I stand up.
Shall we pray?
We thank you, Lord, for these opportunities to
gather around your word, especially at this time
of the youth conference.
We pray that you would meet with us
in a marvelous way.
Be in our midst.
And work in a way that is above
our asking or understanding.
Let your name be glorified.
Your name, which is above every name in
heaven and on earth.
Let it be your day, O Lord.
Work among the children of men by your
spirit and by your word.
Amen.
Our theme text for this youth conference is
Romans 7, 24.
Wretched man that I am, who will deliver
me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
So the theme verse for the conference, being
wretched man that I am, who will deliver
me?
We'll speak about this matter, who will deliver
you?
I'd like to share with you a story
that happened in 1967.
After the Holy Spirit was poured out.
One day, a new man came to me.
One night.
I didn't know him, neither did he know
me.
I was already in bed.
He knocked.
I said he should come in.
Be seated.
Then I asked him what the matter was.
He said, Oh, I'm such a troubled person.
There's no one on earth troubled as I
am.
I don't know what's going to help me
and who will deliver me.
He said, I can only see one way
out and that is suicide, that I hang
myself.
I said, you speak man.
Tell me your story.
He said, I've grown up in a poor
home.
My parents didn't have the money to pay
for me to go to school.
But I love to learn.
Then my parents made every effort and so
I was able to go through school and
finish.
And from the beginning, I had the desire
to be a preacher.
So that after I finished school, I would
go to a Bible school to study theology.
And so I joined a college.
I began my studies.
I was delighted and I said to myself,
well, my childhood desires to be a preacher
is coming into fulfillment.
Very often, that which a child desires is
what it will become later.
A child becomes what it really wants to
be when it's grown up.
If a little child is rebellious and stubborn,
parent know that later on it will be
like that.
Except that it will be far worse because
now it's under your care.
You're looking after your child, but later on,
it will be filled with the stubborn head
of the devil that puts it to it.
When I met Susanna Wesley, she said to
me, That
is why Susanna Wesley, the mother of the
two Wesley boys, You need to bend the
will of a child.
If it is rebellious and self-willed and
you haven't bent it by the age of
three, you'll never get it right.
And so at Bible College, he was thrilled
to be there and he said to himself,
well, this is all I have wished for.
I wanted to be a preacher.
I've had no other wish for a career,
not to make money, but to be a
minister.
Then he told me, while he was at
Bible College, Satan came to him and things
got messed up.
He said, I was infatuated with a girl
and I thought so much of her.
She entered my heart.
He began to flirt with her, to chatter
up, to get as close as he could
to her.
Instead of fleeing youthful lusts, he got closer
to it.
Then he did what no unmarried person should
do.
And the girl sent a message to him,
I'm pregnant.
Said, I'm pregnant.
He was shocked.
And said, what?
I have a child?
He sent word to her, don't tell a
soul, keep it secret.
But how long can you keep such a
thing secret?
Jesus said, as crowds thronged around him, till
they were almost trampling on each other, there
were so many thronged throngs around
him.
He then spoke especially to his disciples, saying,
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, the
yeast, the yeast, which is hypocrisy.
For there is nothing hidden that shall not
be revealed.
Or secret that shall not be exposed.
For all that you speak in the darkness,
in secret, will be made known in public.
Even that which you've whispered into others' ears,
in your bedrooms, will be shouted out upon
the rooftops.
But I say to you, friends, do not
be afraid of those who can kill only
the body and can do nothing after that.
But I'm going to show you the one
whom you should fear.
Fear him.
He who, after he has killed, has the
power to throw one into hell.
Yes, I say unto you, fear him.
He who, after he has killed, has the
power to throw one into hell.
In other words, anything that is in the
darkness and secret will be exposed.
There's no other way.
But I say to you, friends, do not
be afraid of those who can kill only
the body and can do nothing after that.
And he said, even that which you've whispered
in your bedrooms will be shouted with loudspeakers
on rooftops before heaven and earth.
And those under the earth will hear.
And those who are in heaven and earth
will hear.
And those who are in hell will hear.
Even there where you've tied a knot, so
to say, of promise that you'll never break
your word because of a secret that you
have, the Lord promises even that will be
exposed.
Though you might try ever so carefully to
cover up something, God will expose it.
It will remain secret if God dies, but
he hasn't died yet.
A certain person in America who said, God
is dead, there is no God.
He said, well, when an important person dies,
a funeral is announced, but I haven't yet
heard of this great funeral.
If God Almighty, the creator, has died, I
would also attend his funeral, but I haven't
yet been invited to such a funeral.
And you too haven't yet been to his
funeral.
And since God is alive, he is there,
everything that you keep secret, God will make
sure is exposed.
That's why That's
why Jesus warned them about the east or
the leaven of the Pharisees.
He said they are hypocrites because they make
a great show of religion and they pretend
and hide things.
Even though something is kept as a deep
secret by you, the Lord at the end
will make sure that it will come to
light.
Now this theological student said, I don't know
how it came about, but though I told
her, don't tell a soul about our secret.
The next thing he was called by the
rector of the college and told to come.
It was a big theological college.
He said, tell me, is it true what
I hear that you're in love with this
girl and that she's pregnant?
And so as he was squirming on his
seat, wondering whether he should say the truth,
he thought, well, perhaps the truth does set
free, let me just say it.
And he told them the truth.
He said, yes, it is so.
The rector.
He said, as sad as I am to
hear this, I cannot but ask you to
leave.
You have broken the rules of the college.
This is a minister's college.
After all, you've broken the rules of the
Bible.
You've got to pack your suitcase and go.
It was as though he was hit on
the head by a knob-carry.
As if though he wanted to faint.
It was the greatest shock he had had.
It was as if though his whole future
crumbled before his eyes, all his plans and
dreams about his future just broke into small
pieces right there.
He went out punch drunk.
Went and packed his belongings.
He was wiping tears.
His heart was broken.
He was wondering, where will I go?
Well, he thought of going to the local
town and looking for a job.
Looking for some employment.
He had no money to pay dowry for
the girl.
He was bankrupt.
The parents of the girl hated him.
They bemoaned their fate that though they had
been married themselves in purity, such a shame
had been brought upon their family.
And eventually he found some job.
But it didn't work out.
Everything seemed
to...
Everything seemed to be pointless and he lost
his job.
There was no blessing on anything he did.
Even the money.
Even the little bit of money he earned,
which he had hoped to put away to
pay dowry eventually for her to marry her.
But how can you live without some money
for yourself?
And so he then looked for a different
job.
He
tried
as he may, it didn't work out for
him, even there he was fired.
And so he then looked for another job.
In his desperation he went to a friend
and said, Look, I am broke, please help
me, I need something to live with, I'll
pay you back later.
When I've got a job.
But even that money and...
Then he went to another friend and said,
Look, I am stone broke.
He explained his sad tale to him and
he said, Just give me a bit of
money and I'll pay you back later.
But one thing happened upon the other, he
got word from his girlfriend, I'm pregnant again.
He felt as if though he was sinking
into the mire, as if though he was
drowning, it was about to cover his head.
He tried as he could to get out
of the mire, he just could not.
His debts.
His debts climbed one upon the other.
Then his friend, to whom he owed the
amount, came and said, Give me back my
money.
And they said, You didn't even apologise, you
just kept quiet about it, you must pay
back now.
Till eventually he thought there's only one way
out, suicide, to hang himself.
He was already making plans about which place
and which tree he should use.
And which rope he would use to hang
himself with.
Then he went to another place and I'm
not going to mention particular details just to
protect his family, though he and his wife
are now deceased, but his offspring are still
alive.
He went to a certain area, where
he went into a shop and as he
went out the shop he heard people singing.
He heard them singing and he thought to
himself, I don't know what to do, I
don't know what to do, I don't know
what to do, I don't know what to
do.
And he thought what sweet singing, charged with
the power of heaven, like electricity.
He thought, I must go and get closer
to listen.
And he drew closer to them, stood outside
that building, then he went inside.
And he found a crowd inside, it wasn't
so big, but they're singing, it was as
if though he heard singing for the first
time like that.
And he
thought
to himself, I don't know what to do,
I don't know what to do, I don't
know what to do, I don't know what
to do.
He heard no guitar, no piano, their singing
needed no accompaniment, because it was full of
revival power, the instruments were in their hearts,
because organs are only necessary for people who
have lost their first love.
And he thought to himself, I don't know
what to do, I don't know what to
do, I don't know what to do, I
don't know what to do, I don't know
what to do.
The singing was so marvellous to him, it
touched him so deeply, he said these people
are filled with heaven, they haven't been taught,
this isn't practice, this is real singing from
the heart.
He was transported from hell into heaven it
felt, it was as if though suddenly things
were changing, because he could no longer sleep
by that time, he was so troubled by
what had happened to him.
This singing so touched him, it was like
oil poured out upon his wounds.
He sat till the end of the service,
but there was no preacher, there were
only new Christians there who had just got
converted.
This crowd of Christians was drawn together because
of the love of the Lord ruling in
their midst, they couldn't but be together, like
smokers are drawn attracted to each other, drunkards
to each other, but Christians they have the
fire of the Lord in their midst, they
had no preacher, one would just pray, one
would share.
They would read scripture, at the end of
that service he went to the one who
seemed to be in charge and he shared
what his problem was.
He felt that this was just above his
strength.
He said look brother I can't really help
you myself but there is one who can
help you, go to a preacher, Pastor Stegen
at Mapumulu, go and ask for him there,
I'm not a preacher myself he said.
So he came to Mapumulu in the evening,
that's how he found his way to me
there at night while I was in bed.
And so he poured out his heart to
this lovely, young, bright, intelligent young man
and he then shared his story.
I was sorry for him, I cried.
I cried, I cried, I
cried, I cried, I cried, I cried, I
cried, I cried, I cried, I cried I
said, look, I am in no financial position
to help you, but I can pray with
you, I can pray with you to the
one who is able to help you and
deliver you to the one
who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help you and deliver you
to the one who is able to help
you and deliver you to the one who
is able to help
you.
.
will deliver him from his misery so we
prayed and said amen there's
a room over there and I said there
are others who will help you and to
have a bed for the night I don't
know whether it was 10 or 11 at
night I don't remember the time anymore in
the morning the Sun I don't know whether
to come out properly it was about four
I heard a knock said come in and
he entered it was him again he said
excuse me pastor I've met up with something
I said sit down tell me what he
said I couldn't sleep at night said
I hadn't been able to sleep at night
anymore but when those who help you showed
me to that bedroom I slept like a
little baby it was it was as if
though my burden had been cast upon the
Lord said as I slept I dreamt
I dreamt that I was in a road
a road that led to heaven but was
full of difficulty and going up hill and
vale through bushes and forests and I was
all alone
I
felt like I had not a friend in
the world said
it would go up and then down across
rivers and then uphill again in
his dream he said to himself I am
deserted by everybody not even a friend is
with me he
said then suddenly on my path I met
up with a brick wall I almost walked
right into it it had no window no
door and
I felt as if the God
was on the other side and I was
on the side
he
called out out for help from God but
his prayers seemed to be like a ball
that was just throwing at the wall and
would bounce back his prayers weren't reaching the
other side he thought of
climbing it but he looked at the height
it was impossible to climb he
looked to the side he thought he'd walk
around it but he couldn't see the end
of it and the same in the other
direction it was an amazing wall he
thought what am I going to do it's
impossible to get across and here it's blocking
my path I can make no progress.
Then he heard the voice of the Lord
saying and with his name do you see
this wall?
He said yes.
This voice said you have built this wall.
He said but Lord I am NOT
a builder I haven't laid any bricks I
don't know how to do it the voice
said every single brick you have laid.
Saying every
single brick is a sin which you have
placed building your own wall.
The wall of sin from childhood stealing sugar,
lying, fighting, you're putting down bricks
and it's so big you can't see the
end you can't climb over it it's your
sins
and
then he remembered a particular sin of his
a very big sin.
He was filled with remorse.
He felt his guilt.
He was so convicted.
He said oh my God I have sinned
I have sinned.
I have
sinned.
I have sinned.
I have sinned."
He thought of another sin that he remembers.
He said, Oh Lord, I have sinned in
that too.
Then again, a massive brick was blasted out
of this wall and disappeared, not to be
seen again.
The whole became bigger.
Then he woke up.
When he had awoken, it
was as if his
whole
life passed before his eyes, like a film,
like a video.
Every sin, it just seemed to be so
real to him.
He knew how to write, he had a
beautiful writing, he was very intelligent.
He got up, his sleep ended, opened his
suitcase, took out a writing pad, and he
wrote down.
And he wrote all his sins as they
passed before his eyes.
Then he woke up, his whole life passed
before his eyes, like a film, like a
video.
Every sin, it just seemed to be so
real to him.
He knew how to write, he had a
beautiful writing, he was very intelligent.
Then he woke up, his whole life passed
before his eyes, like a film, like
a video.
He said, I couldn't sleep anymore, I wrote
down all those sins that I could see
that came to me, and I've come to
you so early, but please pray with me
that the Lord Jesus would wash me with
his precious blood.
We went to the cross together.
And as we prayed, Lord Jesus, hear these
sins that you have shown him.
You have said that the one who comes
to you, you will in no wise cast
out, and that we should come to you
if we are burdened and heavy laden.
Lord Jesus, please relieve him of these sins.
And I said to him, I
said
to him, now God is not a liar,
Satan is the liar, the father of lies,
and lie is.
But God is fully trustworthy, he is faithful,
for he has said, he who confesses his
sins, he will forgive, he will cleanse, and
he will wash them, though your sins are
as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow.
And he will write down in his book,
he will record that you confessed your sins,
he will forgive.
For God has said, he who covers his
sins shall not prosper, but he who confesses
and forsakes his sins will obtain grace.
And so we parted.
It didn't take long and he was back
again.
He said, I
remember
other sins, and so he poured out his
heart morning and night.
For a whole week he poured out his
sins, not wanting a single brick to remain
between him and God, that there would be
no barrier between him and the Lord with
his prayers.
I said to him, you know what,
although I haven't read it in the Bible
before, but now I find it, God has
spoken to you.
I was reminded of the epistle of John,
he who says he has no sin is
a liar, but he who confesses sin and
forsakes sin, he will obtain mercy.
And in the Old Testament, and in the
New Testament,
the verses
came to me, became
so alive.
And the reality of what he was experiencing,
and I said, oh Lord, how wonderful it
is.
Every day, every night, he was busy the
whole time, for the whole week he said,
I don't want to forget any sin of
this wall which I have put up, I
want to confess every brick away.
I was reminded of Isaiah 59 where it
says, behold the hand of the Lord is
not shortened, that it cannot save, neither is
his ear deaf, but your sins have created
a separation between you and God that he
does not hear.
Your hands are full of blood, your lips
have spoken lies, it was so full of
revelation.
I said, you pray, because the hand of
the Lord is not shortened towards you, his
ear is not deaf to you.
A businessman came
and
said, look I need a person to work
in my butchery at a shop, do you
have anybody?
And I said yes actually, here is a
person.
And so he began to work there.
And whatever his hands touched was blessed.
And so by the beginning of March, end
of the financial time, the owner of the
business came to me and said, out of
all my businesses, his has made the most
profit.
And he was earning a salary, the owner
of the business came and said, look he
can pay off his dowry and if something
is still left that he needs to pay,
I will pay for him.
And I said, oh Lord,
thank you, it's like I'm in your school.
And so all his debts could be paid
off and his dowry, he was able to
get married to her and enjoy a happy
family life with his wife and the two
children and he was propagating the gospel right
there where he was.
It was marvellous.
We saw darkness turning into light for him
and death turning into life.
He
also He often
shared with me and he said, you know
I have a burden on my heart to
go to my people there in Lesotho to
share with them the gospel and what the
Lord has done for me that they too
find deliverance.
Woe unto me, wretched man that I am,
who will deliver me?
But I thank God through Jesus Christ.
Now let me end with a story.
When I got to Mapumulu when I was
still preaching, I was at Mbalan at the
time, going to different places preaching the gospel.
A certain boy had committed himself and
during holiday times he would come to me
and go with me out and preaching the
gospel.
He was like a son from the Kamane
family from the Kingscliff area.
But the boy's father was like a madman,
wanted nothing to do with Christianity.
His mother had
been beaten by the husband when she became
a Christian to such an extent one night
that she had to crawl away in the
grass to escape with her limbs.
He had said, I don't want any Christian
in my home, I don't want my wife
to be a believer.
He worked in Durban.
I visited her and saw her wounds.
She had crawled away trying to escape.
I said, be strong in the Lord, persevere,
even though our faith brings suffering, there is
a reward in heaven.
And then her little child got converted and
every holiday he would come to me was
like my own son.
Saying, Father when I grow up I want
to go with you to preach the gospel.
And he really was a living testament.
Couldn't wait for school to finish to preach
the gospel.
When he finished school, the father came
and said, now boy
I have come to fetch you to come
to Durban.
He said, Father but I had hoped to
preach the gospel.
He said, no, you listen to me, I
am your father and you do as I
say.
And he took him to Durban and that's
where he disappeared.
He worked there.
I would ask after him.
Only news I got was that he was
with his father working in Durban and he
was forced to be there.
But after a time I got a message
that he was in jail
for a very serious crime with five others.
He had been in a gang, robbing, stealing,
had attacked somebody, he had his knife, he
had pulled out his knife, had stabbed that
person with his knife, had stolen their money.
And again, his knife was used in yet
another attack, even though he hadn't done it
himself.
Then it was said he was transferred to
a Pretoria prison where his trial was to
be held.
After quite a few weeks his trial was
held and
so all six were sentenced to death, to
be hanged.
The boy cried bitterly.
Their boss, the leader of the gang, laughed
at him.
Mokdum said, what you're a girl, you're crying
like a little child.
But then he wrote me a letter.
I
don't
know where I have mislaid that letter because
after that area I went to Mapumulu, then
Sizaban.
In the letter he said, please tell everybody,
every church about my story.
Tell all the churches about my experience.
He quoted the Old Testament saying, if you
make a promise, woe to you if you
do not keep it.
I would read that letter every so often
and I would cry each time.
There was no letter that stirred me as
much as that one did.
I phoned
Pastor
Valdemar up in Johannesburg.
I said, look, I'm far away but you
are closer.
Go to him.
Go and visit him often.
Comfort him.
He became a close friend as he visited
him very often in jail.
And then one day policemen came to their
cells and said, you, you and you, tomorrow
you are to be executed.
His boss,
the one who was their
gang leader, burst into tears.
He was then himself like a little child
when he was faced with the reality of
the death he would face the next day.
The next morning Pastor Valdemar went to him
and prayed with him.
And this boy said, Pastor Stegen, here is
another letter for you.
I would so wish to have that letter
again.
To read to you, it stirred me.
It would stir you as he shared in
that letter.
Read it to everybody.
If you make a promise to God, make
sure you keep it.
Learn from my story.
I got the message that the next day
they were to be hanged.
The judge said, it
wasn't
just one person you killed but a second
one.
And so Pastor Valdemar went
to the hangman's cell
and on the way he was singing as
if he were seeing heaven.
The others were dead quiet including his boss.
One, two, three, four, five, six.
He was then stopped at the execution cell
where the others were then led in and
he only then heard the trap door as
they were hung.
He said, I could hear him singing until
the trap door was sprung and there was
sudden silence.
He went home.
He couldn't eat.
Dinner, supper.
The next day he
said, Olo, I just can't eat.
I have lost all strength through that which
I have witnessed.
The father and mother of that boy were
then shown his corpse.
They came and told me about it.
I said, what was it like?
He said, it was very sad.
He was full of life and the next
moment they were shown his corpse.
He said, please, in his letter, tell me
about it.
He said, it was very sad.
I
said,
what was it like?
He said, it was very sad.
I said, what was it like?
He said, it was very sad.
Here are your people, Lord, kneeling before you,
saying, Lord, we surrender to you.
Take my heart, my body, my spirit, take
everything of me.
Lord, I give myself to you today.
Amen.