NONE OTHER NAME

John 2:1  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 waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots 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 hast 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.

When we read a wedding announcement in the newspaper, we are presented with the names of the parents of the bride, the bride and grooms names, his parents names, and the time and location of the wedding. But in the account listed above, we have absolutely none other name given to us except the name of Jesus! Even his mother is not named in this passage! We all know that her name is Mary. But we do not know that from this passage. Her identity is even given in her relationship to the Lord. For she is called, the mother of Jesus!

For this is not presented to us as a “wedding!” It is said to be a “marriage!” Weddings are religious ceremonies with candles to be lit and others to be blown out. There are flower petals strewn. The rice to be thrown has been changed to bird seed. There is specific music to be played, with the attenders to rise out of their seats at the proper loud notes from the organ or piano. Weddings are very money making events for the caterers, the photographers, the florists, and dress makers. So many today make Christ’s house a house of merchandise, rather than a house of prayer!

But this was a “marriage!” A marriage is a joining together of a man and a woman by God! The marriage is the picture of how Christ joins himself together with his Bride, the Church! Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Therefore the true issue in this passage is not the names of those involved in a “wedding!” But the true issue is that Christ’s Bride, (the church) have his glory revealed unto them! (v.11).

The Wine Is Not the Issue!

The purpose of wine is revealed unto us in Judges 9:13, which states, And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? This is also seen in Psalm 104:15. Their wine had failed. All they had was 6 stone, cold waterpots, reflective of a joyless religious system of man’s traditions! And after this event is over, they are left with 120 to 150 gallons of the best wine they had ever tasted!

The True Vine (John 15:1) stood among them, whom they knew not (John 1:26). And like as he instructed Lazarus’ sister, he IS the resurrection! She just needed to believe in Him, and not in the old ‘waterpot’ doctrine that could only receive the resurrection as a future event! For Christ is the True Vine, whose joy can cheer both the Father’s and the believer’s hearts!

Therefore the true issue in this passage is not the wine. But the true issue is the glory of Christ, the True Vine!

Absolute Submission to Christ

The mother of Jesus’ inordinate affection hindered the wine’s flow! She seems to be motivated by the host’s embarrassment, and not the glory of God! Verses 3 through 5 reveal the bringing down of her inordinate affections into submission to Christ’s will! Our motives must be for the glory of Christ alone! The wine was only to be drank for that purpose! 1Cor. 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. The victory over fleshly motivation comes to be seen by that which we read in verse five! 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Here is the place of the church’s joy! Complete submission to Christ’s will brings the fulness of joy to the soul!

John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

But have you ever attempted to obtain joy from God by absolute submission to His will? Everything you are and desire to have, is cast at his feet! This is the true religion! This is not the Harlot religion, which goes after what it wants, makes it happen and then says, “This was God’s will!”

Listen to one in the stress of wrestling with absolute submission to God. Jer. 15:15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. 17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. 18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

He first lists his faithfulness to God, and states that this is the very reason he is suffering persecution. He instructs God that God’s long suffering with these wicked persons is causing their persecutions to continue on him. Then he reminds God that his heart aches shall never be stopped unless God takes action against his persecutors. Then, with the continued delay of God’s acting, he is so stressed that he tells God that He is like a liar unto him! Wow! He acts like he has God’s best interests at heart, and seeks to help God with His reputation of being Truth, and being no lie! Seeking the wine of true fulfilling joy can even make one as if they were more just than God! Was this not the case with Job?

No wonder that Harlot religion seeks dead, cold waterpot joyless traditions! It is much easier to work up some emotional excitement and get happiness, than to wrestle with God’s absolute sovereignty and obtain spiritual joy!

The Worst First

Unless one has been born again to become a ‘new bottle,’ and has tasted to see that the Lord is good, they will always prefer the old wine of religion! Luke 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. But those of us who have been made new creatures in Christ, by Divine and Sovereign Grace are allowed to drink it new with him in this spiritual kingdom! Matt. 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Pastor Gene Breed

THE WORD FROM THE LORD

Jeremiah 32:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2 For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.

This was a timely word! Notice the words, “For then” in verse two. If the armies of a foreign power were surrounding Washington, D. C., wouldn’t you want a word from the Lord? And it was “then” that the Chaldeans were besieging Jerusalem, when this word came from the Lord!

When Jeremiah was called into the ministry of the Prophet of God, from the home of a priest, the Lord showed him two visions in order to make him understand the urgency of this situation. Both of these instructing visions were preceded by the words, “What seest thou?”

The first item that Jeremiah saw was a rod, or branch, of an almond tree. Knowing that this was an early sign of Spring, Jeremiah knew that a new season was soon to be settling on the peoples of Israel! And the brief instruction  from the Lord that followed confirmed this. For we read, Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. (Jer. 1:12).

The second vision shown to him was “a seething pot” facing “toward the north.” And just like a pot that is at the boiling over point, ready to spill out over all that is below it, the Chaldeans were about to break loose in fury upon Israel!

Jeremiah 1:3 plainly instructs us that he prophesied “unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah!” And our passage in chapter 32, listed above, records that this word from the Lord takes place in the “tenth year of Zedekiah!” So Jeremiah’s ministry was almost at an end!

America’s Dilemma

Isaiah 40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

O America! Be sure your sins shall find you out! As you celebrate 233 years of God’s mercies and long sufferings, be sure to include some humility, with a generous helping of repentance with your hot dogs! Be sure a wave of gratefulness to God, for his toleration in our ignoring him, is lifted up with your banners of patriotism!

Let us bow our heads and hearts and confess that our love of money has let in a flood of evil upon us! Let us realize that these warm, fuzzy feelings in our cannot possibly be the Spirit of God, as we harbor greed and selfishness in those same hearts!

Jeremiah’s was a word of fast approaching judgment. Prov. 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. America has had some of the most faithful men of God, labor long, and in difficult conditions in order to provide her with the truth of the word of God. But there is little national evidence that she has heeded their instruction!

We shall fulfill the attitude of those of Noah’s day on this national holiday! Listen at what they were doing: Matt. 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

They were only concerned with the satisfaction of the natural tastes! Almost none had a consciousness of God! And our Lord said that this would be the conditions of his coming! Luke 12:40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Who Is In Charge?

Rev. 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Be sure you know that the Lord Jesus Christ obtained the right of Sovereign Ruler at the cross! He didn’t just shed his blood to purchase the elect from every nation. But he also purchased for himself the crown rights over all creation! Rev. 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

And be sure you know that the Lord Jesus Christ didn’t come to take sides! He came to take over! He “commands” all men everywhere to repent! (Acts 17:30).

Pastor Gene Breed

AGAINST ALL THE NATIONS

Jeremiah 25:13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.

This verse is found in God’s command to his prophet Jeremiah to prophesy against all the nations that he lists out in this chapter. And this command has not been rescinded, even to this gospel day!

Consider these verses. Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Psalm 7:11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. Nations that forget God are considered as included in “the wicked,” and God is angry with them every day. No individual, nor group of individuals shall ignore the Lord God! For EVERY knee shall bow to him! And EVERY tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ, exclusively is Lord of all! (Phi. 2:10,11).

Therefore the holiness of God is still offended by those who refuse to believe in His Son! John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. God’s wrath is presently still abiding on unbelievers, and this, along with God’s glorious mercy, is to be made know by the gospel!

The Gospel’s Purpose

The Apostle Paul is very clear, and most certain as to what the purpose of his gospel mission was. He lists it out both in the first and last chapters of his Epistle to the Romans.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) 3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: 5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: 6 Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

Then in the 16th chapter of this same letter, he ends it with these words: 25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

And was this not the command of the Lord himself, as he gave his final, earthly command to the gathered disciples? Luke 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And in Matthew’s account, we read: Matt. 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The power of the gospel to each present generation in every nation, is that those who preach it are submitted under whatsoever the Lord has commanded them! Those not bowing under Christ’s gospel Lordship while preaching, cannot expect to have those who hear them do so! (Matt 23:3 …for they say, and do not. 1 Cor. 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.) This is why the gospel in America has no power, and why religion has had to invent various  technics to try to get soul’s to become religious!

Daniel Read These Scriptures

God instructed Jeremiah to prophesy that he would keep Israel in Babylonian captivity for 70 years. For it would take that amount of time to recover the land from constant cultivation, as Israel had sinned in not keeping the Lord’s sabbaths! 2 Chronicles 36:21 To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Jeremiah 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

Then the Lord God made sure that the Prophet Daniel should have these scriptures available to him for the development of his prophesy of the succession of nations, even until the kingdom of Christ was set up! Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Daniel, during his captivity in Babylon,  not only listed who the nations would be, but the order of their succession until Messiah come! (Dan. 2:31-45; 7:1-18), But also, stemming from the 70 years of captivity, the Holy Spirit actually revealed to him the 70 weeks of years that pin pointed the day of Christ’s appearance to Israel, and even his death!

Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

The Lord Spoke of the Reading of Daniel

Matt. 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

So we have the continued expression of the authority of Christ and his gospel ministry over the nations! From one prophet to another, then from Christ to his apostles! It is a chain unbroken! “…and the scripture cannot be broken;” John 10:35b.

The abomination which maketh desolate is the wicked hands of mankind crucifying and slaying the Lord’s Christ! (Acts 2:23). That crime against God (even though he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God), if not repented of, will bring every soul in every nation into desolation!  For as every soul in the human race was affected by Adam’s fall (Rom. 5:17-21), even so the death of the Holy Son of God shall affect every soul of that same race eternally! Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The sin of slaying the Son of God, not only by wicked hands, but by our wicked sins, was the mountain of pollution that was cast into the sea of human population to made desolate and pollute all who will not repent! Rev. 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

As His prophet Haggai wrote in Hag. 2:6, For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. And this shaking is still recorded as going on in these gospel days! Hebrews 12:26 Whose voice then, shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. (Spiritual shakings occur in these gospel days!) 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: The national upheavals, both in the Old and New Economies, are from the very same Lord, in the receiving of his eternal kingdom! “Thy kingdom come!”

The Beginning of Sorrows

Matt. 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

And lest we put too much concern and emphasis upon the literal events which constantly disturb mankind, the Lord instructs us that these national calamities are but beginning sorrows! There are far greater sorrows that shall come upon the souls of men than those which come upon their bodies!

And there is that sorrowing after a godly manner! 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Natural calamities can be handled by migration out of the troubled region. Or it can be handled by your insurance company making good on your policy! These are but beginning sorrows!  But the man who builds his soul’s foundation upon the sands of life shall have a great fall into the jaws of eternal death! – What sorrow that shall be! Matt. 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Be careful in giving more care to your possessions than to your soul! It can cause you the greater sorrow! Matt. 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. This man, as far as we know, kept his possessions in lieu of obedience to Christ’s instruction. And if he died in that state, he suffered – and is still to this very minute suffering – the sorrows of eternal death!

There was one rich man who never got his eyes lift up until his first moment of Hell! (Luke 16:23). He never had the image of the beastly desires of the flesh removed in order that he could correctly see the folly of riches until he was experiencing the sorrow of death!  Would to God that such national upheavals as America has experienced in this present generation should provide the eye salve for her to benefit from these beginnings of sorrow before it is eternally too late! Rev. 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Pastor Gene Breed