Chapter 6
The Governor of the Feast
 

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, than that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

John 2:9-10
 

The servants brought the water that had been made wine to the governor of the feast as Jesus had instructed. He could tell by tasting it that it was good wine. In fact he even made the comment that they had saved the best for last. It is a practice even today that when serving certain alcoholic beverages you serve the best and the strongest first. Once people have become intoxicated they won’t recognize it if what they’re drinking has been watered down or is of a lesser quality. Intoxication will cause you not to notice that a wine is not good. If you’re only interested in becoming intoxicated then the quality of the wine won’t matter to you. Your goal is simply to get drunk. However, a true connoisseur cares about the taste of the wine and has learned how to keep his sense of taste clear in order to recognize the good, even after tasting the lesser.
 

36

<<<Previous-Part 2     Next-p37>>>       

38  39  40  41  42  43

The Bible tells us that "strong meat" belongs to those who are of full age (mature) who have trained their senses through practice to be able to discern between good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14). You can learn to recognize the Spirit of God and see the value of the things of God but if you become proud of your spiritual discernment then watch out. You will begin to judge others and become critical of them. It’s not enough just to have the ability to recognize a fault or a sin. If you think that you are mature and discerning because you can see everyone else’s faults and sins then you are not mature at all. 1 Corinthians 3 tells us that love is the measure of maturity. If you really think that you can see a fault in someone else then the question is how will you restore that person? In most cases, if you feel the need to prove them wrong and come up with "evidence" of their sin then you are not in a position to correct them. You are in a position to pray for them. Let God work in their life. You don’t need to be the one to set them straight. The truth is that you need to use the discernment the Lord gives you to repent of the crud in your own life. You need to quit striving for a high position and learn to walk in the ways of the

37

  <<<Prev-p36     Next-p38>>>

 39  40  41  42  43

There is a common mistake people often make once they begin to learn enough of the Bible to detect a fault or sin in another person. Instead of using that knowledge to pray for the person or to lovingly guide them to the truth in some way, they want to banish them from the church. They want to mark them as "wrong". Can you imagine if the Lord did that to us? There would be no one left! Jesus didn’t say to cast the demon possessed out of the church He said to cast the demons out of the people! But if you become proud of your discernment ability then this is exactly what can happen.

Another common mistake is that you may recognize a person’s manipulative and controlling ways and in an effort to keep from allowing that person to control you, you may purposely do the opposite of what that person says. Well guess what? You were still controlled by that person because you changed your behavior as a result of something they said or did. If you are always reacting to other people then you are not really acting according to the Spirit of God within you. In an effort to keep someone from manipulating you, you may over-react and your over-reaction has resulted in the very thing you were trying to avoid.

It’s like the rebellious teenager who doesn’t want his parents telling him what to do. So he purposely does the exact opposite of what his parents say. But what he doesn’t realize is that his parents are still affecting his behavior. He’s not doing what he really wants to do; he’s doing what his parents don’t want him to do. He still hasn’t learned to take responsibility for his own life. He’s not taking the time to pursue his dreams. He’s just out to prove he has the reigns to his life and ironically he’s proving that he doesn’t! A mature person will be able to do the "right" thing even if it’s what their enemy is suggesting they do. You don’t do it because your enemy is

38

36

<<<Prev-p37     Next-p39>>>

 40  41  42  43

When you are an inexperienced drinker it doesn’t take much to get you intoxicated. In the same way, when you are spiritually immature, (not mature in love), then you will want to use the revelations of the Lord to draw attention to yourself. You will become spiritually intoxicated and when that happens you’re no longer alert and you put yourself in a dangerous place. Please don’t think through this discussion that I’m promoting drinking alcohol. I’m simply comparing what the Governor of the feast said to show the analogy to the things of the Spirit. It takes more then just knowledge of the things of God to be able to move in the Spirit in a way that brings glory to God. It takes good fruit as well. If you are not mature in love then you can become easily intoxicated or impressed and be led away from where the Spirit of God is going. God doesn’t want you to become intoxicated on His truths to the point where you are no longer alert to the move of His Spirit. He doesn’t want you to become so impressed with the knowledge and revelations you’ve received so far that you don’t perceive that there’s more He wants to bring to you. There’s a greater depth He wants to bring you to.

The Holy Spirit wants to bring you new wine. But this new wine is not just "new revelations" that you impress people with. The greater truths of God are the greater depths of what you’ve already received. When you are spiritually immature you don’t recognize the value and depth of these simple truths you receive. You may think that spiritual growth means you get more and more revelation when in reality you simply need a greater depth of relationship with the Lord.

39

36  37

<<<Prev-p38     Next-p40>>>

 41  42  43

You don’t want to lose your appreciation for what the Lord has already shown you. You don’t want to become bored thinking you’ve mastered what you’ve received from Him. You want to appreciate the truths God reveals to you but always be aware that there are greater depths and levels of intimacy surrounding those truths yet to be discovered. And the "greater depths" does not mean you continue to hoard up "new" revelation after revelation. That would be like skimming through a book without really reading it. You want to keep skimming and skimming and picking out little nuggets of truth. But God says to stop and go back to chapter one and begin to study and meditate on the basic truth of His reality and existence. Allow Him to take you to a greater depth of that truth. If you just keep skimming and picking out little nuggets of truth along the way then you are not consuming the truth, allowing it to become a part of you and change you into His image.

There are many people who enjoy wine tasting and one thing that wine-tasting rooms have is a place to "dump" the wine after you’ve tasted it. The idea is that if you spit out the wine then you can remain clear-headed and do more tasting without becoming intoxicated. This may be a good idea while consuming alcohol, but when it comes to the things of the Spirit of God He wants you to consume His truths and partake fully of them and not just enjoy the truth for a moment and then spit it out. But in order to do that you can’t consume a lot at once. You have to allow enough time so you don’t become intoxicated. You need to meditate on the revelations He gives you and spend time soaking them up so they become a part of you.
 

40

36  37  38

<<<Prev-p39     Next-p41>>>

 42  43

Temperature has a great part to play when aging wine. And your temperature (temperament or attitude) has a lot to do with how good the wine of the Spirit will taste when it comes to it’s proper serving time. While you are soaking with the Spirit of God and going through those times of waiting and delay that you don’t like too much, your attitude during those times will affect the outcome of what the Spirit of God produces in your life as a result. If you want to be able to enjoy and serve the good wine of the Holy Spirit of God, then you have to keep your attitude consistent with what the Word of God tells you. The fruit of the Spirit is what is going to produce good wine. Truly good wine must start with good fruit. And for you to be able to live the Kingdom life and speak words of life to others by the Spirit of God, you must start with the right fruit—the fruit of the Spirit—and remain in the right temperament during the aging process.

41

36  37  38  39

<<<Prev-p40     Next-p42>>> 

43

The miracle that Jesus performed in turning the water into wine came from years of Jesus soaking with the Father, growing in intimacy with Him. Jesus didn’t waste those years of waiting. He spent them soaking with the Father. As a result, His words had great depth to them. The more intimate you are with Him the greater depth your words will have as well. And you also will be able to carry this depth and serve it to others. It begins as you recognize the value of what He shows you, appreciate the truths He gives and take the time to meditate on them, soak in them and experience intimacy with Him. There is a proper timing to drinking wine in order to experience the best taste. You need to spend enough time with Him so that you will be able to recognize the proper time to serve the wine.

God doesn’t cast His pearls before swine. (Matthew 7:6). He doesn’t give what is valuable to those who don’t recognize the value of it. Just like you wouldn’t give a two-year-old an

42

36  37  38  39  40

<<<Prev-p41     Next-p43>>> 

Just as the servants delivered the wine to the Governor of the Feast, the Lord will bring the new wave of His Spirit to those who are mature in discernment first to see if they will receive it. If it’s not recognized by them it’s not going to be recognized or appreciated by anyone else. Because He’s saving the best for last you’ve got to remain in a place where you can discern the moving of the Spirit. You need to remain alert and not allow yourself to become drunk with what will dull your spiritual senses to the move of the Spirit. You don’t want to look for the "new and exciting" things that will simply impress people. If you get caught up in that then your are promoting competition and jealousy within the body. You don’t want to strive to speak astounding truths that bring glory to you instead of glory to God. When you’re always looking for the new and different you can get yourself in trouble. Just because something is different doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better. We must be able to discern the difference.

Love, Hope and Faith brought the new wine to the Governor of the feast. When these three work together they will bring in a new wave of the Spirit that will bring true joy and peace to the church. A type of joy and peace that will not dull our spiritual senses, but rather sharpen them.

1 From the website of Nuyaka Creek Winery in Oklahoma. www.nuyakacreek.com

 

43

36  37  38  39  40  41