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Scripture: Luke 15:11-24
I. Man being from God:
А. This parable likens the relationship between man and God to that of a son and his father. This indicates that as a son is from his father, so man is from God.
B. Man is made by God. Although man did not receive God’s life, man’s life today comes from God. Thus, from the aspect of creation, man is God’s son.
II. Man departing and going far away from God:
А. One day the younger of two sons took his portion of his father’s estate, left his father, and went to a distant country.
B. This is a picture showing that man goes far away from God even after he has received all his natural ability from God.
III. Man living in sin:
А. In a country far away from his father, this younger son squandered all his estate with dissolute living. As a result, he became poor and had to make a living by feeding hogs.
B. This shows that when man leaves God, he begins to live a sinful life. Squandering all that he has, he falls into sin. Feeding the hogs symbolizes living the sinful life because hogs are dirty. Describe how man lives a life of feeding the hogs. When you go to the movie theaters or when you go dancing, you are going to the hog pens.
IV. Man waking up:
А. While he was in his poverty, the son woke up. He came to himself and began to remember the goodness of his father’s house.
B. This shows that a man in sin, who is living in sins, remembers God and His blessing when he comes to his end. Describe how poverty helps man to wake up. It is hard for some to wake up until they have sinned to the uttermost. When they have reached the end of dancing or gambling, then they wake up.
V. Man turning to God:
А. When the younger son came to himself and remembered his father, he decided to return to him.
B. This shows that when a man wakes up from sin, it is natural for him to remember God and turn to Him.
VI. Man wanting to work for God:
А. When the son was about to return, he remembered his sins and felt that he was no longer worthy to be his father’s son. He was willing to be a servant instead and was going to ask his father to hire him. So he prepared four sentences for meeting his father: first, “I have sinned against heaven”; second, “I have sinned...before you”; third, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son”; and fourth, “Make me like one of your hired servants” (Luke 15:18-19).
B. This shows that when a sinner wakes up and turns to God, it is natural for him to feel that he has sinned against God and is unworthy of God’s blessing. In other words, he feels unworthy of receiving anything from God freely. Because of this, he depends upon trading his work and good behavior for God’s goodness. He thus hopes to improve himself before God. This is the wrong concept of every repenting sinner, to think that he should be a servant instead of a son. Because of this concept, man always tries to establish his own merit in order to exchange it for God’s goodness.
VII. Man not realizing the heart of God:
А. Although the younger son had a humble heart in feeling unworthy to be a son and in wanting to be a servant, he did not realize the heart of his father. In his father’s heart was the longing for his son.
B. Many sinners may have such a humble heart, but they do not realize the heart of God. God’s heart is not that repenting sinners would work for Him but that they would be His sons. Although a hired servant must earn what he gets and must work for what he receives, a son receives everything from his father freely.
VIII. God receiving man:
А. As the younger son was returning to his father, it was far from his realization that his father would be waiting to receive him. The son was expecting that he would have to knock many times and that his father would eventually send someone else to open the door. Yet even while the son was returning and was still a long way off, his father saw him coming and ran out to meet him. While the son thought that it was a matter of his returning to his father, even the more it was a matter of his father’s waiting to receive him.
B. This tells us that many think that they must pray to God for a long period before He will answer them. They have no realization that God has been there waiting to receive repenting sinners. But actually, even while such a one is repenting and turning to God, God is waiting to receive him.
C. When he saw the son, the father was moved with compassion. Because his heart was moved, it caused him to run and fall on his son’s neck and to kiss him affectionately. This running shortened the time and the distance between them. Running involves the feet; falling on the son’s neck involves the hands; kissing involves the mouth, which is able to express emotion. So we can see that the father’s whole being was moved for his son.
D. This signifies that when God in heaven sees a sinner repenting, He is moved with compassion and runs to meet him. With His whole heart He embraces the repenting sinner. Before repenting, many think that God is terrible and fearful, but after repenting, they discover that God is so dear and so near.
IX. God justifying man:
А. After the father kissed him, the son immediately began his prepared speech. But when he had just finished his first three sentences, the father interrupted him. The son had just said, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son,” but the father said to the servants, “Bring out quickly the best robe and put it on him” (vv. 21-22). The heart of the father could not stand the son saying that he was unworthy to be called his son. So he commanded his slaves to bring out the best robe. The word the is an important word. The best robe was the robe that had been prepared a long time ago. When the father spoke, the slaves knew which one it was. The father only had to say “the best robe,” and the slaves understood right away. The father also put a ring on the son’s hand and sandals on his feet and killed the fattened calf. All of these were beyond the son’s expectation.
B. Just as the son did, we prepare a speech, but God brings forth the best robe. The word “but” should be stressed. It is a big word in the New Testament. This but makes us saved. A brother once had a big sign saying, “BUT,” hanging on his living room wall. It is quite meaningful. We should be condemned, but God justified us; we should be going to hell, but we go to the heavens instead. God prepared the best robe and put it on us so that we could match Him. Putting on the robe signifies Christ as our righteousness. When a sinner puts on Christ, he matches God and is justified.
The father also put sandals on the son. Sandals separate man from the earth. When a man returns to God and is justified and sealed by the Holy Spirit, he is able to be separated from the earth. After putting the sandals on his feet, the father killed the fattened calf. Killing the fattened calf signifies Christ prepared for us as our life and enjoyment. Only when Christ comes into us can we be filled and happy.
X. God and man being merry together:
А. It was at this time that the father and the son ate and drank and were happy together. Before the son came back, the father had no joy. While the son was away from home, wandering and suffering, the father was also suffering at home.
B. This shows that when sinners are away from God, wandering and suffering, God is unhappy. Only when sinners are at home with God, eating and being merry, is God joyful.
XI. The result:
А. The younger son who had been lost was found; he had been dead and was alive again.
B. This means that a sinner away from God is both lost and dead, but when he returns to God, he is received and justified by Him. In other words, he is found and he is alive.
Scripture: Luke 16:19-31
The stories in Luke 15 through Luke 23 are all in contrast.
I. Two different persons:
One is rich; the other is poor.
II. The difference while alive:
А. The rich man was clothed in purple and fine linen and was making merry and living in splendor every day. To be clothed in purple indicates that he was honorable and wealthy. To be clothed in fine linen indicates that he was living in abundance. Describe how the rich man enjoyed his life.
B. The poor man was covered with sores and was laid at the gate of the rich man.
III. The difference after death:
А. Describe the condition of the beggar after he died. In this portion of the Bible it mentions the rich man first and then the beggar, because it is the rich man’s world while they were alive. On the street you see that the rich man walks in front, and the beggar follows after. But after their death the order is reversed. It mentions the poor man first and then the rich man, because it is the poor man’s world after death. Dogs came and licked the poor man’s sores while he was alive. When he died, he was carried away by the angels. How lonesome he was when he was laid at the gate of the rich man. Yet after he died, he was in Abraham’s bosom. How comfortable and how sweet it was then!
B. The rich man also died. Not only the poor ones will die, but the rich ones will too. Money cannot buy life. As the poor people will die, so also will the millionaires die. Emphasize the word “also.” No one can escape death. Poor or rich, lowly or honorable, man or woman, young or old makes no difference. They all will die someday. And one day you also will die. Use the word also to cover all classes of people, such as the laborers, college students, taxi drivers, university professors, guards, school superintendents, etc. The sick ones shall die; so also shall the doctors die.
C. The rich man was buried. The rich man had quite a funeral, but there were no angels coming to carry him, nor was he put into the bosom of Abraham; rather, he was in torment in Hades. And he lifted up his eyes, and he saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. The rich man used to drink soda, coke, beer, and wine, but now he could not even get a drop of water. Formerly, his tongue enjoyed blessings — his speech was so powerful and influential, and with his tongue he scorned so many people. But now it is in torment in the flame. This is only the flame of Hades, not the flame of the lake of fire yet. Abraham said, “Child, remember that in your lifetime you fully received your good things, and Lazarus likewise bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all these things, between us and you a great chasm is fixed, so that those wanting to pass from here to you cannot, neither from there to us may any cross over” (16:25-26). If you do not ask God in your lifetime, it will be too late to ask God after you die.
IV. The reasons for the difference:
А. Their difference was not a matter of being rich or poor, nor was it a matter of enjoying or suffering in their lifetime.
B. Their difference was a matter of whether they believed in God’s words. For the Lord said clearly that they should believe in Moses’ words. To believe in God’s words is to believe in Christ, because God’s words are centered on Christ. Here “someone risen from the dead” refers to Christ (v. 30). The rich man would not believe in the Bible or Christ in his lifetime, so he was in torment in the flame after he died.
C. Because the rich man did not believe in God’s words, he indulged himself in all kinds of luxurious pleasure and never cared about his future problem in his lifetime. The poor Lazarus believed in God’s words, so he could be careless about his suffering in his lifetime.
D. Friends, if you do not believe in God’s gospel, if you only care for the present life and never take thought about after your death, how pitiful it is! Please quickly believe in God’s words and believe in Jesus.
Scripture: Luke 18:9-14
I. Two men praying:
А. In terms of action, this passage of the Scriptures is not talking about two different people doing two things, such as a good person committing a sin or a bad person not committing a sin. No, the two were praying and were drawing close to God.
B. Their actions were the same, but the persons were different, and their positions were also different. One was a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee represented a high-ranking person, and the tax collector, a despised person.
II. A self-righteous man:
А. The self-righteous man was the Pharisee. He was self-righteous not before his audience but before God; he prayed, “God, I thank You, that I am not like the rest of men — extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all that I get” (Luke 18:11-12). In essence, in his prayer he was asking God to thank him. Because of self-righteousness he was saying, “I am not like other people. I am not like my colleague who is sitting in front of me. I am not like my classmate who is sitting beside me. I am not like the professor living next door.”
B. Nearly all the religious people are self-righteous; so are moral people. The Pharisee represents both of these two groups of people, the religious people and the moral people. He fasted twice a week and gave tithes. These are religious matters. He was neither an adulterer nor an extortioner. These are moral matters.
C. The Pharisees are false religionists and false moralists.
III. A humble man:
А. Describe the way that the tax collector prayed. He stood at a distance and dared not lift up his eyes to heaven but beat his breast, saying, “God, be propitiated to me, the sinner!” (v. 13).
B. Nearly all the immoral, sinful people have a humble feeling.
IV. The results of self-righteousness and self-abasing:
А. The one who humbled himself was justified. Humbling oneself is not a virtue but a confession that affords God a chance to grant His mercy.
B. The self-righteous one was condemned, because self-righteousness shuts off God’s mercy.
C. Christ has accomplished redemption. A man who humbles himself and believes in Christ shall be justified. A man who is self-righteous and unbelieving shall be condemned.
Scripture: Luke 18:18-27; 19:1-10
I. Two rich men:
А. In Luke 18 a ruler is mentioned who was a rich man. In Luke 19 a chief tax collector is mentioned. He was also a rich man.
B. The rich man mentioned in Luke 18 was a young, moral official, respected by men. The rich man in Luke 19 was an old, despised official, rejected by the Jews of that time.
C. Both of them loved their wealth dearly.
II. The honorable rich man:
А. The young ruler in Luke 18 was one who was wealthy, moral, and seemingly benevolent. So the question that he asked the Lord Jesus was concerning what to do in order to inherit eternal life. Because he was wealthy and charitable, he paid attention to the matter of good work.
B. The Lord Jesus showed him that to call the Lord “good” is to acknowledge that the Lord is God, because only God is good. This means that the Lord was also showing this rich man that he was not such a good man but a sinner.
C. Then the Lord brought him to the realization of his lack. He felt that he had kept all the commandments, but the Lord said that he lacked one thing, that is, to sell all that he had and distribute it to the poor and then come and follow the Lord. What he lacked was to dissolve his wealth and care for the poor on the one hand and to follow the Lord on the other. Many thought that they were good. The Lord often brought them to realize what they lacked. You might have done ten good things, but the Lord would say that you still lack one. Maybe you love your parents, but you lack loving your brothers. Or maybe you are humble, but you lack patience.
D. When that rich man heard what he lacked, he went away sorrowful. He went away because: (1) toward men, he was wealthy but really not charitable, because he could not distribute his wealth to the poor; and (2) toward God, he had an idol in his heart. The first of the Ten Commandments is not to have any idol before God, and next is to love your neighbor. Outwardly he had obeyed the Ten Commandments, but in reality he did not obey them at all. The Lord was showing him that he had transgressed against the law.
E. According to the written letter, you may have obeyed the Ten Commandments, but according to the reality, no one can obey the Ten Commandments. Between you and God, are there absolutely no idols in your heart? Toward men, is your heart full of love? Since no man can attain to that level, it is impossible with men. It is impossible with men because men are rich. When a man is rich, he has an idol toward God, and he has no love toward men. Your knowledge, wealth, and good family life are your riches. When you did not know so much, you had love toward men. But now that you know so much, you have no love toward men. So the ones who feel rich can never be saved. This is impossible with men.
III. The despised rich man:
А. The rich man mentioned in Luke 19 lived in Jericho. Jericho was a sinful and cursed place. But Jesus passed through there. Jesus would not pass through the place where the honorable rich man lived, but today He is coming to the fallen, sinful place.
B. Here the rich man was rich but not good. He specialized in scandal and deceit.
C. He was there not to ask Jesus questions but to see Jesus. To ask Jesus questions is like the study of Jesus as religion. This cannot save you. Look at Jesus, and you will be saved.
D. Because all were crowding Jesus, Jesus was concealed. Today Jesus is also concealed by so many false Christians and Catholics.
E. You must overcome the concealing. There are two reasons for this concealing: (1) there were too many people, and (2) he was small in stature. To be small in stature is something natural; to be too crowded is environmental and speaks of a man-made situation. To overcome these overshadowings you need to run ahead of the crowd. Do not be running blindly in their midst, lest you run into hell with them. You need to pass them, leaving behind those false Catholics and false Christians. Also, you need to climb up the tree in order to overcome your natural problem. Although small in stature, once he climbed up in a sycamore tree, he could see what others could not. He really knew how to do business. Some people may have heard the gospel over a hundred times and still not be saved, but he heard the message for only a few minutes, and he was saved. If you do not know how to read the Bible, and you ask someone else to read it for you, that someone is like your sycamore tree. If you do not know how to pray, and you ask someone else to help you to pray, that person is like your sycamore tree. Or like today, with so many people around, you hesitate to get saved, but you would wait until most are gone and would stay around to have some talk and prayer; this will be like climbing up in the sycamore tree. If you stay in the midst of the crowd, you may be listening to the gospel all your life and still not be saved. But if you would run ahead and climb up in the sycamore tree, you will be saved.
F. He wanted to see Jesus, but actually, Jesus saw him first. When Jesus came to that place, He looked up and saw him. He called him by name and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down” (v. 5). When you believe in the Lord, right away you will sense that the Lord is calling your name. He calls your name because He knows you. You are saved when the Lord calls you. The Lord knows your living situation. He also knows what sins you have committed. Because He knows you, He calls your name. Among so many people Jesus called only Zaccheus, because Zaccheus had a heart for Him.
G. When he heard Jesus, he received Him joyfully. Have you ever received Jesus? Have you let Him live in you? The first rich man only studied the truth, but this rich man received Jesus into him. Emphasize the words “receive” and “live.”
H. After he received Jesus into him, something happened. Immediately, he said, “Lord.” Jesus became his Lord. “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore four times as much” (v. 8). Now he is rich and charitable. He has forsaken the idol. This power did not come from himself but came as a result of his receiving Jesus.
I. The Lord said, “Today salvation has come to this house” (v. 9). Where Jesus is, there is salvation. Mere letters are something dead; the more you study them, the more you are dead. But as soon as Jesus comes in, man is saved.
J. It is possible with God.
Scripture: Luke 23:39-43
I. Two criminals:
А. The two criminals who were crucified with Jesus committed the same sin and received the same punishment.
B. Of the two, one believed and the other did not. Formerly, they were both criminals. The only difference was that later on one believed and one did not.
II. One blasphemed Jesus:
А. The first thief, being very sinful, blasphemed the sinless Jesus.
B. Today many are really deep in sins, yet they blaspheme Jesus.
III. The other one asked Jesus:
А. The other criminal reproached Jesus as the first (cf. Matt. 27:44).
B. But when he thought about God, a godly fear came up within him, and he said, “Do you not even fear God?” (Luke 23:40). The reason men repent and call on Jesus is that men think about the matter of God. As he thought about God, he thought about the matter of eternity. He knew that his sins would be resolved before the law by his execution but would still be unresolved before God. So he was afraid when he thought about God; he was afraid of entering into eternal perdition.
C. He knew himself. Because he was afraid of God, his conscience caused him to confess before the Lord, acknowledging that he deserved the punishment of death.
D. He knew the Lord; he also acknowledged that the Lord Jesus had done nothing amiss to deserve such punishment and that the Lord Jesus was bearing his sins and dying for his sake.
E. He asked. So he asked the Lord Jesus to save him, to remember him when the Lord would come into His kingdom.
F. He was saved. As soon as he asked the Lord, the Lord’s salvation came to him. He was asking for the future, but the Lord promised him, saying, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v. 43). Just ask, and you will receive. To ask is to show your faith. Your asking is a proof that you have believed. So just ask, and you will be saved.
G. He received assurance of his salvation. The assurance of his salvation was in the Lord’s words, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” The Lord has given us many words, and these words are the assurance of our salvation. For example: “He who believes into the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36); “He who has the Son has the life” (1 John 5:12). Just lay hold on one verse, and you will be saved.
Scripture: John 1:1, 14, 16-18
I. The Word is God:
А. The Word is the spoken word. The spoken word expresses and defines.
B. The Word in the universe is God. God is the meaning and the definition of the universe.
II. The Word became flesh:
А. In the beginning there was the Word, because the Word was God. In the beginning, that is, in eternity past, before the beginning of time, was the Word. The Word was there in eternity past.
B. “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14) means that the Word came into time.
C. The flesh is man; for the Word to become flesh, God became man.
D. This man, who was the Word becoming flesh, was Jesus, the Nazarene. Here, the emphasis is on the fact that Jesus has both the divine nature and the human nature. He was a man in His outward form, but God was embodied in Him. This Jesus was God becoming man, with the divine nature lived out in the human nature.
III. The purpose of the Word becoming flesh:
А. The Word became flesh in order to express God. No man has ever seen God; only Jesus, as the Word incarnated to become flesh, has declared Him.
B. By becoming flesh, the Word brought grace and reality to man. Grace is God enjoyed, or gained, by man; reality is God realized by man. All the things in the universe are as light as air and as contemptible as dung; only God is weighty and precious. Therefore, nothing really counts; only when God is enjoyed by man, that is the real grace. All the things in the universe are temporary, changeable, and subject to vanity. God never changes, so only God is reality. Reality is just truth. Everything that can be seen by man is vanity. Only God is reality. Therefore, to see God is to see the truth.
C. The Word became flesh to enable man to receive grace and to see the truth; this means to enjoy God and to know God.
IV. How to treat this Word:
А. Confess that He is God incarnated to become man.
B. Receive Him.
C. Believe in His word. He Himself is the Word. As the Word, He has spoken many words. If we receive Him, we must also believe in His word.
D. When we receive His word, we receive His life. This means we receive God Himself. The result is that the Word becomes flesh in us and mingles with us.
Scripture: John 1:11-13
I. The Lord came into mankind:
А. The Lord is God. He became man and dwelt among men.
B. Today the Lord is still coming to mankind by His Spirit and His gospel.
II. Man receiving the Lord:
А. The Lord came into mankind for men to receive Him, that is, that He would be enjoyed by men.
B. To receive the Lord does not require either the seeing with our physical eyes or the touching with our physical hands. It only requires the believing in the heart.
C. To believe in the heart means to believe by hearing, and to believe by hearing is all that is necessary. John 1:12 says, “As many as received Him...to those who believe into His name.” Thus, to believe by hearing is just to receive Him.
D. It is very difficult for man to see the Lord or to meet Him. Yet to hear His name is the easiest thing. To receive the Lord is to believe into His name with the heart. Therefore, it is possible for anyone to receive the Lord at any time and at any place. This point is important. One can receive the Lord when he is washing his face, on the bus, or even when hearing this word.
III. The result of receiving the Lord:
А. To be born of God. The Lord is God become flesh. When we received Him, He came into our being; that is, God came into us to become our life. Since we have the life of God in us, we were therefore born of God.
B. To have the life of God. Because we were born of God, we have naturally received His life. This life is our right to enjoy all the portions of God. A child who was born in the royal family has the life of the royal family, and this life is his right to enjoy all the portions of the royal family.
C. To be the children of God. We were originally just the creatures of God, having our origin from God, yet we did not have God’s life and God’s nature. Our relationship with God was just a relationship between a Creator and the creatures, without the relationship of the Father and the children. Once we received the Lord, our relationship to Him advanced from that of the creatures to that of the children. Once we have the life of God, we can enjoy all the portions in the Father’s house.
I. The meaning of the lamb:
А. We have to see this from the type revealed in the Old Testament. We see in the Old Testament that when Adam sinned, he should have died. But God killed a lamb for him and clothed him with garments from the skin of the lamb to cover up his nakedness. This shows that when man sinned, he should have died, but God used the lamb to be the substitute for man, to shed its blood for the sins of man; thus, the lamb became the clothing for man to cover himself before God. From that time on, throughout all the generations man could only come before God through the lamb. It is only through the shedding of a lamb’s blood for our sins that we can be accepted by God. The offering of the sacrifices by the Israelites can also be mentioned here.
B. The great significance of the lamb is in its death and the subsequent shedding of blood for the remission of our sins. Because God is righteous, He cannot forgive the sins of man. Therefore, the provision for the forgiveness of sins is the shedding of the blood of a lamb.
II. The Lamb of God:
А. The Bible says that God prepared a Lamb for man even before the foundation of the world. Therefore, this Lamb is called the Lamb of God. All the many lambs in the Old Testament were prepared by man, so they are called the lambs of man. Only this Lamb is prepared by God for man, so it is called the Lamb of God.
B. The Lamb of God is the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
C. When the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to the earth, His forerunner John the Baptist testified of Him, saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). When John preached these words to the Jews, it was very easy for the Jews to understand what he was preaching. From the days of their forefathers up until that time, the Jews were offering sacrifices every day. Therefore, on that day when John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” they immediately knew what this referred to.
III. To bear the sins:
А. The reason God prepared a Lamb for man was that man had sinned. God needed man; therefore, He created man. He loved man, so He saved man. Since man had fallen, sinned, and had created a problem between himself and God, God had to use some means to take away the sins of man. The saving way for our sins is to have a Lamb to bear and take away the sins.
B. The place where the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, bore the sins of man was on the cross. When He was dying, He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). God forsook Him, not because He was sinful but because God had put the sins of all mankind upon Him.
C. Because He bore and took away the sins of man in such a way, today the blood He shed can wash away the sins of man and solve the problem between man and God.
IV. How should one treat the Lamb of God?
А. Confess that He died for your sins.
B. Repent.
C. Receive the Lamb of God as your Savior.
Scripture: John 2:1-11
I. The Lord came to Cana:
А. The Lord came to Cana. Cana means a land of reeds, signifying weak and fragile people. Isaiah 42:3 says, “A bruised reed He will not break.” So the reeds refer to those who are weak, fragile, and bruised. The Lord coming to Cana meant He came to the place of fragile people. Cana is in Galilee, a place despised by people.
This message uses the weak and fragile people as a base, so it talks about man’s weaknesses. Man is weak and bruises easily. Once pressed, he is bruised; once touched, he falls.
B. The Lord came to Cana on the third day, the day of resurrection. This means the Lord came to the fragile people in resurrection, or the resurrected Lord came to the fragile people. The foregoing chapter talks about the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. When the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world, He entered into resurrection; that is, He came the third day to bring enjoyment to man’s life.
II. The Lord was invited to a wedding:
А. Marriage is the most important event to man, and a wedding signifies the enjoyment of life. Human life depends first on the creation of God and second on marriage. Without marriage there would be no continuation and, therefore, no existence of man. Thus, marriage is the human life, and a wedding is the enjoyment of the human life. The Lord coming to the wedding meant that He had come into human life and into the enjoyment of the human life.
B. The center of the wedding feast was wine. Wine is the life-juice of the grape. Although it is a liquid, it is different from water. Water does not grow out from something, but wine does. The center of the wedding is the wine, signifying that the enjoyment of human living depends on life. Without life there is no enjoyment.
C. The wine is limited; it runs out. This signifies that our human life will die. Not only the old couples die, but also the young couples die. If, in a couple, one dies, the enjoyment is also gone. This is the running out of wine in the wedding. When life ends, the human living and the enjoyment of human life also ends. A newlywed couple might get tuberculosis while they are enjoying the pleasures of human life; then there would be the running out of the wine. An old couple married for fifty years is also running out of wine. If they drink a little more, it would still run out.
III. The Lord changed water into wine:
А. He did not follow man’s will. Mary first told Him that there was no wine, but the Lord did not do anything then. This is to say that the Lord does things not according to man’s will. You might be very anxious in hoping your husband, wife, or children will be saved, but the Lord purposely slows down His work.
B. The Lord does everything according to His own will. When all the opinions of man have ceased, then He starts doing something.
C. Before the Lord changed water into wine, there were six stone waterpots. Six is the number of man, for man was created on the sixth day. Stone is natural; thus, six stone waterpots signify the created human beings and those who do not have God.
D. There was only water in the stone waterpots. Water signifies death, and wine signifies life. The Lord used His life with His creating power to change water into wine, that is, to change death into life.
E. This wine is not a natural wine but a miraculous wine. The wine in the wedding feast was natural wine, which meant the center of the enjoyment of life depended on the natural life, and this life will run out. Since the Lord had come in, the life that man received was God’s eternal life. The enjoyment of this new life is endless and causes the wedding to last until eternity.
IV. This is the beginning of signs:
А. All the signs that the Lord did had this sign as a beginning. All the work that the Lord has done upon us is that of signs, to change the death in us into life. Giving us life is the beginning of all His works.
B. The Lord changing death into life was a miracle among miracles and was the biggest miracle in all His miracles. Moody once said that the biggest miracle that the Lord ever did was to give life to those who were dead in sins.
V. The results:
А. To satisfy the enjoyment of human life.
B. To express God’s glory and God Himself. God’s glory can be manifested only when man receives the resurrection life.
Scripture: John 3:1-15
I. A moral man:
Nicodemus was an upper-class man. He was a moralist, a teacher, and a “ruler of the Jews” (John 3:1). He also feared God, so he was qualified to represent the moral people.
II. The matter of human behavior:
А. This man came to Jesus and discussed with Him the matter of human behavior.
B. Nicodemus focused on the matter of human life as a matter of behavior. He called Jesus “Rabbi,” and he also said that Jesus was a teacher come from God. A teacher is one who teaches people how to keep the law and how to behave themselves before God.
C. The Lord’s answer revealed to him that man’s real need before God is not to improve himself; rather, it is a matter of life. The Lord answered him, “Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). The Lord’s answer was to change Nicodemus’s concept. What Nicodemus asked was a matter of behavior, but what the Lord answered was a matter of life.
D. The Lord used this answer to show that the real need of the moral people is not to improve their behavior but to be regenerated with the divine life.
III. The need to be reborn:
А. The human life received by natural birth is corrupted and cannot be improved any more.
B. For man to reform himself is vain.
C. Man’s real need is to have the divine life remake him, that is, to be born again.
IV. The meaning of regeneration:
А. The definition of regeneration is to be born anew. But Nicodemus thought regeneration was to enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be reborn.
B. Although the definition of regeneration is to be born again, the meaning of regeneration is not to enter the second time into your mother’s womb and be reborn but rather to be born of God.
C. To be born of God is to be born of the Spirit. It is when the Holy Spirit comes into us that we receive the life of God.
D. To be born again is to receive God’s life in addition to our own life.
V. How to be regenerated:
А. On the objective side — through the death and resurrection of Christ: The death of Christ eliminated the sins of man; the resurrection of Christ released His life. His death has erased the problem of sins; His resurrection has dispensed His life into man.
B. On the subjective side — first, we need to confess that our human life is corrupted and cannot be improved. Second, we have to confess that the Lord has died and was raised for us. Third, we have to receive this resurrected Christ as our Savior. We must look upon Jesus on the cross as the Israelites looked upon the bronze serpent. By looking upon that bronze serpent, they lived.
