When is the time coming when God the Holy Spirit can unite us again, and that we can stand together and fight the enemy of all enemies, which is the devil.

That day where we are, we are going to bring the gospel, the living word of God to the people where God has put us, and God has ordained us. And that's what I say, Lord Jesus, I can't be satisfied with the knowledge of God the Holy Spirit as we heard today.

We've got to experience him in power in our everyday life. That is what the world needs. No, that's what the Christians need. May I make the circle a bit closer? That's what the sons of Levi need. That's what you and I as preachers of the gospel, the good news, we need that.

And that is what, if that can happen, if we can be united, if God the Holy Spirit can have his way in our lives, it will change our lives, it will change our country. We live in a time of financial difficulties.

And everyone throughout the whole world is concerned what's going to happen. Are we going into a depression? What is going to happen? And I'm looking to Obama, I'm looking to all the leaders of the whole world, and my heart yearns and longs that one of them should say, we've got to come back to Christ.

Christian Responsibility in Public Life

What has happened to our leaders? What has happened to democracy? The will of the people. And we know what the will of the people is. Today it's green. Tomorrow it's red. And the next day it's blue. That's democracy.

And where does God come in? And of our national leaders and international leaders who cries out in the open and say, God, help us. And if you look at the lives of the so-called international leaders and say, what kind of life are they living, that you hold your head and say, oh God, are they believers or are they unbelievers?

And we expect them to solve the problems of this world. And all we can do is find fault with them. Instead of us Christians standing together and praying together and say, God, change the world, that Christians may become true Christians again and that we'll have Christian values in our country.

But we Christians have become far too, what, is there an English word for it? Far too pliable and timid. We don't want to talk anymore. We just keep quiet. No, Christians don't have anything to do with politics.

No, we only pray. Yes, we've got to pray. Yes, God needs our prayer. And God needs, and the world needs our prayer. But where are the people that stand up and become true soldiers of our Lord Jesus Christ?

That we once again proclaim the victory of Jesus Christ, which we attained on Calvary 2 ,000 years ago. And I believe with all my heart, if you and I are spirit filled, we'll change the world. Because our God's eyes, we read in the Old Testament, going up and down and looking for one person through whom he can glorify himself.

And he's waiting for you, brother. Not for me. No, he's waiting for you. You who hear the word today, he's waiting for you. That you become a person that is being led and guided, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with the fire of God.

Persecution and the Cost of Faithful Preaching

But I tell you, the moment God starts using you, you'll get opposition. You'll find that you'll receive opposition, not from outside, but from inside. And people will talk bad about you. Oh, let me read out of Matthew.

Wonderful, wonderful truths. Matthew chapter 5. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Chapter 5. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Dear preacher of the gospel, are you experiencing that? Are you experiencing persecution? People talking evil about you. Or is everything in perfect order? You just see to it that everybody is satisfied.

That if you name sin by its name in your congregation and you see that the people can't sit still anymore because they get irritated and agitated, that you quickly shut your mouth and say, excuse me. And all you are concerned about is that at the end of the month you get your salary.

And so much so, you know, I heard in these days that when people are asked to bury them, they've got to pay for them. They've got to pay for it. They say no, no. That costs it. And they've got to pay for it.

I'll only bury your son if you pay me 500 rand. What has happened to us Christians? What has happened to our Christianity? How does our Lord Jesus, who died and bled for you and me, how does he feel when he sits in heaven and he looks down upon us?

Doesn't he go to his Father again and say, Father, I think I'd best go down and come down to earth again to die for the sinners because they don't accept my salvation. Because I see that my dying on the cross of Calvary didn't suffice.

Because I see that my children, they work, they walk, they call themselves by my name, but they sin. They're not concerned about holiness. They're not concerned about sanctification. Lord, Father, and God, Holy Spirit, mustn't I go down to earth once again and die?

And you know, in Romans we read that the whole nature is crying out and waiting for Jesus to come and to set the whole world, to set nature, to set the human beings free. And we so-called Christians with a clear mind despise that what the Lord Jesus has done for us on Calvary.

Becoming a Living and Spirit-Filled Church

When I read this word this morning, when I was preparing for this meeting, I read, Blessed are you when they revile against you. And I said, what's to revile against a person? I'm not an English-speaking person.

I'm a German-speaking person. What does that word mean? And I at first was tempted to take the Collins Dictionary because it's the American dictionary for the vocabulary. And I said, no, no, no, no, I want the Oxford.

And I said, no, I want to hear what the Oxford says about revile. Blessed are you when they revile against you. And this is what I read. This was the explanation of the Oxford Dictionary. It is to abuse you, to criticize abusively, insulting, offensive, slanderous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, hurtful, rude, harmful, destructive, perverted, That's what it means.

And then I understood, that is going to happen if God the Holy Spirit has his way in your life. Then these things will happen, people will talk evil about. They'll say hurtful things. They'll say rude things about you.

They'll accuse you of things which aren't there. Is that what you're experiencing in your church? I leave that with you. If not, what's wrong with you? Because the Lord said, blessed is if these things happen to you.

Blessed are you when they revile against you, when they persecute you, and they say all kinds of evil things against you falsely. And that is what I wish each and every preacher, each and every Christian here in this convention.

That we become a Christian that is alive. That we become a Christian that will be a danger to the devil. Not where the devil sits and he rests at peace. And he sits there in the back bench of your church and he folds his legs and he listens to the sermon and he says, talk, talk, talk.

And he sits at the back and he blows, he blows his sleep over the congregation. Instead of the preacher being on fire for God, that it becomes terrible for the devil that he's going to flee, he won't be able to stand the truth.

That we might become the first church again. Read in the book of Acts what happened to the first church. There was life. And when Ananias and Sapphira came in, and they came in with a lie, and Peter challenged them and they dropped it.

That is the power of the Holy Spirit. Who told Peter that they were coming in with a lie? But him being filled with the Holy Spirit, he detected that lie. And I pray to God that my life will be such that I will detect a lie.

That I will detect the lie in my own heart. That I don't stand before you and preach the truth, but I don't live it. And that my congregation, when they come in with a lie, that I'll detect it and say, my brother, my sister, what's that?

That I may be a help to my brother and my sister. I see the time is up. But friends, let us be filled. The Lord Jesus said, oh, let me just read this in Luke. Oh, I've got to find it. Luke 12 verse 49.

I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled. That was the desire of our Lord Jesus Christ, that that fire would burn, that that fire would be there. He couldn't wait to go back to his Father in heaven to send the comforter.

To fill his disciples with his power. And when that baptism happened on Pentecost, when that day Pentecost happened, it changed the lives of the disciples. And that's my prayer for each and every one of us.

And Lord, if it could happen today, I'd worship and praise thee. Because we'll change Africa. We'll change Europe. We'll change America. We'll change the whole world. But it might cost your life. It might be that you'll be burnt on the stakes.

It might happen that you'll be thrown into prison. Because the world can't stand the truth. But that only gives us more fire to say, God, there's a reward waiting for us in heaven. And I want, in Corinthians we read, some build with gold, some with silver, some with wood, some with hay, some with stubble.

And I want to build with gold. And I say, Lord, you are the refiner. Come refine my gold, my silver, that it might stand, that one day I won't be disappointed. Thank you.