In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of accepting God's invitation to engage with Him. He warns that rejecting this proposal will lead to damnation and eternal separation from God. The preacher shares a story about a young woman who refused to fully commit to her Christian faith and tragically died in a car accident shortly after. The surprising detail of the intact trunk containing a crate of undamaged eggs serves as a reminder of God's protection and the consequences of not taking one's spiritual engagement seriously.

Shall we pray? Lord, speak to our hearts that this time together may not have been in vain, and see him for us. As you have heard, this is an engagement service. I'd like to read from Hosea, Hosea chapter 2, from verse 19. I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, and in steadfast love and in mercies. I will even betroth you to me in stability and in faithfulness. And you shall know, recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, and give heed to and cherish the Lord. You will know the Lord. This Bible I've got here, hasn't got that. This is an engagement service. An engagement is a time, sometimes, a time of joy and happiness. I don't say always, but it should be most of the time. I had a look at the dictionary about engagement. Getting engaged, what does that mean? In the Bible, it's to betroth, that's to be engaged. And according to the dictionary, it is a deed with a promise of marriage. According to the law, it is a contract between a man and a woman to get married in the future. Now, before I go on, I will ask that the man and the woman, please, come here. Dr. Francois is well-known here. He has lived here for a long time. But he lives now in Namibia. He is a half-doctor and a half-pastor. And this lady is a teacher. She is a half-pastor and a half-pastor. With this ring, he gives expression to the fact that they're getting engaged, and by God's grace, to get married one day. I said one day. I don't know when. Maybe I still hear. I don't know whether they'd like to wait a year or two years. In the olden days, they used to do that. But we have changed. We say, why do we wait so long? Would you like to wait two years? They say, no, we don't want to wait two years. Come and pray for us again. Lord, here are your two children. They have testified to us that they believe it is the will of God for them to get engaged. And they ask us to pray for their happiness. So, Lord, we can pray for both of them. We thank you, Lord, for their example in purity, in holiness, in righteousness. We thank you, Lord. Amen. In engagement, we heard that the dictionary says it's a promise of marriage. It's an agreement where two parties decide to get married at a later time. In agreement from both sides. Now, before I spend much time on that, I would like to speak about the greatest engagement. The greatest engagement between two parties, God, Jesus Christ, and you. Jesus proposes to you, he says, I will betrothe you unto me forever. Jesus proposes to you, he says, I will betroth you unto me forever. There can't be an engagement only if one party says yes and the other party says no. Both. Both have to agree. Otherwise, there can't be an engagement. Now, I say the greatest engagement is between man and God. God and man. He proposes. He says, I want to get engaged to you. And this engagement is forever. That means non-stop. It's got no end. God is proposing to you. He wants to get engaged to you. And I'd like to say, you can't say no to that proposal. If you don't agree and say yes to that engagement, it will only be your damnation. You'll be doomed and damned and go to hell if you don't say yes. Whether you like it or not. And God says he wants to get engaged to you now. I wonder whether all of us have got the ring of Jesus on their finger. In Campinas, Brazil, a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend. A girlfriend. The mother of the girl was a Christian. But the daughter didn't really like it. It's too extreme. I still want to enjoy life. And if I become a real Christian, I'll have to lose so many things. You know what people say if they don't say yes to the Lord with their whole heart. And she had friends that weren't really children of the Lord. They went to church sometimes, decent people. But they weren't engaged to the Lord Jesus. 100%. Her friends were the friends of the world. They went to parties. They had some beers. They went dancing. You know what the world is like. The mother was very concerned about her daughter. And when these friends came along, she went with her daughter to the car. The mother accompanied her. She was a bit worried about her spiritual state. Like many parents, not only a mother and father as well, can be worried about the spiritual state of their children. She accompanied her daughter holding her hand. Right to the time where the daughter entered the car and sat in the car. And she said, My daughter, go with God and may He protect you. Now I don't know whether she was a bit ashamed that the mother should speak like this in front of her friends. And the daughter reacted, responded, The car is full. If he wants to come along, he'll have to go into the boot. The mother was heartbroken because of the attitude of her daughter. Like many young people, don't take it seriously. Their relationship and their engagement with the Lord. And the car drove off and the mother stood with a broken heart as she saw her daughter driving off with her friends, not going the way she went spiritually. And only a short while, just a very few hours after that, they were involved in a serious accident. An accident that was fatal. And every one of them had died. The car could not be recognized. What type of car it had been. So badly damaged. But surprisingly, the trunk was intact. And the police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. The very trunk of which the girl spoke, there's no room for God in the car, only the trunk. And when the police opened the trunk, to their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs. Eggs. And not one egg was damaged or cracked. Not one egg. That was the room for God. But every egg was whole. And this happened not so very long ago, in 2005. Christine Hewitt, a Jamaican journalist and entertainer, said the Bible was the worst book ever written in this world. Surprising what some young people can say. And in June 2006, she was burned beyond recognition in her motor vehicle. So it's not all that say yes to Jesus when he knocks at the door, when he says, let's get engaged. In Brazil, some time ago, during the presidential campaign, the candidate said, if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from presidency. So you see, it's not everybody, when Jesus knocks at the door, that he opens, that he says yes. Here Mr. Neves said, if he should get the votes, the 500,000 votes, even God wouldn't be able to remove him from presidency. Surely he got the votes. But he got sick one day before his inauguration, as president. And on that very day he died. When God speaks, listen, pay heed, and don't say, I'll see about it another day. We who are older, remember when we were young, there was an actress who was world famous. Her name was Marilyn Monroe. She was visited by Billy Graham during the presentation of a show. Billy Graham told her, God has sent me to you. The Holy Spirit has sent me to preach to you. After she had heard what Billy Graham had told her, she said, I don't need your Jesus. I don't need your Jesus. One week later, she was found dead in her apartment. I think I told you enough instances now and examples of people that don't accept when Jesus proposes to them that he would like to get engaged to them. Making a contract with you, like a man and a woman. Forever to get married. I don't need your Jesus. And she said no. After one week, she died. And most probably she's still burning in hell right now. This is a very, very most important matter in our lives. There is nothing more important than this. And I ask you, have you ever said to the man who died for you at the cross, And I say to you, if we were to get engaged here, it would be foolish of us, and foolish of you. If we were to get engaged here, it would be foolish of us, and foolish of you. If we were to get engaged here, it would be foolish of us, and foolish of you. Say no to God. You're not prepared. You'd still like to carry on with things of the world. You are still too young. Your future will be nothing else but a foretaste of hell. We've come to an engagement service. Automatically that leads us to the greatest engagement service. Even this engagement won't be blessed without that greatest engagement in our lives. In this part of Scripture, in Hosea, we find God Almighty promising to engage Himself and to His people. And He does more than that. He also gives us His responsibility in this engagement. Because of His great love for you and me, God makes a promise to us that one day He wants to marry us. He wants to take us to be His wife and to confirm that He is prepared to be engaged to us. God is prepared to take us to be His wife and to confirm that He is prepared to be engaged to us. As it does to these young people. The Lord Jesus Himself spoke in Matthew 22. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent His servants, those who had been invited, to the wedding banquet. But they refused to come. Again He sent others, servants. Tell those who are invited, Behold, I've prepared my banquet. My bullocks and my fed calves are killed and everything is prepared. Thanks to the wedding feast. My bullocks and my fed calves are killed and everything is prepared. And they went away, one to his farm, another to his business. Everybody went to what he liked and he lived for. And in verse 7 we hear, Hearing this, the king was infuriated. He got very angry. You see, if you say no to a total commitment to God or His Son, and he said, he sent his soldiers and put those murderers to death and burnt the city. You're a murderer. If you treat this lightly, you're a murderer in God's eyes and the God of love will become an angry God. He said to his servants, the wedding feast is prepared but those invited were not worthy. He said to his servants, the wedding feast is prepared but those invited were not worthy. Let's go to verse 11 now. When the king came in to view the guests, he looked intently at the men. Who wasn't wearing a wedding garment. And he said, friend, how did you come in here without putting on the wedding garment? And the men were speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, tie him hand and feet. Throw him into the river and into the darkness outside. There will be weeping and the grinding, gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said, many are called, many are invited, but few accept it. And if there should be someone in our midst today at this engagement, young or old, if you aren't wearing a wedding dress by now, let the sun not go down today. Before you are wearing it, take off the old clothes and put on the wedding garment. So in this part of Scripture, we find God Almighty promising to engage Himself and to His people. And I've said already, He does more than that. He also gives us and gives you the responsibility in this engagement. And I've said already, He does more than that. He also gives us And may I repeat, you have got no other say and no other choice. It will be to hell with you if God the Almighty, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, gave His only begotten Son to give Himself and die for you on the cross, give His last drop of blood, and you say no to Him. Woe to you if you don't give your last drop of blood to Him, that it may be written in the books in heaven today at this engagement service. You've given yourself wholeheartedly to Him who did that for you. Because of His great love for you and for me, God makes a place and a promise to us that one day He wants to marry us spiritually. And not only then, but even now. He wants to take us to be like His wife. And because of that, He's prepared to be engaged to us. Now let us look at a few points at the way He's prepared to be engaged to us. Firstly, He says He will be engaged to us forever. Now, forever. If you look at the dictionary, you'll find no beginning and no end. Forever. And that is what God, His attitude, His love, His grace to you and to me. He says I will accept you as my bride forever. Who can say no to that? If a prince of a certain country would propose to you or a great man, you'd be foolish if he proposes to you and you say no. Now when the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, God Himself proposes to you and you say no, you must have a big devil in your heart. He wants you to be His for a long time without beginning or end. He loves you and promises that He'll be united to you and faithful to you. You'll be His forever. Now, I've spoken long enough. I hope that he who has got ears to hear has heard. If not, you're in a terrible spiritual state. I would suggest that you go to somebody and give your life to God, confess your sin, be cleansed with His precious blood, committing yourself wholly to Him that from now on you will be His faithful bride. The last point. He says, you will know Me. In Hebrew, it's Yadah. Adam knew Eve and Eve knew Eve and she bore him a son. Adam Yadahed his wife and then she bore him a son. Cain knew his wife. Cain Yadahed his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch. Yadah is a word used very often in the Bible got different kinds of meaning. But here we see a very intimate kind of relationship and of knowledge to know Him. In Hebrew, it's Yadah and Yadahed his wife and she conceived Adam Yadahed his wife and she conceived palace does not make a great king. Your father Josiah also had plenty to eat and drink, but he was just, just and right in all his dealings." That's Jeremiah verse 15 and 16." Josiah had plenty to eat and drink, but he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. He gave justice and help to the poor and needy and everything went well for him. And Jeremiah says, isn't that what it means to know Yadami, says the Lord? In other words, Yada is faithfully living out our covenant relationship with the Lord in every area of our life. Yada means to know properly, intimately. This word is used 946 times in the Bible. It has many meanings, sharing love, showing mercy, acting justly. And the Lord says, if we are engaged to him, if we say yes to him, and have the most intimate relationship with him, we hide nothing from him. And so to say, he doesn't hide anything from us. We engage to him, we know him properly in the most intimate sense. May God grant that not only our engaged couple today, but every one of us will Yada, will know the Lord. Because of being engaged to the Most High. And when Adam and the others Yada'd their women, they conceived, they became pregnant, they bought children. So if you get engaged with God, something new will be born out of your life. That's where you get divine authority. That's where you find spiritual blessing. It's been born out of that intimate relationship with the Lord. Friends, do you understand this or not? If you don't understand it, go out. I'm in my room and I'm waiting for you, to pray for you that the devil will come out of your ears. Can you understand this? Can you understand this? I'd like to ask, I'm asking you a question and would like you to answer me. Do you understand what has been said? I don't hear so well, so you've got to speak loud. Yes. Be merciful to us, O God, that we won't treat this lightly or look down upon it and carry on with our things without having accepted this divine, this divine calling from above, that you want to get engaged to us. Amen.