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Sunday 24 March 2002 - A virtuous wife - wedding of Glendon & Beatrice

(Summary of sermon by Rev Erlo Stegen)

(For some photos of the day, click here)

Prov 31:10, 11, 30

10 ¶ Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Here we find a poem about a virtuous wife, uttered by her own husband. It is also known as the golden ABC. In Hebrew it starts each verse with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, beginning with aleph and ending with tau (i.e. the Hebrew alphabet).

The question we find in verse 10 implies that such women are rare, but not entirely wanting. It is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

How can a young man find such a wife, the one God has made especially for him? It is nearly impossible. The best way is to find her through God - to pray and seek God's face to lead you in this. Many people ask, but how can they find the right life partner unless they first know each other. Of course, if a man does not know Jesus and have a living relationship with Him, he must first know his wife, but he that waits upon God and seeks His face will find a true virtuous wife through Him.

There was a certain young man who said that all this waiting on God and asking Him for the right wife is all nonsense. He said that he was going to go around with his eyes open, and find himself the most beautiful and best peach. He did not say this to me, but to his peers. So, one day he came to me, saying that God had spoken to him about a certain girl to be his wife. And indeed, she was a very pretty girl from the outside. So, he got engaged and married. Not very long after that, only a few months, news came to me that his wife was seriously ill with a tumour. However, this tumour turned out to be the baby of another man. They asked me to break the news to him. As I broke the news to him, he was white as a sheet so that I thought he was going to fall off his chair. He couldn't believe it. And so, the whole truth about him came to light, and that marriage ended in divorce.

Here we see how God must be feared and is not to be mocked, otherwise we will have to pay a dear price for it.

What is this virtuous character the Bible speaks about. Clearly, it is not favour or charm. That is deceitful. Neither is it beauty. That is vanity and passes quickly away. It is a noble character, one who fears God. It is her inward beauty. Her relationship with God turns her into a beautiful and noble character.

A certain Englishman said of his wife, "I have found at least the equal of this woman the Bible speaks about." That man was Samuel Wesley, speaking of his wife Susanna Wesley. What amazing words from the mouth of her husband, the one who knows her the most intimately. No wonder she brought such children into this world as John and Charles Wesley.

Finally, what is the answer to the question posed in verse 10. In short, it is the man who waits upon God and seeks His face - a man of God. Even this virtuous woman that was spoken of in this chapter will not be disappointed if she finds such a man.