(John 2:6)
�And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.�
Our text today shows us the Savior beginning to act in a situation of humanity. We often consider all the great works of God. We often fail to notice those things which He does for us each and every day. We overlook the rain that brings us life sustaining water - until there is a drought. We overlook the very breath we take every few seconds - until an illness robs us of the easy ability in that area. We overlook those who mean much to us - until they are called home to Glory.
Then we notice. Then we say, �God, why have you withheld this from us?� We accuse Him of attacking us, or at least of not blessing us as we feel He ought to bless us.
Why do we act in this manner?
It is because we have become comfortable with His loving kindness which He displays for us each and every day. It is because we fail to praise Him for His wondrous provision for us on this earth. It is because we do not consider the fact of Him in our day to day lives.
We live as though all of the things of earth are of importance while we ignore the things of Heaven.
Sad thought, isn�t it? But, it is also a true picture of our own daily lives is it not!
I think that this is the reason why these water pots are mentioned and used.
We have already seen, in the first verse of the first chapter of John, that Jesus is the Great Creator God Who spoke the universe into existence with the Word of His mouth. It was not for Him that the water pots were used in this setting.
Jesus was graceful in that He allowed the servants at this wedding party to view something they could understand even as He did something they could never understand.
God is graceful to us, as well. He has given us word pictures in His inspired and preserved Word, which give us an understanding of that which we have not experienced. I took my grandson to the library today. Eli loves the bird, �Cockatiel Dundee,� that is in the children�s section of the library. He always goes over to the cage and talks with that bird.
Today there was no bird. All that was there was a picture of the bird on the wall behind where the cage normally would sit. Around the bird�s picture was a caption that read, �We will miss you, Cockatiel Dundee. 1997 - 2007.�
To have said that the bird had died would have been to state something many of those smaller children would not have understood. With that in mind the library said that the bird would be missed. The information that the bird would no longer grace the library was conveyed in terms that those little children might be more able to understand.
God often puts things on the �lower shelf� for us, as well. We are creatures of time while God is the God of Eternity. We have no real frame of reference to understand all that we need to understand of Him. He is Spirit and we are created, physical, beings.
It is for this reason that God has explained Himself, and His salvation, in terms that we are able to understand
This is another argument for the preservation of His Word, the Bible. He has explained the unexplainable. It would not be possible for men, the physical inhabitants of time to reconstruct the Words which explain the spiritual facts of eternity. Humanity would not have any frame of reference to consider those Words.
It is hard for a blind person to color within the lines of a child�s coloring book. It is impossible for a created being to understand the Creator unless the Message of the Creator is available for him to peruse. This is why God gave us His Message, inspired to ensure the correct words and instructional teaching. This is also why God would have had to preserve those same Words so that His Message would not be irretrievably lost.
If those Words had ever been lost in time it is impossible that mankind, with no other record to explain the unexplainable, would have ever been able to reconstruct those sacred Words. Humpty Dumpty could be, conceivably, put back together with tape and glue. After all, there are other eggs to view as templates. But, the inalterable Word of God, once lost, could not be repaired as there is not only no other template, there is no understanding of the Message those Words had sought to convey in the mind of humanity. We are a lost and sin blinded people. We can not conceive the brightness of the sun of His Words to us except we have a true copy of those Words.
As we begin to look at this verse, we first see that there are vessels which are empty. �And there were set there six waterpots of stone��
I find it interesting that there were six water pots in this narrative. Six, in Biblical numerology, is the number of humanity. I don�t go �overboard� on this idea of numerology in the Scripture. I do believe that God will use sequences of numbers quite often. The danger of an overemphasis on numerology is that it can easily lead to an allegorical method of Bible study where we are prone to seek what we wish to find in the Scripture rather than what God has plainly spoken to us in the Scripture.
Nonetheless, when I look at the narrative in this weeks text verse I find the six water pots, empty but ready to be filled, as a potential picture of Christians who are standing idly by when the Savior wants to make His presence known to a lost and dieing world.
We are His vessels of service in this world. Too often, however, we are just standing against the wall of apathy, without any real desire to spread the message that Jesus Christ died in time so that others could live in eternity.
These water pots were empty. They were meaningless as they were. They needed to be filled to be of any use. That was the entire purpose for which they were crafted.
I could get myself in a lot of trouble by mentioning the concept of being �filled with the Spirit.� Well, I might as well get to it.
We find a picture of salvation from sin in the Old Testament exodus of the children of Israel from the slavery of Egypt. We find a picture of the learning experience of the Christian, with the trials and failures of our lives, as we see the trek to the Promised Land. Then we will generally say that the entrance into the Land is a picture of the Christian going home to the rewards of Heaven.
But, before we accept this picture, we need to examine this picture. Although there had been some skirmishes in the wanderings, along with some real battles, the sustained warfare did not really begin until the people entered that Promised Land. That doesn�t really sound like the rest for our souls which is Heaven.
The conquest of the Land was incomplete as the people failed to take all it was that God had portioned out to them. That does not sound like the victory that is ours with our home going to Heaven.
There was schism, and ultimate failure, of the people in the Land as they failed to completely follow the true worship of the True God. That does not sound like the perfection of Heaven.
So what do I believe the entrance into the Land does signify? The Pentecostal people speak of �being filled with the Spirit.� The Holiness groups speak of �entire sanctification.� Even the fundamentalist people will speak of being �consecrated to the Lord.�
I believe that two of the above are false concepts. But, even those two are founded upon Biblical, and experiential, principle. It has been said that the normal Christian will spend time in prayer each day. It has been said that the normal Christian will spend time studying the Word each day. It has been said that the normal Christian will spend time in soul winning each day. The problem is that most of us are �average� rather than �normal.�
I have read that the people of the United States are, on average, living well above their optimum weight. There are just too many fat people here. In other words, to be average in this time frame is to be overweight. To be �normal� is to have a healthy weight and calorie intake. To be �normal� is to be in good physical condition. Alas, for the most part, we are of the �average� part; we are in terrible physical condition.
Do you see the point I�m trying to make? God has ordained that we be a prepared people with a purposeful life of yieldedness to Him. Far too many of us are not of that norm. We need to rededicate ourselves to living for Him to the utmost of our abilities and place our desires in His will rather than our own.
When we do this we will begin to see spiritual battles being won as we conquer the world in which we live for the Savior Who has given us life. We may fail when we begin to trust our own devices. At these times we need to return to that place of conscious yielding to Him so that we may see the victory in our lives for Him and His cause.
The problem with the pots here is that each had a heart of stone. Those pots were prepared for a purpose but they were empty. May our own hearts be empathetic to the soul yearning of the people of this world. May the hearts of our spiritual lives beat with the knowledge that the Blood of the Lamb cleanses us from all sin - and, not us only, but all those who have accepted His sacrifice as their means of Salvation.
May we yearn that our hearts be available to give a transfusion to the world at large of the message of the wonderful grace of our Wonderful Lord.
Just for the record, I am not arguing for a �second work of grace.� What I am arguing for is that we appropriate more of the power which is potentially ours in the grace which God has given through the salvation experience. We are offered an ocean for our complete obedience and yieldedness. Too often we settle for a half full thimble in our effort to keep from fully trusting His will for our lives.
The above is also for those who are in �full time� Christian work. Folks, all of us should be working �full time� for Jesus even as we live our daily lives in the world. Too many of us whose resume claims �full time� status for the Savior are spending our days and nights in the cloistered sanctuary of our studies and too little time attempting to �seek and to save that which was lost.� (See Jesus� heart revealed in Luke 19:10)
Notice, also, that the vessels were enlisted. ��after the manner of the purifying of the Jews��
Way back in 1968 I was offered a job by a rich uncle. The job he promised didn�t pay all that much; but it came with a full month of vacation time in the first year and potentially unlimited �personal days.� Along with the job was the promise that I would have an all expense paid trip to a South East Asian garden spot for a full year of excitement. I was to even be given extra money each month for working in this location.
Sound good?
Well, it was the draft board, and �Uncle Sam,� that made the offer. I was sent to Detroit and asked to take the step that signified my induction in the United States military.
From the day I made that step forward to accept the induction into the military, I became a soldier. I had no idea what was in store for me. (O. K. It was 1968; I had a pretty good idea!) All I really knew was that I was now a soldier and would be trained in things about which I had no knowledge at that point.
These water pots were formed for a religious purpose. I don�t think they understood any of that; they were inanimate water pots. There was no life within them. But, they were soon to be used by the Creator of the Universe for His Own purpose.
What glory lay within these pieces of stone.
We are often like the stone of those pots. We have no idea what glories and duties the Savior has assigned to be ours. We need to be ready, at any moment, to be the vessels which display His glory into the world.
Those stone pots simply did what they could. They held liquid. But, as they fulfilled their own purpose the glory of God was shown forth through the ministering miracle of Jesus Christ.
Likewise, God does not expect us to do what we cannot do. He only asked that we use those gifts and abilities which He has given to us. He will supply the miracle as we supply the simple obedience of faith.
These pots were a picture of �the old paths.�
Let us never disparage those �old paths� of the Christian who have gone before. The message of salvation is the same as it has ever been since Jesus died on the cross and rose again in the garden. Those who attempt to find �new� meanings are cultists.
The power of God is the same as it has ever been since He first created the Universe. Those who question the power of God are fools without any real understanding of the reality of the spiritual.
The word of God is the same as it has been since He inspired it. To suggest that the Words have been lost during time and recovered only by man�s most diligent efforts is to suggest that man is more powerful than God. See the above statement about fools without understanding of things spiritual!
But, when we cry, �God, what we need today is another Dwight L. Moody,� we are speaking from both nostalgia and a lack of faith. If God wanted Moody in this day, Moody would be in this day. God is not confined by the limitations understood by humanity.
The truth is that God does not want Dwight L. Moody in this day. God wants you! Uncle Sam wanted me in his army. He wanted me to be a soldier and follow the orders of the mission without complete regard to my own safety and life.
God wants you in His army. God wants you to be a good soldier in the Army of the Redeemed. God desires that you do not shirk from the mission of spreading the good news that Jesus Christ died in time so that others could live in eternity.
These water pots were set in the place of service, ready to be used for a purification ceremony.
God also wants us to be kept pure for His purposes. If the water pots were filled with dust and dirt they would not be used for their intended purpose. They would need to have been cleaned so that they could be used.
Sometimes God will cleanse our lives of those unessential, and harmful, things which would cause us to be less than usable for His purposes. May we submit to the Master Dish Washer as He cleanses us so that we will be fit vessels in the kitchen of His service.
Finally, we note that the vessel�s size was estimated. ��containing two or three firkins apiece.�
Each of those water pots was about one fourth of a barrel. They held just under nine gallons per firkin.
As an aside, do you know how I knew the above? It is listed in my Defined King James Bible. This Bible edition is a great resource as we study the Words of God. Check out buying one from your local book dealer.
I don�t get anything for saying the above. It�s just that this edition of the Bible, with the good King James text, explains those �old and sometimes hard to understand words� in footnotes at the bottom of the pages. I have found it such a great resource that I enthusiastically recommend it to everyone!
Back to preaching!
It might be good to consider the, approximately, nine gallons per firkin.
Both of the terms mean the same thing. One, as translated from the preserved text, is a reflection of the Word which God inspired to be placed in His Words to man. The other is the English equivalent which is given so that we, who speak only English, might understand.
I�ve made the point before, but I�ll make it again. The King James Bible is not inspired. However, it is a faithful representation of those Words which God did originally inspire. We can trust the Bible we hold in our hands, when it is the King James Bible - in English, because it is faithful to, and founded only upon, those Words which God has preserved. I believe that we are not mistaken when we hold this Bible, the King James Bible, aloft and declare, �This is the Word of God given for us today!�
This is so because these are the Words which have been faithfully presented to us in our language which were translated from the preserved Traditional Text.
The point about the size of the water pots is that they contained enough space to do the job they were intended to do. But, they were not presently ready to do the job since they were empty and lined, probably, against a wall.
The influence of the Savior changed all that! He made them not only fit vessels for the task; He made them useful vessels for the task.
The point is that the miracle depended upon His power rather than the sufficiency of the water pots. The same could be said of us if we�d but be willing to be used of Him!
It is said that these water pots �contained� two or three firkins apiece. The verse was talking of a potential filling since the water pots were empty at this time.
I have been watching some of the Dean Burgon Society Annual Meetings this past week. Some were the current edition as it was streamed live via the �net.� Some were older renditions which are carried on the DBS web site. (Go to www.bqmpresents.info and follow our links page to the Dean Burgon Society. At that page you will find links to all these meetings. It is well worth the trip. I promise you that your heart will be blessed as these men of God speak of the Words of God!)
Second non-solicited �ad� finished.
I mention those meetings because one of the speakers (I wish I had taken better notes because I just do not remember who it was!) spoke about the last half of the final chapter of the Book of Mark. He made the point that these verses do not even suggest that the Christian should handle snakes or drink poison. The verses only promise the protection of God upon the lives of the believer as we fulfill His will in the world.
God spoke, in verse seventeen of this sixteenth chapter of Mark, something very powerful. He said, �And these signs shall follow them that believe�� Isn�t that a precious promise. God has said that we don�t have to worry about the cost, not in light of eternity, if we are willing to be used of Him. Still, we should be willing to be expendable if we are to be dependable to Him.
Have you ever read the book, �Through Gates of Splendor?� This is a story of some missionaries who died, the world might say, before their time. They were martyred for the cause of Christ.
It has been about half a century since the time of their deaths. But, they are not dead! They are rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the cause of Christ! They are presently in Heaven with the Lord they served!
God has used the story of these men for the past half century to inspire others to serve Him. These men have done more for the cause of Christ since their earthly demise than most of us will do if we live to be one hundred and fifty!
Do you see the point? We are vessels to be used of God. We must understand that all, if we are really willing to be used of Him, is for His Glory. Our lives will never end on this earth when we are willing to be used of Him until we are given the key to our mansion in Heaven. We are immortal until our work for Him is done. Then, at the end of our earthly lives these mortal bodies are glorified with the immortality He has promised to them He has saved!
The Glory! The Wonder! The Peace! The unmentionable joy the world will never know nor understand! Hebrews 10:31 tells us that �It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.� But, it is a wonderful and precious thing to be held in the Hands of the Living God as we go about His business!
The filling awaited these prepared and ready water pots.
Christian, are you prepared and ready? When you consider all that Jesus has done for you, how can you be any other!
If you are not yet a Christian, have you ever considered the great glory and esteem which can be yours? Why not accept Jesus as your Savior right now. He is ready to save your soul from sin and unto salvation.