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Marriage Is Honourable in All
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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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of honoring and keeping marriage pure. He refers to the story of the wedding at Canaan where Jesus turned water into wine, symbolizing the heavenly wine of a good marriage. The preacher quotes Hebrews 13:4, which states that marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed should be kept pure. He highlights the prevalence of divorce, friction, and mutual hatred in marriages today, emphasizing the need for couples to be united in heart and spirit. The sermon concludes with a reminder that God will judge those who are sexually immoral and adulterous.
Sermon Transcription
We beseech you, Lord, to be in our midst, like at that marriage at Canaan, where the wine and wine and wine. And Lord, that this which you've created will not turn a man into a pig. But that this marriage would be good, so that everybody who looks at it will say, you were here. Amen. The text, our text, comes from Hebrews 13 and verse 4. Last night I asked the bridegroom, is there any verse on your heart for today? And he said, no, uncle Elo, I leave it over to you. This morning I asked Lord, what is, what do you want for us? And then this verse came to my mind. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all sexually immoral. Then allow me to read two more verses, even though I won't speak about them. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, because God said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? We'll end reading there. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all sexually immoral. Marriage should be honored by all. We live in a difficult time where relating to marriage is pitch black. Actually, marriage was created by God. So that people shouldn't just be one flesh, but one heart and one spirit. But today it's like cat and dog, we know cats and dogs don't get along together. There's divorce, friction, mutual hatred. Just look how widespread divorce is today. And God said, death only will separate us. Except if one of the two commits adultery, then the marriage has been torn apart, but then you should not get married again to another person. Marriage should be respected by everybody. And the marriage bed be kept pure, for God judged the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. God wants man's life to be pure. And the bed must be pure. We've heard, it was said before, that both of them behaved well. Both the bride and the bridegroom grew up here, and they kept themselves pure. There was no communication by SMS or letters. But things have gone so rotten today that even schoolboys will write to girls. And if they would be able to open your head and look at your brain, they will find that things have structurally gone wrong, like somebody's lungs who's been smoking. But they found that a person who's addicted to pornography, the pornography causes the same changes in the brain that drugs cause in that brain. Now, at this particular university, they were busy studying the brain of drug addicts and people addicted to pornography. And they found that there are structural damage to the brain of a person that watches pornography. And then they posted this research, these pictures of the brain, on the internet so that people can see, that people that look at pornography in magazines or newspapers, to what extent the damage is on the brain. Then they thought, well, let's take a control group of young girls and boys who have not been exposed to this. To compare the brains. And they said, well, let's look at the brain of somebody who's been looking at pornography, and compare it with the brain of someone who said, like Job, I made a covenant with my eyes not to look at a girl. And so they announced to the professors that they are looking for young people who have not been exposed to any pornography. To come forward so that their brains could be studied as well. And when they did this in one of our biggest universities, they were unable to find a single one that's not been involved with pornography. Those who have studied in tertiary institutions, the doctors and the teachers of our country are rotten. And unless God does something, we are going down the drain. So if you go to a doctor to receive help, a diagnosis and treatment, you go to someone with a damaged brain and defiled hands. Look at the young boys and girls at school who think, well, I'm still okay. Meanwhile, there's a structural harm and damage to your brain already. So if you go to a doctor to receive help, a diagnosis and treatment, you go to someone with a damaged brain and defiled hands. So if you go to a doctor to receive help, a diagnosis and treatment, you go to someone with a damaged brain and defiled hands. It says marriage should be honored by all. Our young men should be honored. The young girls, meanwhile, it's not the case. The girls are dressing in white, but before God, your dress has spots and blood spots on it. So if you go to a doctor to receive help, a diagnosis and treatment, you go to someone with a damaged brain and defiled hands. You see this bride, she's dressed in white. Her veil is still intact. It explains and it shows that she is a pure, untouched virgin. So if you go to a doctor to receive help, a diagnosis and treatment, you go to someone with a damaged brain and defiled hands. So if you go to a doctor to receive help, a diagnosis and treatment, you go to someone with a damaged brain and defiled hands. If you go to a doctor to receive help, a diagnosis and treatment, you go to someone with a damaged brain and defiled hands. And the rings testify to this which you've heard. And the rings testify to this which you've heard. And if you would be swimming in the sea and maybe lose your ring, that's nothing, because it's only an external symbol. And if you would be swimming in the sea and maybe lose your ring, that's nothing, because it's only an external symbol. God in heaven has heard what you said. God in heaven has heard what you said. this and also succeed the test of heaven. May your grace be with all of us especially those getting married and may your love overflow in their hearts. And may they know the fellowship of the Holy Spirit that your spirit will guide them in all the truth. Until that day when all will be judged, also the adulterers, the fornicators, the sexually immoral and those who've brought shame on this position. Help them Lord that not once will they slip into carnal lust. If you've sinned sometime way back in the past, confess it today. Don't return back home without having confessed it. So that if the car overturns on the way, your life is right with God.
Marriage Is Honourable in All
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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.