Sermon for 17 January 2010 entitled The Steadfast Love of God

Good Morning! I pray that all of you had a great week walking and talking with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Are you expecting in Faith for Jesus Christ to bless you beyond measure this year? Say Amen!! King David said in Psalm 122:1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the House of the Lord. If you are happy to be in the House of the Lord this Morning, Say Amen!!

Our Old Testament Text this morning comes from Psalm 36:5-11. This particular Psalm is in the First Book of Psalms called in The Genesis Book. The General theme of this first book of the Psalms is about man and God’s counsels from the beginning to the end in relationship to man. Psalm 36:5-11. Psalm 36:5-11. Listen carefully to the Words of King David and I will be reading from the KJV…

--5. Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens: and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
--6. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
--7. How excellent is thy loving kindness, O GOD! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
--8. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
--9. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
10. O continue thy loving kindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
11. Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.

What a powerful Psalm. King David says…They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life. Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.

King David was a powerful King over Israel. No enemy of Israel could stand against him. The Bible says that God says King David was a man after His own heart. David knew the importance of Praising Almighty God. King David knew the heart of God and was fully aware of God’s Loving Kindness because King David was abundantly supplied. King David had everything that he needed.

Questions: During the day, Do you praise the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you thank Him for His Mercy and Faithfulness? Do you Praise God for His abundant supply to fill all of your needs? In this New Year of our Lord 2010, Remember these first few words of Psalm 23...The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The Title of my message this morning is…The Steadfast Love of God. The Steadfast Love of God. Our New Testament reading is found in John 2:1-11. John 2:1-11. If you have your Bibles with you this morning, Please follow along as the Text is read. John 2:1-11...

--1. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
--2. And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
--3. And, When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
--4. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
--5. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
--6. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins a piece.
--7. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
--8. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And They bare it.
--9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10. And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou has kept the good wine until now.
11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Here ends the reading of God’s Holy Word and may God add His Blessing on this reading this morning. Let us bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father, We are so thankful for your Holy Word. Your Word that is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path.

Father, Open our hearts and minds this morning and help us to see the powerfulTruths in this Text. Anoint our ears to hear and our hearts to receive your miracle working Power. In the Name of Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.

First of all, Let us get a little background information on our Text this morning. Jesus has been baptized in the Jordan river by John the Baptist, and Jesus has spent 40 days in the wilderness after His Baptism being tempted of the Devil.

Now, Jesus has come out of this wilderness experience victorious over the devil and is beginning to call His Disciples. This information brings us up to our Text this morning.

--1. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
--2. And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
--3. And, When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
--4. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
--5. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

Do you see this very powerful picture painted by the Word of God? Jesus and His Disciples are invited to a party. A Jewish Wedding Feast. And, Jesus and His Disciples attend. And, Mary, The Mother of Jesus, is there as well.

At this party, Something very embarrassing happens. The Wedding Party runs out of wine. Now, Mary, The mother of Jesus, does something here. What does she do? Well, first of all, Mary knew who her Son was and is. She knew and pondered all of those things in her heart that the Angel Gabriel said unto her before Christ was born.

She raised Him by the Law of Moses and so you can just imagine the discussions they had as Christ was growing up as a child. So, Mary knew her Son. And, Mary responded in the Spirit to this embarrassing situation at the Wedding Party IN FAITH because Mary knew her Son!

Some people could say, That Mary and Jesus were having a confrontation with each other by the Words that Jesus said to His Mother. But, In reality, Jesus was merely stating the Truth in the Jewish way. And, There was no disrespect here at all. Continuing with our Text…

--6. And there were set there six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins a piece.

Now, A firkin is approximately 9 gallons. And, These pots contained approximately 27 gallons each of water based on 3 firkins. So, 27 gallons per pot x 6 pots = 162 gallons of water. These pots were used for the purifying of the Jews. In other words, for the washing of the hands before they would eat a meal. Continuing with our Text…

--7. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
--8. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And They bare it.

Now, Let us take a look at this picture. These pots were for hand washing and apparently, These pots were empty meaning that there were a great number of people at this wedding party. You see 162 gallons of water can be used to wash a lot of hands.

Now, Do you remember what Mary said to the servants? She said whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. What Mary said to the servants is a response in the spirit exercising her Faith to a very embarrassing situation. Jesus tells the servants to fill the water pots with water and they filled all 6 water pots to the brim.

Jesus told the servants to fill the pots with water to do something here to fulfill the Law of Moses. What did Jesus do? In this first miracle of Jesus, He honored His Mother because of her Faith thus fulfilling the fifth Commandment of the Ten Commandments of Exodus Chapter 20 which says in part, Honor thy Father and thy mother.

Now, Let me show you something else here. You have 6 pots filled to the brim. What happens when you dip a container into the pot to fill up the container? You will have some water overflow the brim and run down the side of the pot.

This is a powerful picture of the overflowing blessing of God in your life. When you give to others, You are filled to the brim when you dip into your Blessings from God and some of your blessings will fall out on others who do not expect to receive from you. Powerful isn't. Continuing with our Text…

--9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10. And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou has kept the good wine until now.

Do you see this powerful picture? Jesus turned the water into wine. And, This wine is the best wine, the sweet wine of the party and this sweet wine is served last. This wedding party event is a picture of what God did from the beginning of time.

What did God do? God set forth His Law and gave His Law to the Nation of Israel. This Law was from God, yes, but harsh and very hard to keep. And, When the dispensation of time was fully come, God sent His only Son to pay the sin debt of the world so that whomsoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God saved His Best for Last. God’s Best was His Only Begotten Son sent to fulfill the harshness of the Law, that is the penalty of death, so that we who believe in Jesus Christ can enjoy the sweetness of the Spirit of the Law.

And, Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of the Glorious Church. And, He is coming soon to take us home to be with him where we will partake of the Marriage Feast of the Lamb for one whole year in Heaven according to the Law of God. Continuing with our Text…

11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Finally, This miracle of turning the water into wine is the first miracle recorded in Scripture that Jesus Christ performed before the very eyes of the servants and all of the guests at this wedding party. Did you notice something here?

Out of all of the people who were attending this Jewish Wedding Feast, Only a few people believed that Jesus Christ was who they were looking for. What is the point here? A Miracle of God can occur in your life, but, Do not expect everyone to believe and rejoice with you.

Because, Many will simply not believe the miracle because they will not believe you. A Miracle from God is hard for someone to receive when there is NO FAITH to receive it. The Bible teaches us in Hebrews 11:6 But without Faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

As Disciples of Christ, We must walk in faith and talk in faith speaking words of life to everyone around us. We must diligently seek the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness first before we can experience in our own lives the Steadfast Love of God. God loves us and He waits for us to exercise our Faith. And, When We do, God responds with His Steadfast Love and satisfies our every need.

Call upon Jesus today and He will draw closer to you, He will answer you, and bless you with Blessings ever overflowing that you cannot contain and precious miracles will occur in your life. And, By these miracles, God will have given unto you a powerful Testimony of Truth. I say Blessed be the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us bow our heads for a word of Prayer.

Father, Hallowed be thy Holy Name. Thank you, Father for Your Holy Word that strengthens our faith, feeds our spirits, and satisfies the desires of our hearts when we diligently seek you. Father, Help us to ponder in our hearts the Truths of your Word that we have heard today.

Help us to live by these Truths so that other people around us are Blessed by The Power of the Holy Spirit living in us. We thank you Father and give you Praise, Honor, and Glory for answering our Prayer in the Name that is above all Names, The Blessed Name of Jesus Christ, we pray, and Everybody said Amen, and Amen.

Rev. Dr. Michael Dickson, Th.D.