Let God Always Be Your Strength - Wedding — Erlo Stegen

We pray Lord Jesus that you will be in our midst Just like at the wedding of Cana.

And the end was much better than the start.

Where the end was much better than the start. The last wine. Much more beautiful.

That came from you Came from you Than the earthly wine Let us not hear earthly words But heavenly words Let it not be ordinary wine But heavenly wine From which we shall be drunk.

Not human wine but heavenly wine. Amen.

Trusting in the Lord’s Blessing

Jeremiah 17 verse 7.

Jeremiah 17 verse 7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

The second word from Joshua chapter 24 verse 15 End of the verse. I and my house want to serve the Lord. So far. Just so far.

Now it's your marriage today. Wonder what you desired and wished and imagined this day would be like. What is best for you today?

The reunion. With relatives and friends.

Or the photographing. Or maybe the photos. Or the reception afterwards. What would be the most precious to you? I phoned Klaus this morning early. And I said to him Klaus, how on earth did you find this text?

Why did you choose it? There are so many pages in the Bible. How on earth did you find this text? Klaus chose these two texts.

Last night. And said Klaus How did you come to this verse? How did you find it? There are so many verses. So many words in the Bible.

How did you come to this one? Yesterday we were on the way to Empangeni. We three went and we spoke about this word.

Klaus read a word I think it is Jeremiah. 23 27 Verse 17. Then Uncle Günther said It's not 17 verse 7.

And I said that the bridegroom read a word. And I said I think it was Jeremiah 27. And Uncle Günther said no 17 verse 7. He said that's what's written here. And then he told us this word. And he told us the verses Preceding this And the verses after.

And And he was blind as well. And he said We blind people see more than you do That can see with your eyes. And I said Günther How did you think of this? And he says that's my wedding text. Did you ask Uncle Günther?

And he says no. He could have gone to Uncle Günther And said tell me what was your text. And I'll use that text for my wedding.

Now back to this verse. The text that you have chosen. Blessed is the man. Blessed but Blessed is the man.

Here we have to do with the blessing of God. There is much said about Blessing in the Bible. This morning on the way to the funeral I took along my Hebrew concordance. And read it on the way.

Blessed is the Lord God Blessed is the God of Abraham Blessed is the God of all.

God is a blessed God.

Abraham was a blessed man.

When you read in the Bible about the blessing God's blessing makes you rich without any problems. Everything depends on God's blessing. And here it says Blessed is that man.

That is the greatest for this day In this new chapter of your life If you go in with the blessing of God.

Then you are blessed That is the greatest.

The cry in the heart For the blessing of God. If you lose that Then your future Will not be good. Now it says here Blessed but Blessed. This but refers to that.

Which was mentioned previously. The verses that precede this one. Something was said. And then you read. Blessed is. What then was written before this. What is at stake here. What does God say. There we also read about the man.

But it is something else. There it says. So says the Lord. Cursed is the one.

Not blessed. Here we've got the curse And blessing. In the world we just find two things. There are only two ways The one Is blessed The other is cursed. A middle way And the third way Does not exist.

There is no possibility For something else. Either the man is blessed Or he is cursed. And if he is not cursed He is blessed. And because of the seventh verse Blessed is the man The man who is blessed With him it will never go wrong.

Now according to verse 7 Blessed but blessed is the man. The man that is blessed Things will never go wrong for him. Spiritually it will never go astray Because he is blessed But.

If the blessing is not there The curse is there. And if the curse is there It means In the sixth verse Like the heath in the desert So like a bush.

In the desert And will not see The prosperity or the comfort That is to come. And how sad it is If there is no comfort ahead And he will dwell In the wasteland In the parched places. Just imagine a life like that To live in the wasteland In the desert without water In a salt land Where no one lives There live the wild animals.

But he who is blessed Is like a tree Planted at the water Who has got his roots At the stream.

And even if a heat comes He will not be afraid He will not fear.

His leaves are always green. His spiritual leaves. Just don't wither. They always stay green. There is no worries. Even in the year of drought. We don't know what the future holds for us. There can be some years of drought.

And times of want and drought. Even in the marriage And with the children. The blessed man. He does not fear or worry.

He brings fruit without ceasing. And if you think about it Then you say How did Klaus find this word?

How did Klaus come across this verse? If you desire this Then you are seeking the very best. There is nothing That is better than that in this world. And that this desire Is not only on the lips In the words But is really a desire of the heart.

How wonderful it is If in a desert In a very dry land There is a tree Whose leaves are always green Never stopping to produce fruit. We know what the fruits are The fruits of the Holy Spirit Love Friendliness Joy Patience Never impatient.

The works of the flesh Is to be unfriendly. But the fruit of the Holy Spirit That never stops Never comes to an end.

Never forgiving. Cruel. These are all cursed things That are found In a life Where the curse prevails And not the blessing. Not dry leaves.

The Curse of Depending on Human Strength

Of bitterness Not forgiving Those are the fruits In the life of a person Where there is a curse. Now where does the curse come from That we read about here? It says here. The sin of such a person Is the one Who depends On the arm of the flesh.

Cursed is the one Who trusts in man. Let's have a closer look at this One who depends on man. Maybe a good person Maybe a good friend Maybe a rich person. And you rely on him. And then the Lord says Then you are cursed.

And he who takes the flesh As his arm of strength And whose heart Turns away from the Lord And whose mind Turns away from the Lord We find the Lord in the Bible.

And if we turn away With our thoughts From what the Bible teaches us Then we turn away from the Lord. The person who builds on his own strength Or on man Or on the arm of the flesh Cursed is the one Who builds on his own strength Or on man.

So blessed is the man Who doesn't look for his help With man And not in the world.

It's not a bad thing To have good friends. The psalmist says. The psalmist says That he has prayed to the Lord for one thing That he may be in the house of the Lord All the days of his life. The Bible teaches us That God doesn't live in a house Built with brick and stone Built with living stones.

His house is built with living stones. Those are the people That walk with God. So we can also say Blessed is the man That lives amongst the children of God. That lives in the people Where God lives And where he's got his throne in their midst.

But you mustn't build on them. You must build on the Lord. I want to tell you a secret. But it isn't a secret anymore. Because I've been telling you For 20, 30, 40 years already. Those people that built on Erlo Stegen.

The people that spoke about Erlo Stegen. That said everything about Erlo Stegen. They were the first.

That stabbed me in the back. I fear the people.

And this experience has taught me To fear people that don't Build on the Lord Even if they build on any man Even on Erlo Stegen They are the first that have left me in the lurch. My best friends are those That build on the Lord That rely on the Lord.

With them you can go into the future With them you can face anything that comes. The greatest is to put your trust.

Completely in the Lord. That this is a very personal Real fact In your life. You, Klaus. And you, Ingrid. The relationship with the Lord. It's good to have friends To be with friends. But I know of many AIDS patients That told me When we were well We had many friends But now that we are dying From AIDS.

They have all left us. When everything goes well You've got plenty of friends But when difficult times come. Not so. Never let a man. A human being be the arm On which you depend. You should rely on God And be it your child.

You should rely on God And nothing else. In Isaiah 53 it says To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? That is he Who had a meeting with God And God knows And trusts the Lord And with the arm God expects.

In the Bible often have Kings Depend on Egypt Depend on Syria Depend on people Depend on people The kings. And then it went wrong Then you are disappointed Then you despair Then the matter is Restless No confidence For the future.

Then you are disappointed Then you despair Then things go wrong.

And then People can come And tell you many things Things that are true Things that are not true And then you build on those. Now the Bible tells us Not to go by hearsay And to listen to tales.

And that is a trick of Satan. So take your gaze Away from him And your thinking And you see things Not in the right Clear perspective. And then I come to another point Then to another point.

The Danger of Trusting in Yourself

Because it is the man Who relies on man And who relies on the strength Of the flesh. It is still another danger That we depend on ourselves. We may never never Rely on ourselves. Maybe that is even the greatest danger.

It is not the sin In somebody else That grieves the Holy Spirit In me. It is my own sin. I am the biggest danger To myself. The Zulu Christian. Sing a song. Your greatest enemy.

Is your own heart Peter said to the Lord.

Yes you can expect it Of John, of James And the other disciples But I will never ever forsake you. Yes you can expect it of the others. They've got this weakness Of character But not I. I will stay true to you forever.

How sure was Peter. He was so very sure and confident About his own confidence. He said yes Lord. The others may leave you But I am prepared. I will go even unto death Together with you. And then a young girl Came and confronted him And he collapsed In her presence.

He had just drawn his sword And tried to kill this man Who probably ducked. And he just cut his ear off Cut his ear off That the blood came out. I'll fight for you. I'll go right unto death with you. And how terribly He failed.

Very very soon afterward. He didn't trust In somebody else's strength. He was relying on his own strength. That was his. That was his. That was because of His own wicked heart Which is very arrogant And yet fails very quickly.

Who can fathom the heart of man. He can try and Soft soap you this minute. And the next minute he will kill you. Like they said to the Lord Crucify him. Never build on your own heart. Own strength Own experience.

Own feelings.

Today you've got these feelings. Tomorrow you'll have different feelings.

Once you're on top.

The next minute you're right at the bottom. That's why it's called cursed.

Who trusts the arm of the Lord The arm of the flesh.

And not the Lord.

Building Marriage and Family on the Lord

May God grant That this text Which is a Delicious necklace Which is around your neck For the rest of your life That you never forget. Only build on the Lord Only on the Lord That's what it's about. And then Blessed is the man Is the man.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose confidence is the Lord There is not concerning people The Lord is all that matters.

When God revealed his Son to me I did not speak with flesh and blood But said, Lord, what do you want? Was not A blind man who is led by the blind Simply walks with But when it comes to the Lord Who builds on the Lord And follows the Lord.

When it pleased God To reveal his Son to me I didn't discuss it with people And he didn't end up being a blind Led by the blind But he followed God And then to the second word I and my house We will serve the Lord.

He said, who do you want to serve? The gods beyond the throne? The gods of the world? Do you want to do as they do? I have. And my house. With us it is only about the Lord Not human opinion Not personal feelings.

But for God's sake Here too He asked the people Who do you want to serve?

The gods beyond the river? The gods from Egypt? Do you want to serve the gods of the world? Do you want to do and be like they all are? He says, but I and my house We want to serve the Lord. What's going to matter is what God says.

And then you Ingrid. Then you Ingrid will be a blessed woman. And you Klaus will be a blessed man. And yours will be a blessed home. I asked myself When I thought of this word. Joshua Did you know your wife so well That you could say That she would serve the Lord.

Did you know that she was Going to go this way?

Or what? But Joshua says I and my house We serve the Lord. I say Joshua Did you know your wife. Through and through? Did you know that So clearly That you could say for her She also wants to serve the Lord.

And your children Also the teenagers.

Who are full of lust Meat lust And who Desire the world And long for amen. Now I ask myself Joshua Did you know your wife so well? Did you know your children so well That you could confidently say Even those children that are Striving after the things of the world.

Not all men can say that. Some men say that I want to go After the way of the Lord But my wife won't.

My children don't want to. There's a lust of the eyes The lust of the flesh. That's all world. John says. He says. And if the love of the world Is there, God's love isn't in that heart.

Johannes says If the love of the world is in you Then the love of God is not in you.

Or maybe there was the possibility That Despite The lust of the wife and the children He simply said Me and my house He served here I don't know I think love. How nice it would be If he could also speak for his wife That she Was also a decisive one And his children From the oldest to the youngest A decisive Christ A decisive man A decisive woman.

A decisive house. Now maybe Joshua said In spite of the rebellion of his children. Or his wife he said In this home we're going to serve the Lord. I don't know. But I would rather it be so Joshua could say.

My wife is a determined Christian. My children are decided And they're going with me in this way. Now I believe Klaus That you chose this word Because it's your desire. And Ingrid's as well.

Choosing Between the Blessed Way and the Cursed Way

Only two possibilities. There's no other possibility. The dry tree in the desert. Or the evergreen. What do you choose, friends? God hears What your answer is.

What is your choice, dear friends? God hears the answer.