Why was Jesus born
Introduction Michael Ngubane
We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank the Lord that we can meet in the house of the Lord. We are thankful to all who have joined us through various media. It is a joy for us to welcome you to this engagement service of Miss Kubone and Mr Shezi.
Jabulani Dube
I greet you in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank the Lord for keeping us and those who are getting engaged. We thank the Lord for this day. It is God’s grace.
The couple who are getting engaged can come up to the front.
I am standing between the couple. This is not their wedding day. On that day I will no longer stand between them. It is this foundation that Rev Stegen laid. Paul says a person must be careful how he/she builds on this foundation.
God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 2 Timothy 2:19
This is the what the gospel has shown us. There is no flirting. The young people live a pure life. It is a bed without stain. Not how things go nowadays, where people flirt on the phone etc. but it is not done like this in the gospel.
The Lord revealed this to Rev Stegen in the 1950s already. Older couples were engaged and married in this way. The young man would pray because the Lord had laid it on his heart through a word or dream. Young people did not make their own choice based on human standards; no one selected partners for them; the revival worked differently. The spirit filled Rev Stegen and this is how things went.
Engagement implies a promise. These people promise the congregation that they will keep themselves pure until the day of marriage. This is an oath they make in front of the congregation. The first time that they touch one another, is when they stand before the altar on their wedding day. I got married before Rev Stegen married. Baba Khwela and I watched carefully when Rev Stegen got engaged. Did he visit his fiancé at her family home? Not once. That was his example to us. His wedding was the first time I experienced a white couple’s wedding. (At that time in South Africa there was still strict Apartheid.) His marriage was held on the family farm so that the Zulus could also attend, because he had been called to that nation. Whites and Africans go to the same funerals and weddings. There is only one gospel, one hell and one heaven. Not separate ones for different races. We can gather freely across the races. This is something the Lord used our leader to teach us.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:18-20
Joseph believed that it was possible that Mary could be with child through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are thankful on behalf of the parents of these children who have chosen this way of marriage. We often emphasise that if you run after marriage, you will not find it. It is the Lord who put this man and young woman together. Consider Adam who was free and happy, not seeking after marriage, but then God gave him his wife.
I thought I would wait until I was 40-45 before I got married. I wanted to demonstrate that a man could stand firm and remain pure. But the Lord had moulded someone for me. I was not keen on marriage, but the Lord put her in front of me. If you are worrying about your weight, your appearance and so on, you will not get marriage. If you dress or walk to impress, the man will choose someone else.
21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
Do you understand that Jesus was born to save you from your sins? He will save His people - who are the people of God. Jesus was born so that we might be saved from our sins. Have you received salvation? We see the gospel in these young people who are getting engaged today. They have chosen the Lord.
The Mahambeni choir who sang just now, is the fruit of services that were taken in that area. It is precious to be saved. Mothers, brothers and fathers are kept through this gospel. (Some people take short cuts, however, and have children out of wedlock to get social grants.) Through the power of God, we receive salvation. May this word do a work in your life. The Lord Jesus was born to save us from our sins. Will you remain in your sin so that grace may abound? No. We have died to sin, then how can we continue to live in sin? It is confusing when a person says he is a believer, yet he continues to live in sin. He has not overcome this and that. He is ruled by stubbornness, lust, porn and yet he says that he is saved. Will you remain in your sins? Why do you continue in your sins? If we have died to sin, how can we still live in it? If you say you are a child of God, how is such a thing possible? If the old man has died, you cannot continue in sin. The old man is crucified with Jesus on the cross. If you confess your sin, it is crucified and it dies. If you strike a snake, you hit it on the head so that it will die. If you strike it on the tail, it will be angered. Get rid of the sin that troubles you. You need to overcome it. If you do not deal with it, self and stubbornness will arise within. What causes the sin to rise in your life? What is this in your life? Has salvation come to you?
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
The word of the cross is foolishness to those who don’t know. Unbelievers say how can you commit yourself to a lady, but you have not seen what she is like before. To those who are perishing, the word of the cross is foolishness.
Receiving salvation is the power of God. If we are saved and choose the Lord Jesus, we have power to overcome Satan. If we choose Him, there is power. There is power which you receive in the Lord. If you read His word, He speaks to you and He gives you the power to continue.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God… Ephesians 2:8.
It is grace to receive salvation. It is grace to be saved. Jesus was born for us to be saved and become children of God. If you have not been saved, you can receive salvation and also be called a child of God.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… John 1:12
Many people did not accept or receive God, but to those who accepted Him, He gave the power to become the children of God. People who are the children of God experience the power of God in their lives. You receive power to be called a child of God. There is power to overcome sin. The Lord was born so that we can be saved and receive the power to become the children of God. You have the right, the English Bible says. In Zulu the verse says that we receive strength to be saved by the power of God. It is visible, even in the manner in which a young lady walks that she has been kept by the power of God.
Rev Stegen often related about the cultural practice among the Zulus where the young ladies were tested to see who was still a virgin. (It still happens at KwaMhlanga until today.) A black and white flag were raised opposite each other. The young women were tested. A girl found to be a virgin would run, jump and touch the white flag with joy because she was a virgin. A girl who was not would have to touch the black flag. The mothers despised her and remarked about her defilement.
2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2
It is important to keep yourself pure. The Lord saw Mary who was a virgin. She felt she was not fit to be the mother of the Lord. Women should live lives that please the Lord.
There are things which have caught the youth in a snare. Cell phones with dirty pictures. Don’t you realise that these images of naked people are prayed over and when you look at them, evil spirits enter you.
It is amazing to be saved by grace. This grace has been given to us and has appeared to us. It is evident for all to see. Faith is not only for certain people. It is for all people to be saved. The grace that we have received is this, that God gave his only son so that we can be saved. He sent His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. If you do not believe you are already judged. You are going to eternal judgement. If you still continue in this sin and it rules you, you have been judged already. Make haste and look for salvation which is a gift of God. If you have received this salvation, it will teach you to fear God. People sin, they steal, they murder, they smoke drugs because they do not fear God. This salvation will save you and teach you how to live.
It is wonderful if you have repented. It is wonderful to be a Christian, to repent and forsake your sin. Allow God to enter your life. Don’t you want to believe? Allow the Lord to enter your life and see what will happen. Choose God and allow Jesus to enter your heart and see what will happen. If you accept the Lord, you will receive the power to become a child of God. You will experience what it means to be saved. If you work in a shop, you will no longer steal because the Lord has saved you. This is the secret. It is grace that we are saved. Don’t you also want to be saved?
Will you remain in sin so that grace will abound? No, never. You need to die to sin. You need to die to your sin. If you are still sinning, then this word has judged you. Why are you still troubled by certain sins? Some people listen to rock music which is foul. Some are burdened by dirty dreams, yet these same people say that they are saved.
Jesus was born in order that we can be saved from our sin. We cannot serve two masters – both Jesus and Satan. You cannot call yourself a believer and at the same time swear and call people fools or a dog.
Salvation is for all people. You need to die to sin. If sin still rules in your life, then you have not died to sin. You are a believer, but you must still die to sin. Grace has been revealed so that we can be known as children of God.
