WATER To WINE—Declaring God's Anointed-III—John 2:1-12
Attention:
On Stage—
Jesus turned water to wine in order to initiate/call attention to/set apart His public ministry.
Jesus is set apart as God’s Anointed.
Declaring God’s Anointed can/may be accomplished thru particular signs.
Why turn water into wine?
*Where is Jesus set apart as God’s Anointed?
7 stages for heralding God’s Anointed.
Previously we found that God’s Anointed is heralded on the stage of....
1. INSIGNIFICANCE(:1)
2. PRESSURE(:1-3)
3. DESIRE(:4)
4—God’s Anointed is heralded on the stage of...
TRUST(:5)
Explanation:(:5)Handle/Manage/Entrust/Allow God to do in His way
:5—“His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Mary would not take no for an answer but did not try to force Jesus’ hand to do what she wanted. She left the decision up to Jesus as to what to do to relieve the wine shortage. After all, He was an adult male. Mary knew Jesus would make the situation right in His own way. Mary had some degree of control of “the servants” for the wedding.
?Do we trust God enough to accept His direction rather than our own?
?Do we really trust Him?—Knowing God’s will, yet...Abram(ham) & Sarai(h)—Having a child their own way(Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:1-6; But then—16:1-16; 17:1-8; 18:10, 13-14; 21:2-3).
Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:1-6—“Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”.....“Then the LORD appeared to Abram & said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.”.....“After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, & the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside & said, “Look now toward heaven, & count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the LORD, & He accounted it to him for righteousness.”
Gen. 16:1-16; 17:1-8; 18:10, 13-14; 21:2-3—“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, & gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, & she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; & when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you & me.” So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, & where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, & submit yourself under her hand.” Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” And the Angel of the LORD said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.” Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh & Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son; & Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.”.....
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram & said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me & be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me & you, & will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, & God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, & you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; & I will make nations of you, & kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me & you & your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you & your descendants after you. Also I give to you & your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; & I will be their God.”.....
“And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, & behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)”.....
“And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, & Sarah shall have a son.”.....
“For Sarah conceived & bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him--whom Sarah bore to him--Isaac[Laughter].”
“Mother”(See :1)—mhthr—
“Servants”(See :9)—diakonov—1) One who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister—1a) The servant of a king, 1b) A deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor & has charge of & distributes the money collected for their use, 1c) A waiter, one who serves food & drink. Diakonov represents the servant in his activity for the work; not in his relation to a person, either servile or voluntary. Diakonov may designate either a slave or a freeman, it denotes a servant viewed in relation to his work. Strong—probably from an obsolete diakw(to run on errands; An attendant, i.e. genitive case--A waiter(at table or in other menial duties); specially--A Christian teacher & pastor(technically--A deacon or deaconess).
“Whatever/Whatsoever”—o ti an—o ti—Pronoun—1) Whoever, whatever, who. &—an—Particle—Strong—a primary particle, Denoting A supposition, wish, possibility or uncertainty.
“Says”—legw—Strong—a primary verb; properly, to "lay" forth, i.e. figuratively--Relate; by implication--To mean.
“Do”—poiew—Aorist Active Imperative—1)To make; 2)To do. Poiew - denotes "To do" or to accomplish. Poiew often means to do a thing once for all, not continually or repeatedly. Thus poiew, is more often used of doing good. Strong—apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; To make or do(in a very wide application, more or less direct).
Argumentation:
1Jn. 5:14-15—“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
We bring our Desires before God(:4)...But Do you Trust God to fulfill them in His way & in His time(:5)? Are you certain that He hears you?
Isa. 55:6-11—“Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, & the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth & bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
2Cor. 9:6-8—“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, & he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
Illustration:
Fledgling Albatrosses learning to fly—Sea birds which nest on islands in the Pacific Ocean/The beginning flyers must try their wings with virtually nowhere to land because the island is so filled with other birds/They thereby eventually must land in the ocean in order to try their wings/The only problem with that is that during the 2 week fledgling period(while the birds are learning to fly) Black Tip Sharks arrive & circle the waters surrounding the nesting grounds—waiting for the inexperienced flyers to drop into the water & gobble them up/Some of the young Albatrosses get eaten but some barely avoiding the charge & jaws of the sharks figure out how to use their wings/TRUST
California Condor(Gymnogyps californianus)—on the verge of extinction/North America’s largest bird—~20lbs. with a wingspan of ~10 ft.!/They may travel 160 mi. per day in search of carrion!/They are not good flyers but are excellent soarers & may go many miles without flapping their wings/Preferring to roost on high perches from which they can launch without any major wing-flapping effort, near rock cliffs & sharp crags of the Rocky Mountains/They hold their wings aloft until a thermal takes them into the air/TRUST
?Are you a ‘Social Christian’ or a Christian? When things ‘heat up’ what do you do? When they are calm are you gone?
Churches are filled with ‘God-fearing’ rather than ‘God-loving’ Christians!
Application:
?Your Personal TRUST a stage upon which Jesus is heralded?
?You set the Stage for heralding God’s Anointed?
CONCLUSION:
Action:
God’s Anointed is heralded on the stage of...
4. TRUST(:5)
1. INSIGNIFICANCE(:1)
2. PRESSURE(:1-3)
3. DESIRE(:4)
Pts. 4-only! Presented 05/03/2015am to:
FBC Cbelle
209 Storrs Ave.(Ave. A) SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
