Erlo Stegen emphasizes the significance of the Holy Spirit, referred to as the Spirit of Truth, in the establishment and growth of the Church. He reflects on the historical context of the Sabbath and the consequences of straying from God's design, using France's shift to a ten-day week as a cautionary tale. Stegen urges believers to be in prayer and to seek the Holy Spirit actively, highlighting that true fellowship with God requires honesty and sincerity. He warns against hypocrisy and the dangers of living a double life, asserting that the Spirit of Truth cannot dwell in those who are not upright. Ultimately, he calls for a return to genuine worship and a commitment to living in truth as a reflection of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives.

John 1526 John 1526 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning. Today we remember especially the time where the Holy Spirit was poured out there in Jerusalem a long time ago. And on this Sunday we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit. And He laid the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ, working in a powerful way, in His miraculous way. That on the first day, 3,000 people got converted. Soon afterwards, 5,000 were saved. The increase continued until it reached the whole world. Until you find nations who say we are now Christian nations. Now it is the seventh day of the week. In 1789, the nation of France declared that the seventh day Sabbath is a Christian heritage and we are now humanist. And they got rid then of the Sabbath and they said it won't be the seventh day but rather the tenth day will be a day of rest. They declared it to be the decade week because it means ten days. They said no longer the seventh day. And so the revolutionary government of France made a law and you find there are some governments which make foolish laws. And they said no longer seven days to the week but rather ten days. But after that people got sick, diseases sprung up. Some had mental problems. Even their horses became sick because remember horses were very important at that time. Their transport was reliant on horses. Horses and people died. Diseases flourished there in France. Until Napoleon in 1805 Napoleon said we haven't kept what God has made with the seventh day being the day of rest. And Napoleon then declared it a law to revert back to the seven day week. And the horses got well again. People got well. The mental diseases stopped. And the dying became less. It stopped. And Napoleon said it's because we have gone astray from what our creator has made that we work for six days and on the seventh we rest. And he said we have gone astray from what our creator has made that we work for six days and on the seventh we rest. Other nations realized that going astray from what God has made is only going to bring trouble. I wish that our government and all governments of this world would return back to God's ways. For under the previous law France had become a wilderness where there was just destruction. Napoleon said no, we revert back to the way of the creator and those diseases then stopped. All nations should ask themselves when trouble is rampant, are we still following in the ways of the Lord? Otherwise if they go against it they will find things that have never happened and diseases that have never been there. The Lord said to keep the Sabbath. The Christians don't keep Saturday. For they say the Sabbath is the seventh day. Because as the Christians say our Lord is the Lord of the Sabbath. He rose on the Sunday. That is why we Christians keep the seventh day because our Lord rose from the dead on that day. That is why worship services are held on Sundays. It is a day dedicated to prayer. And so it is a wonderful thing that Christians can come together and put aside their work and give an opportunity to hear the word of God. Are you at church on a Sunday? Do you go to the word of God? What a pity that you go to visit your lover or to go and booze. That is why things are in such a mess today. They don't keep the day to hear the word of God. Some use it for their sexual promiscuity. They mess around on the Sunday. No wonder that things are as they are today. That is why we Christians keep the Sabbath. And so instead of the Sunday being a day for worship of the Lord, to hear the word of the Lord, you are doing your thing. And you will find that no blessings will come your way. It will slip out of your fingers like wet soap. And so on this Sunday, it is Pentecost Sunday. We remember the time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. As the word says, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father will bear witness of me. It doesn't help for us to forget that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It doesn't help for us to commemorate an ancient event, but rather the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has to be up to date in real time, that He is really working in your heart. The first church gathered together, and so from the time of the ascension of our Lord to the time of Pentecost, they were spending day and night praying. It was ten days until Pentecost. Expectantly waiting for the coming of the Comforter. He taught his people, don't leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes. And so they were together, assembling together, and in prayer. Let me ask you perhaps an unexpected question. Were you in prayer this morning about the service today? Did you just get up and have breakfast, showered, got dressed, and you just arrived here? Or were you in prayer that the Lord would speak to you and other people? But this is applicable not just for Pentecost, but for every Sunday. You should be crying to the Lord, asking Him to speak to you. Otherwise it's no wonder that you're in the condition in which you are. But in every day, not just Sunday, but every day you should be in prayer. Lord, give me what you see that I need to live for you and to spread your gospel. You see people who are dressed in rags, who are starving, spiritually that is, and even physically they suffer because of not being in prayer. Not using what Jesus told us. Not using the promise Jesus gave in Matthew 7, 7. Ask and you shall receive. You say, I'm in want. I need so many things. Well, don't you keep, don't you listen to the promise of the Lord that you ask. If you don't ask, you won't receive. Yesterday, the children there at Tugela, they sang for the Armenian brethren. They sang of the condition of this world. Oh, Lord, wouldn't You work? Wouldn't You be merciful? Blood is being shed in this world. various things. knock. The word of the Lord says he who asks shall receive. The one who seeks shall find. The one who knocks to him it will be opened. You who are listening here in this service or listening by radio or some other way, you now know that you are to blame for your own condition. You the one who is not fulfilling the promise of the Lord, you're not using the promise of the Lord, that's why your horses are sick. You the one who is not fulfilling the promise of the Lord, you're not using the promise of the Lord, you're not using the promise of the Lord, that's why your horses are sick. The same disciples who had been fearful, locked behind the door, closed in a room, not wanting to go out, when the Holy Spirit came, gone was their spirit of timidity, instead a holy boldness where they said, where they could preach, you have crucified the Lord, and thousands got saved. You the one who is not fulfilling the promise of the Lord, you're not using the promise of the Lord, that's why your horses are sick. Now they could look people in the eyes with boldness and could preach to them, not with a self-consciousness and fearfulness, like some people who say, but I'm not able to, I'm scared, they might bewitch me, they might poison me, that's because you are troubled by demons, you don't yet have the Holy Spirit, if you think that way. You the one who is not fulfilling the promise of the Lord, you're not using the promise of the Lord, that's why your horses are sick. You the one who is not fulfilling the promise of the Lord, you're not using the promise of the Lord, that's why your horses are sick. Now I've often spoken about the Holy Spirit, the first part being his holiness, but now I want to concentrate on the fact that he is the spirit of truth and the comforter. Jesus said, I will send the spirit of truth who is sent from the Father who will testify of me. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. There are many who say we have the spirit, we've got the spirit, but they are liars. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth, God himself. If you meet the Holy Spirit, you will meet with his truth, you will no longer try and hide things or try and bluff your way and deceive, you'll speak things as they are. No longer the pretense, no longer the facade, no longer saying, yes, I went around with that boy as a girl, but we didn't do anything. But, but, you're not a child of the Lord with the Spirit of God. They're still the spirit, the demonic spirit of lies in you. Lies are a terrible thing for the devil, is a liar and is the father of lies, of liars. But it doesn't just mean those verbal lies which are plain, blatant lies. But you, your fellowship with believers and unbelievers, you are a hypocrite, a liar. The English proverb says, tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are. You cannot. You cannot. If you, Christian, you cannot have fellowship with those who are in wickedness, of whatever sort, they're smoking, drinking, using drugs, whatever. You are trying to bluff us, no, you're bluffing yourself. Rather go and tell those who are blind like you are. We weren't born yesterday. The spirit of truth has nothing to do with lies, even if they are whitewashed. Yes, there is the way of speaking with wisdom, but not with lies. If you want the Holy Spirit to be in you, if you want your Pentecost, then you need to be upright, honest, sincere. You've got to be genuine. You've got to be truthful. You've got to be honest. If you pray for the Holy Spirit, dear friend, the best words I can use, the most polite words that I can use concerning you, you're a silly fool. If you want the Holy Spirit to be in you, if you want your Pentecost, then you need to be upright, honest, sincere. If you are not upright and sincere and honest, you won't receive the Holy Spirit. You need to be upright even at work. Otherwise, you cannot ask for the fullness of the Spirit. If you are not upright and sincere and honest, you won't receive the Holy Spirit. If you say that you're a Christian and you come to church, you have fellowship on Sundays with Christians, but on Monday with those who are not Christians, you have fellowship with them too, then you are lying. You are lies personified. You are a lie. You go out of church and then you worship the devil after worshipping God in church. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 20 and 21, it says those that offer sacrifice don't do it for God but to demons. And it says you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. Do you hear what it says? Or is this not penetrating you while you're listening? Well, it's because you didn't come prayerfully this morning. Don't mix things, otherwise it's like a wife who has got more than one husband, you are then lying. If you want your Pentecost, then remember that He is the Spirit of truth. Look at Ananias and Sapphira, what they met up with. You need to be... If you confess your sin, go to a godly faithful person, not to one who is going to tell his wife, but one who can hold that in confidence, who holds the secrets of the kingdom. Walk in the light. Walk in the light of truth, being honest and upright, letting His Holy Spirit to make you utterly truthful in everything, even at school. He who does not have the Spirit is cursed, the Spirit of truth. Like a child who does not respect and honor its father and mother. That's why the Bible says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Dear saved one, do you work out your salvation with fear and trembling? Do you know that? Don't tell me that you are filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not the Spirit of truth, it's the Spirit of below. Those that serve God in honesty and faithfulness, work out their salvation with fear and tremble. Have you ever feared? Have you ever trembled? I don't know where you are spiritually. Philippians 2.5 is where you'll find it. If you have the Spirit of truth, you'll be like our Lord as He hung there on the cross between two criminals, but that didn't make Him a criminal. But instead He prayed, Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they've done and what they are doing. But the Lord worked there, and one of them was then saved, and the Lord could say to him, today, because he was forgiven, today you will be with Me in paradise. But the other went to hell. The prayer of the Lord didn't help him. Instead, he went headlong into perdition. The Lord said, when the Spirit of truth comes, you will be My witnesses. You will be witnesses of truth. Be like the disciples who, when they received the Holy Spirit of truth, they didn't stay behind locked doors in fear, but they could now honestly and with uprightness and truthfulness serve the Lord. And you will be a witness of the Lord out of which flows rivers of living water. Flowing rivers of living water. The spirit of Pentecost is the spirit of truth. Be discerned. Be discerned. Seek the Holy Spirit, He who is honest, and you be honest and truthful and upright, clear. You come out from the darkness, come into the open. Shall we pray? Speaker Lord, by your spirit of truth that your spirit of truth would expose and destroy the lies. Lord, no one will survive without having your spirit of truth. And Lord, may this day be a day of truthfulness. With those who have been in darkness and lies would come out from the child through to the grandmother and that would come out into the open, into the light. For Lord, we lie if we say we have the spirit of truth, but your truth is not in us. Amen.