and turn, if you will, to the
gospel according to John, chapter 2. John, chapter 2. Let's pray together before we
read. Our Father, this morning we're
so thankful. Oh, that You've allowed us the
blessed privilege to be in a place where you've faithfully maintained
the candlestick of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
all these many years. And Lord, we have nothing wherein
to glory except the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I pray
this morning, Lord, would you be pleased to bless the Word,
bless it to our heart, bless it to our understanding and our
comfort. Comfort your people. Lord, give us a fresh understanding. Let us hear afresh as we hear
Your Word and look into Your holy Scriptures. I pray for Tommy
this morning. Lord, I pray You'd help him and
those folks down there. That precious place where the
gospel is again allowed to be preached. Thank you for raising
up the candlestick there. I pray you'd comfort them and
help them. Bind their hearts together in unity and peace. I pray for Christ's sake. Amen. John chapter 2. I'd like to look
at the first 11 verses. Of this. Blessed passage of Scripture. It's. The last the last verse. For this morning, verse 11. This
is what it says. It says this beginning of miracles
did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory. And his disciples. Believe on
Him. Now, this is where He started
His miracles. This is the beginning of miracles.
Now, where He did it, the Scripture says, was Cana of Galilee. Why
He did it, the Scripture says, to manifest His glory. And the
effect of it was His disciples believed on Him. Now this account is actually
the turning of water into wine. This was when the Lord actually
performed that miracle. And the Scripture setting forth
that He manifested His glory. And you know we do desire to
see His glory. I want to hear this morning. I pray that I didn't come this
morning just to go through the motions. I pray that I didn't come today
just because it's Sunday. You know, that's real easy to
do. I'm just a frail creature. But this is the Lord's Day. This
is Sunday. This is a day that Almighty God
has established. This was the day
He rose. He rose on the first day, the
first day of the week. And we want to start, let's start
this week, beholding the glory of Almighty God. The disciples
said, John wrote this, he did, John 1 in the beginning, was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Verse
14 says, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. Now, here's a question I've got. When we behold the glory of God,
what does that mean? We beheld His glory. I mean,
if you hear that and you don't understand what that is, you're
thinking, well, it sounds biblical. It's got kind of a scriptural
sound, you know, we beheld His glory. But what does it mean? If I don't understand what it
means, it was just words. Beholding the glory of the Lord
Jesus Christ is to be made by faith, to see with spiritual
eyes how God Almighty has honored Himself in the redemption and
salvation of His people. That's the glory of God. We beheld
His glory. Who He is. what He's done, where
He is right now. This miracle, this beginning
of miracles, turning of water into wine, it took place at a
wedding. Scripture says in the third day,
verse 1, John 2, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee and the mother
of Jesus was there And both Jesus was called and His disciples
to the marriage. Now, here's what we know so far. That the Lord Jesus Christ gave
His approval by being there at a marriage. Marriage is honorable. Marriage is established and ordained
by God Almighty Himself. Marriage is right. People, you
know, today marriage is not looked upon really by many. Many it
is, but many it's not. We'll just live together. Just try it out. Who knows? I mean, you know, we might ought
to just try it out and just see if it works. Let's see if we're
compatible. Marriage is honorable. Not marriage,
not honorable. Marriage is a picture of the
marriage between the Lord Jesus Christ and His Bride. Marriage
is honorable. The Scripture says, Genesis 2,
24, Therefore shall a man leave his father, his mother, cleave
to his wife, to his wife, and they shall be
one flesh. So I know this, based on Scripture,
our Lord set His approval on marriage. So the setting of His
manifested glory, it said that He manifested His glory. So the
setting was a marriage. Now the means by which He manifested
His glory was that He performed a miracle. Verse 3, And when
they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They
have no wine, and Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I
to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Now, here was a marriage, and
the mother of Jesus It does not say the mother of
God. Now, there's a religion, a false
religion that says, and they pray, and this is how the prayer
goes. I was raised Roman Catholic.
It's the saddest thing in the world that I can remember. Now, you talk about brainwashed. I can remember this. Here's how
that false religion sets forth. Holy Mary,
mother of God. She's not the mother of God.
The scripture says the mother of Jesus. Now she was the vessel
by which the Spirit of God brought forth the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born just like anyone
else. But Mary's not the mother of
God. She was the vessel earthly vessel. She was a virgin that
was used by the Spirit of God. And she was conceived of the
Holy Ghost. She is not the mother of God.
She is the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, the man. Mother
of Jesus. Here is this marriage. Now, as
soon as you hear of a marriage, what does a believer think about?
He thinks about the marriage between Christ and His bride. Now here's the setting. The Lord
is going to manifest His glory and He comes to a marriage. And
you're watching. You're going to see how is He
going to manifest His glory, the glory in redemption, the
glory in salvation. Here is the laying down of the
foundation of that eternal marriage. Hosea 2, 19, I will betroth thee
unto me forever. I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness and in
mercies. They're at a marriage. There
was no why. That's what verse 3 says, when
they wanted They lacked the wine. The mother of Jesus saith unto
him, They have no wine. Now wine. I understand that there
was physically no wine, but realize something. There is a deeper
meaning here than just the physical liquid that they did not have. Wine is a picture in the Scriptures.
of joy, joy in the Lord, joy realized by the presence and
the fellowship with Christ. Listen to this. I'm going to
make good on that. Here again, I've told you, if
I make a statement, I want to back it up with Scripture because
anybody's got an opinion, somebody just make a statement, well,
that means this. How do you know it means that?
Now, I've always heard that. I've always heard a lot of things.
What does the Scriptures have to say? If you can't back it
up with Scripture, then I have no basis whatsoever to believe
you. Back it up. Listen to this. Psalm
104.15, "...and wine that maketh glad the heart of man." Judges
9.13, And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine
which cheereth God and man?" There is a wine that we're speaking
of that is more than just the stuff that comes in a bottle.
It's the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord Himself and
the joy of His people in the Lord. What cheers God Almighty? What cheers God? Well, I'll tell
you what the Lord God said. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. This, He is the wine that cheereth
God. The joy of the Lord and the joy
of His people. There was no wine Therefore,
I know this, whatever is manifested in the glory of God Almighty,
in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said He manifested
His glory, whatever it was, there was no wine, there was no joy,
there was no peace, spiritually. And that's what
we're looking at here. You know, if this is just a story
that happened a couple of thousand years ago, and there was a wedding
there, and they just ran out of wine, and that's all it was. It's just history. If that's
all it was, what good is that going to do me and you? I mean,
it was just history. It was just an event. That's
all. But if there's more than that, if it's setting forth more
than that, if the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested,
and this has got something to do with me right now, Tell me
what it is, because I want to know. They're at a marriage. There's a marriage. But there was no wine. There
was no joy. The Lord said, I betrothed you
unto myself forever. I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, judgment, lovingkindness, So there is a marriage. There
is a marriage. God has a bride. The Lord Jesus
Christ has a bride. He has a people. There's no doubt
about that. But the joy is gone. There was
no wine. Let me ask you this. When did the joy cease? When did it stop? Well, in the garden, the Lord
God told Adam, and here was Adam, all mankind. He said, you can eat of all of
the fruit of this garden. He said, of the fruit of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You're not going to
eat of that one. Don't eat of that. In the day
that you do eat of it, And God knew He was going to eat. Here's
a picture of His bride. There's Adam. There's mankind. Adam and Eve. All of them. God's
people. Manifested. Set forth. A picture. All men came out of
Adam. Some under honor. Some under
dishonor. But there's Adam. A picture. A type of God's people. In the day you eat of that fruit,
you're going to die. And he took that fruit. His wife,
you know the story. Satan beguiled her. And she came
to him and she gave him of the fruit. And he ate of it. And exactly what God said was
going to happen, happened. He died. And the joy was gone. Sin entered this world by one
man's disobedience, by one act of disobedience, by one man's
one act, death. There was no wine and no joy,
no peace. God Almighty had told Adam, this
is what's going to happen. Now let me tell you how I know
the joy was gone. The Lord came walking in the
cool of the day, the scripture says, and Adam and Eve hid themselves. No joy there. They weren't looking
for him. Wine was gone. Man was alienated. Where are you, Adam? You think
God didn't know where he was? God's going to show Adam, this
is where you are. He said, I hid myself. He said,
why? He said, because I was naked.
Who told you that he was naked? Did you eat of the fruit? God
knew he ate the fruit. What had happened is he had absolutely
disobeyed God. The wine, the joy of the Lord,
the free presence of God was gone. But did God still have a marriage?
Did God still have a bride? Yes, He did. Yes, He did. He came and told Adam, he said,
I'm going to cast you out. Back in John it says, they wanted
wine. And the mother of Jesus said
unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Now
let me tell you something. The Lord was not being harsh
with his mother. We just misunderstand how it's
being said. I'm going to tell you what he
said. He was not being mean to her, hard with her, sharp with
her. He was not. She came to him and
she just said, they don't have any wine. What he said was, when
he said, what have I to do with thee? Actually, this is what it says.
What's common between me and you? What is common between us? I alone can do what must be done. That's what he told her. What
have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. No man assists. No man dictates
to the Lord how joy and peace and comfort is actually accomplished or brought back. Nobody will
say they have no wine. Woman, what have I to do with
thee? His mother saith, verse 5, unto
the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. I tell you, grace subdues a sinner. to bow to his will, whatever
he says. We're not we're not I'm not talking
about my will. I'm not talking about me and
the Lord have a good thing going. I'm not talking about me being
able to establish anything. What have I to do with you? What's
common between me and you? What can you do? What can you
do? Without Him, you can do nothing. Whatever He says, do it. I tell you, when we hear the
Word of Almighty God, ìCome unto Me, all you that are weak and
heavy laden. I will give you rest.î Then I
hear Him say, ìNo man can come. No man has the ability to come.
except my Father which hath sent me to draw him." Nobody. Nobody. What are you going to do for
God? Nothing. Nothing. What can you
do? You say, well, I can believe.
Not without Him. It's given unto you to believe. Whatever He says to do, do it. Well, verse 6 says, there were
six water pots of stone after the manner of the purifying of
the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Now, look at the wording of this
scripture. There were set there six waterpots
of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews. Those six waterpots set forth
the way that the Jews and all men left to themselves in unbelief try or attempt to reconcile themselves
back to God. by the keeping of the law. Look
what those water pots were for. Six water pots of stone after
the manner of the purifying of the Jews. They felt as though that when
you would come and take some water and wash your hands, it
wasn't just like me and you going and washing our hands just as
we've been out in the dirt. They saw that as their obedience
to the law of God in the purifying of themselves. That's what it
is. After the manner of the purifying
of the Jews. Those water pots right there
set forth their continued attempt to purify themselves before God
after The manner of the purifying of the Jews. The keeping of the
law. Mark 7. Let me just read this
to you. Mark 7, 3 and 4. For the Pharisees and all the
Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the
tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market,
except they wash, they eat not. I've got to wash. filth of those
people that I was around. I'm not like them. I'm holier
than you are. And many other things there be
which they have received to hold as the washing of cups and pots
and brazen vessels and tables or beds. Six water pots. There's no wine here. There's
no joy here. There's a marriage. But there's
no peace. What have they got? Well, they've
got six water pots. That's what they are. Six pots that set forth the keeping
of the law. And the thing that I know is
that they were empty. Verse 7 says, Jesus saith unto
them, filled the water pots with water. There were six pots and
there wasn't anything in them. There was nothing there. Nothing
there to help. Romans 8 verse 3 says, For what
the law could not do in that it was weak to the flesh, God
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh. The Lord said, Fill them up.
Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the
brim. The Lord commanded, Fill those
water pots, those emblems of the law. Fill them up with water. One of the emblems of God's Word.
I know that. Listen, Ephesians 5.26. that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word." Fill the water pots up. God's word. God's law. God's law is good. There's nothing wrong with God's
law. The problem is you and I can't
keep it. You don't want to have anything to do with God's law.
I'm telling you. You deal with God's law in yourself,
and God's law is going to condemn you because you can't keep it. You can't keep it. No joy. Empty. He said, fill them up. Fill them up to the brim. Fill
it to the uttermost. Fill it, all that is required,
all that's to be answered for. Fill it up. The Scriptures said that they obviously filled him up. All that was required, the Lord
said, you make sure that to the brim. You remember when he was
walking with those two on the road to Emmaus? And beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures those things concerning himself. They were at a marriage and there
was no wine, there was no joy because man had broken God's
law. And here were six pots and they
were an empty picture of the law's demand but their inability. To do it, it was empty. They could not. There's no purifying
by the keeping, by the deeds of the law shall no man be justified
before God. The Lord said, you fill it up. And I'll deal with it. I'll deal with it. You fill it
up. The water pots were filled to
the brim. Every jot and every tittle of
the law He fulfilled. He took care of it. In verse 8, they filled it to
the brim and something miraculous happened that you and I cannot
enter into in ourselves, but we behold it by faith. He said
unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast,
and they bear it. And when the ruler of the feast
had tasted the water that was made wine, they knew not whence
it was. But the servants which drew the
water knew. The governor of the feast called
the bridegroom, and he said unto them, Every man at the beginning
doth set forth good wine. And when men have well drunk,
and that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine
until now." What happened? The Lord Jesus Christ did something
that men had nothing to do with. He turned that which was absolutely
against us, filled that water pot to the brim. And He did,
as Brother Scott would say so often, God had to do something
for Himself before He could do anything for us. He turned that
which was absolutely incapable because of our weakness. He turned
that which was incapable of establishing a righteousness before God, and
He Himself turned in the body of His flesh. He fulfilled the
law of God to the uttermost. He took the law and obeyed God
Almighty perfectly and turned that which was against us into joy. We love God's law. We just can't keep it. God's
law is God's expression of His character, His demand for obedience. And only by the Lord Jesus Christ
To that which set forth God's demand, how is that going to
be wine to me? Here's how it was. He hath made
him sin. He took that which the law to
the brim demanded, and in the body of his own flesh, He bore
in His flesh that which God demanded. He obeyed it, and He paid its
penalty. Now He's imputed His obedient
righteousness unto us. And now there's joy. There's
wine. And that which God demanded,
He fulfilled for His people. He fulfilled the law of God,
obeyed it, and it was miraculous. They said, how did it happen? He hath made him sin, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Tell me how he turned water into wine. He turned water into wine. Nobody could lay claim to that.
Nobody touched it. Nobody's will was exhibited in
that. He said, you feel it, now you
draw it out. Oh, that which would have had
everything in its power to condemn me, the Lord Jesus Christ has obeyed. That which would have done nothing
but put me under God's judgment now finds no fault with me. There's
no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. Why? Because of my federal head. Because of my husband. Yeah,
there was a wedding. There was an eternal wedding.
established in glory, established in eternity. There was no wine. Why? Because man rebelled against
God. No joy, no peace, no comfort.
What happened? The Lord Jesus Christ said, You
fill the water. You put the water in the water
pots. You fill them to the brim, and I'm going to deal with them.
And in the indescribable mercy and power of Almighty God, He
turned that which was against me and made it to be His own. My rebellion was His rebellion.
He said, My iniquities have taken hold upon Me. And when they drew
it out, we were beheld something that was absolutely glorious. This is wine. The joy of the
Lord. I'll read verse 11 again and
we'll close. This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory and His
disciples believed on Him. You say, well, how did they see
that? How did they believe? How did they know? Let me ask
you this. How do you believe now? It's
a miracle of God's grace that you believe this. Man by nature
can hear this message and they say, I don't get it. Well, if he ever gives you eyes
to see, you will. Ears to hear, you will. We can
look at that right there and you said, you know what, a believer
will look at that and you say, I see that perfectly. I see that. I see just exactly what went
on. And it thrills my heart to see it. May the Lord add his
blessing. on the preaching of His glorious
gospel, for Christ's sake, amen.