December 6, 2015
Scripture:
Let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 5. The Lord created all things and yet sin and death came into the world and ruined it. Read v. 21. The Lord came to go to the cross so that we can be made righteous. Now we can sing, “Death and judgement are behind us.”
Hymn 346 - Jesus, Who lives above the sky
Last time we began a new series: “When Jesus was here.” We took a look at the first time He preached. Today we will look at His first miracle, which took place in Cana of Galilee. It happened at a wedding.
John 2:1-10
The story begins part-way through the feast. We see that Mary, the mother of Jesus, had been invited. Jesus and His disciples had also been invited. It is wonderful to invite Jesus into everything we do, especially in a marriage.
Mary came and told Jesus that they no longer had any wine. Wine was very important at weddings in Bible times. She was doing more than letting Him know; she was implying that He should do something about it. At one time Jesus did have to obey His parents, but now He must be about His Father’s business.
After Jesus gently rebuked her, she turned and told the servants, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” This is good counsel from one who had been with Him for His entire life.
They had six water pots which had the capacity of two or three firkins each. These were made for water. In the old Jewish system, they used water to do a cleansing. So these pots should have been full. The water pots are a picture of us. We have fallen short of what God wants us to be. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Six is the number of incompleteness; it is man’s number. It represents falling short, or failing. So they definitely had a problem on their hands: no wine and a lack of water.
Jesus told the servants to fill the water pots with water. They filled them up to the brim. Next, Jesus told them to draw out and bring it to the governor of the feast. They obeyed him just as Mary said they should. Remarkably, the water had turned to wine. This is called a miracle. No one but Jesus could do that, unless Jesus gave them power to do it.
The governor of the feast was bewildered. He didn’t know where this wine had come from. Usually they served the good wine first, but the good wine here was served at the end.
Mr. Darby translates “miracle” as a “sign.” It was to show something. A miracle has a purpose: it was to speak to the people and even us today.
Fill the water pots with water,
Fill them to the very brim.
Do just as He tells you;
Leave the miracle to Him!
We fill our water pots with water when we learn Bible verses. The Lord can change that water to wine. If you are not saved, hearing the Word would be like putting water in your pot and having it changed to wine brings salvation and joy.
So we can enjoy and learn lessons from this story of when Jesus was here. He was truly the Brightness of God’s glory!
Ephesians 6:11-24
The devil often throws fiery darts at us, and we need the shield of faith to ward those darts off. Some people lose faith at times like that; but if we respond properly, trials can increase our faith. God allows these situations as a test. Satan goes about like a lion, but God is ultimately in charge.
Some parts of God’s armour deal with things inside us, while other parts help with external circumstances. The Devil has so many things that can distract us, and keep us from thinking about the Lord. Some of these things may be innocent, but they don’t profit. Other come from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; things of the Old Nature. We aren’t in a physical battle, but we still fight and wrestle against these things; against the “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (v.12) That’s a powerful and formidable enemy. If we didn’t have the Lord, we would fail. There is no substitute for the armour He has given us!
We need to consciously put the armour of God on; we don’t get it automatically when we’re saved. It won’t be safe to take it off on earth, either; there will always be spiritual danger to watch for.
Proverbs 4:23 encourages us to guard our hearts above everything else. Those who work out do cardio, or heart, training. We need to do cardio as well, not for our bodies, but for our spiritual hearts, for out of them come the issues of life. On the cheerful side of things, we can enjoy the Lord; on the serious side, we must diligently watch our hearts so we will be fit to enjoy Him.
The battle that we’re in is far worse than a physical battle. We can’t see our enemies, but we know what they want to do: destroy our enjoyment of the Lord. Verses 13-14 tell us that we need to withstand, stand, and stand therefore. We mustn’t give any ground to the enemy! We need to be careful, too, for they can lurk in high places. We are seated in heavenly places; and because we have that high position, we have high enemies.
We need to gird our loins with truth. We must find what the truth is, and use it in defence against our enemies. It’s not something we do just once; rather, we must grow in the truth. Many brilliant men today don’t know God’s truth and try to persuade others not to believe it; but truth will give us God’s thoughts and mind. It’s good to have this bedrock to build our lives on.
The belt of truth is an internal part of the armour. So many external things will fall into place when we apply the truth internally. God’s word is truth, and Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. May we desire to learn and know the truth, internalize the truth, and walk in and share that truth.
Hymn 198 — There is a name we love to hear
Prayer