Let us pray.
Lord, at the wedding in Kaina, you took
just ordinary plain water and changed it.
You changed it to become wine, something sweet,
something good.
Now we pray, Lord, that you will also
change our tears and make something good out
of this time, that it will be a
time of joy.
Amen.
We will find our text in Matthew chapter
21, from verse 1.
And when they had approached Jerusalem and had
come to Bethpage, to the Mount of Olives,
then Jesus sent two disciples, saying
to
them, Untie them, go into the village opposite
you, and immediately you will find a donkey
tied there and a colt with her.
Untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says something to you, then
you shall say, The Lord has need of
them.
And that is the title of this message,
the theme, The Lord has need of them.
And it was to go into fulfillment what
the prophet had prophesied, saying, The Lord will
enter Jerusalem riding a donkey.
And if anyone asks you, What are you
doing?
You shall just say, The Lord has need
of them.
And if anyone asks you, What are you
doing?
You shall just say, The Lord has need
of them.
They did not know what the
reason was, but the Lord knew what the
reason was.
Now just about the Lord, here he was
riding a donkey.
A donkey is an animal that is often
despised.
Kings used to ride on horses.
Important people rode horses.
And people who thought a lot of themselves
rode horses.
But Jesus wanted a donkey.
Now here we see the creator of heaven
and earth, humbling himself, coming down to us,
to our level, humbling himself to come to
us on a donkey.
And people that went into battle rode horses.
But the Lord was not coming in this
way, going into war in this particular way.
No, he came to us on a donkey.
And he said, If anyone asks you, What
are you up to?
What are you doing?
You shall respond by saying, The Lord has
need of it.
We people like to talk a lot and
we often even criticize, saying so much.
But the Lord said, If people speak to
you, asking you what you are doing and
what it was all about, you will just
say, The Lord has need of it.
And that will be sufficient.
Today there is much to be thankful for
concerning the testimony of this child of the
Lord.
Perhaps not.
But the Lord said, If anyone asks you,
What are you up to?
What are you doing?
You shall respond by saying, The
Lord has need of it.
Perhaps none of you.
But the Lord said, If anyone asks you,
What are you up to?
What are you doing?
You shall respond by saying, The Lord
has need of it.
Perhaps none of you knew her as well
as I did.
But the Lord said, If anyone asks
you,
What are you up to?
What are you doing?
You shall respond by saying, The Lord has
need of it.
But she did get married eventually, going into
marriage in a pure way.
She got married and she was an example
as a married woman and later as a
widow as well.
As you've heard already, that never once was
there even a whiff of a relationship with
anyone else.
So you've heard it, you young people, you
married people and even you widows, you heard
that in that she was upright.
And I wish you would follow her example
in that.
You
heard what Togo said.
Remember that when a dog chases a cat,
the cat runs into a tree and that's
where it gets out of reach and the
dog can't get at it.
But don't be like a rabbit that runs
and runs until it runs out of breath
and then the dog gets it.
And so one cannot forget that because she
never brought a disgrace upon us in that
way.
Now just yesterday someone was telling me that
there are people that are very much against
me.
I said, But why?
They said, No, it's because you don't embrace
women.
And I said, Well, if it's for that,
then I thank the Lord.
And so they say, No, that's the reason
why they left me because I have no
feelings especially towards other women.
But you must excuse me, I'm like a
cat sitting in a tree.
And you women must excuse me if I
then don't embrace you and you'll probably die
without me ever embracing you.
I have no intention
that
our congregation becomes one that is an adultery
and immorality.
We need to live holy lives with no
whiff of anything wrong.
The Bible warns us very earnestly to flee
youthful lusts.
And that's not just in your thoughts, but
even physically.
It's the same as when the angel told
Joseph to flee with Mary and the child
to Egypt for Pharaoh wanted to kill it.
They had to flee and in that way
we must flee youthful lusts.
That's the first point.
It's nice when you can stand next to
a coffin and a person has such a
testimony.
When a person has lived a good life,
as the Bible says, that if you have
a good span of life, you get to
70 years.
And she was almost there.
And secondly, what is wonderful, which we can
talk about, is that she has run her
race and she did her work and died
in the job.
And you've heard the son speaking about those
words which she shared with him, how she
was yearning after the Lord as a deer
for water.
Just these days she shared with me.
She said, oh you know, there are so
many people who are trying their level best,
speaking to me and telling me that I
must leave you, but I won't give in
to what they're saying.
And then I realized as well that there
are probably quite a few people who have
left us who do so because of what
other people are telling them.
I'm glad that they didn't succeed in influencing
her.
And she said, nothing will separate me from
this gospel that we started preaching right in
the beginning and are preaching to this day.
She passed away on Tuesday in the morning.
Now on that Monday, here's a letter where
she shared about someone who
she was advising or counseling.
She said, remember Luke 13 verse 22.
Strive to enter into that narrow gate.
And he said, speak to others as well
and encourage other widows too to enter into
that narrow gate.
And also in Proverbs 13 verse 3, he
who guards his lips spares his life.
He
who
guards his lips spares his life.
That's amazing advice.
Amazing words.
Guard your mouth that you may preserve your
life.
That's the problem with many people.
They don't guard their lips.
They say things and even later then when
they want to rectify things, it becomes almost
impossible.
Unless of course they are prepared to give
account for all the idle words that they
have spoken.
So remember these words, even you widows.
For she said this should be passed on
to others, that he who guards his mouth
and his lips preserves his life.
And then in chapter 11 verse 14.
Where there is no guidance, people fall.
But in abundance of counselors, there is victory.
She directed this advice at the widows, but
I don't think it applies just to the
widows but to all of us.
She directed this advice at the widows,
but I don't think it applies just
to the widows but to
all of us.
And as you heard just before she passed
away, she advised someone else.
She said don't look at people.
Keep your eyes on Christ.
Fix your eyes on him.
Don't be held up with what other people
are saying.
And then finally just after she had got
dressed, not knowing that she was getting dressed
for that heavenly marriage feast.
If someone asks you, then you shall reply,
the Lord has need of this donkey.
The Lord needs this foal, this colt.
The Lord has need of her and so
he has need of her and has had
need of her.
And I don't think that there is anyone
amongst us who would have such a hardened
heart or a heart of a heathen which
would imagine that even any human intervention could
have been involved here.
No, the Lord had need of her.
And she even spoke to a colleague and
said no, I will go first.
And the other one said no, it can't
be, I will go first.
But the Lord had need of her.
Now there is something I would like to
direct at children or those of you who
have parents.
You who still have a father or a
mother.
I just recently returned from the east, I
was on a trip to Korea.
I was invited by some ministers there and
a professor who took me around to different
places there in Korea, to different congregations.
You know what the people from the east
look like.
They have different eyes to us.
And their tables are just very small or
short, with short legs.
Now it's interesting.
So when you sit at a table there,
you don't sit in a chair like we
are used to doing it.
But it's got very short legs, so you
actually sit on the ground just on a
mat.
And you've got to get yourself comfortable somehow.
We have great difficulty, but the people there
are used to it.
Now this country is just, and I was
at Japan.
Now the people there, there are very few
people that are overweight.
And it's because of the diet they have
there.
They don't eat a lot of fatty things.
I even lost 5 kgs while I was
there, just in a few days, even though
I ate as much as I wanted to.
Now they cook food which the old Zulus
used to cook.
And so they took me around there to
different congregations and ministers, and even to the
biggest church in Korea.
Now the minister there, one of the ministers
was very sad, and he cried almost day
and night, and it was because of his
son.
When I heard what he was going through,
I even said, well Lord, thank you that
I didn't have a son.
And if a son can cause you so
much grief, but the problem
is that even daughters can give you a
lot of trouble.
Now this minister, this biggest congregation, biggest church,
people come there, many people come, they get
converted.
But there are those that are critical of
him, who are saying, but how can he
preach at us when his son is the
way he is.
And so there are those that find fault
with it, they say, how can he preach?
But I would like to, I mention this
to you children who have Christian parents.
This man, he's a broken man.
He says, Lord what must I do?
Must I really then now stop preaching because
of my son who is immoral, who is
addicted to alcohol and to drugs, and lives
in the world going to discos, living that
type of life.
Must I now really stop my ministry?
And one day he asked his son to
come to his office.
The son came.
When the son was in the office, the
father took out a knife, a shining knife
which was razor sharp.
And he said to his son, he said,
my son, take this knife and stab me
in my heart.
The son was shocked.
He said, what are you saying father?
And he said, my son.
My son, rather stab me to death because
you've been stabbing me for so long now.
Rather just finish me off because people are
going against me, even the newspapers write against
me because of you.
My son, my son, my
son, my
son.
And he said, my son, rather just stab
me because people are going against me.
They're saying, how can I preach to people?
I tell them that the gospel and the
Lord Jesus changes your life and makes everything
new.
But look at the life you're living.
He said, rather just kill me.
I can't carry on like this.
Within a week, that son got converted and
he started walking in the ways of his
mother.
You children, you who have Christian parents, you
should serve the Lord.
Woe to you if you don't follow in
their ways and in the Lord's ways.
What will you say when you stand before
God one day?
You heard what
the
mother said to her daughter-in-law saying,
continue where I leave off.
And so don't forget what she said to
you and to the sons.
Remember her words of advice and the words
she spoke to you.
And to all of you who still have
parents, remember that shining blade of that knife
in Korea.
So
the Lord sent me
to
preach to you.
He sent the disciples to fetch that cult.
And the people asked, say the Lord has
need of it.
And so the Lord had need of her
as well.
And we spoke just now, before we came
here, that the Lord has the keys to
death and to Hades.
Only the Lord has that key in his
hand.
No man.
These days, let us pray.
Lord, we stand.
Lord, we
are here today and we are amazed at
your great power that can keep a person
from his youth right through life, right to
the end.
And that a person is like a cat
that runs away.
That when the dogs are about to pounce
upon the cat, it runs up into a
tree to save its life.
And thank you, Lord, that you have been
able to keep her and give her the
victory, even when the enemies came and tried
to distract her.
Yet she said, they won't get hold of
me.
Yet she said she would die there where
God had put her.
Now, Lord, we pray that you will work
through your Holy Spirit in every heart.
He is committed to you.
May this strengthen him and give him courage
to continue.
He is only half-hearted that he will
get converted and repent from that lukewarmness.
And he has never even repented that this
will be the day when he will repent.
Amen.