In this sermon, the preacher begins by reading from Isaiah chapter 6, where Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on a throne in the temple. The preacher emphasizes the holiness of God and the glory that fills the earth. He then shares a story about a young man who got engaged to a woman without truly knowing her character, and how this led to a shocking discovery of her infidelity. The preacher uses this story to highlight the depravity of society and the need for holy engagements. He also mentions a newspaper headline claiming that nobody dies from AIDS, but he questions the truthfulness of this statement.

I'd like to, before we continue, read our text from Isaiah chapter 6. We read from verse 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his road filled the temple. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his road filled the temple. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his road filled the temple. And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. We'll read thus far. Now I asked, What is an engagement? It's actually very seldom that there are engagements, especially engagements conducted in a holy way. We live in a depraved society where there is rottenness right to the core. We see people just infecting themselves with AIDS. Yesterday, somebody bought a paper for me, and when I looked at the headlines, it was written in bold letters on the front page, that nobody dies from AIDS. They die from chest complaints, respiratory problems, and many other problems, but certainly not from AIDS, which does not kill anybody. Even the president of our nation has said he doesn't know of anybody in his family that has died of AIDS. I'm just telling you as I read it in the paper. I don't know how true it is. It could be that he says his family, because actually I've heard also that he has no children. But you don't need any convincing. You have seen for yourselves how people get AIDS, what they are like. The Bible repeatedly tells us that the one who trusts in God is blessed and happy, but the one who lives in wickedness and turns his back on God lives in misery and calls upon suffering to stay within. If you really want happiness and blessing, then you need to be surrendered to the Lord God of hosts. But should you turn your back on God, well, the awful things that await you. We as Christians do not have love affairs like the world. You know that in the pagan way people just choose for themselves, but we Christians rely on God to choose for us. No preacher chooses or other person. No council or no authority except God himself does the choosing. A certain person once decided that he'd rather choose for himself and make sure that he chooses his own pretty peach. He had deceived himself into thinking that in Christianity one is short-changed and you don't really get the proper thing. He'll do it for himself and like we say in the Zulu proverb, if you choose a pretty peach, there's probably a worm inside. He got his way, did what he thought he should do, got married to her and as soon after that he came to me terrifically worried saying she seems to have an enormous growth that I don't know whether she's going to die. I suggested he take her to the doctor. She though, the wife, said no, I'm not so keen on going to a doctor, I'd rather just trust in the Lord. They insisted and she was taken to a doctor. The doctor said to her, I'm not so keen on going to a doctor, I'd rather just trust in the Lord. So the doctor... In diagnosing her, he said, well, it's a simple case, she's pregnant and it was discovered then that she was three or four months pregnant from another man and not from her husband as you find in the pagan way they sleep with each other before marriage. And the traditional Christian marriage is held where there's a white veil and all the significance of purity and holiness that she's untouched. However, despite her spotless gown, she might already be expecting. That's what things are like today. But we find that not only among pagans, but also among Christians, even those who claim to be saved. Till one is even nervous when they get married and one counts the months. Maybe they're not complete. Maybe they're not complete. One young lady, a newly married woman giving birth after six months, that was the time she scolded me and her minister as well. I was taken to task for saying that it's not possible. She said, what is your faith so small that I can't have a baby, a fully developed baby after six months? Where is your faith? I said, well my faith doesn't lie in messing around and being sexually promiscuous. A true Christian waits and looks to God for the answer. They hold it, they keep it holy. Not like those who, when the lights are off, they go around like dogs at night where you don't know where they are and they're off being promiscuous. But instead they watch and pray and say, Lord, you show me. That is why we tell believers, you let the Lord choose for you. You leave it over to Him, seek His will. Because otherwise, if you just do it according to your own logic and your own mind, well, you'll get a pretty peach that is rotten because of worms. And things go wrong when people say, I'll do it for myself. I can handle it. And they don't know how to pray, what it is to kneel before God and seek His will and get an answer from Him. A certain island not far off Africa, on the northeast coast towards Madagascar. There are many varieties of palm oil. There are many varieties of palm trees. One of which is used for an occult fortune-telling process where they use it to create a love potion, especially if it's one of these unique ones which is a double coconut. And so you find that people who do it for themselves, they don't know how to pray, they don't know how to seek God's will, they don't know how to seek God's will. And so you find that people who do it in an unchristian way rely on their own hearts or they rely on occult powers. And so they'll have all sorts of strange fetishes and do strange rituals. And they resort to all sorts of occult and strange practices. Now there's a true incident in Johannesburg. There were some men who used to work there and on the way home they'd always go via a certain bar. And they'd always go via a certain bar. They found it irresistible. They had to go by her. And one day they said to each other, these men, but men, we have paid so many cattle in dowry for our wives, we have our families, but why is it that we are just pulled to go towards this? Let's have a look. Let's have a look. And so there was a big... It was a traditional home brew and where they would make this brew and where this lady, she was the one who owned this illicit bar, and the man rolled up his sleeve, put his hand in, he came out with the lady's underwear. Well, you men who go to these places, you drink all sorts of things. And you fall into the occult things like this and you might accuse somebody else of being to blame, but maybe you're the one who's to blame and you're the one who's eaten of these things. But we find Christian young people who are willing to do it in God's way. This young couple today, your parents, they have made you proud, they have uplifted the standard. Be thankful that you have children that are not living in the rubbish of this world. You have children that are not living in the rubbish of this world. Now, I want you to... Be thankful for the children that you have. I came across a person the other day whose business is creating wigs. Here in Africa, it seems like it's a roaring trade. Over a billion rand is spent every year in our country. So, you find that all sorts, whether black or white, they spend their money on their hairdos, their perms, and they fall into this which we have been read to this Galatians verse, They just fall into the desires of the flesh, the lust of this world. And they just fail to live for the Lord. You just look at their appearance and you say, the world. But the Bible says, as we have read, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. This is the holiness we want to see in our young people. We're tired of the world. We don't want the world's things. Now, the young couple getting engaged here today, as they have before us publicly, I asked them, are you sure that this is God's rule? This is how he directs you? I said, yes. I inquired a little bit about the young lady from her counselor, from those that she works with, and they all had good reports that she lives for the Lord. So much so that they asked those who she's working for, we want to know about the young man. Is he really faithful? Is he worthy of her hand? And you find it different, though, with the advent of cell phones. Sometimes it can be useful, but it can also be bad. You'll find that a lot of flirting goes on, sending messages, phoning each other, and love affairs going on via the cell phone. Let there be a distinct separation between what is wrong and right. Let God's holiness be evident. Not that you are busy visiting each other, flirting around, going around in a group together. Billy Graham, a preacher from America who is now old. A person who is lawless is the one who complains about the lawlessness of the law. And they say, but you're making laws for us. Why can't we do this? Why can't we do that? They made a covenant together, Billy Graham and his team. In those early days, they said, let's make a covenant to be sexually pure before the Lord and take certain precautions, such as never to travel in a car alone with the opposite sex, not to be in a room alone with the opposite sex. Men and women have been godly, and the Lord has preserved them into old age. They haven't died from promiscuous living. And in this covenant, they also said that they will preserve financial integrity. We will not be dishonest regarding money. They made these rules with each other, and they remained an example. We too need to be an example as we preach to others. We need to be an example to others. Here, God fills the temple with His holiness and His glory. We are the temple of God. His holiness needs to be proclaimed. Maybe you're the child of a preacher, and you're the one who is loosening the standards. Well, you will find yourself cursed. Here are the blessings. On the other hand, here are the curses if you are disobedient to the Lord. Here is happiness, but here is tragedy and misery if you do not heed the word of the Lord. Listen carefully, you children as well. I love young people, but I am often so disappointed in their lack of understanding. Their ignorance. You'll find an infatuation will come over a boy or a girl, and they completely head over heels infatuated, and they don't know what's happening to them. Listen carefully, you children as well. I love young people, but I am often so disappointed in their lack of understanding. Their ignorance. You'll find an infatuation will come over a boy or a girl, and they completely head over heels infatuated, and they don't know what's happening to them. Listen carefully, you children as well. I love young people, but I am often so disappointed in their lack of understanding. Their ignorance. You'll find an infatuation will come over a boy or a girl, and they completely head over heels infatuated, and they don't know what's happening to them. So be free to choose whatever you want to choose, but remember you can't decide the consequences of your choice. One thing will help us that we meet with God, Lord of hosts. The holiness of God was proclaimed by these angels covering their feet with wings, their faces with wings, with two they flew, and proclaiming God's holiness they shook the foundations causing the man of God here to cry out about his sinfulness. Jenny, are you here? Where is Jenny? Jenny Engelbrecht? Just stand up that I see you. Do you see that wife? The one who is standing here? Her sister? I was married to her sister. My children last night came excitedly to me and said, but you know the wonderful testimony that Aunty Jenny has got? And they hadn't known it. That's why the Bible says, tell your children and your children's children that they would know the workings of God. She had come to help babysit. One of my daughters has just had a baby and she was coming to help and in that time she used the opportunity to tell the testimony. She grew up in the Anglican church. They were very strict Anglicans. Regarding confession of sin, it's done in the liturgy. When Revival broke out, they said to each other, she and her husband, well, we're going to be left out if we don't become holy. We're going to become part of it, that the Lord gives us revival. And they came to Mapumulu at that time. And they asked then, what shall we do? She came to me as well and asked me, Olo, what should I do? I said, you go and ask the Lord, what does He say to you? She went back in with tears, told her husband, they asked, well, what do we ask the Lord to say? How will He speak to us? She said, I need to confess my sins. I don't know how I replied. She said to me, I need you to know my sins. I want you to know it. No, no, no. She says, should I tell you my sins, that you know my sins? And by the way, there aren't any sins that I remember. I don't know what I said. I said, why don't you try it? And when she tried it, she got a foretaste of heaven. And then she experienced revival. Dr. Edwin Oh, he says revival starts when you confess your sins, and it stops when you stop to confess them. And it's not an issue of, well, should I tell you? You should know you are before God. You should cry out to Him, He who is thrice holy. And get right with God, make right with Him. When you do it, you will receive life. Outside of that, you won't have it. And so it's good? It's good that repentance brings about change. And so with the young man who's got engaged today, his life has been utterly changed. Many of them know what he was like in his old life, but today the Lord has cleansed him. And they say he's completely different. They acknowledge it. Even the expression in his face. The Bible says, Lord, let your glory be revealed among your people. Let His glory, His shine be upon us. Let your glory be revealed. And so to the young man, to the young lady who got engaged today, may their lives shine. May that flame never be extinguished. And also with arguments. We don't allow arguments. If you want your sin and you want to cling to it, then pack your bags and go. We don't allow that here. Rejoice in your sin, speak to it and live a holy life. It's not a place for sinners to sin. It's not the devil's place. It's not Satan's place. Pray that the Lord will show you your sins. And then before the sun goes down, pray. I don't know how to do it, but I'm going to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to do it anyway, because I don't know how to to everybody. Now, you, I'll be glad if you've listened and you've heard and you take steps regarding what you've heard. If you, the father or mother, as parents, you gather your children together, speak about these things. Let's bow our heads and pray. Lord, we thank you for the privilege we have to see this day. You've blessed the Zonde family and the Lange family that they should have fame and honor because of purity. And you who are thrice holy, that you are worshiped in holiness. Lord, those who haven't yet married, may you teach them by your Holy Spirit. And grant also that the married people would examine their lives, look at their past and set right before God what was wrong. Amen.