In this sermon, the preacher shares a story about a girl who sat under a lemon tree and saw a board with her life story and sins written on it. The preacher emphasizes that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The preacher then talks about the transformation that occurs when someone accepts Jesus into their life, using the example of children who start willingly doing chores without being asked. The sermon concludes with a testimony of a woman who was set free from demonic oppression and experienced the joy of salvation.

Speaking the Lord's, yes, hearty and treating, One arrives on the mountain astray. Come unto me, this message repeating, Words of the Master speaking today. Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem Into the fold of our Redeemer, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. Speaking the Lord's and pointing to Jesus, Was that a weekend, was that a storm, Kneeling the slave in words of salvation, Showing the path to life evermore. Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. Thus should we go on missions of mercy, Following Christ from day to day, Sharing the faith and raising the fire, Pointing the lost to Jesus our way. Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, But others on the way, Who shall accept this prayer, But shall not be afraid, And shall not be afraid, And shall not be afraid, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, But others on the way, Who shall accept this prayer, But shall not be afraid, And shall not be afraid, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, But others on the way, Who shall accept this prayer, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, But others on the way, Who shall accept this prayer, But shall not be afraid, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, But others on the way, Who shall accept this prayer, But shall not be afraid, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, Who shall accept this prayer, But shall not be afraid, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, But others on the way, Who shall accept this prayer, But shall not be afraid, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. One day when our families, But others on the way, Who shall accept this prayer, But shall not be afraid, Going afar, upon the mountain, Bringing the one of Bethlehem, Jesus the Lamb, for sinners slain. I don't think that there are some that don't understand English, so we'll just read it in English, because there are quite a few that don't understand Afrikaans. Matthew 28, verse 18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Statistics usually are wrong, but somehow there still may be some truth in them. And they say that in 1945, about 35% of the world was so-called Christian. In the year 2000, that's another 19 years to go, 10% will be so-called Christian. Now you can see how things, the way things go. Christianity is going fast backward. In 1966, this was an alarming thing to me. When I looked around, if there'd be a dance party, if an orchestra came and had a party, hundreds of people would go there. If we'd have a Bible study or a prayer meeting, a handful of people would come. If there would be a rugby match or a soccer match, thousands of people would go there. And if the Word would be preached, then just a few hundred people would be there. Now I know that some people are completely satisfied with it, because they said, well, the Lord Jesus said, it's just a little flock. So we're satisfied with it. And then things can just go their way. But somehow I wasn't satisfied. I said, the Lord Jesus said all power is given to Him, and that we should go to all nations and make disciples. If we look at Communism at that time, about 60 years in this world, and they had conquered a great part of this globe. Then I said, we say Communism is satanic, it's an evil spirit, and rightly so. But if the devil, who is mighty, can do such a thing within a few years, how much more shouldn't God be able to do, who is almighty. As the devil says, who feel mere hot. You see, when I looked around and saw all these things, even the world has got a greater attraction than the Word of God. And then I said, no, I can't be satisfied. I said, if it's still the same God, if it's still the same Word, if it's still the same spirit, why must it be like this? How can a servant of God look on if a football or a rugby ball has got greater power than the living Christ and the Word of God. Now some preachers may be satisfied with it. In Europe, many churches, if one percent attends church of the members, they reckon that is good. And I've met many people that say, we are satisfied because of a congregation with seven thousand members, seventy come into the church. One, you know how many, one percent. Then they say, that's fairly good. In northern Germany, in Hamburg, it's a quarter percent. One out of every four hundred belonging members of the church ever go into the church. Even here, in South Africa, you can go through the figures of the main churches and you'll find that they're going backwards. Maybe you'll be shocked if you knew at what rate that is happening. There have never been as many heathens and white heathens and black heathens in this country of ours as now. So, even a blind person can see that Christianity is going backwards. There are many more people born into this world than those that are reborn, born again from a birth. I said, no, I can't look on like that. Things can't go that way. Even if a million souls would be saved, or all South Africa, every soul in South Africa, black, white or Indian or colored, would be saved, then that would still be like a drop in the sea compared to all the millions living in the world. And then we are so that we think, oh no, not too many people must be saved. We'll get proud. Well, if that is so, we're not saved at all. And I wonder whether we should ever be called Christians. You get Christians that fear to be blessed because they say the people will get proud. If you want a cure for pride, remember where you come from. Remember all the girls with whom you sinned. Remember all the things, the evil you have done in your life. And then for the rest of your life you should have enough to be cured of your pride. We get proud because we forget where we come from. Remember the miry clay. Remember the filthy things you've thought, you've said and you've done. And if you still can get proud, then you must be dead. Because we should hang our heads in shame for the rest of our life. And if everybody in this world gets saved and there's still one soul not saved, we shouldn't rest. We shouldn't become proud. Save that we boast in the cross of Christ. And that one soul still has got to be saved. Because that one soul is worth more than all the world put together. And then I said, well, in the beginning I made the statement, I won't play church. Now what am I doing? And I called the group together, not far away from here, about 12 miles. Excuse me if I still speak of miles. When I learnt it was still miles and not kilometres. And then so difficult for us who have got grey hair already on our head. Like the one said, oh, the one who poured in petrol, he doesn't know what to say. They asked him how much he should pour in. He said, I don't know how many kilometres I've got to pour in my car. So he wanted to pour kilometres. That was still in the beginning. Now he knows better. And I was about 12 miles from here. And I called the Christians together, black Christians, not many, about 30, 40. And I said, you know, I'm at a loss, I'm at the end, I can't carry on like this. I see other people enjoying their life, they're making money, and they're enjoying their life, and here I'm a poor miserable missionary preaching something that doesn't work. That didn't mean that people didn't come to the services. They came very often, and the attendance wasn't bad. Many of them accepted the Lord Jesus, I'd go to a place and then maybe 400 would come to the front and accept the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour and Lord. But things would just carry on as they did before. You'd come into a place and hundreds would have made a decision for Christ, but things would be still the old way. And I said, no. I had read more about revivals than to be satisfied with it. And next to the Bible, books on revival were of such great meaning to me. My heart always was thrilled when I heard how the Spirit of God would come down and people would be swiped into the Kingdom of God, many would repent, and how dance floors would be changed, converted into churches and beer halls, and those things would be closed down because people would turn to God. And I said to these people, I said, men, would you be prepared that we come together every morning, 7 o'clock, every evening, 6 o'clock, and then we have a prayer meeting and have a Bible study. And we search the Scriptures. I said, we put aside everything. The Lord Jesus says, unless you become like a little child, you won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You see. Now, I said, let's read the Bible in childlike faith, without arguing, and say it means this, or it means that, this is true, that isn't true, and just have our set ideas, and then we use the Bible to back up our ideas and our theology. But that we let God speak through the Bible to us. And I always thought of the early church, of Paul and them, how the fire of God burnt in their hearts. And somehow we got to the Acts of the Apostles. I said, well, let's make a study of the Bible. Acts. Now, I didn't like Acts very much because of their Pentecostals. Please forgive me if there are some here in our midst. And I said, no, there we just hear about tongues, and that is all. But I said, no, we don't want to be like naughty children that get a cake, get hold of a cake, break it into bits of pieces, and just look for the leckerhut, just the raisins, and something else that's put into the cake. You see? I said, no, then we naughty. We've got to eat the whole cake. It's no use just getting a verse out, a pet verse here, another verse there, and just have our famous, just the verses of love, then we become like the watchtowers that say there is no hell. God is love. From A to Z, it's just love. Then there can't be any hell. I said, well, let's take the whole book. From the first verse, we go through, not just a part of the picture. The Zulus say, there were three blind men, not three blind mice. Three blind men. And these three men wanted to see an elephant. And, you know, blind men don't see with their eyes, but with their hands, with their fingers. Eventually, after a long time, a friend came, and says, look, I'll take you to the park. There's a big, huge elephant, but he's as tame as anything. And then you can have a look at that elephant. And he took them with his car, excited, they went to the park. The guard led them right to the elephant. When the elephant wasn't standing before them, he says, well, now you can, the first one, can go a step forward and feel the elephant. The first man, he came and he felt the hind leg. He says, my, is this what an elephant looks like? And the second one came along, next to him, and he got hold of the tummy. He says, my, I didn't expect an elephant to look like this. And the third one, the trunk. And, so, they were so thrilled to at last have seen an elephant. They went home, their hearts were full, and they couldn't talk enough. And when they asked, they asked the dog, what does an elephant look like? The first one says, like the trunk of a tree, like a huge tree. The second one says, oh no, man, what are you talking about? An elephant is like a huge balloon. The other one says, man, where did you go? Did you get hold of the wrong thing? An elephant is like a huge hosepipe. Like a hosepipe. You see? And then the argument started. You see? Just because everybody got just a part of it, instead of seeing everything. Now, Christianity is a strange thing. If you just get the tail of it, or just the trunk of it, or just the leg, you've got to get the whole thing. Makes a difference. I remember many years ago, there was a little girl, and she said, you see, there's the town hall in Pietermaritzburg. I said, what's a town hall? She says, a big clock. You see? I said, no, a town hall isn't a clock. There is a clock in the town hall. But a town hall is more than just a clock. Now, we've got to be careful that with Christianity, we don't go about in a childish way. So we started with the first verse. Now, I can't tell you what went through our hearts and what we experienced in those times. Right from the first verse, God touched our hearts. That Luke wrote, from those things which Jesus started to do, that was just the beginning. And it wasn't the end. And in Acts, he just shows us what Jesus did in the beginning. It wasn't the end. And when they said, you're under their influence, full of wine, he says, shall we not drink? It's nine o'clock in the morning. But this is what Charles said, in the last days, I'm going to pour forth my spirit upon all flesh. In the last days, that word is for the last days. And today, it's more last days than two thousand years ago. So if that man, that verse has got any meaning, it's got meaning for the last days. And it touches us as well. And we just felt that if the church of Jesus, two thousand years ago, the church that was two thousand years ago, further away from the last days and the Lord's return, than what we are, if they could burn like that, how much more we, if Christ was their life and a reality to them, how much more we, who live in this age, and dispensation, and in this time, the further we got, the more God broke our hearts. When we got to the place where Jesus says, you mustn't leave Jerusalem, you see, He spoke to people that were like us. Because we run away if things get too hard. You see, if a wife has got a tough time with her husband, when they just married, she'd like to run away. If a person's got a tough time at a certain place where he works, he thinks of running away. Some children want to run away from home because they say their parents are impossible. And strangely their parents want to run away because they think the children are too impossible. Aren't we living in a strange world? And Jesus said, you stay here in Jerusalem. And Jerusalem was the worst place to live in. That's where our Lord was crucified. By evil hands and evil people. They had to sit the disciples behind locked doors, fearing for their life. You can't blame them when they felt like running away. Jesus must have seen their hearts and He says, you stay right here. Because I am going to send the Holy Spirit. I am going to kindle that fire. And when the Holy Spirit has come, you will receive power to become my disciples. You see, what happens when the Holy Spirit, when the Holy Spirit comes, we receive power, dynamis in Greek. Now, we've got many words that are just like dynamis in Afrikaans, dynamit, dynamite. I like to think of dynamite. Power. And where do you use dynamite? Not in a ploughed field. Not at the sand, the seashore, in soft ground. Dynamite you use in granite. The hardest rock that you can't break. A hole is drilled into it, charged with dynamite. And the dynamite breaks it. Dynamite is most effective in hard soil, in hard ground. The Holy Spirit is the most effective where it's the darkest, the worst, the hardest. That's where the Holy Spirit can work. And He says you will receive power not to raise the dead, not to heal the sick, but to be my witnesses. And witness in Greek is martyr. And we know what a martyr is. A martylar. In other words, Jesus says if the Holy Spirit comes, you'll have to be, you'll have the power to die for me. To die for the faith. Now, we can say, well then, we can't be witnesses in South Africa. We don't yet have to die for the faith. Then we've got to go to Russia. But in Hebrews it says, you haven't resisted sin to the point of shedding blood. In other words, that a person says, look, I'd rather die than tell a lie. I'd rather die than to sin with a girl or another man's wife. I'd rather die than to steal. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. I'd rather die than to sway. I'd rather die than get angry and sin. Those are the people that are baptized into the Holy Spirit and are baptized with the Holy Spirit. You see, and all these things just ate our hearts. And we say, but we're not like that. We haven't got the power. And I looked at my past life and realized the words in Timothy, the third chapter, in the last days, it will be a terrible time. Because the people will have the form of godliness, the thought of holiness, but denying the power. And a thought is like a ghost. It can be a ghost. What a Christian is, he is a ghost if he has the thought, but not the power. Every Christian, and there should be a Christian here that hasn't got the power. You're a spiritual ghost. A spook. And may God grant that you'll be changed and no longer be a ghost. And then don't make a mistake and call it Holy Ghost. It's another ghost. The power has got to be there. Then we carry it on. The further we got, the more our hearts were crushed as if God put us through the mill. And when Jesus, after his resurrection, here Mufat, when he ascended into heaven, they returned to the upper room, got together, and it's quite interesting if you note how they met up there. Not as they did before. You just look at their grouping. And then we read there were even his brothers that didn't believe in him. There were even some women, Mary, the mother, and some other women in that prayer meeting. And they steadfastly prayed. Steadfastly persevered in prayer and supplication. You know that struck me? We say, Oh, the Holy Spirit hasn't come yet. That's why we can't be one. The Holy Spirit hasn't come yet. That's why it's like this. The death, the resurrection, and the ascension of our Lord Jesus was enough to make these people one. The cross of the Lord Jesus cut so deeply into their hearts that it dealt with all differences and all strife and friction and they could persevere in prayer. I don't know whether we've even got so far. We're thinking of Pentecost and we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and maybe we haven't even got so far. Well, we got to the chapter where Peter and John went in or before that, Ananias and Sapphira, the fifth chapter. And you know, if you study the early church, you get the impression that Jesus wasn't just something for Sunday and a hobby for weekends. But that Jesus was their very life. He was so dear and so precious to them that some even sold their farms and their businesses and they brought everything to the disciples' feet. He meant more to them than anything else. And they gladly sacrificed everything. And then Ananias and Sapphira, we haven't got time to make a study of them, of their motives and their goal. But somehow they agreed, we don't even know where it started, with the husband or with the wife. It could have been in one of the two. But the end was that they agreed, we sell our farm as well. Most probably, they prayed about it, said, Lord, if it's your will, send a buyer. Well, and the Lord answered and the buyer came and they sold the farm. And then they said, look, let's not give everything. We just keep something. We just act as if we have given everything as well. And they agreed. And some way, somehow, they hid a part of it. So, maybe they went Europeans. You think Ananias and Sapphira were Europeans? I don't think so. Why not? Because he went alone. If he'd be a European, he would have embraced his wife and come with his wife. We Europeans like to go with our wives. And maybe she would have done the speaking as well. Well, he went to the disciples, he took the money and he gave it to Peter. And Peter immediately smelt the rat. You see, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth as well. And immediately, the Holy Spirit said, Hey Peter, And Peter said, Tell me Ananias, did you sell the farm for this money? He said, yes. He said, Ananias, why have you allowed the devil to fill your heart? You're not telling a lie to us, to men, but to God. Look, this farm was yours. Every cent and every penny was yours. You could have done what you liked with it. You could have kept everything. You could have given a portion. You could have done with it just what you like. But why did you have to lie? Act as if everything is there and it isn't. And when Ananias heard those words, he fell down dead. And then the young men of the church went to dig a grave and to bury him. And after three hours, they had finished the funeral. And then after those three hours, Sapphira came, the wife. Hail and hearty, happy. Most probably she thought she'd have a glorious welcome. When she got to the disciples, Peter, without giving her a tip or a chance, immediately confronted her and challenged her. Ananias, Sapphira, did you sell, was that plot, that farm sold for this amount? Now what do you Christians expect? What should she have said? She said, yes. Look, she had to be true to her husband, didn't she? That's the trouble nowadays in the world. The women aren't true to their husbands. Now, she was true to her husband. They had agreed in their bedroom, you'd say, for this amount. She was true to him. And faithful and loyal. She couldn't let her husband down. And she says, yes, for that amount. And then Peter challenged her and said, why did you agree with your husband in something that's not right? Look the feet of the young men that have buried your wife, your husband, are at the door to fetch you. And upon hearing those words, she fell down dead. And then the second funeral started. What a terrible church. We just said, if there would still be such a congregation existing in the world, who of us would like to join such a church? I said, most probably, if I would have lived, I would have felt it my calling and my duty to go around and warn all the children of the Lord. Be careful. Something evil is going on there. That's a murderous crowd. They kill people. You don't kill them. That's not love. That's not love. How can a Christian act like this? We would have challenged Peter. Peter, on what ground can you act like this? You've got to do with the occult. That's sorcery. That's black magic. That can't be of the Holy Spirit. So, I said, thank you God that I didn't live in that time. Because maybe I would have been tempted to say a wrong thing. And if Sapphira would have been my sister, or Ananias my brother, blood is thicker than water, isn't it? And I could have sided with them. You see? And say, now, how can you do such a thing? How can you act like that? But that is what the early church looked like. What a terrible church. Dead. Dead in the grave. Freed from the warmth. As a living martyr in the church. How different it is today. We can even have positions. I can even be an eld in the church. And in the meantime fool around with another man's wife. Or I can crook in business. Tell lies. Nobody worries about that. No. I put on my good suit on Sunday. Sit in the church. I'm a good Christian. Oh, if we'd all return to the place where we belong. And that's why the devil mocks Christianity. And we were the laughing stock of the world. The world said, just look at the Christians. You see? But one can understand why those Christians in Jerusalem succeeded in shaking the world. Even the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, the scribes. They were shaken to the core. All Jerusalem. Because sin wasn't allowed there. So we got back to the third chapter. Before I say that, you remember that those Christians when they were converted, they came together and they prayed. And when they prayed, the place was shaken. And we said, we pray. There has never been a time in the world when we, when Christians have prayed as they do today. People fast and pray. Sometimes I say, please don't fast food. Fast sin. Fast sin. Don't stop eating. When you eat, give thanks to God. Of course, if the Lord Jesus isn't there, then you can fast. He says, if the bridegroom isn't there, then the wedding guests, they fast. But if you want to fast the right way, first stop fasting sin. Stop sinning, you see. That's the best fast. The other can come then in due course, if you still need it, if the Lord Jesus has left you. Now, we said, we pray. But the world isn't shaken. The world shakes us. Things are different. They shook the world, but the world shakes us. Even Christian parents, they are shaken. They say, I don't know what to do. My children, they were so good, now they are 13, 14, 15 years of age, and I can't tell them a thing. They just go their way. They don't want to go to church. And the parents are rocked by the children. And they are shaken, you see. But those people prayed, and then things were shaken. So from the 5th chapter, we went back to the 3rd, where Peter and John went in the temple to pray. And when they prayed, and when they got to the gate, which is called beautiful, there was a lame man, a lame beggar, begging money, asking for money. And Peter said, look at us. Silver and gold have I not. But what I have, I give to you, in the name of Jesus Christ arise. He took him by his hand, he got up, he followed them, and the person was made whole. And that's the thing I couldn't understand. I said, how could Peter make such a mistake? The first thing he tells this man, he says, look at us. We can't say such a thing. We were taught, never tell a person, look at me. But look at God. Look at Jesus. Look at the Word of God. Don't look at men. I said, Lord Jesus, how could Peter, who had just been filled with the Holy Spirit, make such a gross and such a terrible mistake? He tells him, look at us. Peter, you can't do such a thing. I said, Lord Jesus, how could you entrust such a man with the keys of heaven, who makes such a mistake? Today I believe, that was one of the keys the Lord Jesus gave him. You see? Then, we searched the Scriptures, and then we found in 2 Corinthians 3, where it says, you are a letter written by God, not with pen or ink, but the Holy Spirit, for everyone to read. We said, oh, now we understand. Every Christian, when God has done something in his life, is it like a letter, which everyone can read. There are thousands of people in this world that can't read. They are illiterate. But you know, there is something they can read. They read this as Christians. They point with a finger and say, just look, he goes to church on Sundays, but just look on Mondays. Just look on Tuesdays. This child goes to school, but just look, it goes to church, but just look at school. What she is like, and what he is like. You see? And because of that, the name of the Lord Jesus is blasphemed amongst the heathens. These days, a white person came to me and said, what is a heathen? And then I could look him into the eye, and I said, you are a perfect one. We always think, just the blacks are heathens. Everybody, who doesn't believe in God, who doesn't believe in Jesus, who hasn't got Jesus in his heart, is a perfect heathen. Everybody who isn't born again is a heathen. You see? And we think a heathen is a person who goes around in skins. No. If a person doesn't walk with God, if Jesus isn't alive in his heart, he is a heathen. And then we realized that Peter, before he so to say started with his prayers, or with his message, he said, look at us. If we preach to people, testify to people, tell them about God, before we pray for them, if we can't tell them, look at us, we should shut up. We've got no right to open our mouths. Because if a person speaks about religion and about Christianity, and his life contradicts it, he does more harm than good. And one can understand that the Lord Jesus very often told people after he had healed them, don't tell anybody. But he didn't tell everybody. That some he said, you go home and you tell the cities where you live. Go and testify to your people. But there were some whom he forbade and he said, I forbid you, don't tell anybody. Some people do more harm than good by their talking and they should heed the word. Tell nobody. Because what we do and what we are speaks louder than what we say. And if I speak holy words and my life isn't the same, if I don't practice what I preach, they say he's a big skibbingu. We do more harm than good by it. Then we realize before revival started that our lives have got to be right. And we must be able to tell people, our children or whoever it is, we've got to be a good example and tell people, look at us. Look at us. You see, like Billy Graham in the train or somewhere and a person was with him in the compartment and he says, I don't believe in Jesus Christ. He's not alive. And then Billy Graham said, that's strange, I only spoke to him this morning. That was after that morning. He says, but I was with him this morning. So what we are speaks more than what we say. We've got to practice what we preach. Now there is a pious saying, don't do what I do, do what I tell you. The Suf Room, the Citadel for the Pharisees. Don't do what I do. Do what I tell you. It seems so beautiful and so beautiful. But that's the language of the scribes. And then the next thing Peter says, silver and gold have I not. First he says, look at us. Both of them. And then the next step he says, silver and gold I haven't got, but what I have. He couldn't say what we have, because John never had the power to heal the sick and the lame. But he had power. And if we'd only have time to speak about that. He had such power, that in his life, when he asked, when he told the people and taught the people, do you want to know whether a person is a Christian or not? Whether he's born again or not? Look whether he sins. If he sins, he's of the devil. If he's born again, God's seed is in him and he can't sin. Oh, what a terrible thing. But we mustn't misunderstand him. He experienced God's power in his life to such an extent that he couldn't understand how can a person be saved and still steal, still tell a lie, still masturbate, sin with the opposite sex. How can... He says, no, if somebody sins he's of the devil, he's not born again. Such was the power in the lives of these men that John couldn't understand how can a person sin when he's born again. You see, he had that dynamics in his life. We say, oh how good that these people are dead and in the grave. It is. Because if they'd be alive, maybe we would have been dead already. Let's thank the Lord that these people are dead. What would we do? So Johannes of Sturminibus, if Peter would be our reverend, our minister, my, just think of our little white lives. It's good that our ministers aren't like that because maybe our funeral would have been held long ago. But that's what they were like. And Peter had that gift of healing and he says, in the name of Jesus Christ arise. And when we were together in that meeting I told them about a Catholic cathedral, Roman Catholic Church, huge cathedral where about 200 people were present. After the service, the old father, the old priest, with the young priest were counting the money. And they didn't have a little plate or something small for the collection money, but at the back, at the door, they had a big table. And this table was laden, so to say, with silver and gold. The table was full of money. And then the old man, the old father, Catholic father, as he counted the money, he said to the young priest, you see young man, Peter can't say anymore silver and gold have I not. You see, he can't. And then the young man replied, neither can he say in the name of Jesus arise. You see, the table has been turned. What they had, we've lost somewhere down the way. What they didn't have, we've got. And if we haven't got it, it plays a part in our lives. Maybe deciding, even in our life, whether we'll do the Lord's will, whether we'll preach the gospel, we'll consider this. And I said, maybe we're a bit like Judas Iscariot. And when we spoke about that, all of a sudden, a young person, who had just been converted, three months before that, got it, in the middle of the message, and the sentence. And the tears ran down the cheeks. And she says, Oh, Fundisi, could you please stop? She lifted up her hands, could you please stop? May I pray? Now the first time in my life that I experienced such a thing, and I thought, why? This person had no training. She's just been converted, and now she wants to pray in the church. What if she says the wrong prayer? What if she makes some mistakes? Maybe there's a visitor, and the visitor says, Oh, they pray like that at that place. So there were many thoughts in my head, and I had to decide right there, whether I could allow her to pray or not. You see, and it was a dangerous thing for me. But when I saw that she was sincere, she wasn't seemingly pulling my leg, or making a joke of it. When I saw her tears, I said, alright, pray then. And then she prayed a simple prayer. And she said, Lord Jesus, in these days, you've shown us what the early church was like. We've seen the fire that burnt in their lives. We've seen what they were like. Couldn't you please come down again, and work as you did in the beginning? Couldn't you work as you worked in the days of old? You know, it got warm here within me. And I just thought, my! When Jesus had died, and He revealed Himself to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, as He opened the Scripture to them, they didn't realize it was Jesus. They said, man, don't you know what went on here? That they crucified Jesus. In the meantime, they were chatting with Him. And only after He had broken that bread, then their eyes opened. It was Jesus. And the one said to the other, man, did you feel the warmth within the fire that burnt when He opened the Scriptures? And I said, my, is this what they felt while this person prayed? My, that was a prayer. After that prayer, I didn't carry on with the message. I just closed the service. I stayed with my brother then. I went to him and I said, my, a strange thing has happened. The meeting was just suddenly broken up, not by rioters or terrorists, but by a prayer. But if that prayer, which I don't doubt, was of the Holy Spirit, we are going to experience again what the early Christians experienced. And the church is going to be the same as it was then. The same fire is going to burn within our hearts. And then, after about a week, week and a half, God came down and kindled that fire. You know, there is so much I could say. In that time, I would blame every dick, Tom and Harry. I said, why is it so difficult? People would ask me. I said, you've got to understand it. The people, they are just interested in drinking. The Zulus. The Zulu men are hard. Very hard. They just like their beer. They are not interested in church. The young people, just interested in the things of this world. Sex. Boys. Girls have got boys in their heads. And boys have got girls in their heads. You know what it's like. They want to go to the drinking parties and the worldly things. They are not interested. It was mainly the elderly women and children that came to church. And I said, men, you must understand. The Zulus say Christianity is foreign to them. It's the white man's religion. And in these days, many people are politically minded. And they say, no men, the whites first came with their guns and they shot us and now they come with the Bible. And they get us with the Bible. And then, you know, there are so many points. Then they are interested in witchcraft. Witchcraft is part and parcel of them. When a child is in its mother's womb, it's bewitched already. Right at childbirth, they are using witchcraft. That's part of their life. They don't go to the doctor, they first go to the witch doctor. They go to the witches, to the sun-gormers. That's their daily bread. And when the Spirit of God started moving, He suddenly got hold of me. And I forgot all the others. And God just showed things in my life. The first thing He showed me was my pride. The next thing, He saw that I tried to please men. I wouldn't say, what does God say? I would say, how does that person feel? What does that person say? And what will that person think of me? You see? I wouldn't say, how does God feel? I didn't stand before God, I stood before men. And the Bible says, if we still try to please men, we're no servants of Christ. You see, and all those things just broke my heart that I forgot the others. And then I thought, how years before that, Dr. Verwoest addressed us once. And he says, he spoke about the Pantustans. And then he says, And I thought, well, maybe that's not so easy. Easier said than done. After many years, the Lord Jesus reminded me, He says, you remember what Dr. Verwoest, your Prime Minister, told you years ago. I said, yes. He says, now, it's not Dr. Verwoest, but I, who should be your Prime Minister in your life. And the first one, I asked him, Do you love your neighbours yourself? I said, well, Lord, I've given my life for the plagues. I left everything, my parents, my brothers, everybody. Even my very ideal, my life, I sacrificed everything for these people. He says, yes, that's good. But, if you even give your life to be burnt, your body to be burnt, you do everything, but you haven't got love. It's of no use. I said, yes, but Lord, I love them to a certain extent, but I can't say I love them as myself. You see? And the Lord just tightened the bolt. God is a strange man. He doesn't do what we like. He says, you're praying for revival. Do you love them as you love yourself? I said, no, Lord, I can't say as myself, but I love them to a certain degree. And then the Lord says, the greatest should be the servant of all. I said, no, Lord. Impossible. I can't expect that from myself. Never. Lord, you can't be, expect that I should even be a servant of a black man. If a black man walks with a suitcase, then I should offer him, let me carry the suitcase for you. I said, no. Never. I see no chance for this. I started sweating and perspiring. Impossible. God, you can't expect me, the greatest, to become the smallest and the servant of all. No. Lord, I know these people very well. If I give them the little finger, they take the whole head. And if I bow to them, soon they'll sit on my head. And in Zulu, they say, they don't only sit there, they do something there. But I don't tell you what. I said, impossible. Lord, you can't expect me to do such a thing. Never. No. Lord, I see no chance. I'm prepared to do anything, but you can't expect me to do such a thing. That I should even bow to a black person. Never. And then I argued with the Lord, and I said, look, Lord, I'll put my point. If you expect me to do that, I'll lose my life. I'll lose my life. I'll be nothing. And he says, hey look, didn't I tell you before, unless you lose your life, you won't find it. He that wants to save his life, will lose it. Oh my. Never argue with God. Never. Because he'll always have you beat. You see, the person that makes it so difficult for us, is God. We'd get on better in the world without him than with him. Because we could do what we like and get away from it. Or get away with it. But God, we can't. We can't. Think of Hitler. He said, these Jews, let's kill them. Do away with them. He did it. Many. With many. But his, they thought he'd bring in the millennium. Thousand years of rain. That's what the Nazis said. They bringing in the millennium, thousand years they'd reign the world in peace. And the thousand years didn't last very long. His reign didn't last very long. And, God, what you sow, you will reap. You see? That's why God makes it so difficult for us. He says, what you sow, you'll reap. If you want to save your life, you'll lose it. And unless you lose your life, you won't find it. Now, if God says so, if we don't bow to him, we're fighting a losing battle. And it just went against my grain. I said, Lord, I can't. At night, friends, I wasn't sick, I had no flu, but very often I awoke in my bed, but not. I was wet with perspiration. Wet. This fight was in me. I said, I can't. God, I can't. Not here. Then take me and send me to some lonely island where I'll be alone with the people then. But you can't expect me. And the Lord says, what you want other people to do to you, you do to them. I said, Lord, I can't do to a black what I expect him to do to me. I can't. I didn't go into detail. You shall understand. And, my, it was a price to pay. And then there was, in John 7, 38, Jesus stood up. He cried so that, with a loud voice, so that all could hear. And he says, if anybody, he that thirst, let him come to me. If anybody believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out of his inward, innermost being. And, the words, as the scripture says, he that believeth in me, as the scripture says, those words had meaning. He that believeth in me, he that believeth in me, not without reason, not as we are used to, not as our ancestors made us great, but as the scripture says. Now what did the scripture say? And it struck me, what the scripture said. And I said, Oh God, I can't. Impossible. Till I got to the place where I said, Now God, please don't go according to my feeling. Please don't go according to my heart. I say, God, write it down in the book of, in heaven. That today I say, I, let me believe as the bible says. Do what you like with me. Don't take any notice of my resisting you or going against it. I say, yes, I want to believe as the bible says. I didn't share this with any person. I didn't share it with my own brother. With nobody. Nobody in the world knew what was going inside. But I say this to the glory of God, just to prove that he isn't a liar. From that moment, the blacks didn't call me Mfundi, see? They called me Baba. And I asked them, Why do you call me Baba? They don't call a white man Baba. Father. They'll call him something else. Mfundi, see? Or something. But not Baba. I said, Why do you call me Baba? They say, We just feel we'd like to do it. Are we allowed to do so? God, He can't lie. He says, If you lose your life, you'll find it. From that moment on, they respected me more than what they did before. And if I'd have time, just to tell you how they treat me. Just to prove that what Jesus says is true. But we haven't got the time. But by that, I don't say that I live forever. One black man came to me. He says, Run away and hide somewhere else or go across the seas because I don't want you to be killed. He was a communist and he knows what's going on. And he says, You go away for some years and then you come back again. I said, Why? He says, I don't want you to be killed. So we preachers have got to reckon with it that our throats may be cut first. It's always like that if we preach the truth. But that would be the greatest honor to any preacher who serves his Lord. That his life would be crowned with such a wonderful deed. That nobody should cry. The Lord Jesus who gave His blood for us. That should be the highest aim for us that we can die for Jesus. Paul says, I desire that I be even conformed to His death. He didn't wish to die in hospital or a beautiful deathbed but that He would be killed for the sake of Christ. And as God worked in my life I didn't know that He was working in the lives of others. And the Christians they'd go around. The one would write a letter to the other and say, Please, I gossiped about you. Forgive me. I said things I shouldn't have said. And the Christians among themselves made peace. Children went to the parents and made right. Parents went to the children and made right. And so the cleansing process carried on. Not only in my life God was dealing with sin in my life but He was dealing at the same time with sin in the other's life. And then one day as we were together all of a sudden there was a rushing of a mighty wind. I can't explain to you what it was like. If you go to the service station and a feeble example open a pressurized air when it's blowing like that. But then it just blows against you. But this could blow through you. And you can ask concerning tongues of fire I don't know whether one could see it but one could feel it. And at that moment there was such an awareness nobody said to the earth that God is in our midst. But everybody was conscious that God is here. I just felt as if I could put my right hand on my head and bow down and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God came over that place literally went into the homes and brought the people. And He started with the most impossible ones. The first people that came were all witches. The first one was a witch who had a training school a training center for young witches. And when she came she had to walk seven kilometers till she got to the room where we were. I asked her what do you want? She said I want Jesus to set me free. I said what? She says I am bound with chains of hell. I am sick and tired of this life. I am going to die today. And when I die I am hell bound. I said who preached to you? She said nobody. Who invited you? Nobody. Who told you to come? Nobody. I said but... She says why do you ask me all those questions? I said because I can't understand it. For twelve years I have tried to convert people like you and then you... They told me it is a gift of God. It is their talent. God gave them. And now you tell me you are bound with chains of hell. She says oh please tell me can Jesus set me free? I am on my way to hell. And then she got saved. If we had time I would tell you what went on. How she got saved and how the devils came out of her and what the devils told us. And when 300 demons and they told us they are men of war warriors when they got out of her she breathed up took a deep breath with a heavenly smile you know how an old what an old witch looks like within every moment second there was a glory in that face and the glory of heaven with a heavenly smile she says how marvelous Jesus has set me free. Oh you women that like to go to the beauty parlor or something if you want real make up then let Jesus come into your life and reveal his glory and let the cross the glory of the cross be seen on your forehead. That is something no person can do but God can do it. Heaven can look out of your face and through your eyes. I never forget the expression on that face maybe one day when we get to heaven I recognize her up there and she has got a bit of that glory still in her. Then the next one came then the next one came then the possessed came to this very day there are many things that we haven't shared because we say the people won't understand it. As it is they say it's a fairy tale there can't be such things. For two to three months we hardly had any sleep sometimes right through day and night people came sometimes in batches of 20s sometimes 200 or 300 sometimes one after the other sometimes one family after the other sometimes crying strong, hardened to lose would cry and weep like little babies. What's the matter if somebody hit them with a shamburg? They said we are sinners. We can't sleep anymore. We can't go to work. We are sinners. They felt like sinners in the hands of an angry God. And they say we can't carry on like this. Can Jesus forgive us? We say yes. Then they say that's what you say because you don't know how grievously we have sinned. To this day those things are happening. This is how this place was born. Then we said but what shall we do now? People came from near they came from far. And we say well we can take five rooms into a house but how shall we take a hundred people into the house? Some came from miles. We'd ask them who have told you? But how have you come? Some would say we heard a voice from heaven saying go to Makumulu at that time that building and you'll be told what to do. Others would all of a sudden everything would be dark around them and they'd see a board and on this board all the sins would be written. Even illiterate persons could suddenly read what was written. And when they had read the last word that thing faded away and bright sunshine and they literally trembled and then they came running and said we have met with God He's shown us all the sin in our life. Can our sin be forgiven? One girl came back from school was tired sat under a lemon tree and as she sat and rested all of a sudden she saw a board in front of her in a handwriting and as she read she read her whole life story her sins all the sins she had committed. The Lord Jesus said it's good for you that I leave. If I don't go the comforter won't come. If the comforter has come what will he do? He'll convict the world of sin. The first thing he'll do. Conviction of sin. It's unpopular the people don't like it. But that's the first thing the Spirit does about the Spirit whom Jesus mentioned. He'll convict the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment. As if it's judgment day and then people don't fool around with sin anymore and play with sin and hide sin. And as she listened she read she suddenly thought my, but I'm not allowed to forget those things. She looked around and she found a brown dirty brown piece of paper that was just torn somebody had thrown it away. She went and picked it up looked around and there were some ashes that had been an ash heap not far away from her. And there she saw a black coal. She took that black coal with, used this brown paper dirty paper and then she wrote with this black coal wood coal and she wrote those things and then she came and she says just look here. For years I kept that to remember that experience. And she says just look, this is my life. Can Jesus save me from all these sins? Can he forgive me? And that girl got saved. So many came. God just undertook brought the people and met with them. They came crying but they left rejoicing. Repentance went so deep that they were really sorry for their sin and when they left they rejoiced. They said Jesus has come into our lives. He's forgiven us. Children would go home and they'd be like chasing children. The parents would say but children what happened to you? You see the Zulus they don't speak immediately when they have when they've made peace with God they don't go and tell the people. Their father will chase them away with a kiri. He'll kick them. They can't preach to their parents. They can only live. Then they come back. They don't say a word but their life speaks. And the mother says child what's happened to you? I had to tell you two or three times do your homework go and wash go to bed help with the dish washing and then you've moaned and groaned Mummy why have I always got to do it? Why can't more and so do it? You know what little children are like but maybe we've just got angels. Would be marvellous if angels could be brought into this world, wouldn't it? And they didn't want to clean the floors and now the parent left when he came back the house was clean swept everything done the children did this to bring joy to the parents. And then the parents were stunned. They said but children what's happened to you? You're so different. First we had to tell you to do it countless times and now you do it without even our asking and more than what we've asked you. And then they'd see the change and then they said it's because the Lord has come into our life then the parents would want to come.