John 2:1-9
Dirty Lessons
I will admit it. That is a strange title for a message. You are
probably thinking, "What kind of spiritual lesson can I learn from
dirt?" The answer to that question remains to be seen but I hope by
the time I am finished, you have learned several.
I. Clay vessels can speak of people.
A. I mean "In the Bible, clay vessels can speak of people."
B. What does the Bible teach about us.
1. Man was created from dirt.
Ge 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
a. The Bible tells us what we are made from, dirt. Not
much to be proud of, is it?
b. It is interesting to me how science eventually catches
up to the Bible. Scientists now know that the same
elements which are in the earth’s crust comprise the
human body only in different amounts.
2. We still are!
Psalm 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he
remembereth that we are dust.
3. And in time, these bodies will return to dirt.
Ge 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out
of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.
C. \\#John 2:1-9\\ Even in Bible accounts, clay and earthen
vessels speak of us.
1. Notice the water pots and consider:
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.
a. \\#6\\ Their count - There were six of them.
Re 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath
understanding count the number of the beast: for
it is the number of a man; and his number is Six
hundred threescore and six.
b. Their composition - "waterpots of stone" - Stone is
earth, dirt hardened.
c. Their casting - Stone is hard, set in its way. Have
you ever called anyone "hard-headed." That means a
person is stubborn, unyielding, set in their ways.
d. Their content - water. One of the most natural
elements on earth. 3/4’s of our planet is water but
even more, 57 to 65% of the adult body is water.
(75 to 78% of an infant!)
http://chemistry.about.com/od/waterchemistry/f/How-Much-Of-Your-Body-
Is-Water.htm
2. Jesus performed a miracle but His miracle can teach us a
lesson about ourselves.
D. What are the lessons of clay?
1. Clay vessels can speak of humans.
II. \\#Jer 18:1-6\\ Clay vessels are molded by God.
Jer 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from
the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and
there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and,
behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred
in the hand of the potter: so he made it again
another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to
make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as
this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay
is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand,
O house of Israel.
A. This passage doesn’t take any figuring at all.
1. God sent Jeremiah to watch a potter work on the clay.
2. \\#6\\ It is symbolic. The potter represented God and the
clay represented Israel.
3. God was illustrating to Jeremiah that if the clay was too
stiff, too weak, or too polluted to do want He desired,
He could destroy \\#Jer 18:7\\ it and start all over
again.
4. By the way, that is exactly what has happened to Israel
for the last 2,000 years.
5. This lesson is much larger than Israel. It is true of all
of us as well.
B. God is the Molder of our lives.
1. Everything that has happened in your life, both the good
and the bad, has been God molding you into what He wants
you to be.
a. That is a little bit hard to hear sometimes.
b. There might have been some really bad things happen.
c. The truth is many who are atheists and agnostics
today are so because they feel that if there is a
god, he treated them badly.
2. God is not the only Party who determines what will happen
in your life.
a. I am not trying to defend God because He does not need
to be defended. I am trying to point out truths that
you may not have thought of.
b. Sin, Satan, and our selfishness determine much of
what happens in our lives.
c. Sometimes the clay can be very willful. That is what
God was illustrating to Jeremiah.
d. The more willful we and the people in our lives
are, the more God must do to get our attention.
e. What about the innocent, the injustice, the inequity,
the evil?
(1) Couldn’t God stop it?
(2) Yes, God could stop it all in a second. All He
has to do is to remove our ability to choose.
(2) Freewill is one of the greatest gifts given to
mankind but it opens the door to man’s greatest
evils.
C. What are the lessons of clay?
1. Clay vessels, in the Bible, can speak of people.
2. Clay vessels are molded by God.
III. \\#John 2:1-6\\ Clay vessels need to be changed by Jesus.
A. This was our text and we have already pointed out that the six
waterpots of stone are pictures of us.
B. What took place here?
1. A wedding planner got bailed out. We have seen a few
weddings come and go around here and people of all ages
want their wedding to go off without problems. Jesus
bailed that wedding party out of a problem.
2. But even more, Jesus taught an important lesson about clay
vessels. They need to have their insides changed.
C. I mentioned that water is one of the most common and natural
elements on our planet.
1. These were holy pots.
a. They were being purified for holy uses.
b. That means they were clean, prayed over, dedicated to
God pots.
c. I suppose the water that was to be put into them might
be holy water too.
d. If you are looking for a picture of the best type of
people that people can be, this is it.
e. This would picture moral water, good people, decent
people, but they are still people with the natural
inside of them and that just wasn’t good enough.
f. As a Christian, we would call them unsaved people.
2. People in their natural state are enemies of God.
Ro 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his
life.
a. What we are fighting God over? We are fighting over
who is going to control this vessel.
b. The fight cannot last forever.
c. Remember, life is measured. It comes to an end.
d. Those who are separated from God at their death will
remain separated from God for all eternity.
e. Something needs to happen for our eternal soul’s sake.
3. There are so many beautiful things in this miracle that
I just don’t have the time to detail this morning:
a. How the change was on the inside, unseen by even
those the closest to the vessel; but the quality
of the contents was immediately noticed \\#10\\!
b. How the change was from something natural to something
organic, something that has (spiritual) life in it.
c. How the change was permanent. The wine did not revert
back to water.
4. But the most important thing you need to get is that this
is a picture of what needs to happen to you. You need to
be changed by Jesus Christ.
5. How?
a. You need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for
you, rose on the third day, and will come into your
heart to change you if you ask Him to do so.
b. You need to surrender yourself to Jesus Christ.
D. What are the lessons of clay?
1. Clay vessels, in the Bible, can speak of people.
2. Clay vessels are molded by God.
3. Clay vessels need to be changed by Jesus.
IV. \\#Judges 7:16-21\\ Clay vessels need to be broken.
Judges 7:16 And he divided the three hundred men
into three companies, and he put a trumpet in
every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps
within the pitchers.
19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with
him, came unto the outside of the camp in the
beginning of the middle watch; and they had but
newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets,
and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
20 And the three companies blew the trumpets,
and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in
their left hands, and the trumpets in their right
hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword
of the LORD, and of Gideon.
21 And they stood every man in his place round
about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried,
and fled.
A. This one is for the Christians.
1. We know what the clay vessels represent in this account,
us.
2. The fire inside represents God inside the Christians.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the
light of the world.
a. And where does Jesus live at in this world?
b. Inside the believers.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and
he with me.
B. The problem is that the Light on the inside cannot shine
through the clay vessel!
1. The clay hides the Light within.
2. For Gideon, that was alright for a time.
3. They lit their lanterns, put them inside the clay pitcher
so the light could not be seen, and got into place.
4. When Gideon signaled, 300 men blew their trumpets and
busted their pitchers exposing the light.
5. The Midianite army supposed that if there were 300 men
sounding trumpets and 300 men carrying lights, that there
must have been thousands more carrying swords—so they
fled.
6. But Christians are not trying to hide from our enemy.
7. We want them to see us.
Mt 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put
it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house.
8. Our vessels need to be broken to allow God’s light to
shine through.
C. Christian, have you been hiding the Light within you? Are you
another of Jesus’ many secret servants? You need to break
the clay vessel and let God shine through.
D. What does broken mean?
1. It means we need to be more concerned about God and others
than ourselves.
a. Are we not the most selfish generation that has ever
lived?
b. We have more, do more, see more, know more, enjoy
more, live more than any generation that has ever
lived.
c. Yet, we are afraid to tell people about the Jesus that
lives within us, the Jesus that has made all of the
gifts we have possible.
2. It means to be surrendered and dependent upon God,
E. What are the lessons of clay?
1. Clay vessels, in the Bible, can speak of people.
2. Clay vessels are molded by God.
3. Clay vessels need to be changed by Jesus.
4. Clay vessels need to be broken.
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