April 1, 2012
Scripture:
Hymn 330 - A message came from heaven
Prayer
Last time, we read about the first time that Jesus preached a sermon. Today, we’re going to read about another first: His first miracle. A miracle is something that only God can do. Jesus never did a miracle for His own benefit, but only to show the power of God.
John 2:1-11
This story takes place in the region of Galilee. Jesus and his disciples had been invited to a wedding. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also invited to this wedding. This reminds us that each one of us needs to invite the Lord Jesus into our hearts.
In the Bible culture, wine was an important beverage to have at a wedding. Unfortunately, they ran out of wine at this wedding. Mary went to Jesus and told Him about the problem. Jesus’ answer was interesting: it didn’t sound very nice, did it? The Bible tells children to obey their parents, and Jesus wasn’t being disobedient here: He was emphasizing that He was obedient to God. Mary found the servants at the wedding and told them to do whatever the Lord told them to do. That was very good advice. We also should do whatever the Lord asks us to do.
At this wedding there were six water pots that were used for purification. How big were these pots? Each of these water pots held 2 - 3 firkins, or 18 - 27 gallons. That doesn’t help much, so think of this: each pot could hold about half as much as the average rain barrel.
In this situation, Jesus told the young men to fill up the pots with water. That would have been a big job. Once the water pots were filled, Jesus told them to show the wine to the governor of the feast. He tasted the wine and he was quite surprised. It was the custom to drink the best wine first, but this was the best wine. A miracle happened: Jesus had said to fill the pots up with water and out came the best wine. This miracle has an application for our lives. We are the water pots and we can choose what we fill ourselves with. If we fill ourselves with the Lord’s word, the Lord will do a work in our heart. We could also fill ourselves with the things of the world, but we will find that it does not bring true fulfillment.
May we each remember the first miracle that Jesus did and it application to our lives.
Luke 11:1-26
The two pence from the parable of the Good Samaritan may represent the word of God and prayer. We saw the word of God last week with Mary of Bethany, and today we have the subject of prayer. First we get the Pattern of Prayer (vv.1-4), then the Perseverance of Prayer (vv.5-8), and finally the Provision of Prayer (vv.9-13). First God speaks with us (the word of God) and then we speak to Him (prayer). This communion is very important.
The disciples asked the Lord to teach them to pray, and Jesus gave them what is commonly known today as “The Lord’s Prayer”. Some of us used to say this everyday in school, but there is a difference between praying and saying a prayer. This prayer is a pattern. Jesus never intended it to be repeated over and over. It’s very words are not applicable to us today; they were applicable to those in Jesus’ day. The pattern, however, speaks to us.
“Our Father which art in heaven.” This first phrase put God at a distance for those people. God is in heaven, but now He is also in the hearts of all those who are saved. This phrase teaches us to address God as our Father, which is a reference of relationship. Christ provided that relationship by His work on the cross. One of His first messages after His resurrection was, “I go to My Father and your Father.” In the Old Testament, people didn’t address God as “Father”. They didn’t have the Holy Spirit and grace that we do. Also, there isn’t much prayer in the Law, because the law showed you what you could do to be right before God, and prayer is an expression of dependence on Someone other than yourself.
“Hallowed be thy name.” This shows reverence for the name of God, and has the person in prayer approach God as a worshipper. God’s very name calls for reverence. We can see the Lord’s reverence for His Father in Psalm 22:3: “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” Even though the Father was crushing Him, and punishing Him, and leaving Him; yet Jesus still used reverent terms to address Him.
“Thy kingdom come.” This verse contains three things that God has: A name, a kingdom, and a will. We who are saved are children of the kingdom. Not Jesus’ millennial kingdom, but the kingdom of God referred to in John 3:3 - “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” That’s the heavenly side of the kingdom. We’ve been brought into a family and have the security of the work of Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These people were looking for an earthly kingdom.
“Thy will be done.” We should seek God’s will and God’s way. We need grace to be able to say, “Not my will but thine be done.” The verse also says: “As in heaven, so in earth.” We don’t believe that there will be separate departments up in heaven, so why do we have denominations while down here on earth?
Now we come to give us, forgive us, lead us, and deliver us. “Give us day by day our daily bread” is an expression of dependence. The Lord is concerned with our needs and wants to supply them. He loves to provide; He is the Great Giver. And it’s not always tangible things that we need; often it’s character qualities.
“Forgive us our sins” is very needed. 1 John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” To forgive others is a challenge.
“Lead us not into temptation.” Does God lead us into temptation? Satan most certainly does. Temptation is very real, and we need to be preserved from yielding to it.
“Deliver us from evil.” 2 Corinthians 1:10 tells us that God has, does, and will deliver us. We have a mighty deliverance, just as when Israel was delivered out of Egypt. It’s so easy to become snared that we need deliverance often! Christ died to deliver us from this present evil world and has delivered us into heaven.
Hymn 370 - Yield not to temptation
Prayer