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Fixed on God
Erlo Stegen

Erlo Hartwig Stegen (1935 - 2023). South African missionary and revivalist of German descent, born on Mbalane farm near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, to Hermannsburg missionary descendants. Raised Lutheran, he left school after grade 10 to farm but felt called to ministry in 1952, evangelizing rural Zulus under apartheid. After 12 years of preaching with few lasting conversions, he experienced a transformative revival in 1966 at Maphumulo, marked by repentance and reported miracles. In 1970, he founded KwaSizabantu Mission (“place where people are helped”) in Kranskop, which grew into a self-sustaining hub with farms, a water bottling plant, and schools, serving thousands. Stegen authored Revival Among the Zulus and preached globally, establishing churches in Europe by 1980. Married with four daughters, he mentored Zulu leaders and collaborated with theologian Kurt Koch. His bold preaching drew 3 million visitors to KwaSizabantu over decades.
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In this sermon, the speaker begins by discussing the importance of trusting in God and keeping our minds fixed on Him. He quotes Isaiah 26:3, which states that God will keep us in perfect peace if our minds are stayed on Him. The speaker shares a personal experience of feeling unwell but being able to take the service because of his trust in God. He emphasizes the need to trust in God and rely on His peace, which surpasses all understanding. The sermon encourages listeners to abide in God and experience the abundant life that comes from trusting in Him.
Sermon Transcription
Ladies and gentlemen, The first thing I want to do today is to wish the elderly a happy life. They can be happy. There are fewer people in this time of our lives who trust like these young people today. Ladies and gentlemen, Why? When the father came here with his daughter, before the son-in-law came, the father took away the veil from the daughter. You know what the veil means. It means that the girl has never been touched by a man. She has never had an intimate relationship. She is still a virgin. She is still full. She is clean, she is pure. That is what the veil means. A person can understand that many, many unhappy, happy people in this world have started on a false foundation with hypocrisy, with a veil. And they were all old women. It is not a blessed time, the one we live in, in the world. The veil means nothing else. Do you know of a German girl? When she got married, I was there. And she said, I am going without a veil. I said, why? I lie when I come to church with a veil. I can't. I already had a relationship with a man. I am not beautiful for God, am I? And the Lord said to her, well then, everyone will appreciate that you are so upright. And I believe that this marriage is blessed. But I said to the Lord, look, I would have said something else to her. She had just come to the parking lot after the affair. Yes. I said, the Bible says, if we do not sin, He forgives us and does not keep it anymore. And He is just to us. And if He is just to us, then it means we have never done it. I said, this is the Gospel. This is the Gospel. This is wonderful. Can a person celebrate? It is revealed. It is forgiven. The Lord does not keep it anymore. And if He does not keep it, then we do not have to keep it either. This is the Gospel. The Gospel means a new message, a good message. And this is a good message. Forgiveness. God forgives and He forgives. We had a Frenchman here, a farmer, not far, a sugar farmer, not far from here, along the coast. And he spoke one day in a big meeting. He said, I forgive, but I don't forget. That is what he said. But God is not like that. If God forgives, He forgives. And then I said to the preacher, Look, you had to make it clear to her. She had the right to carry the key there. Because she received forgiveness. She received forgiveness. She turned from that wrong thing. And then, if someone is in Christ, he is a new creation. He is a new person. For God, this is something wonderful. And I think it was Lisa who told me, shortly after she came here. She said, One thing that is so wonderful for me is the way in which I receive your forgiveness and your faith. She said, that is something that I appreciate. And that is something that I also appreciate in her. So why did I say, I want to wish the elders happiness. That, so to speak, happiness, not many people have. Not many people can enjoy that. And God does not appreciate that. Now, the text for this service Martin gave to me. And that is Isaiah 26 Verse 3 Isaiah 26 Verse 3 Yesterday evening I said to my brother, I will tell you how I feel tomorrow morning. But as it seems now, I will not be able to take this service. But that is the text. I gave the text to him. I said, you have to be prepared to take this service. And this morning I did not have a headache. And I do not feel bad. It is a simple thing. But then I sit with your text, Martin. But then I think, what should a person say about that? And then I remember that the service is already at 10 o'clock. And not at 11 o'clock. And the children say, Dad, Dad must be ready. They say, that is the woman's right. On her wedding. They cannot start the service without her. And she can also come late to the service. And then I thought, Ah, the preacher also has a right. I said, you can start the service, I will come later. But I was still on time. And the text is in Isaiah, chapter 26, the third verse. You will keep a stable family in complete peace. For they trust in you. Ah, I am so sorry. I forgot the English Bible. And how long? Who are you of my children? Nobody. There is an English Bible that I had. It was open. And the verse is big on the page. Can you quickly go and get the Bible? If you do not forget. I will Esther It is not always like that, the Bible. Not always. But rarely. I took different Bibles. I took the German Bible. And so on. But there it is still a bit different than this. You will keep him in perfect peace. Whose mind is stayed on you. Because he trusts in you. You will keep him in perfect peace. Whose mind is stayed on you. And whose thoughts are stayed on you. Because he trusts in you. Because his thoughts are fixed on you. Because his thoughts are fixed on God. Now. Here we hear about peace. You will keep him in perfect peace. Because he or they trusts in you. Perfect peace. Is it in the new translation. In the Hebrew language it is peace. But if a person reads the whole thing in the next verse. Then it is peace, peace. Peace. Peace. Is permanent, eternal peace. Which does not change. Which does not come to an end. An eternal peace. So why do we have this translation. Is permanent peace. There is full peace in the translation. They use different words. Literally peace, peace. It is always peace. An eternal peace. Even if times change. Or the climate changes. It is always peace. And it is the divine peace. Just a few thoughts about this peace. Now. This verse. Reveals to us. A heavenly. Spiritual. Secret. Secret. There are many Christians. Reborn Christians. True children of the Lord. And they understand. Or see. Or know nothing of this spiritual secret. And so it is a must. In our lives. If I am a true Christian. And I do not understand this secret. Will I stumble. Will I fall over and over. And stray from the right path. And I will not know what is the right thing or not. And it is of utmost importance. That we. This verse. Understand. Peace. There is not only the right peace and the divine peace. There is also the false peace. In the Old Testament and even in the New Testament. We find it ear to ear. Jeremiah 6.14 He is a peace of peace. While there is no peace. The false prophets. So. For the people of God. And lead them in the wrong direction. And they say peace, peace. And God will say there is no peace. The Lord said. In the last days they will say peace, peace. But there will be no peace. Today there is peace in the world. In the political world. But it was never so far away from peace as today. They do not know what they are talking about. And the Lord Jesus made it clear. In Philippians 4.7 Hear us of the peace of the Lord. My peace. I leave for you. For you. I leave peace for you. Say the Lord. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives. As the world gives. I do not give to you. Let your heart not be troubled. And be not afraid. Yes, if we do not have peace there. We will be deprived. And we will be afraid. But the Lord says. Peace I leave for you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives. We also have the world's peace. But the Lord Jesus made it clear. And then in Philippians 4.7 I go so far as to say in the German Bible. The peace of God. Which transcends all understanding. Will keep your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus. But in African it is exactly the same. And the peace of God. Which transcends all understanding. Will keep your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus. The peace of God. Which transcends all understanding. There is life. Which ends with their mind. But God does not give that anyone among us. So long live. Our plan is far from us. But otherwise. Our mind does not go beyond us. It is a fact. The truth. What they think is smart in this world. Is the stupidest of all. And there is no great boss. If the one who says there is no God. That's what the Bible says. Now. The peace of God. Which transcends all understanding. I know in my past. What my mind. Sometimes. A curse for me. Because I so with my mind. Try to work things out. I remember the Russians. The first was. A meeting. There. To. And to say. The. Let. Like. And. That. My first. And the. Then. The. A rocket. That. My first. Consumption. Not the man. to never come back. That does not mean that we should be silent, but the English say, Silent Minded. Nocturnal. Nocturnal in our mind. Now this peace will raise our mind. And this peace will keep your heart and your mind. In Christ Jesus, who said, Stay in me, and I in you. And if you stay in me, and I become in you. What a wonderful life this is. Read John 15 when you are at home. It is the best life that a person can live in this world. The Bible says, As Jesus said, If we stay in him and his words in us, he will give us what we want. It is a greater treasure than what anyone in this world has. Bill Gates had just a drop of that wealth. If you compare his wealth with the wealth of that one verse. Now, how will we stay in him? The peace of God, which all minds desire, will keep your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. I have always said, If we are true children of the Lord, and if we become children of God, then God will put a policeman in our lives, a spiritual one, a heavenly one. But, with the help of Uncle Peter, I have gotten even a better thing in words, as a policeman. And that is, a watchdog. A watchdog. If you are born again, then God will give you a watchdog. There is a watchdog. And it is not like many dogs, when you sleep, you think, they are awake and they sleep too. Or, they are not even at home, they are outside, busy with freedom. And a man sleeps well, peaceful, and then, the watchdog is there, he is not there. It is a devil's watchdog, spiritual. But this, spiritual watchdog, I have sometimes said, it is like a traffic light, a robot. If the traffic light is red, then it means stop. Stop. Then we must stop. If we do not stop now, we will be asked for difficulty. It is like that person, who asked for a lift. Then the preacher comes and he stops. And the young student gets in the car. When he gets in the car, the preacher immediately starts. He says, Christian, you are a child of the Lord. And this man says, I am sick and tired of that. I grew up in a Christian house, and I don't want home, and I don't want to know anything about that. Do this, don't do that. I am sick and tired of it. I want to be free. It is the spirit of humility. I want to be free. A dear brother shook hands with me, and said, Erlo, I just want to tell you, you are very legalistic. We are free. It is not the first person who speaks to me like that. There are many who have spoken like that. Now, this young man also spoke like that. But this preacher was fire and flame. And he held his hand. And he said, I am not listening. And then he said, gentlemen, what shall I do now? And they come to the city, and he sees the traffic light, the traffic light, and it is red. And he puts his foot on the thing. And the motor goes forward, and he catches him, and he says, man, man, it is red, red, red. And he says, look, I am sick and tired of you must or you must not. I am free. I can drive. And then the driver said, do you understand now? And fortunately, he had a little understanding. And he said, I understand. I understand. So much understanding must the people have that is lawless. The gifts of God, the Lord himself, gives for us his peace. And this robot, this traffic light, if it is red, it is a warning. If there is peace in your heart, blaaf, blaaf, and there is unrest, then you know there is danger. Something is wrong. There are children of the Lord who say, I have no peace anymore. I have no peace at all. Some go so far that they become depressed. A child of the Lord becomes depressed. Can you think of such a thing? True joy, heavenly joy, you will find in the life of a Christian, but nowhere else. The joy of the world is just short. Very, very short. My father had a dance floor. Here is my oldest brother, Friedel. Heino. They made the music. They drank. They danced until the service began on Sunday morning. And people gathered. Where is our son? He was not at home yet. And they were ready for the service. Ten hours to go to the service and the son was not back. He was at Stegens. With me. Our oldest brother. The people danced and drank. And he drives home. There are two horses and he does not know which one is the right one. And he takes the wrong one. And he sleeps in the cotton plantation. People have to go and search where he is. My oldest brother also had peace. But his parents did not. He was almost asleep. He drank too much. That is the peace that the world can give us. But the peace that Jesus gives us can keep our hearts and minds. And keep our spirits. Peace. We can be happy in Christ. But if we do something wrong, or think, or plan, there is unhappiness. We lose peace. May it always be the peace that God gives us. And not the peace that the devil gives us. One preacher was on his deathbed. And he said, When I die, when death knocks on the door, the devil says to me, peace, peace. And suddenly he wakes up. And he realizes he is on the wrong path. We always have to do the peace. I know a man who is on the wrong path. And then suddenly he lies unconscious on the ground. And he tells me later, I had peace, peace. And then I talk to some black Christians about it. Then they say, The death was not there yet. If the true death is there, then the false peace will disappear. And this is the time when you call on people, preachers, and other people, Come God, come God, I still have to settle my case with you. But who for whom? What? Die? And he does not have the true peace of Jesus Christ, which our minds go above. And our sins, and our hearts, are kept in Christ Jesus. Now Martin and Lisa, never from the Jews does the Lord forgive us when we wake up. From the Jews, Heavens, the only robot in our lives, traffic. From this policeman, always look there. Is the peace of God still there? And if the peace of God is there, can anything happen? There is peace, peace, eternal peace. Even if the whole world goes against you, there is peace. The peace that does not move, the peace of God that does not change, the peace of God that stands, in the fourth verse, trust in the Lord forever. Because this peace is for those whose mind is fixed, as the English translation says. Fixed. You can not move it. It stands. Which trust in the Lord forever. Because the Lord, Lord is an eternal rod. Lord in Hebrew is Yes, the first Lord. Yes. The second Lord is Jehovah. Literally in Hebrew, Yes, Jehovah. It is now translated Lord, Lord. Yes, the eternal, unchangeable. He never changes. The Yes, Jehovah. If He is reality in your life, there will be the peace of God there, which never changes, always the same. His peace will be preserved for you in Christ Jesus. And if you have to make a decision, and if you do not know what is the right thing or not, keep your eye on this peace. Ask yourself, is there peace there? Yes, I had peace, but there is no peace now. It is never together. Now I do not know anymore. Then something strange came in. You took your eyes away from the Lord. Your mind was not fixed on Him. And then you take other things in consideration. And then things become one. Years ago when the choir began, and in different places they performed, they were in a church. And the Natalis, our Natalis is not good with Africans. The black ones here, the Zulu say, Zulu is like English. And Sotho is like Afrikaans. The people there speak Sotho. They speak Afrikaans. The Sotho speak Afrikaans. The English speak the Zulu speak English. That is what they say. But it is not like that. They know that our Natalis is not good. Good Africans are not. And then one lady said to one of the choir singers, to what church do you belong? And who are you? And she did not know what to say. She wanted to say it is not of great importance for us or what church we belong to. Then she said, we belong to the through each other church. Through each other church. Yes. Although we do not all belong to the through each other church, but we are through each other. Now it can never be like that in your lives, that you are through each other. Then you have to go to another place to become healthy. May you never be spiritually against each other. May the peace of Jesus Christ, which goes above all minds, keep your hearts and sins in Him, in Christ Jesus. And may the watchdog always be there, and a sign for you. Then it will not be difficult. Then it will not be difficult. If you do not know, do you have peace about it? No, I had peace, but not anymore. When did it happen? Where did you lose the peace? It will not take long, then you know. And then, make sure that it is the right peace. There is also false peace, the peace of the world, the devil, and of dwellings too. Now may these words be of meaning for the rest of your lives. And then it will be a great blessing for you. Now you can come. Martin, do you believe with all your heart that Lisa is the woman that God has chosen for you? Lisa, do you also believe that Martin is the man for you? Have you all heard Yes, it is wonderful as a human being, that he has the certainty in his heart. It is wonderful. I know of a couple who got married. The parents were Christians. But the son went away and then he came back and said I promise or I want to get engaged with that girl. And the parents talked to the child about it. Thank you son, that is the right thing. He said yes. Because if a person is in love, he does not listen to anyone. Yes. And the Germans say even if you are in love with a cow pancake, it does not mean anything to talk to that person. Well, there are maybe people here who do not know anything about animals or horses. Horses, apples, cows, pancakes. But a few farmers will be here and they will understand. And the son, he said, that is God's will. There is the pancake. And they are married. And then, or they stand white bread, they ride to a chair in an accident. And the son was sad, quickly to the hospital. And then they said, you broke his neck. And he will be paralyzed from here for the rest of his life. That was a big shock. That was many years ago. I do not know if it is now 36 years. Every time when I am in that country, I go and visit Fromm. And it is now all those years that he is lying on his back. The next day he comes and says, then the doctor says, he is paralyzed. He will never recover for the rest of his life. Then the people stand up and I say, farewell. Auf Wiedersehen. You will not see me again. I do not see a chance to have such a man and to live with such a man. The son almost died. His parents were nothing. His family members were nothing. This girl was everything. Her trust was on her and on her building. The next day his way was almost gone. I can imagine what that means. He had nothing to stand on. Nothing under his feet. His poor parents have to look at him. Parents are another kind of people. A person would think they would say to him, Goodbye. Look at your wife and let her look at you. And there the old people looked at him until the father died. And the mother is old. And they looked at him until the end. And now he is in the hospital. A terrible thing. But if you know it is the will of God and if she had had that kind of confidence even then it would not have been such a big problem. She would have been as happy as she is now. Look. You have heard of the geologist. It does not matter how old he is, I do not see a geologist but for me it was like that. It was literally like that. Because we know it is the will of God. And this ring is just an external sign of that. With that you prove that you believe it is the will of God. Then you will be happy. And I do not think that there will ever be one unhappy day in your life. Because a life in the will of God is a happy life. Bebel, who was the German poet I am getting old my mind. Goethe. Yes, Goethe. He was a rich man, a smart man. Maybe you know he is an African. Also for Goethe. And Goethe at the age of 82 82, 84 at the age of 82 he said when I bring all my happy moments together it will not be 24 hours. At the age of 82 it was a time of glory. The whole world knew him. Smart. And he said at the age of 82 when I bring all my happy moments together it will not be 24 hours of happiness I have never been in my life. But a Christian does not have to live 82 years. One day and he has 24 happy hours. I want to say with my parents there was also a dance hall and so on. But I read in the bible if you pray in my name you will get it. So that your joys can be complete. Isn't that amazing? People do not get complete joys in the world. Not with living with women. Nowhere. But if you pray in the name of he will give it to you so that your joys are complete. People there is nothing like the gospel in this world. Some people think of rugby, soccer, dance, money. There is nothing like that. I would be a leonard for you and for God if I said there is something as wonderful as Jesus Christ in this world. Not even a woman is so wonderful. When you read of that rabbi it is a big thing if you believe. But the greatest day in a man's life is not when you meet your wife and not when you believe. But the day when you meet Jesus Christ, the living God. That is the best day. And happy in him with heart and thoughts. And the peace of God can teach this to you. Let us now pray for you. Ladies and gentlemen, the children have testified to us that they believe that you have brought together for them no man, no priest, no preacher, no friend, but yourself. And that they receive it as the will of God. Be now with them, that their marriage will shine brighter than the sun. A testimony for Christians, non-Christians and heathens. That all will be able to see this, the best that Jesus Christ has brought for us. Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the Holy Spirit guide us in all truth with your wisdom. And may the peace of God which all minds have, keep your heart and thoughts in Christ Jesus to the end. Amen.
Fixed on God
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Erlo Hartwig Stegen (1935 - 2023). South African missionary and revivalist of German descent, born on Mbalane farm near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, to Hermannsburg missionary descendants. Raised Lutheran, he left school after grade 10 to farm but felt called to ministry in 1952, evangelizing rural Zulus under apartheid. After 12 years of preaching with few lasting conversions, he experienced a transformative revival in 1966 at Maphumulo, marked by repentance and reported miracles. In 1970, he founded KwaSizabantu Mission (“place where people are helped”) in Kranskop, which grew into a self-sustaining hub with farms, a water bottling plant, and schools, serving thousands. Stegen authored Revival Among the Zulus and preached globally, establishing churches in Europe by 1980. Married with four daughters, he mentored Zulu leaders and collaborated with theologian Kurt Koch. His bold preaching drew 3 million visitors to KwaSizabantu over decades.