The word beginning in verse 11,
the beginning of miracles, did Jesus in Cana of Galilee. The
word beginning means not only first in order of time, and this
is the Lord's first miracle, but it also means the first in
order of importance. As a matter of fact, that's what
the word means, not simply first in chronology, but first in the
order of importance, this is what the Bible tells us is the
most important miracle of the Lord. And that gives us some
idea of the significance of this. A miracle is a sign that is given
to demonstrate divine authority and to teach us every miracle
of our Lord teaches us the gospel. And I believe that this miracle
teaches us the gospel perhaps more clearly than any of the
other miracles of our Lord. Now, in this beginning of miracles,
the changing of water into wine, the Lord shows us who he is.
But not only that, he shows us the gospel. And John tells us
that this miracle manifested His glory. Now that's a pretty
impressive resume, isn't it? Don't you want to see His glory? Now that's what I want more than
anything else. I want to see His glory. And this miracle actually shows
us His glory. And we also read that His disciples
believed. And it's my prayer that that's
what takes place this morning. That he will manifest his glory
to us and that his disciples will believe. Wouldn't that be
a blessing if that's what takes place this morning? Verse one. And the third day. 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. The Lord performs this beginning
of miracles during a marriage feast, and the fact that the
Lord attended this marriage feast tells us of his approval of and
of the sanctity of marriage. I want to talk just for a couple
of minutes about the significance of the Lord picking marriage
to Use this to platform this miracle. Marriage is the first
thing that God instituted in the Garden of Eden, and Christ
performed his first miracle in a marriage feast. A marriage,
I believe most of you know this, but marriage typifies the relationship
between Christ and his church. When Paul speaks of marriage
and the responsibilities of husbands and wives to one another, He
ends it by saying, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning
Christ and the church. The church is the bride of Christ. And if I'm a believer, I am married
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a powerful thought. If
I'm a believer, I am married to the Lord Jesus Christ. That
to not be what God requires of me as a husband or a wife is
sin. To not be what God requires of
me to be as a husband or a wife is sin. Now, I realize that in
marriage problems, it's your spouse's fault. I realize that
if he or she would do what they're supposed to do, everything would
be fine with it. That's the problem. But let me
remind you. The Bible does not tell your
spouse how they're supposed to treat you. The Bible only tells
you how you're supposed to treat your spouse. I can't help but
think of how Peter says that if the husband is not dwelling
with the wife according to knowledge, that his prayers are hindered. Now, that's how serious the Lord
is about this. For me to not treat Lynn the
way I should treat her as a husband is displeasing to the Lord. And
my prayers are hindered. Husbands, wives hear the same
thing. Your prayers are hindered. If you don't treat your husband
as he ought to be treated. Don't become lazy in your marriage
and blame your spouse for the problem. Seek to honor the Lord
as a husband. Seek to honor the Lord as a wife
and love your spouse and live to please them. And remember,
to not do so is sin. Now that's your job, to please
your spouse. And you know, when I was thinking
about this, I was just meditating on the fact that my responsibility
is to please my spouse. But I can't help but thinking,
when I think of something like that, I think, well, I hope Lynn
hears this. You know, and that's the wrong
way to think. It's just a natural course of
thinking. Everybody here is thinking, well, I hope my spouse is hearing
this. I know that's what you're thinking. I know you're just
like I am. I hope they hear. Quit thinking that way. But the Lord honored marriage
by being at this marriage feast. Oh, that the Lord would enable
us to honor Him in our marriages. Don't become remiss. Don't become negligent. Don't
become lazy in this. Verse 3, And when they wanted wine, the
mother of Jesus said unto him, They had no wine. Now, during
this feast, they ran out of wine. And this reads literally the
wine failed. And it is only when we see human
failure and inability that we'll see the Lord act. And the mother
of our Lord, Mary, said to the Lord Jesus, they have no wine. Now, Mary knew. That her son
was the son of God. I tried to think about this.
What was it like to watch him growing up knowing that he was
when he was born, you were a virgin. She knew he was the son of God.
The angels told her that. And she watched this one grow
up in her house. What must that have been like? She knew he didn't have a sinful
nature. She knew he was the son of God. Now, at this time, she
tells the Lord they're out of line. She obviously expected
him to do something about it. They're out of line. Verse four. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Now, she is met with a rebuke.
All she did was say they're out of line and she obviously expected
him to do something about it. But he rebukes her for this. Woman, what have I to do with
thee? What connection is there between
me and you so that you think I need you to tell me what to
do? Now, he was not being disrespectful,
but she knew he was the son of God. Yes, he was her son in the
flesh, but he was God the son, and she should not even imply
to him what he should do. This was actually disrespectful
on Mary's part, and he rebukes her. You see, Mary was a sinner. Just like you and I are. Yes,
she was highly favored by God. But she was a sinner, just like
you and I are, and she was rebuked by our Lord. Our Lord said, My
hour is not yet come when I'll be subjected to the whims of
man. That will happen on the cross,
but it's not yet. My hour is not yet come. Verse 5. Now Mary gives the appropriate
response. His mother said unto the servants,
Whatsoever he saith unto you, Do it. Now, here is our rule of life. Here is our rule of action. Here
is our code of conduct. Whatsoever. It doesn't matter
what it is. It doesn't matter whether you
agree with it or not or you understand it or not. Whatsoever he saith
to you, do it. That's the only wise course
of conduct. It doesn't matter what it is.
You see, if He says it, that makes it right. He doesn't say
it because it's right. It's right because He said it.
Therefore, whatever He says to you, it doesn't matter what it
is. It doesn't matter whether you understand it or not. Whatever He says to
you, do it. That is our code of conduct. Verse 6. And there was set there
six water pots of stone. After the manner of the purifying
of the Jews, containing two or three perkins apiece, which means
20 or 30 gallons apiece, they were empty, six stone water pots. And these water pots were used
for ceremonial washings. the ceremonial washings of the
Jews. They would always wash their
hands before they did anything. And that's a good habit. That's
a good practice. Always washing their hands. But they missed
the meaning. They were always trying to clean
up the outside, but inside nothing happened. Six water pots. Six, the number of men. Adam
was created on the sixth day. These numbers are significant. It means failure. That's what
six represents. You know, that number six, six,
six in the book of Revelation, I think it's chapter 13 and 14.
Someone said, what's that mean? Six, six, six. It means failure
upon failure upon failure. The number of man, man is going
to fail. There were six water pots of
stone used to wash up the outside. This represents man's religion,
cleans up the outside. And it doesn't do that. But the
inside is still the same. These six water pots of stone
used for the purifying of the Jews. Now, what does the Lord
tell them to do? Verse seven. And remember, we're looking at
the most important miracle. Our Lord tells us that this is
the miracle that is the most important miracle that he performed,
and that gives us some idea of the significance of this. Jesus
saith unto them, he looks at those six stone water pots empty. And he says, fill the water pots
with water. And they filled them to the brim. There was no room left for any
additions. There was no room left for human
contributions or trickery. Filled with H2O all the way to
the brim. Verse 8. And he saith unto them,
draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they
bear it when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that
was made wine. Sometime between the time he
told them to fill it with water, these stone water pots, and when
the governor of the feast tasted it, The water was actually made
to be wine. Look at verse nine, when the
ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine,
the water ceased to be what it was. And became what it was not. It was not water that tasted
like wine. It was not as if it were wine. It was wine. Literally, it was
wine. It was water and it was made
wine and I have no doubt that it is the best wine that anybody
ever tasted. I always wonder what people who
think that touching alcohol is sinful do with this passage of
Scripture. Our Lord changed the water into
wine. And it was the best wine ever
made. And I think it's interesting
for us to note this. Christ could have willed the
wine to appear in empty water pots if he wanted to, couldn't
he? He didn't have to tell the servants,
pour the water into the water pots. He didn't have to do that.
But he did it. And then he changed the water
into wine. Now, what that tells me is that even when the Lord's
working his miracles, he always works through means. He always
works through human instrumentality. Even then, he made these people
pour the water into the water pots, the Lord always works through
means. But what I want us to notice
now, remember, this miracle teaches us the gospel. The Lord didn't say anything. He didn't say abracadabra, he
didn't wave his hands, he didn't he didn't make some kind of incantation
across the place to embrace everybody. He didn't say anything. Simply
as an act of His will, the water was made wine. In this miracle, we have the
gospel. Salvation comes by the will of God, just as the water
did not will itself to become wine. It was totally dependent
upon the will of Christ. Salvation is 100% dependent upon
the will of Jesus Christ. Simply as an act of His will. Nothing was said. He simply willed
it. And that water was made wine. Now, have you ever heard of man's
free will? Sure you have. You hear preachers
talk about it all the time. God loves you. Christ died for
you. And God wants you to be saved. But it's up to your free will
as to whether or not you'll be saved. You can decide to let God save
you or you can reject Him. It's up to your free will. Now, please listen to me carefully.
That is a lie. There is absolutely No truth
in that statement. That is a lie. Just like that water could not
will itself to be made wine, that water was totally dependent
upon the sovereign will of Christ. It is not of him that willeth,
the scripture says. It is not of him that runneth. but of God that showeth mercy,
it's totally up to the sovereign will of Christ as to whether
or not you or I will be saved. Now I want you to think about
that. You have absolutely no control. None. It's totally up to him
as to whether you'll stand with the redeemed. Have we learned what the leper
learned? Lord, if you will, if you will, you can make me
clean. There's not one thing I can do
to make myself clean. I can't talk you into making
me clean. I can't manipulate you and cause you to do it. I'm
totally in your hands. It's totally up to you. Lord,
if you will, you can make me clean. I am in your hands. Turn over to John chapter 5.
Hold your finger there in John 1 and look in John chapter 5.
I want you to look at this verse of Scripture with me. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus. And he says in verse 21, for
as the father raises up the dead and quickens them, gives them
life. Now, think of the picture, a
dead person. What's the only way they can
live? If God wills their life, that's it, there's nothing we
can't do anything about it, the dead person can't do anything
about it. God's got to give them life. For as the Father raises
up the dead and quickens them, even so the Son quickeneth. What are those last three words?
Whom He will. Now, my salvation, my standing
before God, my only hope of standing amongst the redeemed is totally
dependent upon His will. Now, you know what that makes
me do? That makes me cry out with this
leper, the same thing this leper cried, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. Now, I want to give some very
wise counsel to you if you're unconverted. If you don't know
the Lord, if you're an unbeliever, you know what you ought to do?
You ought to pray this same prayer this leper prayed. And this leper
hadn't been cleansed yet, had he? He didn't even know the Lord
was going to cleanse him. He didn't know. He was still
a leper, but he still said, Lord, if you will. You can make me
clean. You can make me whole. You can
cleanse me. You young people that are not believers, this
is the prayer you ought to be praying right now. Don't let
this fall off deaf ears. You ought to be asking the Lord
to will your salvation. Lord, save me. Have mercy on
me, Lord, if you will. It's totally up to you, but if
you will, you can make me clean. Everybody in this room ought
to be praying this prayer right now. Just in case I haven't been
cleansed, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Pray it
right now. This is not some soul winner trying to lead you into
praying this prayer after me. I'm not saying that at all. You
know that. Your salvation is totally dependent upon the Lord.
You know that. Ask Him, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. Do you know that everybody that's
ever prayed that prayer, and I mean from their heart, I mean,
that really believed it, everybody that's prayed that prayer, you
know what they've heard from the Lord? I will. Be thou clean. And immediately,
his leprosy was cleansed. Do you see how this miracle teaches
us how God saves sinners? He saves sinners by an act of
His will. Simply by willing it. That water
was made wine. And you and I need to understand
this, or we'll never really ask Christ to save us. We'll go to
the wrong place. Now, here's the Gospel. Remember,
this is the most important miracle. This is the beginning of miracles.
Here is the Gospel. The water was made wine. The
water ceased to be what it was, and it actually became what it
was not. And the word made is the key. The water was made wine. When Christ saves somebody, they're
made to be what they are not. Now, how? How? I am a sinful man. That's what I am. A sinful man. When Christ saved me, I was made
holy. And my dear friends, it's not
as if I was made holy. It's not just like I was made
holy. When Christ saved me, I was made
holy. I came to be what I was not. Hold your finger there in John
and turn to Hebrews 10. Let me back this up with the Scripture. Verse 10. Let's begin reading
verse 9. Then said he, speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ, this is a quotation from Psalm 40. Then said he,
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second by the which will, by God's will. This is remember we've been talking
about his will, by God's will, by the will of the Lord Jesus
Christ, him coming to do the Father's will, by the which will
we are sanctified. That means holy. We are, we're
declared to be holy through the offering, through the death and
the bloody crucifixion of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all. Now, I am sinful. That's what
I am in myself. When God saved me by God's will,
I am made holy. I am made I'm sanctified. I'm sanctified once for all.
It doesn't need to be improved. It doesn't need to be repeated.
I am made holy. I'm sanctified once for all. Now, how does this work? We turn
to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Verse 21. And note again the importance
of this word made. For He hath made Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to be seen for us, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him." Christ became. He was made to be what He was
not. This, to me, is so beyond any
ability to comprehend and grasp, I believe it. Christ knew no
sin. He never sinned. You know, you know sin, don't
you? You understand it. It's part of you. It's what you
are. We understand sin, somewhat. But you know, he knew no sin.
He had no understanding of sin. He had no understanding of what
it is to sin against God. If you would have explained it
to him, he couldn't understand by way of him committing it. He knew no sin. And yet this passage of Scripture
says he was made to be what he was not of the cross, though
he never committed sin in his purpose, in his person. He was
made to be sin. It's not as if he were made to
be sinned. It's not just as if he were sinned. He was made to
be sinned. All that that means was concentrated
on His person. He was made to be sinned on Calvary
Street. All the hellishness that's in
sin, He was made to be. I don't understand how that works,
but God took the sins of His people and placed them upon Christ
and they became His. He was guilty. That's why God
punished him. He was guilty. My sin became
his. It's not kind of a, as if it
were, but God still, he knew he didn't really commit it, but
he was going to punish him anyway. No, he became sin. And just as truly
as he became sin, I am made something to do. I'm made to be what I
was not. I am made to be the righteousness
of God in Him. I say this with reverence and
with fear and with trembling. But right now, you're looking
at the righteousness of God. Is that presumption? No, that's the gospel. Every believer, this is the heritage,
this is the claim of every believer. We're made to be what we were
not. We're made to be the very righteousness
of God. It is. 1 Corinthians 1. This miracle, The water being
made wine teaches us the gospel. I'm made to be what I was not. First Corinthians chapter one,
verse 30. But of him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus? How did you get to be in Christ?
God put me there. That's the only way I know to answer that.
Of him are you in Christ Jesus? who of God is made unto us. There's that word again. He's
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. I am wisdom because He is my
wisdom. I am righteousness because He
is my righteousness. I am sanctification. I'm holiness
because He's my holiness. I'm redemption. He's my sin payment.
He's made this. To me. Turn to Colossians 1. You know what? I really believe
when I'm preaching. I really believe this is wonderful. Colossians 1. Verse 12. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which will make us meet to be partaker of the inheritance of
the saints in light. Did I read that right? No, I misquoted that, did I?
Let's read what it actually says. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath. Hath. H-A-T-H-A-T-H. It's done. He hath made us fit. Fit. Not I'm going to be fit. I am fit. He's already made me
fit to have the inheritance of the saints in light. Now this
is the gospel. This is good news. Just as the water was made what
it was not, it was made wine. The believer is made what he
was not. And this making is God's work
and God's work alone fit for glory. And can you imagine what
this wine must have tasted like? I just. Something to think about. Well, let's go back to our text
in closing. Can you see why this is the most
important miracle? I can. This is the miracle that
demonstrates the gospel to us. Verse 10, verse 9, let's go on
reading. When the ruler of the feast had
tasted the water that was made wine and knew not which it was,
he didn't know this happened as a result of the miracle of
the Lord Jesus Christ, but the servants which drew the water
knew The governor of the feast called the bridegroom and saith
unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine. You
see, you set forth your best wine at the beginning when the
taste buds are not numbed and it tastes good. And that's just
the way people do it. We put out the good wine at the
first and then after men have well drunk, then the cheap wine,
they won't know the difference. Their tongues will be numbed
to the point where they won't know the difference. You know that's the way the devil
does. He promises good at first. The promise of sin is always
appealing at first. Always appealing. The promise
of that which is false always has an attraction to it at first.
But afterwards, that which is worse. And it will end with that
which is worst of all, hell. That's the way the devil serves
his banquets. Oh, it promises good at first.
It tastes good at first. It is indeed appealing at first. But afterwards, that which is
worse. But, verse 10, Thou has kept
the good wine until now. You have saved the best for last. When we have well drunk the pleasures
of His grace. And you know what pleasure there
is in believing that Christ is my salvation, is my righteousness
before God. What pleasure there is in knowing
that He's in control of everything and that He's working all things
together for my good and His glory. What pleasure there is
in knowing Him and seeing His beauty. When we have well drunk of the
pleasures of His grace, it will only get better. The best is
not yet. And in heaven, when time is no
more, And I have the complete fullness of satisfaction. David
said, I'll be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. And I'm perfectly conformed to
the image of Jesus Christ. And I'm made just like Him. Do you know, even at that time
when I have fullness of satisfaction, I'll also have fullness of anticipation. It's going to get better. It's only going to get better
each day. And there's no days, I realize
that. Time will be no more. But it only gets better. Isn't that wonderful? The devil,
it's good now. Even religion, people get some
kind of religious experience and they feel so good now. But,
oh, the heart grows hard. Their heart's like a rock. You
put it in the oven of religious excitement, it can get hot and
excited. But take it outside of that environment
and it just gets cold and dead. That's the way the devil serves
his meals. It starts off good, starts off hot. But, oh, how
cold it gets. But with the believer, It only
is going to get better. The best wine, you say, the best
wine until now. And look what verse 11 says.
This beginning, this chief in importance, this beginning of
miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and he manifested forth
his glory. Now that means something, doesn't
it? That's not just religious words. He manifested his glory
in how he saved sinners. In this passage of scripture,
he makes them to be as an act of his will by his mighty power. He makes them to be what they
were not. He manifested his glory and his disciples believed on
him. And you know what? I'm one of
them. Right now, I am believing on
him as my wisdom. as my righteousness, as my sanctification,
and as my redemption. Amen. Let's pray together.