Living Waters

Our friends, excuse me if I walk up to the front and someone has to assist me on either side. I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed because His Excellency Prince Telezi, when he walks, he does it even better.

And he's almost 90 together with my brothers who are heading for 90. I'm only just starting the 80s. Just before I continue, I just want to make sure that our President's wife has not arrived.

She had said she wanted to be here today and I thought it would be a great pity if she's arrived and she's sitting somewhere there when she actually belongs here in front. We're now getting to the end. I'll try and keep it short.

I want to be like a teacher. I want you to go home having learned just something. I guess you know what the surname Stegen means.

Stegen in German means a road, a way. But I want to teach you a Greek word. Perhaps you don't know that my name even appears in Greek.

Remember when that man came to the Lord and said, my servant is ill. He's very ill and is suffering of pain. And the Lord Jesus said, I hear what you say.

I will come and I will heal him. And that man said, Lord, I'm not worthy that you enter under my roof into my home. In Greek there it says, I'm not worthy to enter under your Stegen.

So in Greek, Stegen refers to a roof. So I've taught you something. In Greek it refers to a roof.

That man said, I'm not worthy to enter under your Stegen. Now friends, today is a day of thanking God. These days some co-workers met.

They prayed for the youth conference and committed it to the Lord. When they had prayed, one of them said, do we have enough food for these days? He said, we have enough food for these days. Karola said, no, we don't have anything.

But amazingly, the next morning food started arriving and more and more. And eventually the room where they kept it was too small. Some people say, Stegen's got a lot of money.

Just look at all the trucks that deliver the water everywhere. If I had to tell you what money is in the bank, you would maybe turn grey. That we are here and have food to eat is by the grace of God.

He gives us our daily bread. The moment more money is going out than is coming in. But yet we are here by him.

We are here by his power and his grace. The one who said, do not be concerned about what you'll eat or drink. Seek first the kingdom of God and he will add it to you.

If you say I've got money, all I can say is, unless you're a prophet, maybe you're prophesying something that will still happen. And if I get that money, then well, you'll probably see it. I say that so that you also learn that there is such a thing as living by faith in God, trusting him.

Seek first God's kingdom. God is faithful. He can care for us and will care for us.

If he cares for the flowers, how much more won't he care for us? Let's turn to our text. John 7.38 He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Show the rivers.

Is that possible? Jesus said, whoever believes in me, as the scripture said, rivers of living water will flow from within him. And it doesn't just say, not just river, a river, but rivers. You can see even here, these waters have life in them.

Jesus said, rivers will flow. Do they flow from your life? And you know when a river flows, that water changes a desert into a garden. It was the time of the feast in Jerusalem.

The Lord's brothers came to him and said, it's time for us to go up to the feast. He said, your time is always, but my time has not yet come. There are people who live like that, where their time is always, but Jesus waited for God's time.

There are people that just do what they like with their time. They go where they like, they visit whoever they like, according to their own wishes. But he who walks with God, such a one doesn't just plan his own time and have his own time.

There was a man in Australia, Howard Pillman, born 3rd of August, 1928. He was extremely ill, they expected the end. He had an accident.

The doctors say he was dead 15 minutes, where he no longer breathed. But God was gracious to him and he brought him back to life. And then he related how he had an experience with God, where God spoke to him and said, your Christian life was like the life of a hypocrite and a Pharisee.

There are many who call themselves Christians, but in fact they are not genuine Christians, their faith is dead. Howard Pillman had been a preacher, a minister. He said, Lord, but I serve you and work for you in so many different ways.

God said, you make a mistake. If you say you were worshipping God, God said to him, your God was yourself. You did your own thing, according to your own will, you didn't serve me.

When he came back from death, he said, Jesus said to me, you were worshipping your God, your idol, your God was yourself. I'm glad for you who understand English. Your God was you, yourself.

You did what you wished and desired, not what God desired. There is such a thing, a man claims to serve God, when he is actually just serving himself. In democracy, it's the will of the people, of the masses, where people don't ask, well, what is God's will? That they even stop prayer because they say that there is one Muslim in the gathering and they don't want to offend him.

Jesus said to his brothers, your time is always, you can go when you like to the service, or do whatever you're doing, but I'm waiting for my father, my heavenly father to tell me when to go. And the brothers went. And after a few days, they suddenly noticed that Jesus was there too.

And then on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus got up. It was a very difficult time, this, because the Jews were planning to kill him. And Jesus had to go to Galilee to be safe, and was there among the Gentiles.

He wasn't up there with the Jews, the so-called believers, because they were planning to kill him. But amazingly, on the last day of the feast, he got up, he spoke, he was not concerned that they would kill him. And then he called out with a loud voice, as loud as he could, so that everyone could hear.

I remember when I was young, I used to go hunting, and I'd be outside from morning till evening with my gun. And one day, we were out hunting on one of my father's farms. And then they sent out people to go and drive the game in our direction, and we'd be waiting to shoot when they appear.

So they made enough noise and caused a commotion, and that drove the animals in our direction. And then I noticed a buck running across from where I was sitting. It wasn't far away.

When the buck was ahead of me, I took my rifle and I shot. But the buck didn't die immediately. And that buck cried out.

I don't know whether you've ever heard what it sounds like. So obviously I had managed to shoot it. I hit the target, but not spot on.

So it didn't die straight away. And then I noticed a buck running across from where I was sitting. It wasn't far away.

And then I noticed a buck running across from where I was sitting. It wasn't far away. The way that buck cried out broke my heart, and it was the last time I ever went out hunting to shoot a buck, because of the way it cried out when it had been hit.

And here it says, Jesus stood up and he cried out, crying out like that injured buck. What made him cry? What made him cry out like this, where he felt he has to still say this, even if he dies thereafter, but people have to hear it, that he who believes in him, as the scripture says, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. Now we could say, why did he call out like this? What made him cry out like this? Like that wounded animal, or maybe like a bird, like a crow that you can hear from afar.

So Jesus called out. Calling out, whoever believes in me as the scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from within. Not one, not one river, but many rivers as you saw.

Those rivers of living water that will flow from within. That made him. That's what made him call out, because of all these people claiming to be believers, but there were no rivers of living water flowing.

I said, one river can change a desert, a wilderness into a garden. Well imagine if there are many rivers flowing, what kind of a garden could then come of it? Just imagine South Africa. Just think of South Africa, if all of us that are here would have those rivers of living water flowing from us, what would South Africa look like? There's a minister, I'm not going to mention his name or what church he's from.

He woke up one morning, but he couldn't get up until his wife came in and he was still lying in bed. And his wife asked him, what is wrong? Aren't you feeling well? He said, no, there's nothing. So she just continued cleaning the room.

But out of the corner of her eye, she was observing him. Women are good at that. They read you better than men can.

And eventually she asked him again, she said, husband, is something wrong? Are you well? Isn't there something wrong? Now you know what a woman can be like. She can be like a dripping tap. That drop of water can fall onto concrete just in the same spot.

That drop of water will eventually make a hole in the concrete. Eventually the man said, well, because of your persistence, I'm going to tell you. I had a dream last night.

In my dream, I saw Jesus coming down from heaven. And the Lord asked me three questions. This was an elderly preacher who had been a minister in four or five different congregations.

He said, Jesus asked me, where are the congregations that you pastored? He couldn't answer. Then the second question the Lord asked was, where are the people that worked for you, that helped you in the house or helped your wife in the home? With the housework. They had a big house, so they had people helping them in the house.

He said, where are those people that worked for you? He said, I couldn't answer. Then he asked me the third question. He said, where is your wife and where are your children? Asking about each child until the youngest.

He said, my wife, I couldn't answer him. Then he noticed a long line of people, and they were all walking towards a bottomless pit. All one after the other, falling into this pit.

And he says, the way they called out as they fell into the pit. And he noticed they were his elders and the choir, the young people. They were all following one another into this bottomless pit.

And there he saw all the members of his congregation, and then after that he saw those that had helped him in the house. And he couldn't answer the Lord. Then he said, where is your wife, where are your children? He said, my wife, I couldn't answer him.

And he said, when the Lord had shown me where I saw you, my wife, and all our children also following, heading toward this pit. And then the Lord said to me, now you join them. He says, I couldn't answer him.

Then I had to go and follow you all into that bottomless pit. There is still something that lies ahead of us, which will be very difficult when the Lord says to us, he may even say to you young people, where are your parents, where are your siblings? They haven't allowed the Lord's word to enter them, to change their lives. They will all be heading to that bottomless pit.

They will all be heading to that bottomless pit. So on the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus wanted to teach them this lesson, that they should come to him, drink of that water where they will never thirst again. And then that water will within them become a fountain of life and rivers of living water.

I know that one day God is going to also ask me to give account of all the young people that I preach to. He'll ask me to give account about all the people that I preach to. And he'll ask me, did you tell them the truth? I don't want to stand there with blood on my hands.

And then be condemned to hell because I did not tell you the truth. So what I say now, I say to you all from the youngest to the eldest. There's something that happened in Persia.

There was a king there with his Nduna, his headman. He was like his Prime Minister and they had a fantastic relationship with one another. But after some time, something changed and this king no longer loved this man.

The love just stopped. He fell out of favour, he didn't want to see him anymore. One day he was together with his counsellors and he told them, I've got a big problem.

They said, oh king, what's your problem? He said, I've just had enough. I've just had enough of my Prime Minister, I don't even want to see him anymore. There was not even a reason for it, he just fell out of favour and this Prime Minister was a Jew.

And the king was the king of Persia. The king said, I don't know what to do. I can't just kill him.

If I have him executed, the whole nation will be in uproar because they actually loved this man. Then one of his advisers got up and said, look, oh king, this is no problem, it's easy. Do this.

The king has got a dog that is always at the king's side. And wherever the king went, even when he went to Paris, that dog went along. All you need to do, oh king, is instruct your Prime Minister to teach your dog to talk.

And tell him that you'll give him a whole year to teach and to learn. The whole nation was shocked when they heard this command of the king. Because they loved their Prime Minister.

But then the people noticed that the Prime Minister was actually quite relaxed about everything, as if nothing had happened. And they said, Prime Minister, aren't you worried because the dog's not talking yet? So can't you see that he actually just wants to finish you off? And the Prime Minister said, but the king has given me 365 days. Imagine what a long time that is.

He was not worried. And then 65 days passed, there were still 300 days. And they approached the Prime Minister, the people, and they said, is the dog talking yet? He said, no, he hasn't started yet.

And then there were 200 days left. They said, is the dog talking? He said, no. Then 100 days were left.

And it was still not talking. And then 50 days were left. They said, is the king's dog talking? He said, no.

Are you not worried? He said, no, there's still 50 days left. Then there were 10 days, and then it was just one day. They said, is the dog talking yet? He said, no.

Don't you realise this is going to be your end? He said, look, anything can still happen today. The next day, the king summons them. He said, is my dog talking? He said, is my dog talking? He said, oh king, your dog's talking.

He's talking non-stop. He said, oh king, the dilemma is, however, that your dog's talking only about all the things that you've done in your life. And it's talking about when you went to that brothel and went to those immoral women.

That's all the dog is talking about. He said, I tried to keep the dog quiet. But the dog didn't stop.

It just kept on talking about these things. All your embarrassing things that you've ever done, that's what the dog's talking about. Then the king was angry.

He got angry. He said, well, then kill the dog. And then he said, oh king, don't worry.

I've done it already. Your dog is dead already. I didn't want everyone to hear the shameful things that the king has done.

The king was upset when his dog talked about everything he had done. Now, dear friends, your dog will talk one day on judgment day. Because even if you've killed someone, you'll never have rest.

Your conscience will trouble you. You won't have peace. You won't have peace.

So you all have a conscience. So one day your dog will talk on judgment day. Well, and that's how the prime minister got out of his predicament.

Dear friends, the Lord Jesus says, there's nothing hidden that will not be revealed. You can live immorally. You can fall pregnant.

You can abort that child. You're thinking no one knows about it. But your conscience will keep reminding you of it.

You young men, you can do what you like, but remember, your dog will talk one day and will bring everything to light before the judgment time. That's what the Bible teaches. Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed.

You're going home, my friends? Are you going to go without confessing your sin? You're hiding your sin? The day is coming. We don't know when the trumpet will sound, when the Lord will return, and then we'll all have to appear before his judgment throne. He who believes as the Scripture says.

That's what the Scripture teaches us. If you keep that, you will live and those rivers of living water will flow from your life. Don't forget about that dog of that Persian king.

Mother, you try and correct your child, but can you remember what you did when you were a child? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Maybe your child is the way it is because you were like that. You need to repent and make right your life.

He says he's thirsty, let him come to me. We can come to Jesus with sorrow, confess our sin, and be forgiven. That when you stand before the judgment throne, it's found that that sin has been forgiven, cleansed in the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus called out. Jesus called out like that wounded animal called out. He said, you come to me, and you can come to him for help, and when he's helped you and changed your life, then those rivers of living water will flow.

Let us pray. Lord, may your word not be in vain, but that it will work in every heart. And he who hasn't come for cleansing, that he will do so now that he can leave this place having been cleansed in the blood of the Lamb.

That those rivers of living water may flow, and that the whole of South Africa can be helped as a result. That we don't head to the bottomless pit, but rather head towards heaven.