Choose Life, That You and Your Descendants Might Live — Erlo Stegen

Lord, we thank you for keeping us so that we can meet together again. Some Lord have arrived yesterday, some through the afternoon, and some at night. And we ask you to work in each and every heart, and let your name be glorified.

Amen. I'd like to read for you from Deuteronomy chapter 30. And we're going to read from verse 19. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I've set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.

So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. By loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by holding fast to him, for this is your life in the length of your days. That you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

We'll read this far. Now Moses spoke this speech as he said goodbye to the children of Israel. This was his final farewell as God was about to take him from earth. And he said, I testify you before you with heaven and earth as my witness.

Choosing Life Rather Than the Curse

That I've set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose. One day this auditorium will witness. One day the bench you're sitting on will testify. I wonder what that day will be like, but the Bible does already declare that it will burn like a furnace.

Just being one day, but being like 10 ,000 years. And this auditorium, this hall will witness regarding your choosing. It says, behold, I set before you life, blessing and the curse. Life and death. So choose life in order that you may live.

You can't get your friends to choose for you that you may live. The question on the lips of many across the world is, why do I suffer so? Why am I in such trouble? Why are things so difficult and so hard?

You know why? Because you've chosen the curse for yourself. And by doing that, choosing for yourself, you choose for your children as well. The curse. Again, just look at not listening to the Lord and disobeying him.

You become sexually immoral. You get AIDS. Not only do you die from it, but your direct descendants too. For God says, I will visit the sins of the fathers upon the third and fourth generations. If you smoke, you cursing your child as well.

Because that child is cursed in the womb. Just two days ago, I was in Durban.

As we were going into the pavilion, I saw two girls.

Sitting down, sharing a cigarette, one smoking and then passing it to the other. I stood. I thought, now let me speak to them. When they'd finished, I was indicating, I just showed with my hands, throw it away.

One saw me. And asked, are you asking for a puff? I said, no. I said, throw that away. It's, it's awful. If you smoke as a girl, remember that the child that you are pregnant with smokes too. And is born with that curse.

There was a certain lady who gave birth. She was a smoker. She gave birth in hospital. When the child was born, it would cry incessantly. Nothing the nurses or any of them could do would pacify the child.

The doctor on duty eventually didn't know what to do. And in desperation, he called a colleague. He then called another one. And a third. And a specialist. Doctors all gathered around the screaming baby.

Then the final doctor came. And said, hold on a moment. I'm coming back. Went out into the corridor. Asked somebody walking by, who's got a cigarette? And got hold of one and matches. Came back. Lit the cigarette.

Had a puff. And then blew the smoke over the child. Instantly, the child was quiet. It had been craving. And then they realized the addiction, how it is passed down the generation. And you're pregnant.

You're passing that on to your child. God takes the sins of the parents upon the children as well. A certain child of only two years of age. You haven't read. Trying to pick up bits of cigarettes. Why?

Because it was craving for this nicotine. Because the mother was a smoker. And so girls for eternity in hell. Your children can curse you and say, mother, you led us into the sin. The curse. You drink.

You have a child. And that poison is in the child too. In general, I'm at the moon. And use all sorts of occult things at the birth of the child and different rituals. But what happens is you open the door to demon possession.

Pants. To the third and fourth generation going down to the grandchildren and great grandchildren. Why? Because of that adult who had those children who did not obey the word of the Lord. But to those who believe and who love and obey the Lord, God says, I will bless to the thousandth generation.

Look at the blessing upon the Jewish people today. Even though many of them are not believers, but they inherit blessings of their forefathers, Abraham and them. Recently, we had a special ceremony or an auguration of a palace of his majesty, the king.

There were many parliamentarians. And ministers. Muslim. Indians and Muslim background. And a certain person got up. A doctor. A Jewish man. Said, I am Jewish. I want to tell you that I am a Jew who has, who believes in Jesus Christ.

I got converted. Jewish people are brave. Not like us who are so easily embarrassed and intimidated. And we say, oh, let's just stop prayer in school completely, because it might offend some few who are a few children who are from another faith.

Katisha. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, then let your stand your stand for Jesus be strong and evident and open. Tell your principal that we shouldn't stop with prayer. Otherwise, we are cursed in our school.

If you're ashamed of Jesus Christ, he too will be ashamed of you. And if you brush aside prayer in schools, it'll be darker in South Africa than it is already. And where will they? Where will education degenerate down into?

It is going down. What will become of it? It'll be a curse in Africa. Why is it that the white nation seem richer and seem to have things and are better off? Remember that even though they have degenerated into sin and you sin with them and do the same things well, they still live on inherited blessing from their previous generations who used to be believers.

Of course, though, as they reject the gospel, they accept the curse upon them. I'm going. Behold, I lay before you today, life and death, the blessing and the curse. Remember, when you choose today, you're choosing also for your children and your future generations, although some of you will not have children because you die of age so young.

A Family Chooses Conversion Over Tobacco

I just want to introduce some children to you. These boys are born from Pretoria and he is the son of Wum Lungpit from up there. Wum Lungpit is very tall and so too their parents. Now, their dad came here before he was even married.

When he was here with his brother and their father, their father got truly converted. And their father, that is these boys' grandfather, was a tobacco farmer. When he was here, he chose the Lord Jesus.

He went back home and said, Dad, I've given myself to the Lord.

I can't continue planting tobacco. We can't curse people with our industry. And his father then said, Well son, what are we going to do with our enormous tobacco drying sheds? How will we survive? And he said, Dad, we will plant cabbages and other vegetables and we will stop with planting tobacco completely.

His dad, his father, the boy's grandfather said, that's very difficult. The son said, Dad, there's no other choice. I'm determined that we stop planting tobacco. I've experienced, parents, the Lord Jesus saving me.

Do you see what real conversion does? Even you as a school child, you need to obey God more than anybody else. Even if they say stopping prayer, you continue to obey God. The Lord in heaven is greater than any government on earth.

And so he said, that is the father, then said, fine, let's do it. Because the Lord says, we'll never be tempted above what we are able. Other farmers in the area said, what are you doing? You'll never survive.

You'll go bankrupt.

He said, well, I don't care. That's over to the Lord. He will look after me. So he planted vegetables, carrots, sweet peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, and millies.

All over in Soweto, they were eating vegetables planted at their place. And so today they have an enormous irrigated farm. And during the last youth conference, there was a huge, massive load of vegetables.

And this time as well, beetroot, onions, that they have brought for you. And so they have an enormous fleet of these extra heavy vehicles as well, delivering vegetables all the time. They are blessed not because of them being Afrikaners, but because of having chosen life instead of death.

Even if you had to go and occupy their farms and say, we'll just take it and do it ourselves, curses follow you. You will not prosper. But wherever they go, because they've chosen the Lord, they've chosen life, blessings will overtake them.

Some farmers go into liquidation. But they've been blessed. But the father said, I'm not going to plant tobacco anymore, even if it means us starving. I choose life. They called me recently and said, come and look at this marvelous thing.

Nations who choose Jesus advance and progress. Those who reject Christ go backwards. We applaud their father. We're applauding their father, he who chose the Lord. Cursed is the one who chooses death.

But if you find that your parents or in your previous generations, they had chosen death and the curse, you now choose life. God has no apartheid. I've been preaching that right through the apartheid days.

But in all nations, he who fears the Lord, choosing Jesus Christ is acceptable to God.

God is no respecter of persons. Whether you're a black or an Indian or colored or white or whoever you are, God says, here is the blessing, here is the curse. Don't be deceived by politicians. Always examine even politics in the light of the word.

If they do not go according to the word, it is accursed. And you support them by voting for them, you too. Here is the daily news. Here in the front page, it's the heading, the title article is South African sex slaves in Ireland.

Sexual Immorality, Exploitation, and the Choice of Death

That means South African women who are on prostitution slavery in Ireland. It's written here that 26 Cape Town girls accepted being sex workers in Ireland when they were offered the job. A certain escort agency in Ireland then did a recruitment drive here in South Africa for girls over there.

6 ,000 euro. You have the money as a euro. Euro. No more euro. Ten. One euro. Iran. 6 ,000 euro. 51 ,000. But.

They offered that the girls could earn up to 6 ,000 euros a day. Remember, euros are worth almost about 10 rand per euro. That's 51 ,000 rand a day. There was an enthusiastic response from South African girls who said, what?

51 ,000 rand a day. For a three week's trip, we can come back being rich. They made it as if they were just going on a holiday, but they were actually going to prostitute themselves for a lot of money.

Subsequently, 27 women, South African women, accepted the offer and went overseas. Now, it's three weeks later. One girl escaped. And she said that since we arrived, we've been fed with crack cocaine and heroin.

And we've been beaten. And we haven't been paid for one single day. They confiscated our passports to stop us from returning. And our return tickets have expired. And apparently, one of that group has also disappeared.

I don't know where she's landed. Who was the girl between contracted by the escort agency to recruit these women. And it was promised that for each girl, she would get 1 ,000 euros. So she was promised 8 ,600 rand for every girl that she recruited to be a prostitute overseas.

She says, for six years, I've been busy with this recruiting work. She said, I admit that I jumped at this money-making opportunity and that I was greedy. She said, I'm so sorry for these girls who are now in slavery overseas.

She said, we've contacted them overseas and asked, why are our girls being so abused? And she was told, rubbish. The man simply slammed down the phone and said, no further discussion. You see, choose the curse and the curse you get.

Today, those girls cannot live without their drugs. They are beaten. And their relatives and families here are very worried about them. I set before you today the curse and the blessing. Death and life.

What will those girls, what will happen to them, what will become of them? You'll find that wherever there is sexual promiscuity in any nation in history and today, that nation will go down and will be dismantled.

Look at even the great Roman Empire that ruled the whole world. It fell and went down because of immorality. When you go home after these services, take special note of those who are promiscuous and then note also their end.

Their future is is one of a curse only, but there is life through the Lord Jesus, which we receive in heaven. Unless you are set free by the Son of God, there is no freedom. Today, you find that there are in jail some top government officials who had been in those exalted positions but were then caught in promiscuity or in corruption.

One who steals, lies or fights has no blossoming future. Young people, listen to this.

If you steal, you will be punished. If you commit adultery, you will be punished. If you commit adultery, you will be punished. If you commit adultery, you will be punished. If you commit adultery, you will be punished. If you commit adultery, you will be punished. If you commit adultery, you will be punished.

The Gospel, Freedom, and the Future of Africa

You put your hope in education, don't think that that will save you. You might dream of becoming a doctor, all that will become nothing. You can get AIDS even as a doctor and all your dreams are smashed into smithereens but only through the gospel.

And I say this in all nations, not here in Africa, over in Europe as well also. It's the same message, only the one who has the Lord Jesus and chooses Him has life. There was a time when Africa warmly embraced the Lord Jesus.

Remember when Herod wanted to kill Him and the children, how Africa received Him as a baby. And then when the Lord was carrying the cross, it was an African who helped Him. But the times come when Africa has rejected the gospel.

Ethiopia was the first nation to accept Christendom.

And have a Christian country. But then what has happened? It is now destroyed. Communism grabbed hold of it.

But I say to you girls and boys, young people, let's take Africa back again for the Lord.

Let's choose the blessing and not the curse. Let me end with this story.

Roger Sims and the Call to Share Christ

Let me tell you about Roger Sims.

He had been in the military. He finished his duty. This was in America. The day came when he was to return back home. And he was delighted that his conscription was over and that was the end of the military for him.

He put all his things together and he hitchhiked. As he stood there hitchhiking a lift, a black, new, very expensive type of car stopped for him. A shiny, expensive car. He thought, no, it won't stop for me.

He lost hope. But to his amazement, the car stopped and the passenger door opened and he ran toward the car and got in. It was an older, graying man who was the owner. He said, hello, son. Leave or are you going home for good?

He said, you're in luck if you're on the way to Chicago because that's where I'm going. That's towards the northerly parts of USA. He said, well, you can call me by Hanover. And the man said, I have business there in Chicago.

Roger said, I'm not going to Chicago. I'm going to be a little bit further south if you can drop me there.

They chatted about things and they discussed things on the way.

The older man and this young man. On the way, Roger felt strongly compelled inside him to share Christ with this older man to ask him whether he was saved. But then he said to himself, no, I couldn't do that.

This is an older man. How can I, as a young person, do that? He was embarrassed and afraid. But he felt that his heart was pounding. Hearing the voice of the Lord saying, now is the time. And finally, he said, Mr. Hanover, I'd like to talk to you about something very important.

Have you received Christ as your Savior? And he shared the gospel with him. He said to him, wouldn't you like to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and choose him? Roger noticed that he slowed down the car and stopped it to one side.

Roger thought that he was going to be chucked out of the car. But when he stopped, the older man switched off the engine and laid his forehead on his hands on the steering wheel. He began to cry, a cry from the heart, like one who's lost a child.

He said, Roger, I want to choose Jesus now. He said, son, I want to choose Christ and surrender to him right now. He forgot about the fact that he was such a much younger person. But he said, unashamedly, I want to choose Christ now.

And he prayed together with him. He also prayed. After which he said, Roger,.

This is the most important thing that I've met up in my life.

He said, I've met with many important things, but nothing as important as this day of meeting with Jesus Christ today. When they got to the town of Roger Sims, Hanover, drove them right to his very home.

He said, son, This is the greatest day of my life. This is the greatest thing that could have happened to me. Thank you that you as a young man helped me in this way.

He took out his business card. It was gold embossed.

And he said, boy, I want you to take this. And they parted. The boy got married, started a business which prospered. Five years later, he needed to go to Chicago on a business trip. When he was there in Chicago, he took out the card.

He looked up the address and then he arrived at the address. It was a massive mansion. He went in. He asked if this was the business of Mr. Hanover. The secretary replied in the affirmative. And he asked to see him.

But he was told, I'm sorry, but you can't see Mr. Hanover himself. They asked the young man, where do you know him from anyway? He said, he's my friend. And so they said, if you are his friend, although you can't see Mr. Hanover, you may see his wife.

And so they went into an office and they called his wife. As he went into the office, he noticed the poshly decorated decor and a very posh wooden desk. Mrs. Hanover shook hands and greeting and said, did you know my husband?

And he said, yes. And asked, well, where did you know him from? Then he related the story that he had been married for five years. And that he had been in the military five years ago. And he had got a lift from him.

And that's where he got to know him. She asked, did anything happen when he gave you that lift?

He said, no, nothing happened. She said, did you know that he had a divorce? And he said, no, nothing happened.

She said, did you know that he had a divorce? He said, no, nothing happened. He was very afraid to tell her what really happened and that he had spoken of Jesus and had led him to the Lord. In case he had gone back and preached to his wife and maybe she had divorced him, he didn't know where she stood.

She said, don't be afraid, tell me the whole truth. He said, Mrs. Hanover, excuse me, but this is what happened. When I got into the car and we had chatted, I felt prompted. I felt that I had to tell him about Jesus, that now is the time, now or never.

I felt prompted to tell him about Jesus, that now is the time, now or never.

And felt strongly prompted to ask him the question, have you chosen Christ? And he had surrendered to the Lord. And he had surrendered to the Lord. The lady asked, young man, what was the date, when did it happen?

He said, five years ago. On what day was it? On what day was it?

May the 7th, he said.

May the 7th, he said. On what day was it? On what day was it? On what day was it? On what day was it? She began to sob uncontrollably, the boy didn't know how to respond. When she gained control of herself, she said, please, excuse me for crying so much.

She said, I grew up in a Christian home, knowing the Lord, living for Jesus. I didn't go in the ways of the world, I lived for the Lord. But then I met Hanover and I married him, though he wasn't saved.

And she said, I had prayed for my husband daily, work in my husband's life, save him Lord, but he never got converted.

Five years ago, May 7th,.

She said, Roger, I want you to know that when he dropped you on that day of May the 7th, he went back onto the highway and he met up with a collision where he died. Now is the time.

You are a man of faith, you are a man of faith. You are a man of faith. You have to save him.

She said, Roger, thank you for being obedient to the Lord and for responding to the Lord's directing you that he was able to be saved at that time. She said, Roger, I must tell you that I had been praying for his salvation, but when I got the news that he was killed in that accident, I blamed God for it, that he hadn't kept his promise that what you ask for, you shall receive.

And I hardened my heart that day, but now I say, oh Lord, may you forgive me.

Now Is the Time to Choose Christ

Now, the theme is, now is the time, that can mean your time to come to the Lord, to get converted.

It also could mean that you are prompted, as a Christian, to go and share with somebody, maybe to say sorry, to apologize.

Mario, sit next to the man after the service, you bring him to me.

Now is the time. Now is the time to either choose for heaven or for hell, for blessing or for curse.

Moses, you choose what you want.

And Moses said, I call upon heaven and earth to witness your decision. Let us stand to our feet. If you haven't yet chosen for the Lord, let this be your day of choosing. This is an opportunity. If you haven't yet come to the Lord, let this auditorium, let this audience be your witness.

Prayer for Deliverance and New Life

Lord Jesus, you've heard the cry of each and every one, and you promised that the one who.

Comes to you, you will never cast out. Lord, as they come to you, asking for your blessing, remove the curse. They ask for life and not death. Lord, show them mercy.

Deliver them from slavery, from the smoking, drinking, immorality, all sexual immorality. Lord Jesus, help each one, Lord. And save them from their slavery.

Lord, you've said that the one whom the Son sets free will be free indeed. And then help them, Lord, not to be ashamed of you. For you've said, the one who confesses you, you will confess before your Father and the holy angels.

Be merciful to them, Lord, and help them in your grace. Amen.