In this sermon, the preacher shares stories of individuals whose lives were transformed by encountering God through Jesus. One example is Mr. Dube, an alcoholic who was unable to break free from his addiction until he found Jesus. The preacher also mentions a prisoner who felt hopeless and wanted to commit suicide, but was unaware of the hope and forgiveness available through Christ. The sermon emphasizes the power of God to do supernatural things, such as giving Sarah a child despite her infertility. The preacher encourages listeners to seek a personal encounter with Jesus, which brings joy and a desire to do God's will. The sermon concludes with a reference to the book of Daniel, highlighting the importance of turning others to righteousness.

And he revealed himself through Daniel. And I think Daniel will have a special place in heaven. Daniel 12 verse 3, let me just read it again. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. There's nothing like the Bible, like God's Word. It's so wonderful. You feel like jumping like a calf led out to pasture. It's so wonderful and glorious. If we are wise, not fools, we will shine like the brightness of the firmament. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. There's nothing like the Gospel. There's no greater joy you can experience than when you experience the Gospel and doing His will. There's no greater joy you can experience than when you experience the Gospel and doing His will. And then verse 10, many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. It's amazing. You feel like just going out and winning souls. And those that are wise, they shall be purified, made white and refined. That's in the end of the ages. The righteous, they will cleanse their lives. That they'll be white, spotless. But the evil, they carry on with the evil. They won't understand. But the righteous will understand. It's an amazing portion. Let us pray. Lord, we rejoice. We thank you for salvation. People in the world don't know the joy that we know. We thank you, Lord. And we ask you to be with us even now and bless your word to us. Amen. We'll read from Genesis 21, verse 6. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me. She also said, who would have said to Abram that Sarah would nurse children, for I have borne him a son in his old age? Abram was old. He was 100 at the time. And Sarah was between 80 and 90. They were almost like dead already. She wasn't a young girl anymore. Old and withered. And Abram, the same. But God promised them that he would give them a son. And so when Isaac was born, Isaac meaning the one who laughs and rejoices, is joyful. And she said, people will laugh with me. You can laugh at someone and mock him. But there's also something like laughing with someone, sharing the joy. A person who's a Christian, he's a happy person. That joy is seen even in his face. And so Sarah rejoiced. She was so happy. As an old person, without any hope of having a child anymore, there she was with this child and nursing it. And Abram, a 100-year-old man. No one could have imagined or predicted that such a thing would happen. In fact, it was an impossibility for a human being to have a child at that age. It's not a natural thing. It's supernatural. But God did it. They trusted God, for God had promised them a son. God blessed him. He honored even Sarah for doing something in her life which was impossible for man to experience. In fact, today many say if you're over 40, getting to 45, 46, it's very risky to have a child because it will be abnormal, they warn. And thereafter, it just is not possible anymore. At the outset, I'd just like to emphasize this point, that this points to the coming of the Lord Jesus and his birth coming into this world. And as Sarah didn't laugh on her own, she laughed in the presence of God. And her relatives and her friends laughed with her. In the same way, we rejoice and we laugh and we are happy because the Lord Jesus came into our lives. He's now in us and therefore we rejoice too. We who are lost, thirsty, withered, barren, without anything. We rejoice and we laugh and we are happy because the Lord Jesus came into our lives. Just think back of your past, where you were in the past. Dead in your sins and your drugs, whatever it was. Dead in it, without hope and even having a hope of life. And then Jesus came and brought you life. Think of the sins of your youth, how you were dead in them and then Jesus came and he changed you, he created you to be a new person. And now you can display the fruits of righteousness, bring forth those. We've been asked by the prison association, authorities to come and hold services there, up there in the northern KZN, Blood River, Freiheit area. They say Blood River alone, there are a thousand inmates. When one of the co-workers went in there to one of the prisoners, one of the prisoners said, please give me a razor, please just help me with a razor, I want to commit suicide. He said there's no hope for me, I just want to die rather. Some of them have five or six life sentences. They say there's no hope of ever getting out of here. They don't realize there's hope for them, that their sins can be forgiven, that they can find new life in Christ. So God did the supernatural in Sarah who wasn't able to have children and God gave her a child. God gave her a child. But when we meet Jesus Christ, the creator of heaven and earth, then things change. And when they are changed, you experience a joy you never knew before. You wake up in the morning and you can just call out, oh God, you are great. Maybe your parents have given up on you and they even regret that you were ever born saying, well, you should have rather just been an animal than our child. But then God visits you like he visited Abraham and Sarah and the impossible happens. So we experience the same. We who are nothing, slaves of sin, driven by evil, but now we can have been changed and we can now bring forth fruits of righteousness. The Bible says that my mouth is full of laughter, joyous laughter. Because of the great mercy I received, because I found Jesus, I received him. Hebrews 11 verse 11. By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed and she bore a child when she was past the age because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man and from him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, innumerable as a sand by the seashore. See how great God is, he the almighty. You who are still awake at midnight, you heard the thunder. Now imagine he who created lightning and thunder, he came into our lives to drive out the devil and sin. Smoking, drugs, AIDS, and all the sin which makes you into a rotten person when the devil rides you through his demons. But then God comes, God comes through his son Jesus who was born and he comes into your life and he changes your life and you become someone who can laugh again. Remember Mr. Dube? Mr. Dube? Mr. Dube was an alcoholic, he couldn't stop it. He'd earn some money and he'd go and spend it all on drink and then on his way home he didn't even get home and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent. He'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pickpocket him, he'd get home without a cent and they'd pick And when he'd come home the family would hear him coming they'd start running already at such a temper he'd kick and hit anything in his path even the animals just gave way when he arrived but when he found the Lord Jesus or he the Lord found him changed his life he He said, you know, now I can laugh again. I couldn't laugh anymore. Now I can laugh with my family, my wife, and my children. Ghevig lokale shatile. Watatindugengkulu angshayungake. Angshayagume ngatuyambulala. Esulegukhambakase. The first week that he was married, he beat his wife with a stick that she could almost not walk after that. Gengayolaka. She had such a temper. Ayininamakosigazi nyabusa namshanjim shalana matote kanda. Kotoabatala. Omumutube shatile. Indodimitaditugu. Indugunesakil kumisekanda. Gikumbulam seingane. Nangu nomnewetunimambusa. Ayifigamakosigazi kumikanda. Sibopikadalabu fagipenditi. Atuugwe umumbu. Bulawamatota. Ayinestegu. Ayinamshanjige. Aiseningabelungu. Sengusamakosigazi. Well, the women today have an easy life compared to those times. I remember, and my brother will also testify, that in those times, the women would come for help with their heads open, beaten with wounds, which we'd have to bandage and get them stitched, beware the husbands hit them. And I told them, today they're all like the whites, where the woman rules the roost. Where the more woman has got the last say in the house. But at that time, if a woman would open her lips, she'd get a kiri on her head. That's what it was like. And then they came with the blood flowing, and we had to bandage their heads. Aunyabusanamklashe. Nanibashan yaufisa umendo. Kota sema umaseni utolile. Nizosulu ayuwo. And so many young people, they want to get married, but once they're married, then they realize they can't actually make it. Amanya matota pela pupili. Koto amanya asenagutota. Well, of course, you get some men. Sakana kundzhalo. Sebe mbalu avanga matota. Kota wenusui jentunmeni gegum shayunga. Angita usha sab shayige gesakida. Besamat amakus gasu gasu pera amatota. But then, because the women have such a good time, then they start just giving their husbands a hard time. Kota, umasesangana no jesu. Kulungula svarashele ngo jesu. Uti ut jesu, ungu jesu ami. Tweli togozo. Au tingu kuiye femeni. Au tingu kuiya epau yotfusa. Kuiya kikimin shizio. Kuiya vuge gseni. Ut jamulu fundi paipila. Kaiyiki ngwate fananayo. Uzubon, uzubfis, ugutunga ngatungahamba, ungafa, ufige zuruini. Ngitei wetanyele. Uzunesku, lesku, lesuruini. And then, but now that God has come to you through Jesus, you've experienced something new. There's joy unspeakable. You don't need to go to the prostitutes anymore. You don't need the world to satisfy your needs. No, you find everything in Christ and you just rejoice in him and then you understand why Daniel will have a special place in heaven. Then you become a person who has such joy, joy that overflows. I spoke to some people about Goethe, that German poet yesterday. In Germany, there are many oak trees. And they are 50, 60 years old. What did you say? How many years? 50, 60. 500. Oh, sorry. I beg your pardon. Slight difference. Slight mistake. Big difference. Just one more. A lot more. The trees in Europe grow grow a lot slower than they grow here. That's why they get to such old ages. The timber is a lot harder than what we find here. And Goethe wrote about this man who had been working in the fields. It was a very hot day. And he was working. In Germany, the sun was always out. In Germany, it is very hot. So, what time is it? What time is it? Germany, it's unusual to have sunshine all day. Only about thirty days in a year where you have sunshine. It's only 250, 270. In Pretoria, they say it's about 260, 270 days in a year of sunshine, but overseas it's not the case. It's about 260, 270 days in a year of sunshine, but overseas it's not the case. And so he had been working, he had been working in the hot sun all day and eventually he was so tired, exhausted, he went and he lay under this big oak tree to have a rest. As he lay there, he looked at this huge tree with this massive trunk and the huge branches. And then he noticed how this huge, massive tree had small fruit. Then he looked to the side and then he saw a pumpkin plant. And as he looked, he suddenly noticed there was a pumpkin, a huge pumpkin on it, on this pumpkin runner. Just a small runner, but with such big fruit. And then he said, oh but Lord, I think here you've made a mistake. This huge tree, huge branches, massive trunk, such a small fruit. And here this little pumpkin, this runner, so small with this massive fruit on it. And he said, oh God, you are all wise, but here I think you definitely made a mistake. With this huge fruit on such a small plant, whereas this huge tree has such small fruit. Lord, here you've made a mistake, he said. And as he was considering how God had made a mistake, a breeze began to blow. And through the wind blowing, one of these little oak, the fruit came loose and started falling. And landed flat on his nose. And then he called out, he said, oh the wisdom of God, the depth of his wisdom. Had this been a pumpkin, how flat would my nose have been and my face? What would have become of me? What would have become of him and his nose? The whites have a pointed nose. Imagine that pumpkin falling on that. It would look pretty flat after that. Apparently the blacks say that the whites have pointed noses because when they're babies, the mothers always pull their nose when they're adoring their children. And that's why we've got pointed noses. But they say that if someone has a really, very pointed nose, that he's got brains and he's clever. Now imagine when God himself, who is almighty, who is all wise, if he comes and he dwells in you, what that means. Then really if you think, what is heroine, what is dacha, what are all the other things in comparison? Then you know that Jesus is mine. He is mine in this world and in the world to come. Samuel 2, verse 1. One Samuel 2, verse 1. And Hannah prayed and said, My heart rejoices in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. If you have found real salvation, you rejoice. And she continued, No one is holy like the Lord. For there is none besides you, nor is there any rock like our God. That's a song of a person who is saved. And if you don't know that song, you're not saved properly. If you don't know that song, you're not saved properly. A person who has experienced that salvation is one who wants to stand on a mountaintop. Call at the top of his voice that heaven and earth will hear that he is saved. Dear friends, if you've experienced salvation and deliverance from hell, if you had a visitation from God on high, and you would say, God, you love for joy, and you would invite heaven, come and join me in praising God and thanking Him for what He's done. Your family will be surprised. You would delight your friends with your ever-increasing joy and happiness. And edify the church with your grateful confessions. And you'll impress the world with your cheerfulness, with your daily conversation. Do you have this joy? Do you have? If you don't have this joy, this laughter, if you don't know it, you're on your way to hell. If you don't have this joy, this laughter, if you don't know it, you're on your way to hell. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, God the Father, is like an ocean of joy that you can just dive into and enjoy. But if you haven't experienced that, you're still after sin, well, no wonder your face is like someone has smeared chicken litter into it. That you enjoy the delights of being in His presence. You don't need a trampoline. You feel like jumping where you are because of what God is to you. And Sarah took her son, her child, as she nursed it. And she being an old woman, but she rejoiced. She was happy. She laughed and the others laughed with her, her relatives, her friends. They all laughed together because of the great thing God had done for her. And then you can just say, oh my soul, rejoice, praise the Lord, praise God. And you bid heaven and earth to join you in thanking and praising the one who died for you on the cross. With joy unspeakable, indescribable. That's what Sarah has taught us. Each one who has been saved by the Lord, who God has visited, should be like an Isaac. And that we should be recognized by the joy that we have and by that song that is within us. As we find in the Bible. If someone is depressed, you wonder whether he even knows God or whether he's just walking with the devil and the demons. Time has gone. I don't know whether you've understood. That's what I've said. Do you know it? Have you experienced it? Is it your own or not? May the joy that Sarah and Hannah and other children of God like for you be with you always. To all who said rejoice in the Lord always. May you know that joy. I hope that I didn't just preach to the flies or to the ceiling, but that this will be a reality in your life. And if someone is depressed, you wonder whether he even knows God or whether he's just walking with the devil and the demons. That even when worldly people see you, that they notice your joy and your rejoicing, that they eventually ask you, what is it that causes you such happiness? And then you can share the gospel with them, how the Lord Jesus saved you from your sin and how you found this joy. And how he set you free and delivered you and made you into a new creature. If you can't tell that, don't tell me that you're a believer. It's a lie. It's not true. It wouldn't be like this if you'd be a believer, a real believer. It's spiritual humbug if you say you're a Christian, but one doesn't see it in your life. What would you have said of Sarah if she had had this child with 80 years? Just received it and then moaning about her fate, saying, oh, now I'm stuck with this child. I've got to nurse it and change its nappy. Oh, my poor me. Well, you can act like that, but that's not what I've experienced.