In this sermon, the preacher tells a story about a man who finds himself in a dangerous situation. The man is hanging from a rope and realizes that his only chance of survival is to hold on tightly. He prays to God for help and jumps when the rope comes close enough. He manages to cling to a rock and discovers that there are birds and their chicks nearby. However, he realizes that the rope is slipping away from him and he fears being lost and exposed. The sermon emphasizes the importance of holding on to God's promises and not being distracted by worldly temptations.

Our text for this day we find in Ezitola Nkachohane Isashugo Ishum Neslanu Ivesi Langamashumamabili Nesthup John 15, verse 26 Ngaise figilum tutuzi, enyagum tumelagini, evelagubaba, umoyawekini iso opumagubaba, nguyena oyagufagaza ngami But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of me. Nani nyagufagaza nguguba beninami kwasekaleni And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor me. But these things I have told you that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. To start with, I also want to show my appreciation, thankfulness to the Lord for these three people who are co-workers in the service of the Lord with me. And I thank God for his mercy that he has granted you strength that you have continued to be a great example to us. You started out on the road of the Lord very young. You are still young people or newly married, but the Lord has kept you all this time. And instead of a dwindling of love for the Lord, it has only grown. There is a verse in the Bible which says, As your years increase, so shall your strength increase. As your days, so will your strength be. Moses said that the years of a man shall be 70, and if he has more grace for years, 80. But Moses himself began his ministry when he was 80, continued till he was 120. We don't know how long each of us will live, for our lives are in the hands of God. But to grow old is a blessing, for the Lord also says that the grey hairs are symbolic of wisdom. I think of Duncan Campbell. He preached his first sermon when he was 13 years of age. You children, have you preached yet? Have you stood before adults and preached about Jesus? Campbell was just 13 years of age when he stood before the congregation, adult older people, and preached the gospel. He preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel. He preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel, and he preached the gospel of the Lord. You've never preached to others. Shame on you. The devil will go around with you in his belly. He's seeking you to devour you. Sorry, not Duncan Campbell. I'm Duncan Campbell. I'm wrong. So it wasn't Campbell Morgan. So it wasn't Duncan Campbell. It was Campbell Morgan. So Campbell Morgan's first sermon was when he was just 13. When he was over 70 years of age, And then at 70 years of age, he said these words that it is a curse among Christians that they try to broaden and liberalize the way as far as possible. He says the curse amongst Christians is that they have got a passion for bread. He says, oh, if the people of God would only narrow the way of God. It is a curse, he said, that Christians are so passionate about making the way of the Lord as broad as possible, whereas we should rather make it as narrow as possible. For the Lord said, narrow is the way that goes to heaven. Instead, you find Christians and you can see it. It's evident, you see, by their stylishness, their hair, their clothing, the manner of speech, all indicating a broader way. And you try and imitate the world, for you love to imitate the world's fashions and its dresses, making it as tight as possible, doing whatever is worldly. He started at 13 years of age. So the spirit of God in him was not decreased with age, but just grew with his days. He loved the Jews. I don't know whether it was because he had some Jewish blood in him or from his ancestry, but if you look at his nose, it was a particularly Jewish type nose. He loved to preach the gospel to Jewish people. He had a heart for the Jews. He had four sons. He had four sons, all four of whom preached the gospel. It is just an excuse and a worldly idiom that says a preacher never has children who are also preachers. If I would believe what you believe, I wouldn't rest till everybody has heard it. That's what he said. Yavuz Alok, do you hear that? And you whites, is that true of you? Why are you sitting here? So, thank Allah. He is a gun for the Satan. Why are you sitting here? So, thank Allah. He is a gun for the Satan. Why are you sitting here? So, thank Allah. He is a gun for the Satan. If the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ doesn't shake you up and stir you up to go out and bring this gospel to a needy world, then you are a citizen of hell. You find young people who are only too keen to leave their homes, get to the city, get to their university and desert the Lord and the things of God because they love the world. And when you see them, the world is written all over them from their head, from their hair through down to their feet. They know the devil. They do not know the father. You say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this, you say this. And so they stretch the limits. They try to make things as broad as possible, trying to push the borders instead of seeking the Lord and the narrow way so that the whole person shows forth the Lord the way they speak. It shouldn't be necessary to preach this to you. This is what is absolutely clear in our text. I'm going for, I will send the comforter. He will lead you into all the truth. The Bible says, do not be drunk with wine, but rather filled with the spirit. Is it evident that you are full of the Holy Spirit or is it the intoxicating effect of alcohol and the things that go with it? Wine is symbolic of earthly joys and people craving to get as much, squeeze as much out of the world as they can. But if you're led by the Holy Spirit, he will lead you into all the truth of heaven. The spirit of truth that comes from the father and from the son, the spirit of God himself that is in him is the spirit that dwells in you. And if that spirit, which comes out of God is in you and leads you into all the truth, can you be the person that you are? The Bible says, he who desires to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. If that is the mind and the spirit of God, and that spirit is in you, surely you can't compromise, you can't say, let me get as close as possible to the world, let me behave as the world does, let me act as they do, don't be too much of a fanatic, as close as possible to hell, because the fact is you're a child of hell, that's why. He says, the spirit of truth who testifies of me and you will also bear witness of me, for you have been with me from the beginning. Now John and Nathaniel and the others had been with Jesus from the beginning. Through his suffering, his death, his resurrection, ascension into heaven, they had been there. I love this text where it says, you were with me from the beginning. But now I'd like to reply to you. Have you been with Jesus since the day you got converted? You are with me from the beginning, from the day you were born again, you were with me. Or were there times when you gave room to the devil, where you sinned, where you went to the prostitutes, where you got angry, where you became jealous, and when you gossiped a damnable thing amongst Christians that they can't control their tongues because their tongues are cursed. You were with me at the beginning. And you were with me at the end. You were with me at the end. Always with me. Always with me. How wonderful when a person becomes a Christian that they are totally immersed in Him. Their life, their thinking, their actions is full of Him all the time. How wonderful if the Lord Jesus can say that of you that you were with me from the beginning. And I wish this also for you three whom we're celebrating with and for us all that you won't be like some old people who they start out well but right at the end they go off on a tangent and Jesus said when you were young you dressed yourself as you liked and you went where you wanted to go but when you're old another one will lead you by the hand to where you don't want to go may that be the same for you older people that there would be rejoicing in heaven and not mourning that something of the devil has gotten of course he said that of the death he died that we Christians we die every day we are killed every day yeah but somebody else leads as we can't go our own way our own wishes we can't do what we like if you want that Jesus will say to you you were with me from the beginning of your spiritual life so that daily we would say not my will be done but thine be what a tragedy if a person starts in the spirit and ends in the flesh what a damnable thing what a curse that is what a disgrace to our Lord and the kingdom of our God and then he continues and then he continues to say in our text that you should not be made to stumble it insinuates in the German that you would not be made upset because there are those who will come in ingratiating themselves with you saying I'm a messenger of the Lord I have something from the Lord for you but actually is there to turn you astray and to lead you on to a different path I almost somebody in jail I assess when you even kill you thinking that they do him a service and you'll find that if you're not really on fire for the Lord and you're walking anyway on the Broadway nobody's upset by your life you can calmly continue onwards but if you are on fire for the Lord really serving him then you will make others uncomfortable they will turn against you they'll decide to persecute you and kill you then speak evil of you Jesus said woe to you whoa whoa whoa if everybody speaks good of you speaks well of you it's a sign that you don't know the Father you don't know the Son and you're not filled with the Holy Spirit by people who speak all manner of evil against you rather rejoice be extremely happy for your reward is in heaven those who do not know the Father do not know the Son do not know the Holy Spirit how will they speak nice remember also those who desert the way who leave us become the greatest enemies they are very active and with great zeal they seek to destroy the narrow way at a time when there were things in the newspapers as well rumors being spread somebody came to me and said don't worry about it these are just enemies trying to have a field day with their rumor mongering I said I know it and I know and I pray that the that the Lord would forgive them for they don't know what they do how is it that you get along with those who are enemies of the gospel you get along you and find communication and your buddies with those who hate the gospel and you send your SMS's and your your cell phone contact and you have that relationship with enemies of the gospel what are the things that you discuss because the heavenly things don't seem to be the subject of your discussion what is it what is your point but remember with the eyes that we have we can see where you belong to whom you belong and what your end is going to be let me draw towards an end it's getting close to one remember what I told you very sad that Christians forget what Jesus taught them in the beginning don't ever forget the child of God what God has spoken to you and told you in the past don't turn against it remember it remember it some people say God has called me to this and they go against it God called me to this gospel and I fight it today remember what God has told you in the past and that stands for time and eternity he says remember what I told you when you were a child when you started with the gospel what did you do and now when you get aged when you get middle-aged you don't abide by that you turn off and turn other way you lose your blessing remember what Jesus taught you in the beginning let what he says stand remember that the chosen Apostles they all followed the Lord were chosen one of them though betrayed the Lord he ended up committing suicide we are all are they Judas Iscariot's in our midst as well who dip into the cash who are dishonest they don't pay their debts and that dishonesty will lead them to where they belong where the devil will welcome them and taunt them forever now this is a closing point. up with situations later on, remember what I taught you, remember what I revealed to you, that you cling to my words. Never forget what God has told you in the past, abide by it, hold to it with both hands. Bambalela Ngezombili. Yakumbola lo muta Scotlanti, o e tandi zinyoni, e zinembalemishe, e funa, e fuya. Gelinilanga nga seluanze, wabona le zinyoni, zinempapezinse, wata wawamangaitola nji, wamangaitola, a wawamangave mpumelele. Remember the story of that young man in Scotland who loved rearing birds, rare birds and that he saw that there was a special bird that would breed there in the cliffs and he just wanted to get hold of one of those chicks. The most beautiful feathers he had ever seen. Auu, akazabonite mnadigangaga, waisebu gugutizia pelandela, zandiza, gantinga seluanze, koni welkulu, uluanze, upanze, uluanze, upezu, wato, gushuguti, zizalela voliliwa, panze. So he followed them, did his best to try and find where is their home, where are they nesting and he noticed that they'd go to a cliff, a very steep precipice and that right down there there were rocks at the very bottom but half way down the cliff they were nesting. It was about two, three hundred meters deep and he saw the birds diving down. Waba i, waeli julile, waboni zinyoni, zia, zia panze. So he said let me go home and fetch the birds and he set a rope. He got a spot on top where he made a knot and tied it to himself. Then he let himself down. Let himself down to get to the level of those rare birds. Then he noticed that as he went further down there were some of the rocks that were like a ledge and the birds had nested right there. That's where they had their chicks. He let himself down to about 150 meters till he was swinging between the sky and the ground. He was delighted to discover that they were there. As he hung down this precipice it went in so that he was then hanging beside it and it went inwards. Then he was shocked because it didn't go right down. It was like this so he was far away from those rocks. Waba kutana na lau mata amata. Asu za suginyoni, za haamba, koto kwa twale ngane. E zine zingena mpape, e zine se zina mpape, koto nina, se zine zine. Then he saw the birds taking fright and suddenly they left their nest and flew away but they left behind their young. They thought, what am I going to do? Let me swing and swing further with momentum from side to side saying, I'll use that pendulum momentum so that I can swing and then drop off onto that ledge, take some of those chicks back home with me. Getting nearer as he swung until he saw, I'm close enough and then he could let go and jump and hold onto that rock. He found himself right there among the chicks of that bird. Then he suddenly realized to his horror that the rope was swinging away from him. It slipped out of his hands. And you know, if something goes like this, every time it's a bit further away, a bit further away. And he saw the rope dangling and he said, Oh my God! He said, Oh God, it suddenly slipped out of my hands and it's swinging further away from me every time I'm going to be lost and I'll die here exposed here outside. When the rope came the second, the third time, every time further away from him, he says, Help me God. I must jump or I die. He forgot about those rare birds. He lost immediate interest in them. His only interest now was survival. He said, Oh God, help me. And he jumped when it came the third time and he said, Oh God, thank you. Because he could cling to the rope. He clung to that rope with all his strength, with all his might, with both hands. He says, If I let go, I'll be food for the fish. He tied the rope around his wrist, around his waist, and made it a chafing. And he knotted it, pulled himself up until he reached the top. And I put He heaved a sigh of relief and said, I am saved. I say to you as well, you backslider, you attracted by the things of the world, busy with secret affairs, realize that you need to jump and hold on to this last chance of this rope of salvation and hold on tightly. Hold on to that what God has spoken to you in the past, your calling, where did he send you? What did he test, say to you, will you be faithful to the end? The author of Pilgrim's Progress, he said he saw a man who was at the gates and portals of heaven, and just before he entered, he fell down. Speak to God now in your heart, even if you don't vocalize it, but speak to God. Speak to God about what he speaks to you, whatever he has spoken to you, respond to him. We're going to stand to our feet and we'll be praying, but I want you to respond to the Lord. What he has said to you, let's stand to our feet. Each of you, you tell the Lord what you need to say to him, to the eternal one. Lord, even if I don't hear their prayers, you do. Even though I cannot detect their thoughts, Lord, you are the one who knows all things from afar. The one Lord who says, God have mercy on me, forgive me, Lord, show that person mercy and grace. Lord, the one who realizes that they need to turn their back on those rare and pretty birds and jump and cling to the rope of salvation, which you extend to them, that they would cling, Lord, to you, never to forsake you, being held by you. Then, Lord, you have said that you are going so that you will send the comforter, the one who would lead us into all the truth, so that we would know your will, that we would follow your will, you heavenly Father, that there would be no Ananias and Sapphira in our midst lying to the Holy Spirit, that we would walk in all the truth, revealing the exact state of our heart, and everything that is secretive would be brought out into the light, amen.