The glorious message of our Saviour’s birth was announced by the angels, when the darkness of night overshadowed the world. Sorrowing hearts found a healing balm when the promised Redeemer came.

The world was again left in darkness when they crucified our Lord, and put out the light. Even those who loved Him were left in the gloom, because they were ” … slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25).

The women who loved Him stood at the sepulcher weeping, and again a heavenly messenger was sent to say to sorrowing hearts, ” ... Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:5-6).

Death laid its cold hand upon the dear Son of God. He ” … died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). He ” … bare our sins in his own body on the tree … ” (1 Peter 2:24). Hallelujah, Jesus triumphed over death and the grave, and as He arose, we also shall rise, and live to die no more!

The final victory will take place when we can look into all the empty tombs where the saints have slept, and cry, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

If you have never done so, put your faith in the Saviour today. ” … he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

Text:               Luke 22:7-18

Intro:

I want us to focus on verse 10.

What I find interesting is that the man who was to meet Peter and John was to be bearing a picture of water.

This man could have been bearing something else or involved in a number of activities.

I believe that there are no accidents with God.

I believe that it was no accident that the man Peter and John were to meet would be bearing a pitcher of water.

If we examine the ministry of Jesus Christ  we will find throughout His ministry that water is strongly connected with our Saviour and presents many wonderful pictures and types.

Today I would like us to examine some of those instances where water plays a part the ministry of our Lord.

The Water of Submission – Mt. 3:13-17

Jesus public ministry began with His baptism by John, the Baptist.

Jesus said that He came to do the will of the Father.

Here at His baptism begins a ministry of 3 ½ years that will always be in submission to the will of the Father.

A ministry that will end with Jesus being obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The Water of Miracles – John 2:6-9,11

We see manifested by one of commonest elements found on this earth, water.

Our Saviour’s omnipotence.

The changing of the water into wine showed our Lord to be all powerful.

A power reserved only for the Creator, Himself.

The Water of the Physical Birth – John 3:1-7

Our Lord explains to a religious Jew named Nicodemus how a man can enter into the Kingdom of God.

And it is not by our natural birth, “born of water”

But by the Spirit of God.

The Water of Life – John 4:5-15

Jesus makes a contrast between earthly water that will leave you unsatisfied – with  – living water, the water of everlasting life that satisfies the thirsty soul forever.

My dear friend , Jesus is the only source that you can receive this living water.

He invites all – “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”

If you have never come to the water of life, won’t you come today and be saved.

The Water of Spiritual Rivers – John 7:37-39

Jesus promises to all that believe on Him an indwelling Holy Spirit – “rivers of living water”.

The Water of Humility – John 13:12-16

By the washing of the Apostles feet Jesus teaches us a great lesson on humility.

Jesus through His example of foot washing teaches us how we should treat one another and others.

Just as He came not to be ministered unto but to minister to others so are we to do the same.

If Jesus humbled himself in His service to others should we do any less.

The Water of Sacrifice – John 19:31-37

V. 34 – Blood and Water came out of the side of the Saviour.

Our Lord had poured out His life for us at the cruel cross of Calvary so that our sins could be forgiven.

So, that Heaven could be our home.

God sacrificed His only begotten sinless Son to save sinners from a literal eternal burning hell.

The Water of Cleansing – Ephesians 5:25-27

The Word of God here is pictured as water.

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is doing something to the church right now so she will be spotless then at the marriage of the Lamb – Rev. 19:7-8.

He is washing the Body of Christ with a kind of water which is “by the word”

In the context of the passage, the Word of God is saying that husbands should minister the word to their wives to keep them clean.

A man takes care to keep his own flesh clean and therefore he should minister to his wife.

Just as in John 13 when our Lord washed the feet of the disciples, he was not only teaching humility but also that they should minister the word to each other to clean each other.

We should do the same to each other as members of the body of Christ.

Conclusion:

We have seen in our study the importance of water in the ministry of our Lord.

The Water of Submission

The Water of Miracles

The Water of the Physical Birth

The Water of Life

The Water of Spiritual Rivers

The Water of Humility

The Water of Sacrifice

The Water of Cleansing

“Afterward he appeared … And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:14-15).

In March 1969, people around the world waited with bated breath for the word from Cape Canaveral for lift-off. During the tense moments, the superstitious crossed their fingers and the godless said a prayer. Everybody was caught up in the earsplitting surge of power which hurls a man skyward toward outer space. Suspense did not lesson, and pulse rates did not drift back to normal until four words come crackling over the airwaves – “All conditions are … GO!” Anxiety then gave way to jubilation.

As if their united voices had been needed to help propel an astronaut into orbit, men and women of every hemisphere picked up the chant, and in their own languages and dialects shouted, “Go! Go! Go!” That one syllable seems to summarize the universal emotions and wishes of that moment.

Borrowing from NASA’s electrifying, newly coined phrase of that time, let us apply it to the spiritual realm, “ALL CONDITIONS ARE … GO!” That two-letter word appears no less than two hundred and fifty-two times in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, with one hundred and fifty-two of the usages attributed to Christ Himself by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Went, the past of go, is repeated three hundred and forty-nine times.

With Jesus Christ, all conditions were … GO! Jesus Himself moved from place to place. The greatest sentence-biography ever written described Him perfectly, “… who went about doing good … “ (Acts 10:38). So it is not to be wondered at that He frequently used the word go to help move others on course. It was a watchword embodying a principle, a guide to action.

” … go work … “ (Matthew 21:28). ” … go after … “ (Luke 15:4). ” … go quickly … “ (Matthew 28:7). Each was His command. His beneficiaries found that they could not be static, remain in equilibrium, or act by mere weight without motion. Go forth, go show, and go call- these kept His hearers in movement. On one occasion He would be heard saying, “Go preach.” On another it was “go teach” or “go tell.” All conditions were … GO!

To a former adulteress, now forgiven, He said, ” … go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). Bystanders at the tomb of resurrected Lazarus were commanded, ” … Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44). When He dispossessed a demoniac, He ordered the evil spirits to “go,” and then followed through by instructing the redeemed man to “… Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee…” (Mark 5: 19). His disciples He ordained to“… go and bring forth fruit …” (John 15: 16).

The original twelve were commissioned, “… go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). Later Christ appointed an additional seventy, whom He sent two by two into every city and place, which was a larger authorization. “Go your ways … “ (Luke 10:3), He told them, for “… The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few …” (Luke 1 0:2). GO has always been an important part of the GOspel. Merely hyphenate the word, add another letter, and it seems to automatically flow, “GO-spell out redemption to all people.”

As it was before Christ’s death, it was even so after His resurrection. The word was still GO! “… Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations … “ (Matthew 28:19). ” … as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21); then He went away, ” … he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9), but all conditions were still … GO!

Following His ascension, Christ reappeared with the very same words on His lips. He was seen and heard by Saul of Tarsus (turned Paul, apostle to the heathen), saying, ” … go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6).

Quite simultaneously, a devout man, Ananias, enjoyed the same post-ascension visit, the Lord instructing him, ” … go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire … for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11). “… Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles …” (Acts 9:15).

Before and after Christ’s passion, and even following His glorification, all conditions were . . . GO! The message and the direction were the same, whether Christ appeared in person to enunciate them or dispatched an angel with the word.

On one occasion the imprisoned apostles were released by an angelic deliverer, who also commissioned them, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20).

Once again the angel of the Lord was sent, this time to Philip, with the message, ” … go toward the south … ” (Acts 8:26). Having arrived, he was instructed by the Holy Spirit to, ” … Go near, and join thyself to this chariot” (Acts 8:29) (the chariot of the eunuch).

At another time, it was this same Spirit who directed Peter to leave the Joppa rooftop and accompany the inquirers to Caesarea. “… get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing …” (Acts 10:20).

Judging by all the evidence – Christ’s own example: His utterances and commands, both before and after His passion; the repeated post-resurrection commissions; and those post-ascension instructions by Christ, angels, and the Holy Spirit; there is no doubt that from the divine viewpoint and intention, all conditions are still …GO!

The great commission included no time limit. It set forth simply, clearly, and with a note of finality what was to be done; by whom, for whom; by what means; where, why, and for how long. It left no room for shilly-shallying. This command has never been rescinded or modified.

It would seem a mistake of the first magnitude for any follower of Christ to be irresolute or be preoccupied with trifles, when commanded to make this world his parish. To see disciples standing idle in the ecclesiastical marketplaces, saying, “… no man hath hired us …” (Matthew 20:7), when fields are ready for the reaping and the Lord is saying, “… Go ye also into the vineyard…” (Matthew 20:7), is indeed a sorry spectacle.

As long as world evangelization is incomplete; as long as Communism continues to enslave; as long as half of mankind languishes in fear and superstition because of ignorance; and as long as heathens need to hear the truth that sets men free, all conditions are to be regarded as … GO!

By the challenge of red atheism and the horrors of paganism; by the command of Christ, and the right of all men to hear the joyful sound that Jesus saves, we must go. Of hindering things to which we cling, we must let go. Those who stand poised and willing, stymied for lack of aid, we must help go.

ALL CONDITIONS ARE … GO!

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Dr. W. C. Alvarez, a stomach specialist at the Mayo Clinic, says that eighty percent of the stomach disorders that come to them are not organic, but functional. Wrong mental and spiritual attitude throw functional disturbances into digestion. Most of our ills are caused by worry and fear, and it is my experience that faith is more important than food in the cure of stomach ulcers.

In order to keep your commission clean, you must be free from worry and fear. Worry is not merely weakness; it is wickedness. It says God has abdicated, and that we have to hold the world together by our worrying, but the opposite happens. Worriers wreck their world as well as their lives. Worry is sin against God and ourselves. Cast it on Christ and His cross; then you will live by cheer, rather than by fear.

“Be careful for nothing … ” (Philippians 4:6). In other words “stop being worried about anything.”

Someone has wisely said, “If we trust we do not worry, and if we worry we do not trust.” “Trust in the LORD, and do good … and verily thou shalt be fed” (Psalm 37:3).

A tax auditor came many years ago to a poor servant of the Lord to determine the amount of taxes he would have to pay.

“What property do you possess?” asked the auditor.

“I am very wealthy,” replied the Christian man.

“List your possessions, please,” the auditor instructed.

“First, I have everlasting life” (John 3: 16).

“Second, I have a mansion in Heaven” (John 14:2).

“Third, I have peace that passes understanding” (Philippians 4: 7).

“Fourth, I have joy unspeakable” (1 Peter 1 :8).

“Fifth, I have divine love that never fails” (1 Corinthians 13 :8).

“Sixth, I have a faithful wife” (Proverbs 31: 1 0).

“Seventh, I have healthy, happy, obedient children” (Exodus 20: 12).

“Eighth, I have true, loyal friends” (Proverbs 18:24).

“Ninth, I have songs in the night” (Psalm 42:8).

“Tenth, I have a crown of life” (James 1: 12).

“Eleventh, I have a Saviour, Jesus Christ, who supplies all my need” (Philippians 4: 19).”

The tax auditor closed his book, and said, “Truly you are a very rich man, but your property is not subject to taxation!”

The outstanding need of the hour is a revival that will stir the nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and that will speedily evangelize the regions beyond. The solution of our problems is an old-fashioned, Heaven-sent, prayed-down, Holy Ghost revival that will make God and eternity real. Even Tolstoi, the humanist, said, “The distinctive mark of the age is its lost sense of God.” Men have forgotten God, and therefore we face a national crises. History teaches us that every nation that forgets God must perish. What we need is a manifestation of the presence and power of God. This divine demonstration can be brought about only through earnest, importune prayer that releases the resources of Heaven and brings back a God-consciousness to the children of men.

God’s challenge in the present crisis is found in Jeremiah 33:3,“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” God will answer prayer if we will meet the conditions. We must be on praying ground by confessing and forsaking every known sin. We must believe God. If we pray according to God’s conditions, marvelous things will take place. Something happens when we pray that would not happen if we neglected to pray. People are depending on our prayers. There will be people in Heaven because we have prayed. Prayer makes it possible for the Holy Ghost to convict of sin. Prayer creates an atmosphere fix the Holy Ghost to convict of sin. Prayer creates an atmosphere in which the third Person in the Trinity can work. Only praying men and women can be used in God’s service.

Prayer is a duty, and to neglect to pray is a sin. The tragedy of the present hour is that there is so little prayer. We have allowed Satan to blind us. We are depending on talents, machinery, and organization instead of depending on God. It is because of spiritual laziness that we neglect to pray. Satan knows that his kingdom loses many subjects whenever God’s people pray earnestly. It is Satan’s strategy to keep the church in a prayerless condition.

We need a revival that will make closet prayer common, restore the family altar, and make the public prayer meeting largely attended. We need a compassion for souls that will give us the burden of prayer. We need to spend hours – yea, whole nights – in prayer. Every true revival that has ever come to this world has come in answer to prayer. Hudson Taylor prayed, and the China Inland Mission was brought into existence. George Mueller prayed, and millions of dollars came into his hands to care for the orphan children. “Prayer moves the arm that moves the world.”

The praying people of the nation must bestir themselves in this hour of crisis and pray persistently, earnestly, with heart yearning and tears, “Lord, send a revival, and let it begin in me.” Will you respond to God’s challenge?”

Some time ago, sixty-six teenagers from a Christian camp visited a small town in Ohio and received the shock of their lives.

They approached 675 of the town’s population and asked just one simple question, “How does a person get to Heaven?” One man said, “Fly.” Some guessed. Some did not try to guess. Only a little over 15 percent knew the answer and said, “Receive Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.”

Of the 675 queried, 561 gave a wrong answer. The ten most frequent answers were: be good to your neighbor, go to church, read the Bible, work your way, live right, be sincere, be baptized, pay your bills, obey your conscience, hope.

If being good, living right, being sincere, could get us to Heaven, why did Jesus go to the cross and die? Why did God send Him there?

The cross was the only way God could provide a remedy for the sin that all of us have in our lives. If you think for one moment that you do not need cleansing, look to Calvary and see Jesus.

If this were not absolutely the only way there could be salvation for you, Jesus would never have gone there. Receive His salvation, so dearly purchased for you. “… now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” Corinthians 6:2).

Many years ago, there came to Chicago a man who sold goods for a New York firm. He had been stealing money from his company until the amount totaled a few thousand dollars. The man had worked out a plan by which he thought to stifle his conscience. He would work hard all day and go out to places of amusement at night, and remain to a late hour.

One day in a Chicago hotel, he was stropping an old-fashioned razor, and, looking for a piece of paper to wipe the blade on, he tore out a page from a Bible found in the hotel room. Starting to wipe the blade, his eye caught these words, “For the wages of sin is death …” Conviction struck his heart, and smoothing out the page, he read, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The startled salesman read the Bible for two hours, and then on his knees beside the bed with the Bible open in front of him, he acknowledged himself to be a sinner and in need of a Saviour. Realizing a new life had been bestowed upon him, he wired the firm in New York that he was returning. He made a confession of the stolen money. This man was not discharged but allowed to pay back the stolen money each month from his pay.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing assunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”(Hebrews 4:12).

A traveler upon a lonely road was robbed by three men. They then led him into the depths of the forest. There, in the darkness, they tied a rope to the limb of a great tree, and ordered the man to catch hold of it. Swinging him out into the blackness of surrounding space, they told him he was hanging over the brink of a precipice, and the moment that he let go he would be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. Then they left him.

The traveler clutched to the rope, but strength gradually failed him. At last, he could hold on no longer. He let the rope go and fell just six inches – to the solid ground below. The robbers did this to make good their escape. When he let go, it was not to his death but to the safety that had been waiting him all through his time of terror.

It is the devil’s trick to do everything possible to keep you from being saved. Holding on to the rope of this world will not help. While you serve and follow the devil, your heart is also full of fear. Let go, God’s plan is to save you. Underneath is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who died for you and shed His blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Trust Him today to save you and hand over your life to Him for time and eternity.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

We should trust in the Lord for His guidance. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye” (Psalms 32:8).

We need His Word to guide us as we journey through life. “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel…” (Psalms 73:24).“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalms 119:1 05).

We should trust in the Lord for salvation. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).

Salvation is of the Lord; He has provided the way. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life … “ (John 14:6). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4: 12).

We should trust in the Lord for security. “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation … “ (1 Peter 1 :5).

Many put their trust in earthly things, and find that they fail. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). “Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:4). “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

We should trust in the Lord for provision. “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed” (Psalms 37:3). “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5)

The Lord is the source of all blessing, temporal and spiritual. ” … A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (John 3:27). ” … no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalms 84:11), “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1 :3).

We should trust in the Lord for protection. “Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me” (Psalms 56:2-4).

As long as Israel put its trust in the Lord, it was protected. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” (Psalms 20:7). “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me” (Psalms 56:11). “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler” (Psalms 91 :2-4).

We should trust in the Lord for companionship. ” … I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world … “ (Matthew 28 :20).

He is a companion that goes with us and assists us. “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones … “ (Isaiah 58:11). ” … I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). ” … The Lord is my helper … “ (Hebrews 13 :6).

We should trust in the Lord for the future: “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:10).

He has not failed us in the past, so we may look to Him for the future.

“And if l go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).