The second chapter of John records Jesus’ first miracle that of changing water into wine. This miracle is called a “sign.” It is a picture of what is to come in the end time. The best wine that was saved for the last at the wedding of Cana symbolizes the miraculous living Word that God is bringing forth to us in this end time. It is greater than anything that has come previously.
The second miracle sign that Jesus performed is described in John 4:46–54. He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain royal official, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, and was requesting Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.
Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.
And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour” (one o’clock in the afternoon) “the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed, and his whole household. This is again a second sign that Jesus performed, when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
This second miracle at Cana of Galilee also teaches us something concerning the end time. Everything that God brings forth is accomplished at the moment He says it, and therefore we are to believe it even though we do not see it.
The book of Revelation speaks a great deal about the illusion of things around us and how the devil comes to deceive the whole world. It is impossible for people of the world to know the truth. They cannot learn it from the newspapers or from the news reports on television. The truth is found elsewhere.
Today, there is no instrument of falsehood and deception as great as television. Pictures can be taken of a riot in a way that distorts the actual facts and makes the police appear to be the villains. The indignities used by the mob to provoke and goad the police are not shown. The news on television is completely dishonest. Almost all television programs present a distorted view of life, containing very little reality. It is all a fantasy, part of an illusion that Satan is bringing. Satan uses deception to produce colossal unbelief.
Everything reported in the newspaper might be factually true, and still create a lie, because only the accounts of evil and crime, of problems and difficulties, are presented—not anything of a positive nature. The adulteries of famous people make better news and sell more papers than the noble efforts of a man of God. The Lord presents the positive view in the Scriptures: “Whatsoever things are pure and of good report, if there be any virtue, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
Today’s restoration of New Testament church order is like a treasure hidden in a field, away from the eyes of people. If they see it, it is because God has revealed it to them. If they are not open for the revelation of what God is doing in the earth in the Word He is speaking, then they are open to the lies of the devil. People will believe something—either the truth or the illusion and deception.
The man whose son was healed believed the Word that Jesus spoke to him, even though he could not see the evidence of it. Likewise, we must believe the Word of the Lord, even when we do not see. We must have faith in our hearts that the Word and the revelation God is bringing today is the reality, regardless of what we see or feel.
To His generation Jesus said: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” That danger exists also in this end time. False prophets and false Christs will do such great signs and wonders that if it were possible they would deceive the very elect (Mark 13:22). If you are one who says, “You show me and I will believe,” then you may find yourself in a camp with an antichrist or a false prophet. Faith is not a matter of a man being convinced by what he sees; he must have his heart open and receive a revelation.
When Peter confessed to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus told him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal that to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:16–17). A deep source of revelation—God revealing a truth to your heart—is more essential than ever at this present time. When God gives you a Word, you do not have to understand it in order to believe it. Simply believe it and do it. This may sound like an instruction that only a naive fool would obey. However, anyone who has revelation will not consider it foolish, for he knows that God has a way of speaking through two or three prophets and that there is safety in the confirmation He requires.
God will help you to open your heart to do exactly whatever the Lord wants you to do, though it seems to be a hidden work. The hidden work that God is doing in the earth today is what is important. It is not yet unveiled because God does not want it to have attention now. The parable of the treasure hidden in a field reveals the truth of that fact. Some people look at what God is doing without understanding it at all. Others find the Lord revealing it to them; and if their dedication is great enough, they will sell everything and put their lives behind it because they know that it is real. They will work and sacrifice because God has laid a vision before them for God’s Word that is being spoken today, and they appreciate what God is doing.
When you hear a living Word from God, put all your faith behind it and believe that it will happen just the way God spoke it. When it appears as though disaster has struck and everything is working directly opposite from what the Word has said, then remember Daniel, who came out of the lions’ den to hear a proclamation by the king that Daniel’s God was the only true God and should be feared by all. Remember how the three Hebrew children came out of a fiery furnace to be honored. Remember Joseph, who came out of an Egyptian dungeon to sit next to the Pharaoh and save a civilization.
Sometimes a promise of God seems to work in reverse, and you go down, down, down—until you find yourself at the top. The way up is often attained by a downward path. The way to inherit the earth is the way of meekness and humility. The way to enter into patience is through tribulation. The way to enter into the things that God has for you is to get a Word from God and to be tried on that Word until it is like a cross on which you die. Hold fast and believe what God has revealed to your heart, and you will come out a winner. It will be done according to the Word of the Lord.
The angel said to Mary, “For no Word of God will be without power.” A young virgin girl believed, saying, “Be it done unto me according to thy Word” (Luke 1:38); and by the power of the Holy Spirit, she began to carry in her young womb the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your walk in the restoration truths is based upon your hearing a Word from the Lord and having your spirit respond by the revelation of the Holy Spirit to know that it is true. This ends the conflict. You can stand upon it and rest upon it, regardless of how things appear. You can believe it into existence and behold it as it comes into view.