Sermon Synopsis
This sermon proclaims that the steadfast love of the Lord is a love that never ceases and never comes to an end, even in seasons of hardship and rapid change. From Jeremiah’s suffering in Lamentations to the witness of persecuted believers, the message emphasizes that God’s steadfast love is beautiful in His nature, powerful in its effect, and active in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. The sermon highlights three key significances of this love: it offers peace in life’s storms, draws wandering hearts back to God, and gives lasting life through salvation in Christ. Finally, believers are called to emulate this steadfast love in marriage and family, in the church assembly, and toward a hurting world so that others may come to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.
Love That Never Ceases
Lamentations 3:22–23
Good morning, brothers and sisters. Thank you, Takyong, for introducing me again. For those who don’t know me, I think there are some visitors here—so we extend a very warm welcome to you. And it is now my privilege to give you the Word of God.
This morning, I thank the brothers who said they prayed for me. So they are expecting something from me very strongly, and we thank the Lord for this opportunity to speak on this theme of steadfast love. The theme of being steadfast is truly necessary—needful—at this time when we are going through rapid changes in our life.
The title of today’s message is: Love That Never Ceases. Love that never ceases. Love that never comes to an end.
So you can see from the slide the picture of the Niagara Falls. This is where the water flows and flows and flows. So it never ceases to flow. I understand from the internet it has been flowing for the last 12,000 years and predicted to continue to flow for the next 50,000 years. Certainly, it never ceases to flow.
What type of love never ceases to flow? What type of love never comes to an end and is forever? Does steadfast love really exist? You ask a divorcee. You ask an adopted child. You ask a prison inmate—they will disagree with you that steadfast love does exist. Certainly, steadfast love truly does exist, and we will discover it this morning as we go through the Word of God.
Purpose
Our purpose this morning is to understand and to demonstrate, God willing, the eternal steadfast love of God, and His call for each and every one of us to emulate this steadfast love—so that others will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, even while observing our lives, and especially no matter how difficult it is in every aspect of our life that we encounter.
Text
Our text is taken from Lamentations 3:22–23:
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercy never comes to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”
This was written by the prophet Jeremiah in the time when he and the people of Judah were going through difficult times. Indeed, Jerusalem was in ruin, and Jeremiah himself was suffering some physical affliction. Yet, as he looked back at himself on the experiences of the past, he suddenly discovered—suddenly remembered—that the steadfast love of the Lord remaineth. This renewed revelation of the goodness of God and His faithfulness changed everything for him.
He revived his hope in the salvation of his God.
Therefore, he recorded these words: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. It is 100% full in intensity. Can anything be fuller than when it is full?
Brothers and sisters, before we look at the next slide and go into the message, let’s give this time to the Lord and ask for His help.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, our loving God, we thank You that we are able to read of the condition that Jeremiah the prophet and the children of Israel were going through at that time when Jerusalem was in ruin. We recognize the hardship that they have gone through, and certainly it is a lesson for us this morning as we know that many of us here suffer hardship in life. Yet, our Father, we pray that as we look at this message on the steadfast love, Your Spirit will continue to reveal Your Word to us—that the understanding of the steadfast love will guide us and guide us in the life ahead. We offer this our prayer in our Lord Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Introduction
So, brothers and sisters, we go through hardship in life, and certainly this causes us to struggle with much fear, with much discouragement, and with much loneliness. But it is good—like the prophet Jeremiah—to remind ourselves of the constancy of God’s love: God’s immovable, undying, steadfast love.
He will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe. We will be able to declare like the psalmist in Psalm 37. And even if we are faithless, we can declare like Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:13, the Lord remains faithful.
He will stand. We will stand. How will we stand against the storm of life? Stand firm in that steadfast love of the Lord.
Here’s a lesson from the New Testament saints.
Illustration
A Pinch of Incense
This is the picture of a pinch of incense. A pinch of incense.
Just after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, the task of evangelizing falls upon the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ—especially those who first received the gospel. The Christian faith spread all the way to Rome by the disciples. The message of Jesus Christ and the gospel was of particular encouragement to those disciples who were being persecuted.
Under Nero’s rule, they faced the choice of whether to take a public stand as Christians or to suffer the loss of everything, including their lives.
As Roman citizens, they were supposed to offer a pinch of incense before the image of the divine Caesar. To do so would mean they would compromise their commitment as Christians—and to not do so would mean it would cost them dearly. They would lose their lives.
The Christians would rather die than compromise.
Is it possible in this day and time to have this kind of steadfast love, this kind of faith, in our generation today?
We thank the Lord that the faith of the New Testament saints—of the early Christian martyrs—and even in modern day men and women of God, who recognize that they are no fool to give what they cannot keep to gain what they cannot lose.
Today is the month of January. On the 8th of January 1956, five missionaries lost their lives to Indians in tribes in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador. They understood the meaning of steadfast love—that the steadfast love of the Lord was to give of themselves as missionaries regardless of how the Indians responded to their message. These missionaries believed that salvation is in no other than Jesus Christ the Lord.
Outline of the Message
This morning, the ministry has three outlines:
So let’s quickly go to the first one: definition of steadfast love.
1) Definition of Steadfast Love
Beautiful, Powerful, Active
Steadfast love is a love that is beautiful, powerful, and active. It is a theme found throughout the Bible.
It is beautiful because it reflects and reminds us of the unwavering love of God for each and every one of us—a love that teaches loyalty, a love that teaches kindness, and forgiveness of God.
We see this in the numerous wonderful mercies of the Lord for humanity, and especially for His dealing with the children of Israel in His covenant promise with Abraham.
The first mention of steadfast love is found in Genesis 24:12–14. It was in reference to God showing steadfast love to Abraham in identifying the wife to be chosen for Isaac.
But on the other extreme, when Israel fell into sin—into rejection and rebellion of God—the Lord God repeatedly offered forgiveness, protection, and provision in spite of their failing, rejecting, rebelling against Him over and over again.
Some of these are prominent names in the Bible like Abraham, David, Moses. Each of these—and many others—undoubtedly failed but experienced the steadfast love of God. They would attest to it: the love of God is not fleeting and situational, but unchanging—as in the very nature of God.
Thus, adding to the definition: the dimension of His nature, His characteristic as being of God. Thus the Lord God has this nature that steadfast love is fundamental in Him. The steadfast love of God is the root, the inherent, the very immovable nature of God.
Steadfast love is His attribute, His beautiful nature. For after all, 1 John 3:8 clearly says: God is love.
Steadfast love is also powerful. Yes. Because it is God’s doing in us. As we receive comfort, we receive assurance, we receive hope and guidance to be more loving and more compassionate unto ourselves as well as to others—especially in every and any circumstance, even in dire hardship.
Listen to the powerful testimony of the apostle Paul, where he wrote that God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Steadfast love is active. Yes.
It is not a fleeting expression of feeling or emotion, but persistent and unshakable commitment. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—His life, His death, and resurrection—are all manifestations of God’s steadfast love for us.
Regardless of the countless failures we encounter, we see this abundantly. Not too long ago in our studies on the Gospel of Mark, in the suffering servant of God who willingly endured suffering on the cross to demonstrate the length to which God would go to save humanity from sin.
The Lord Jesus’ love is characterized by a profound commitment to God’s love for mankind.
If you want to know how vast, how great is the extent of God’s love, we always refer to a simple verse commonly quoted in John 3:16—God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son.
Jesus Christ our Lord went to the extent of saving mankind through His selfless giving, through His sacrificial offering, and through the ultimate embodiment of the love of God—to pave the path for sinners like you and I, saving us from a dreadful doom.
If per chance you are here and not a believer yet, I urge you to take this chance to personally know the Lord Jesus Christ who alone can save. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can powerfully do that for every repentant sinner.
There is nothing that we can do as God’s children to make Him love us any more than He already does. And there is likewise nothing that we can do to make Him love us less. His love is free, it is full, and He fails us not as He promised to us.
He calls all of us believers—you and I—to reflect steadfast love in our own lives: that this powerful steadfast love of the Lord is actively mirrored in each and every one of our lives.
A super powerful biblical example is when the Lord Jesus Christ submitted to His enemies and was crucified on the cross. And in steadfast love He expressed and cried out: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The Lord Jesus, while being crucified, asked God to forgive those who were executing Him because they did not understand the gravity of their action.
It is powerful—really powerful—to draw hearts to Him. Or at least we know one heart: a criminal hanging beside Him, close enough to hear the plea of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Father. He responded and said to the Lord Jesus: “Remember me when you come in your kingdom.”
We are vessels of His steadfast love. Believers are encouraged to pour out this love in our interactions, embodying the same mercy and faithfulness that God has shown, and to replicate this love as much as we are empowered by the Spirit of God.
2) Significance of Steadfast Love
Peace, Drawing, Life
Now we come to the second outline: the significance of steadfast love.
It is similar to some of the Greek words that we have heard in past ministry—and we are familiar with these Greek words—but to our surprise, the word steadfast love is not Greek. It was found in the Old Testament and it is Hebrew.
It has the word hesed, which is commonly translated as lovingkindness, mercy, and faithful love. It is one of the most important and most frequently used words in the Old Testament when describing God’s love—God’s character—especially in His covenant relationship with the children of Israel.
Hesed refers to a love that is not based on condition or emotion, but on commitment and covenant loyalty. It involves a deep sacrificial love that persists despite circumstances and remains constant through all challenges.
It’s similar to agape love—unconditional love of God—but it is greater in that it is never ending. No matter how long the unconditional condition remains, it is more than phileo love, which speaks about brotherly love between friends in close relationship—which we all agree today can be very fragile—where steadfast love is never broken or betrayed. That’s why we have BFF: best friend forever.
How about eros? It has a meaning of romantic or sexual love, but this has nothing to do with the believer’s satisfaction in the Lord. No wonder the word is not found in the Bible.
The last word is storge—expressing familiar love between parents and children, provided there is no relationship breakdown. But this is also quite impossible in today’s culture.
But in terms of steadfast love in the family, in the light of it, it is an assurance of a relationship—of belonging to a family—regardless of marital or parental relationship heartaches.
I’m sure we have heard many testimonies of parental love and lifelong sacrifices for their children that move every one of us to tears. And we also hear of filial children who give their parents the highest honor, praising them and showing gratitude toward them.
There are many significances in this steadfast nature of God—unending, persistent, unconditional. For the time we have, I would like to share three with you, so that we may appreciate and prove steadfast love can be experienced and practiced in our life.
The understanding of the steadfast nature of God in His love for us is a tremendously powerful position we should appreciate.
How is it that often we falter in our faith when we are faced with raging storms, and yet we can see there are those who, when going through storms, are able to fall sound asleep in great peace—undisturbed? What kind of peace do these people have?
Look at Luke 8. The Lord Jesus calming the storm. In Luke 8:22, the Lord said to His disciples: “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” Along the way, a fierce storm descended upon them, and yet the Lord fell asleep peacefully.
Though the story was meant to demonstrate His control over nature—revealing His identity as God—what the disciples did is what exactly the Lord wants of us: to turn to Him for His deliverance in similar situations.
Christians often see storms. The storms of life we encounter threaten our faith. The point of the lesson is this: in feelings of helplessness—especially where Jesus has led them—they were to have faith and to trust in Him.
Events in our lives sometimes leave us feeling at risk. Whether it is a job situation that causes us to take a stand, or a severe illness of loved ones, or an unexpected tragedy, or the breakdown of a relationship—any of these can be a storm in which we doubt God’s goodness.
We may feel God has left us to fend for ourselves. Is that the case with you today?
From the testimonies of our brothers and sisters in our midst who were diagnosed with various illnesses—some debilitating, some terminal—yet they were upheld by the peace of the steadfast love of the Lord, the Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9—the promised peace of mankind. Luke 2. And He left these words of peace for you and I, especially for His disciples, before His departure in John 14:
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
What can we say? We can say: the steadfast love of God gives us peace.
He understood our storm: in this world you will have trouble, but take heart—I have overcome the world. John 16. Trust in the Lord and be at peace.
The second significance of steadfast love is that steadfast love draws us to the Lord.
The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with unfailing love, unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3.
The word “draw” is the same word used in Genesis 37 where the Midianites were drawing Joseph out from the pit.
Psalm 40:2: He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm.
This reminds us of the Lord’s initiative, the Lord’s intervention, the Lord’s active role in guiding and continuing communicating with His people. We see His continuing presence, the fulfillment of His promises, His expression of love—especially in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Drawing up with loving devotion, and setting us up steadily on the rock.
I’m reminded of this parable in Luke 15 of the lost sheep—and it baffles me because it doesn’t make good economic sense to leave 99 sheep to look for one lost sheep, which actually deserves to be lost and killed. It makes no good stewardship for a shepherd to do such a thing. But this is what the parable has for us: until he finds it, he will never give up.
He will never give up until He draws us personally to Himself. That’s steadfast love.
We can be reassured, brothers and sisters: no matter how much trouble we find ourselves in, no matter how far we stray from God—no matter how difficult, no matter how impossible—His steadfast love will draw us back to Him.
Every single one of us is valuable to Him. Brothers and sisters, be assured.
The third significance of steadfast love is that steadfast love gives us life.
David, the man after God’s heart, escaped death so many times. You can read it in many parts of the Psalms.
Psalm 119—he says: “Your steadfast love gave me life.” It kept him safe from persecution and pitiful situations. He was given abundant life, so to speak—from being a shepherd boy to become the king of Israel, and to be added into the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 23:4 is another record. David wrote: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” I fear no evil.
There’s a story about this 11-year-old girl—a touching love story. At 11 years old, she asked her father, “What are you going to give me for my 15-year-old present when I turn 15?” So the father said, “It’s still too early. You still got time.”
And when she was 14 years old, she fainted and was rushed to hospital. In the hospital, the doctor came out and told the father she had a bad heart and she probably was going to die.
So when she was lying in the hospital bed, she said softly to her father, “Daddy, have they told you that I’m going to die?” The father replied, “No, no, no. You are not going to die,” with tears in his eyes.
She asked, “How can you be so sure, daddy?” He turned around as he left from the door and said, “Because I know.”
A short time later, when she turned 15 years old—after she was released from the hospital and recovering at home—she found a letter on her bed which read:
“My dearest daughter, if you are reading this letter, it means that everything went well, just as I told you it would. Remember when you asked me what I was going to give you for your 15th birthday? I didn’t know then. But my present to you today is my heart.”
A father donated his heart.
John 15:13: Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.
In the same way, we can appeal to God’s unfailing love to protect us daily—to save us—and to give us everlasting life. The day we trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we were born again with a new life—an everlasting life.
We embark on a new journey: a change from the old man to a new man, a new creature in Christ Jesus. We walk differently from others in our faith and trust on the finished work of the Lord Jesus and His abiding presence in the person of the Spirit, granting to us a new identity.
We are ushered into fellowship with like-minded saints in the community of believers who love the Lord and serve Him with gladness.
Like the psalmist, we can pray: “As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me.”
Not only will the Lord preserve our lives for now, but for all eternity.
3) Application
Marriage & Family, Assembly, World
Now quickly we look at the application—in marriage and in family.
For Christians today, we understand steadfast love is a call to live out God’s love in every aspect of life: whether in marriage and family, church community, or in interaction with strangers. Believers are called to love as God loves.
This kind of love transcends human limitation and reflects God’s perfect and unconditional love for His people. Therefore, it’s appropriate for us to look at these three areas where this aim may be fulfilled.
The context of marriage and family is that family is God’s design for life. Steadfast love is crucial.
The biblical understanding of love is not based on fleeting emotion, but on commitment, respect, and sacrifice.
Ephesians 5:25 tells us: “Husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” This verse calls husbands to love their wives with the same sacrificial love that Christ demonstrated for the church.
The steadfast love between spouses mirrors God’s love for humanity and calls them to mutual sacrifice and commitment.
Why is that important? Because children have the front row seats. And even others who observe us—our neighbors and so on—they are observing how we as parents, how we as couples, how we as married couples handle disagreements. They are affected when we have disagreements and do not handle these matters well, resulting in tension and conflict.
What happens in our marriage relationship reflects how much we emulate the steadfast love of God. Is it pleasing to the Lord or is it not? You decide for yourself.
Husbands ask ourselves—as the head—have we taken up the responsibility to lead the wife and family with understanding and love as Christ also loved the church?
Wives, are we submitting to our husband as unto the Lord?
The responsibility of wife given by the Lord is to arrange under—a voluntary and sense of willingness to be subject to their husband. This divine arrangement of the Lord is as indisputable as Christ is the head of the church.
Husbands are to lead by steadfast love rather than by authority—so that he may sanctify, cleansed by the washing of the Word—nourishing and cherishing his wife even as the Lord the church.
Sadly, there are many marriages far from reflecting the testimony of the steadfast love of God. May I ask a personal question: Are you responsible for this? May the Lord speak to us.
And may we know that the steadfast love of the Lord is powerful, is beautiful, is active—if we practice loving and forgiving and restoring according to the marriage vows made before the Lord.
Next, steadfast love in the assembly—within the church.
Steadfast love is the foundation of community life. Christians who hold steadfast love support one another, bear each other’s burdens, and forgive one another.
As the body of Christ, the church is meant to be a place where God’s love is displayed through acts of service. Various ministries in our assembly promote this through encouragement—through prayer, sharing, fellowship, strengthening and challenging each other—and through reconciliation, working together toward peace and harmony, diffusing conflicts and promoting unity, restoration through visitation, counseling, and Bible studies.
Steadfast love for the community of brethren is when members are consistently engaged in the service of the Lord—relentless—and not deterred by criticism or discouragement, but to do as the Lord wants us to do.
And may I ask: Are you consistently engaged, or are you sporadically engaged, or still being put off easily in all this ministry?
The last application of steadfast love is with regard to the world.
Beyond the church, Christians are called to show steadfast love to a hurting world. This means reaching out to the marginalized, the poor, the oppressed—reflecting God’s love in practical ways.
The call to love one’s neighbor—Love your neighbor as thyself (Mark 12)—is a call to demonstrate the steadfast love of God in a tangible way: in acts of kindness and compassion.
We all have our moments when loving others feels very difficult—especially when faced with the shortcomings of ourselves and of others, and even differences.
But brothers and sisters, when we are actively engaged in loving our neighbor, we witness the outpouring of joy, kindness, and serenity in our own hearts. Loving others can be challenging—yet it is through these challenges that we grow spiritually and reflect Christ’s love.
Brothers and sisters, go into the world.
Conclusion
In summary, steadfast love is the central theme in the Bible and in our daily lives. It represents God’s unwavering commitment to His people. It is the foundation of His covenant with Israel and the ultimate expression of His love in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This love is not contingent on circumstances or human behavior, but is rooted in God’s nature. Christians are called to reflect it in our own lives.
As believers, we are called to live out God’s steadfast love in our relationship with others, reflecting His mercy, grace, and loyalty in all that we do.
Steadfast love is not merely an abstract theological concept. It is a call to action—a way of life that reflects the heart of God’s character.
We started with the question: Does steadfast love really exist? I pray it is in your heart now: yes, affirmatively, it does exist.
Whether we believe it or not, it is up to us. Those who do—we know it will never cease. God demonstrates daily His eternal steadfast love for us today, and it is His call for us to emulate this steadfast love in our life.
No matter how hard it is to love, we can place our trust in Him during both good and challenging times, knowing He will consistently stand by us as we navigate through life.
Be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise You and thank You for Your Word. We thank You that it is so mighty and so powerful that even the hardest of heart can be brought over, convinced, and converted to trust that the Lord Jesus Christ has loved us with a steadfast love—never ending, never ceases, never coming to an end, never disappointing.
We praise and thank You, Father, that You know each and every one of us—what we have gone through in life, and even at this stage of life what we are going through. Yet, our Father, we pray that this understanding of Your steadfast love will bring us out into the open with You—that it becomes so clear as we bathe in the sunshine of Your love for us.
May we be able to move on with life recognizing that we have this call, this responsibility—having experienced Your steadfast love—that we are to show forth this, so that others who are in similar situations of hardship may be guided and directed to the true steadfast love of God.
We praise You and thank You for our Lord Jesus Christ who was steadfast in His love, and who is steadfast in His love, and who will continue to be steadfast in His love. Though not present with us now physically, we know spiritually at the right hand of God and in our hearts He continues to love us with an unending love.
We offer You our grateful thanks and praises as we pray this in our Lord Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Thank you.
Messages: 5
