======================================================================== JESUS CAN MAKE YOUR MARRIAGE GLORIOUS by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of inviting Jesus into marriage, acknowledging that problems will arise but Jesus can help overcome them. It highlights the need to trust in God's timing for solutions, to obediently follow His instructions, and to give Him glory for His miracles in marriage. The message encourages couples to pray together, be united, and follow God's guidance for a glorious marriage. Topics: "Inviting Jesus into Marriage", "Trusting God's Timing" Scripture References: John 2:1, Matthew 18:19, Proverbs 3:5, Colossians 3:23, 1 Corinthians 10:31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of inviting Jesus into marriage, acknowledging that problems will arise but Jesus can help overcome them. It highlights the need to trust in God's timing for solutions, to obediently follow His instructions, and to give Him glory for His miracles in marriage. The message encourages couples to pray together, be united, and follow God's guidance for a glorious marriage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I'm going to begin with the word of God. And the reason is, marriage was never any man's idea. It was God's idea. When He made the first man and woman, He was the one who conducted the first marriage. And the Bible begins with a marriage. And then Jesus, when He came to earth, He began His ministry at a marriage, at a wedding. And the first miracle was at a wedding. So keeping that in mind, we want to honor our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. So I want to turn to that first instance where Jesus was at a wedding. That's in John's chapter 2. And the first thing I want you to notice here is that Jesus was invited to the wedding. He does not go where He's not invited. Many of us have invited Him into our hearts and He came to live. And in every place where we need Him, if we invite Him, He'll come. Prayer is actually an invitation to Jesus to come into a situation. Those who don't pray act as if they can handle it on their own. But those who pray acknowledge that I cannot handle that on my own. So we invite Jesus. So here Jesus was invited to this wedding. And that's the first thing I want Daniel and Yesenia to remember. You must invite Jesus into your marriage so that He's always between both of you. Always. It'll make a world of difference in the way you speak to each other if Jesus is always there. Imagine if Jesus was physically present in your home. How would you speak to each other? It must be like that. Every day. Every time you talk to each other. Christ is in the middle. Invite Him into your home. That's the first thing we see. And the other thing we see here is that at that wedding there was a problem. I don't think there's ever been a wedding in the world, or a marriage in the world where there was no problem. And when there was a problem there was one person there that is Jesus' mother Mary who knew what to do. And she, having seen Jesus for 30 years knew that He could solve the problem. She didn't know how. So that's the other thing you need to recognize. Don't think there'll be no problems in your marriage. My wife and I have been married 52 years. But every single problem we face we can honestly say before the Lord He helped us through. And He will do the same for you. I believe that. So that's what they did when this wine ran out. Now, I don't believe this was alcoholic wine because there's a verse in Proverbs that says we shouldn't even look at the wine when it is alcoholic. It was grape juice of some sort and they served it at the wedding. And when it ran out Mary ran to Jesus in very simple words and said they have no wine. So that's another thing we can learn. When we go to the Lord with a problem we don't have to give Him a big lecture. We don't have to explain anything. Lord, this is the problem. That's it. Can you do something about it? He can. So we ask Him to do something. She just said that and left it at that. And we read here Jesus saying My hour has not come. So that's the other thing you need to learn in marriage. When you go to Jesus with a problem He may not solve it immediately. There is a specified hour at which time the Lord will solve that problem. And there's a reason for delay. He knows best. So we must not be impatient. Lord, this is our problem. The Bible says be anxious for nothing but in everything that your requests be made known to God. With thanksgiving thanksgiving is the proof I believe He will answer. And so Mary just went away when Jesus said The hour has not come. But she went to the servants and said Whatever He says to you, do it. So in every verse here we can learn something. So when you face a problem in your marriage whatever Jesus says to you, do it. And He will say something at the right time. And when the time came Jesus told the servants Now fill up these six water pots here with water. So they did that. Now, you know, it says here that each water pot contained about thirty gallons. And when you multiply that by six stones it's 180 gallons of water. That was a lot of hard work to fill up 180 gallons of water. So what we learn from there is when we ask the Lord to do something for us we have to do our part. We're not to be lazy and say you can do it all. There'll be something He'll ask you to do. Because the Christian life is a yoke. One end of the yoke is on His neck and the other end is on yours. We walk together with Him. That's part of the humility of God that He cooperates with us. He wants us to work with Him. Jesus could have with a word, filled that water pot. Then He would have done it all Himself. He never likes to do anything all by Himself. If He wants to feed 5,000 He doesn't produce bread out of nothing. He takes five loaves from a boy and then multiplies it. Even raising Lazarus from the dead. He told them you roll away the stone and I'll raise it. That is the Lord's way always. That is how He does things. You do the easy part and I'll do the difficult part. Whenever you face a problem there is an easy part the Lord wants you to do. And the Lord will take care of the miraculous part. That's part of God's way. We are to be co-workers with Him. Both of you are to be co-workers with Jesus. Every problem can be solved. This is the first one He solved. But when you read the Gospels you find that there was never a single problem where Jesus had to say I don't know what to do there. Never! What does that teach us? There is not a single problem that you can ever face in your whole life. Even if you live a hundred years that He cannot solve. He can solve all of it. Start your married life with that faith and you'll have a wonderful marriage. That's what we learn here. And He doesn't just do the little bit you ask for. He'll do much more than you ask. They didn't need you know how much 180 gallons is? That's nearly 3,000 glasses of wine. Can you imagine making how many guests would there be in that house wedding? Maximum 100. Imagine making 30 glasses for each of them. That was a lot left over. And that's how the Lord will answer your prayer. Way beyond what you ask for. There are amazing lessons we can learn from this simple story of Jesus coming to a wedding. Jesus being there made all the difference. So will it be in your marriage. And when they were filled up, the water pots were filled up, Jesus said, now take that and serve it. Now serve it. Sometimes the Lord will ask you to do something in faith. I've spoken to you. It doesn't look reasonable to pour water out and obey Him. As you take the water on the way, it will become wine. These are great truths that you will see and experience in your marriage. And those who walk with the Lord have experienced such things in their own life as well. The world cannot understand that. Don't act before the Lord speaks to you. Don't go by leaning on your own understanding. But when both of you pray together and you're sure this is what the Lord wants us to do, obey. And the Lord will back you up. And if you're doubtful, you can say, Lord, hold us back. If you're not moving in the wrong direction, you can do that too. And then we read that the folks found this wine was far superior to what they had before. But nobody knew where it came from. That's another wonderful thing we see. Jesus does a miracle and He doesn't make Himself prominent. He hides somewhere so that people wonder where the wine came from. You know, that's how the Lord will do miracles for you too. You won't be visible. You won't see Jesus actually there. People don't see. They think, oh, that was a coincidence. That was not a coincidence. It was an answer to your prayer. Jesus was not visible, but behind the scenes He did that miracle. And I want you to experience that many times in your marriage. So, think of the story whenever you have a problem in your married life. And I say that to all married couples. I'm saying that from my own experience. Whenever we had a problem, my wife and I would kneel down and say, Lord Jesus, you said that two who gathered together in my name will be there. So, we are three now. And you said, whatever you ask the Father, if you agree together, it will be granted. Matthew 18, verse 19. If two people agree together, it must be agreed. Make sure there's no tension in your heart with each other when you pray. Be agreed. It's tremendous power when a husband and wife are agreed. The devil will do everything to try and bring a division. Don't let him succeed. Remain united. And claim Matthew 18, verse 19. If two agree together, whatever they ask, it will be granted by the Father. That's what happened here. And Jesus hides himself. Other people will think you solved that problem. They'll be amazed. How did he solve that problem? You know. It was Jesus behind the scenes who did it. That's the last thing I want to say. He manifested his glory there. The purpose is that Jesus can manifest his glory in your life. So, when the Lord does a miracle to you, don't forget to give him the glory at the end of it all. Lord, get alone somewhere. You don't have to do it in a public way to get honor from people for your humility or any of that garbage. Get alone with God and say, Lord, we give you the glory. Do that whenever the Lord does a miracle to you. So that's what I would like to say. And I pray that will... You know, this book is like the manufacturer's instruction. You get a washer. You get a washing machine. You get a little booklet called manufacturer's instruction. You press this button, put on this switch. If you obey it, it'll work perfectly. But if you think, oh, I know more than the manufacturer. I'm not going to listen to the instruction. I'll do what I feel like. The thing backs up. It doesn't work. Something goes wrong. It gets spoiled. You take it to the store from which you got it. And the first thing the storekeeper will ask you, did you follow the instructions? No. We thought we knew better. Ah. That's why the machine didn't work. And so today in most marriages in the world, they don't follow the manufacturer's instructions. They do what they like. The marriage gets messed up. Why? They didn't humble themselves to say, let me read the instructions. God almighty, you're the one who ordained the marriage. Lord Jesus, you started your miracle at a marriage. Help us to humble ourselves and acknowledge that that is the way for our marriage to be glorious. There's a great need in the world today for Christians to manifest glorious marriages. There are very few. Most people have to hide the state of their marriage from others because they are ashamed or embarrassed. But it need not be like that. If you follow these instructions, you can invite anybody into your home and come and see how we live 24 hours a day We don't take credit for it. But Jesus did the miracle. I pray you'll have a glorious marriage. What we're going to do now is we're going to ask both of them to exchange their vows. First, they will pray. They will pray first. That's because we want them each to commit their life to the Lord first. And then to each other. They will exchange vows and exchange rings. So let's be in a spirit of reverence recognizing Jesus Christ is here. So Daniel and Yesenia, Jesus is going to conduct your marriage. I'm just speaking on his behalf. I believe that all my heart is here. I sense his presence. So, will you please stand up? ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/MALS4IxYuf8.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/jesus-can-make-your-marriage-glorious/ ========================================================================