As Jesus was walking with Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum, to his home to heal his daughter, they were met by a woman who suffered from chronic hemorrhaging. For twelve years this woman had bled nonstop and was dying a slow death. Luke, a physician, wrote that she “had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any” (Luke 8:43).
Jesus told us to work while it is still day. Why? Because the “night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).
In Revelation 7, John describes a multitude standing before God’s throne, a crowd so massive nobody could number it.
Wine in the Bible represents joy and gladness. “Wine that makes glad the heart of man” (Psalm 104:15). In the New Testament, “new wine” is a type of the Holy Spirit.
Yet as I look at the Church today, I see wine jars that are empty. Why? As almost every biblical prophet has said, “Sin takes away mirth and gladness.”
For every mother, father and grandparent who has prayed so long for their lost young one: Hold on. Jesus is watching and waiting. His hour on your child’s behalf is about to come.
Prayer meetings are being resurrected in churches throughout New York City. Who could have believed this would happen in “Sin City”? Not long ago over 50,000 believers gathered in Times Square to pray. And Christian conferences worldwide are becoming impromptu prayer meetings.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us” (Hebrews 10:15).
You may ask, “What is the Holy Spirit bearing witness to?” The next verse tells us: “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them” (10:16). Simply put, the Holy Spirit is witness to an outpouring of mercy upon this last-days generation.
Isaiah prophesied, “Behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:2–3).
This prophecy speaks of the last days, a time that began when light — Jesus Christ the Lord — came into the gross darkness. Isaiah was speaking of a great, widespread outshining of the glory of Christ into the darkness. Multitudes throughout the whole Gentile world would come into His light.
In Second Chronicles 20 we read that King Jehoshaphat received a frightening message: “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Syria. . . . And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah” (2 Chronicles 20:2–3).
Terrified, Israel’s King Jehoshaphat called together a great prayer meeting: “Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord” (20:4). As the people came together to seek God, Jehoshaphat prayed, “Lord, we don’t know what to do. But our eyes are on You!” (20:12)
When Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2), He was giving His disciples — and His Church to come — an illustrated sermon. Our Lord never did anything or spoke any word that wasn’t eternally significant. Everything that Scripture records about Him points to the unchanging nature and workings of God.
In John 2, Jesus and His disciples were invited to a marriage supper in Cana.
“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come’” (John 2:1-4).
For years, people were accustomed to hearing me preach repentance and holiness. But they began to question me when my messages started to focus more on mercy, reconciliation and hope. There is a simple explanation for this.