To see God – Wedding of Max Celick and Melanie Engelbrecht

I greet you in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is my privilege to stand here before this bridal couple. Max, the bridegroom, gave me some notes that he had written down about things that were burning on his heart, not what someone else told him, but the treasure he found in the Bible.

I will start with the second portion he mentioned.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God. 

Max asks the question, have I seen God? Do I see God at work? If I don’t see God at work, perhaps my heart is not pure. If our hearts are pure we will not only see God one day in heaven, but we will see Him here on earth already. We will see Him at work and see His miracles. If you want to hear of miracles, maybe you should go to the one who wrote this, ask him, ‘Max, tell us of the miracles which you are talking about’.

If we don’t see God at work then perhaps the devil has thrown sand in our eyes, and this sand is sin, causing us to be blind spiritually. But if we keep the devil’s sand out of our eyes, and if we keep our hearts pure from sin, then it will be possible to seek first the Kingdom of God. We will see God at work in our lives.

We can only thank God for how He has led you, Max and Melanie. As we celebrate this day with you, may it be the beginning of a chapter in your life where you will continue to see God at your side, where you will experience spiritual growth even more than when you were still single.

I was pondering on the wedding at Cana and read the story again. The wine that they had prepared for that wedding ran dry. The sweetness came to an end as we read in God’s word. Why did it come to an end? When our efforts come to an end, there is the One who can start His wonderful work again. In this instance at the wedding He used water. He could have said, I will fill those jars with wine, but no, Jesus asked the servants to fill the jars with water. Later one reads that this was the first miracle that Jesus performed. So may this day be a new beginning, a new day, where Jesus can start His work in your new lives together as a married couple.

Max also wrote: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Not ones own human kingdom and righteousness, but His! How wonderful that you can start your marriage in the church, in God’s presence, all of us can start a new chapter, as the bridal couple is doing. We too can start a new life if we haven’t been seeking God’s Kingdom first. This should be a sweet new life, there where I maybe failed in the past where I had trials and troubles, may this be the hurdle that you can cross through God’s institution, marriage. Marriage was not made by man, it is a holy institution.

By that I am not implying that now you will just be flying like a happy bird every day, week or month. However, you can sing every day of your life, whether it is stormy or whether it is as calm as a lake.

As the choirs were singing, they were praising God. May your marriage be a testimony of praise for all to see, please don’t disappoint us. There is no denying the fact that people will be watching you. May your parents and in-laws be able to see that you belong to Christ and may they have the blessed assurance: these are people who belong to Christ.  Max, may your parents never regret that you left your family in the USA , but may they see you living in obedience to Christ, wherever you may live. May their tears of joy never dry up when they see or hear you in the future, even into their old age.

Melanie, I am speaking to Max, for he is the head of the family. The world doesn’t like this book (the Bible), because it doesn’t fit into the feminist and woke ideology. We are no friends of the world, if you want to be a friend of the world, you will automatically make yourself an enemy of Christ.

Max wrote here, when you wake up in the morning, seek first the Lord. Seeking signifies  that you are yearning and longing for God’s kingdom. In Psalms 41 it refers to a deer panting for water, desperate because it is thirsty. Seek Him in Scripture reading, this can be especially difficult for young people. We wake up in the morning, we first pick up our cell phones to see our messages and to check all of our social media. That can take over our whole day. We start the day like this and we end the day like this.

Max wrote:‘This verse has been very dear to me and it escorted me so many times while living in the USA. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. America is really a land of opportunity. It has so much to offer. The challenge even there is always to first seek God and His will for my life’.

I was reminded of Joseph and Mary. Joseph was betrothed to Mary, but then he noticed that Mary was with child. The Bible says, because he was an upright man, he didn’t want to hand her over to public disgrace. So while he was still seeking a solution for his predicament, you see, seek God first, God answered him: ‘Joseph, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, because this which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit’.  Whatever comes your way, lift your eyes and say, God, what is Your way? Christian, have you learnt this? Is this part of your life or is this unknown territory to you? Don’t be a stranger to God, know Him.

Max is also looking ahead, he is looking towards the end. He doesn’t just want to start well, he wants to end well. He says, Lord what are you saying to me? What is the message to me? I want to cherish that message.

He also wrote a portion out of Revelation 3:1(b) – 3 (read from the Amplified version). ‘I know your deeds; you have a name (reputation) that you are alive, but [in reality] you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen and reaffirm what remains [of your faithful commitment to Me], which is about to die; for I have not found [any of] your deeds completed in the sight of My God or meeting His requirements. 3 So remember and take to heart the lessons you have received and heard.

Take to heart the lessons you have heard, keep and obey them, repent, change your sinful way of thinking and demonstrate your repentance with new behaviour with a conscious decision to turn away from sin.

I am moved by the wonder of how the Lord has led Max, showing us how he has been seeking the Lord. Melanie, you have grown up before us and we can testify that your aim has been to serve the Lord Jesus. May your marriage be a crowning of your combined yearning to please God in heaven. As the Bible says, two are better than one, may it truly be so. Seeking God’s will, finding yourself in God’s will is a mystery, you need to have a heart that longs for and cries out to the Lord and as God answers that prayer, you suddenly find yourself in God’s will and people are blessed through you.

Spurgeon, who is known as the prince of preachers said, Serving God here on earth is the highest calling, there is nothing superior to serving Christ in this world.

May I end with a short story that I read. There is a very precious diamond, it even has a name, that was presented by a Maharaj, when he was still a young boy, to Queen Victoria. When he had grown up he went to visit Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace. Then he asked the Queen, can they please bring the diamond from the Tower of London where it was kept safe, and the Queen allowed this diamond to be brought to them. Then this Maharaj took the diamond and knelt before Queen Victoria. He said, Queen Victoria, I gave you this diamond as a little boy, not knowing what I was doing. But today I am a grown-up man. I want to reaffirm that I present this to you. It was no mistake I made when I was young. I gladly present it to you in honour and to the best of my ability, with all my gratitude to you.

The Psalmist reminds us that we serve a great God. May He remain dear and the first and the foremost, be true to Him, right to the end. May we all reaffirm our commitment to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.

Shall we pray to the Lord that He will keep you true and faithful as you start this part of your life together, with Him. He will be with you from the beginning, allow Him lead and guide you, experience Him warming your heart. Shine brightly, live a life that breathes Jesus. The world is sick, people need others who can show the way.

Brethren, you say the standard is too high. Too high? For the One who died for you? Look to the end of your life when you will have to give account for your actions, desires and way you lived, then you’ll realise that the standard is not too high.

I know a young man who, as he walked into church on the day he got married, suddenly was overcome with the earnestness of this step that he was taking, it is not a happy-go-lucky life. He asked himself, will I be faithful to Him in whom I believe and who I believe is leading me to get married? Some think it is easy to get married, because it is easy to get divorced again. If you bride and bridegroom, are found in God’s will, there won’t be even a hint or thought of divorce. You will experience Christ guiding you every step of the way. Make yourself dependent on Christ, And if you are uncertain in a situation, be prepared to ask for advice from those who are able to advise wisely.

Let the Bible guide you, wife submit to your husband, husband read how you should act as the head of the home. And the older women should teach the younger wives how they should live and conduct their households.

(Exchanging of rings)

Jesus says, My joy I give to you – not as the world gives, but overflowing joy – day in and day out. He is faithful, true to all His promises.