Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/dfc/sermons/8845/am-john-21-12-jesus-first-sign/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] It's good to see everyone and it's good to be back. I see everyone's put their clocks back or forward to the right time so everyone's here at 11 o'clock and that's good. Nice to see you. [0:13] Just before we commence our worship today, just a few intimations. It's good to be back here with you. My name's Alan Thompson and I come from Glasgow. My wife's here with me. Her name is Ruth. [0:27] Just a few intimations for this incoming week. Tonight at 6 o'clock we have our evening service and myself will be speaking again this evening. [0:39] Then on Wednesday at 7 o'clock we have our prayer and Bible study. That will be led by Robert Dale who is known to you all I'm sure. Then next Lord's Day at the usual times of 11 o'clock in the morning and 6pm at night the speaker will be the Reverend Douglas Cranston. [1:00] Now just a few, two other intimations. As you will know those of you who come here regularly, you have got a problem in your bottom hall here with, I don't know if it's dry rot or wet rot, but I think it's dry rot. [1:16] Just an information that the contractor, Peter Cox, has been employed now to eradicate the dry rot and to begin work and began work last Wednesday. [1:30] Unfortunately the dry rot is more extensive than first thought, involving the beams inside the vestry door and upstairs both in the porch and through the swing doors. [1:41] In addition to that work being done, the church needs a roofer and they are all over committed at the present time. So that work needs to be completed before the interior work starts upstairs. [1:56] And that means that we'll be using this lower hall for a much longer period than previously envisaged. But we're thankful that you have this facility to be able to have the service. [2:11] Now today also the Free Church has called a day of prayer. The General Assembly has called that to pray for, in the present light of the coronavirus issue that we have. [2:27] And we're all being encouraged to give some time today, especially to prayer, to call upon the Lord in our global and national and in our congregational needs. [2:40] So great need because of COVID-19 and its ongoing. And so perhaps this afternoon or later on after the evening service, you could remember those things in prayer. [2:54] But this morning and at the evening service, two of our brothers here are going to lead us in prayer just to bring us before God in prayer in the present light of the COVID epidemic, pandemic. [3:11] Those are the intimations, perhaps a bit more lengthy than normal, but there we have it. The psalmist says these words in Psalm 113. [3:22] Praise the Lord. [3:52] Who is like the Lord our God? [4:22] Praise the Lord. We're going to praise the Lord in our opening hymn of praise, our opening psalm, which is Psalm 103. And we are going to sing, or at least listen, as we think about Psalm 103 in the first five stanzas. [4:44] Let me just read them to you so that we know what we're singing or listening to at least. Let's say, O thou my soul. Bless the Lord. It's from the Scottish Psalter section. [4:56] And all that in me is. Be stirred up his holy name to magnify and bless. Bless, O my soul, the Lord thy God. [5:07] And not forgetful be of all his gracious benefits he hath bestowed on thee. All thine iniquities. Who doth most graciously forgive? [5:18] Who thy diseases all and pains doth heal and thee relieve? Who doth redeem thy life? That thou to death mayst not go down. [5:29] Who thee with loving kindness doth and tender mercies crown. Verse 5 says, Who with abundance of good things doth satisfy thy mouth, so that even as the eagle's age renewed is thy youth. [5:50] We'll listen to God's praise as we contemplate Psalm 103. O thou my soul. [6:05] Bless God the Lord. And all that in me is. [6:18] Be stirred up his holy name. To my divine flesh. [6:35] Bless, O my soul. The Lord thy Lord. [6:46] And all that in me is. Be stirred up his holy name. O Lord thy Lord. [6:58] And all that in me is. Be stirred up his holy name. Be stirred up his holy name. [7:12] All that in me is. [7:24] All that in me is. All that in me is. [7:41] All that in me is. All that in me is. All that in me is. [8:03] Please. Let me start, O God, who live with love in thy best love, A tender mercy's love, who with abundance of good things, A satisfied thy love, so God, in our city, we will say, Renew it is thy youth. [9:12] Thank you. Let's come to God. We have worshipped him in praise. Let's come to God in prayer just now. Let's seek his face. Father, we are pleased to come into your presence this morning. [9:35] We remember the words of one of old who said, How pleased and blessed was I to hear the people cry, Come, seek our God today. [9:48] Father, we thank you that in the midst of unprecedented times, you have not changed. You are the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. [10:03] You are the God that we can come to who is a refuge and a rock in our lives. You are the one that we can come to because you are the one with whom there is no variableness or change. [10:22] We change, but we thank you that you do not change. And no matter the circumstances of our life, Our God and Father, we thank you that we can come to you in times of sadness, in times of gladness, in times of wealth, in times of need. [10:50] We thank you that we can come and bless the Lord. We come to you as our God and our Father, the one who looks after your people. [11:06] Father, we thank you that we should remember, and it is good to remember all your benefits to us, as the psalmist has said in this psalm. [11:17] How good you are to us. Father, we acknowledge that our lives can be difficult sometimes, and we can encounter times when it doesn't appear that you are near to us, and that you seem far away, and we struggle in our lives. [11:43] But we thank you that you are there, and you are for us, and with us. You are the God who the Apostle Paul could say works all things together for our good. [11:59] The bad things that happen in our life, and the good things. You are the one who weaves it all together, so that we one day will be like your Son, the Lord Jesus. [12:16] For when we shall see Him, we shall be like Him. Father, we thank you for the great benefits, the physical benefits, that we have, the material prosperity, that we all have, each to varying degrees. [12:32] But Father, above all, we thank you for the spiritual benefits, that you have given to us. There was a time, when many of us were afar off from you, and were without you in this world, and without hope, but in your grace, and in your mercy, and in your patience, and in your kindness, you came to us, in Christ. [12:57] And many of us have experienced, the forgiveness, of sins, that we sung about. Father, we realise, that that is, our greatest need, to be forgiven, and to be put right with you. [13:15] So, Father, as we come this morning, into your presence, we pray that, we might understand, just a little bit more, about how great you are, and how good you are, and how, you love your people. [13:35] And Father, we thank you, that you not only love, your people, but we thank you, that you've sent your son, into the world, as a demonstration, of that love. [13:47] And it's only, in him, and having faith in him, that we can come, and we can stand even, in your presence, this morning, and call you, our Father, which art, in heaven. [14:00] So, Father, as we come to you, we pray that our worship, and our thoughts, might be focused upon you. That all other distractions, might be taken away. [14:10] And that as we come, to sing your praises, to listen to prayer, addressed to you, to read your word, and to meditate upon it, we pray that it might be, a real benefit, to us. [14:26] And that we might be, built up in our faith. And for those, who do not know you, who may be here this morning, that they might come, to know you, and come to obey you. [14:40] Father, we pray, that your Holy Spirit, will be with us this morning. We need him. He's the one, who can open, your word to our hearts. [14:52] And so we pray that, he might come, and be with us this morning. Father, we ask these things, just now. In Jesus name. Amen. [15:03] Amen. Amen. Now the last time I was here, I felt quite bad, boys. I think it's just all boys. I was going to say boys and girls. Wonderful. She's just gone. [15:15] She's just, ah, well, I'm speaking to boys this morning. And tell me your name again, young man, is it Charlie? That's right. I remember it's Charlie. Now Charlie, I'm going, and the boys at the back. [15:27] Ah, you're looking, that's good, you're looking up. I'm going to speak to you. I've got to stand behind the screen, I think. But I'm going to speak to you, and we're going to speak to the adults later on, about signs. [15:39] Signs. Now, there's lots of signs that we get ourselves surrounded by. There's signs in shops, there's signs on the doors. So I'm going to show you one or two signs. [15:52] And I know that you're really intelligent in Dumfries. You're really smart. And you will be able to tell me what some of these signs are. [16:02] Yeah, you've got a sign of a train there. Yeah. That's it on your jumper, Charlie. Now, I'm going to show you this sign. Thomas. Thomas. Is your name Thomas? [16:15] Why am I calling you Charlie and you're saying yes? How silly. Now, tell me. Can you see that? I'm small, boys. Can you see that? Can anybody tell me? [16:27] That's a sign. Now, if you see that sign, maybe your mums and dads don't take you here. But, could you tell me what that sign means? [16:39] What is it? It's a letter M. And your dad's going to tell you, Thomas. It's a McDonald's. It's not McDonald's. Correct. It's McDonald's. Now, it doesn't say McDonald's on it, doesn't it? [16:51] But signs, we sometimes look at signs, and they tell us something. Yeah? I got that, uh, Donald, on a road. [17:02] Yeah. That's right. It's a road sign. Yeah. Okay. So, you see that? There's a McDonald's sign. Now, here's another one. If you see this sign. Now, we're seeing these signs all over the place. [17:13] Now, this sign has something written on it. But, we see that maybe in a supermarket floor. Uh, what does that sign mean? Does anyone, can anybody tell me, what, what direction have you got to go in? [17:25] Have you got to go in that direction? Or that direction? Yeah. No. It's saying you have to go in that direction. So, in the supermarket, when you see that sign, on the floor, it says, please follow the one-way system. [17:42] So, you've got to go up the aisle that way, and down the next aisle, the other way. And do you know? Reach. That's right. Yeah. Okay. Now, so sometimes, when you're in the supermarket, people don't obey these signs. [17:56] They go the wrong way. So, you bump into them. Yeah. So, you're meant to go that way. It says, go that one way. Okay. So, it says, there's another one that says, one way, stay alert, stay safe. [18:11] That's why we've got the sign. It tells us to go up there, that way, and then maybe come down the other way, to stay safe. Safe, stay finical. [18:23] So, you have to stay safe, and we have to obey these signs. If we don't obey the signs, we get into a problem, because we bump into people, and we might get coronavirus. That's what they tell us. [18:35] Yeah. So, that's why we've got all these signs. So, signs tell us things. Okay. Signs tell us things. Sometimes there's no words on them, but we know. [18:46] That's what that sign means. Okay. Now, do you know boys and girls, who's not here? I want to tell you about this, verse in the Bible. [18:58] It reminds us, that we have to go, a certain way, we have to go, a certain way, that's far more important, than following a sign, in, a supermarket, or in a shop. [19:14] Now, Thomas, I don't know if you can read, but I'm going to read this for you. Right. Okay. This is a verse from the Bible, and it says, Jesus said, I am, the way. [19:29] Yeah. the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father God, but, by, me. [19:40] Except, or but, through me. And that's found in a verse called, John, chapter 14, and verse 6. So it says, Jesus said, Thomas, you ready? I am the way, the truth, and the life. [19:54] No one comes to the Father, but, through, me. In other words, Jesus is saying, that the only way, that we can be forgiven, for our sins, and the only way, that we can get to heaven, and the only way, that we can be forgiven, is to trust, and go, his way. [20:19] And Jesus says, that he, is the only way, to get to heaven, to have our sins, forgiven. And he's like a signpost. Because when he's saying, I am the way, he's saying, you need to follow me, if you want to be safe, and, secure. [20:40] So it's really, really important. So the next time you see that, in the supermarket, Thomas, don't go that way. Don't go that way. You have to go, that way, follow, the signs. [20:52] So, if we want to have our sins, forgiven, and we want to get to heaven, we need to follow, Jesus, who says, I am, the, way. [21:05] Don't go the wrong way. Go the right way. Go, to the Lord Jesus, to have your sins, forgiven. So remember that, the next time, that you see the signs, in the supermarket, remember what Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and, the life. [21:27] We're going to think about, some signs later on. But, just now, we're going to sing, our second, hymn of praise, we're going to turn to, Psalm 19, in the Scottish Psalter again, Psalm 19, and verses, 7, to, 11, we're going to, sing to God's, praise. [21:49] Psalm 19, verse, 7, to, 11, in the Scottish Psalter, says, God's law, is perfect, and, converts, the soul and sin, that lies. [22:05] God's testimony, is most sure, and makes, the simple, wise. The statutes, of the Lord, are right, and do rejoice, the heart. [22:16] The Lord's command, is pure, and doth light, to the eyes, in part. unspotted, is the fear, of God, and doth, endure forever. [22:28] The judgments, of the Lord, are true, and righteous, all, together. We'll sing to God's, praise, listen to God's, praise, Psalm 19, from verses, 7, down to, 11. [22:42] Thank you. The soul, is perfect, and on earth, the soul, in sin, and Christ. [22:55] God's, dear, symphony, is most sure, and makes, the simple, wise. [23:09] The statutes, of the Lord, are right, and do rejoice, the present, swayed, and, such own, as the Lord, and all, of life, to the eyes, in part. [23:34] And so, day is, the peril of our, an all-end, The judgment of the Lord, the true and righteous altogether. [23:57] They more than gold gave us shine gold to be desired now, than honey-cudding from the cold and broken seizure car. [24:24] O, O worthy thy servant boy, how he is thy true praise. [24:37] A great reward for thy courtesy of the Lord, the true and righteous. The judgment of the Lord, the true and righteous. [24:51] Thank you. Thank you. Now following on from what I said this morning and the free church's request to have a time of prayer, I'm going to ask two of our brothers to pray just now for the present pandemic and that situation that we've got around the world. [25:14] I'm going to ask David Kenyon and then after David's prayed Jack will pray bringing us to God's throne of grace at this time in the light of the present situation. [25:26] Thank you David. Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can come before you this morning as a congregation Lord. [25:42] We thank you that you have given us this privilege of praying to you and laying our petitions before you. And we thank you that you hear your people when they pray Lord. [25:56] Lord we pray that you would first of all thank you that we can meet this morning Lord. We are wary of so many congregations who are not able to gather as a congregation Lord. [26:12] We do thank you that we've been able to meet and Lord we do pray that soon the rest of the congregations throughout Scotland and Britain and Ireland would be able to meet again. [26:25] And that they would enjoy Sunday worship services together as one body Lord. And we pray that you would be with the ministers of these congregations at this time. [26:38] Help them Lord as they struggle to carry out pastoral duties. Lord we pray that these types of restrictions would soon be lifted. [26:59] And we think especially in hospitals where ministers can't go in Lord. We pray that that would be allowed. And Lord that people would hear that the vital message of needing their sins forgiven. [27:14] We do pray Lord as especially at this time throughout the nation Lord as so many people are so afraid of this coronavirus Lord. [27:27] But we pray that they would have a greater fear not of the virus but of death itself and what awaits those outside of Christ Lord. We pray that the realities of hell and judgment would be impressed upon their hearts and their minds. [27:44] And that that would be a terror to them more than the coronavirus Lord. We pray that you would come and visit our nation at this time Lord. [27:58] And we pray that the gospel would go forth and that Lord people would turn to you in repentance and faith Lord. And we do thank you that there is forgiveness found in your hearts and that your arms are wide and open and full of compassion and mercy Lord. [28:18] And we pray that at this time that the nation would respond and turn to you. And Lord we pray as well for all the doctors and nurses at this time Lord. [28:34] We thank you for their daily care that they are giving Lord. And Lord we pray that you would strengthen them day by day and the nurses as well Lord. [28:46] And Lord we pray as they are seeing so many sick people Lord as well that they would, that they would, you would give them the strength they need to face each day Lord. [29:03] And Lord we pray that they would, Lord, in the midst of death and suffering Lord, that every human one day will go and will die Lord. [29:17] And we know Lord that after that we face you. you and lord we um so we pray that you would um be with our medical staff at this time lord and pray these things in jesus name amen our gracious loving heavenly father and you truly are our god in whom there is no bearableness nor change that you are from everlasting to everlasting to those who feel you and trust in your holy name we come to you this morning our heavenly father on this special day set apart not only to worship and praise your holy name but this day which we have set apart for special prayer on behalf of this particular epidemic which has hit the world our nation and our people at this time we remember oh lord the greatest plague that ever hit the heart of humanity that day when man sinned and fell in the garden of eden and since then oh lord we have these outcomes of various biases and troubles and illnesses and various other atrocities and calamities that has happened in this world ever since and so lord we come nevertheless with this present situation whereby the world again is uh caught up entirely and afflicted with this coronavirus we remember as we think black love and the uh the various uh people of egypt who suffered all these conflicts in the past to a lot of uh remember that this was ordained by you for your glory and for your purpose of living and yet oh heavenly father you chose bosius your servant to stand in the gap between you and the people of israel and india and crying unto you oh god to have mercy and to remove these various afflictions and you heard his cry and abundantly oh lord you answered his prayer and so today oh lord we come with a remnant of your people oh lord and like moses of old and like moses of old we try unto you oh god that you will yet have mercy upon us in this time of carnivores and grant to allah that you alone will send your abundant answer and grant to allah that we may that we may once again be restored to things as and aware and yet oh lord we are reminded of something of the hardness of fear when we see the hardness of this world and especially this nation of ours the is still not seeking you lord and seeking repentance and turning to seek after you that rather lord we would go to the pumps and instead of coming to your place of worship and to seek [33:18] after you who alone can give the answer to such a situation we thank you heavenly father that indeed that you have blessed your church at this time and we are able to meet in spite of these circumstances and to worship and bless your holy name and as we pray today lord we pray for those who pray in the secret place of the most high we pray oh lord that them with us may know and seek abundantly your answer to this time of affliction remember all those who are afflicted by us those who have lost new ones and lost new ones and not ones at this present time so our heavenly father as we come today asking and seeking your blessing seeking oh lord you indeed would during this time keep your remnant of people who believe and trust in you and lord like moses of old who would cry to you again this morning hour that by your mercy and your grace you will be pleased according to your holy will to relieve us of this present of the day give us a strong faith in you oh lord the faith that comes to you with nothing wavering that indeed as we look and whom we trust and who alone can give the answer to each and all of our needs so bless the world in this time lord especially this nation of ours and especially this town of ours lord who's also afflicted by us epidemic we pray oh heavenly father that yet man may a tongue to seek after you the living and true god we thank you lord we thank you lord we thank you lord we thank you lord that in the valley of you set a door of hope and today in this world you have set that self-same door of hope in our god and savior jesus christ may many be led through this epidemic yet oh lord to go through that door the living door into your living presence and seek and find salvation and seek and find salvation in our lord and savior jesus christ we pray oh heavenly father then that you will graciously bow down your ear and hear our humble cries for all we ask is in the mighty and powerful name of our lord and savior jesus christ the wind who can heal heal all things and everything and make all things due according to his riches and mercy and grace towards us hear us then our god and father as we commit ourselves to you and look to you for a future and hope and hope and praise and thanksgiving in jesus word in the name amen amen amen thank you now our bible reading this morning is taken from john's gospel so if you have your bibles with you it would be good to turn there to john's gospel in chapter two and we're going to think uh this morning and this evening of two of the signs that we have recorded in john's gospel two of the signs uh that's recorded in this book for us we're going to read john's gospel in chapter two about the turning of water into wine jesus turned water into wine a marriage in cana of galilee and then we're going to read one final verse in john chapter 20 but we'll commence [37:20] our reading in john chapter two in verse one john chapter two on the third day a wedding took place in cana of galilee jesus's mother was there and jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding when the wine was gone jesus's mother said to him they have no more wine woman why do you involve me jesus replied my hour has not yet come his mother said to the servants do whatever he tells you nearby stood six stone water jars the kind used by the jews for ceremonial washing each holding from 20 to 30 gallons jesus said to the servants fill the jars with water so they filled them to the brim them then he told them now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet they did so and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine he did not realize where it had come from though the servants who had drawn the water knew then he called the bridegroom aside and said everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink but you have saved the best till last what jesus did here in cana of galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him after this he went down to capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples there they stayed for a few days and then over to john chapter 20 and verse 30 please john chapter 20 and verse 30 and verse 31 and this tells us at the end of john's gospel why john in fact wrote his gospel so this is the key verse as it were to a unfolding why john wrote his entire gospel and he writes there jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may believe that jesus is the messiah the son of god the son of god and that by believing you may have life in his name amen and may god give us good understanding of his work now before we come to look at that let's just turn again in psalm books to psalm 40 psalm 40 we're going to uh sing verses 1 to 5 of psalm 40 the psalmist says in the scottish psalter he says i waited for the lord my god and patiently did bear at length to me he did incline my voice and try to hear he took me from a fearful pit and from the miry clay and on a rock he set my feet establishing my way he put a new song in my mouth our god to magnify many shall see it and shall fear [41:27] and on the lord rely and so on down to verse 5 psalm 14 the scottish psalter verses 1 to 5 amen or the Vilna his and He didn't bear a death to be beaten to fly. [42:12] My voice that bright to him, he served me from a fearful pit And from the biding way, and all alone he set my peace He's salvaging my prayer. [43:05] He could find you so near my mind But more to my divine Many things shall see as I shall fear And all the Lord revive God bless you, my God Who's trust upon the Lord revives [44:08] Respecting not the proud or such As the final side to life Sorry, I'd forgotten it was only one to four. Sorry. [44:37] You can tell I'm an accountant and I'm not a good accountant. Let's turn back, would you, if you have your Bibles to John chapter 2 To the passage that we read just a moment ago. [44:50] John chapter 2. We're coming to look at this first miracle That Jesus ever performed in his public ministry. John, he tells us in John chapter 20 that we read Records a number of miracles in his gospel But he's carefully picked which miracles to record He doesn't record them all John tells us very specifically Why he wrote his gospel And why he picked these exact miracles In John's gospel The miracles of the Lord Jesus Are actually not described as miracles They are described as signs As signs That's why we read in John 20 in verse 30 Many other signs Jesus also performed In the presence of the disciples Which are not written in this book [45:53] But these have been written In order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ The Messiah The Son of God And that believing you might have life through his name John records in fact seven miracles or signs And he calls them signs Because all of them are as we were speaking to the children They are signposts to something They are not just acts of power Or wonder working miracles That people are to be amazed Or wonder at The seven signs that John records in his gospel Point us to who Jesus is And why he has come He is the Christ He is the Messiah He is God's Son Now each of the miracles on the face of it [46:55] Or on the surface Are quite simple As we have here In John chapter 2 But they are also significant They are signposts to us Because they are There is an underlying lesson In each of these miracles stroke signs All the signs in John's gospel All seven of them Speak of Jesus' mission And are meant to cause us to believe In him And to see Christ's glory They are meant to strengthen our faith And all those signposts All these miracles Point to Christ The value in signposts Are what they point to There is no value in themselves In one sense The value of the signposts Are what they sign to us [47:56] And all the signs point To God's Son The Messiah Jesus Christ So I want us this morning To look Firstly just At the story And then at the significance What the sign actually Means To put this in context To a certain extent On November the 9th 1989 The Berlin Wall Came down The fall of that wall Marked the end of an era The end as it were Of communism And the Cold War The old order Was gone And a new one A new world order Was emerging A similar radical change Took place At the marriage [48:58] And the wedding Of Cana of Galilee That we read In John this morning At this wedding The Lord Jesus Inaugurated Or started His public ministry By performing This first sign Where he turned Water Into wine It signified And signaled The collapse And the demise Of the old Jewish order And Judaism With all its rituals And a new order Of things Was emerging This was the beginning Of the long Promised Messiah Jesus Christ Who had been Promised by God In the Old Testament To come And so he Here he is And he comes on To the stage Of time As it were And he performs This first miracle [49:58] The old is gone And the new age Has come Now let's look At the story As it were Itself Verse 1 Says On the third day There was a wedding In Cana Of Galilee And the Lord Jesus And a few of his disciples Verse 2 tells us Had been invited It's always nice To get invited To a wedding You always feel Kind of special If you get An invite Don't you But they're invited To this marriage This wedding At Cana It may have been The case That Mary The mother of Jesus Was a close friend Of the bride Or the groom We don't know that Exactly But she seems To have a measure Of position And importance At this wedding Over at least The catering At that wedding Because she is able As we shall see To tell the servants At the wedding What to do She issues A few commands To them As we shall see But then verse 3 [51:01] Tells us That a disaster Strikes At the wedding The wine Runs out Verse 3 says In my translation When the wine Was gone We're not told When that happened How quickly This took place But we need to Bear in mind That these sort of Weddings In those days Lasted for days Sometimes A week Or more Everybody From the community Generally Was invited Weddings Were big events In those days Maybe 3 or 400 People at weddings Therefore there was A large requirement For wine At these occasions Because drinkable water Wasn't in good supply In that culture too Hospitality was vital To a family's standing In the community [52:02] To run out of wine Was terribly embarrassing Especially in that culture Of shame Really embarrassing In that culture The groom had responsibility For all the arrangements It's a bit different In our society Where I think the women And I don't mean to be Derogatory The women take over And they tell how much They're going to have And what they want And everything else But in that culture Of the day The groom had responsibility For all the arrangements He His neck was on the line As it were He had the responsibility To the bride's relatives And here This disaster Took place on his watch As it were But then the mother Of Jesus comes And says [53:03] What appears to us In retrospect To blindingly obvious The wine has run out Verse 3 And the way That she phrases it Is to suggest That Jesus needs To do something About it Maybe from her Experience Of her son For these 30 years She realised That he had the power To do something How she knew that We don't know But she had lived With him For those 30 years She knew her boy She knew her son But Christ Had performed No miracles Up until this point This was the first sign That he did In Cana of Galilee We're told that In verse 11 But she knew That her son Was different She knew I believe That he was the Messiah She knew That he was a saviour She knew [54:05] That he was The fulfilment Of Old Testament Prophecy She knew him To be the son Of God And so she Comes to him And she appeals To him To help In this Predicament And Jesus' reply In verse 4 Is a strange reply Isn't it He says Woman He doesn't say Mother He says Woman What is that To you He says Why are you Involving me He says My hour Is not Yet Come A strange Response The Lord Jesus Is saying How can you Ask such a thing You are Taking Actually Advantage Of your Natural Relationship With me As a Mother To son Yes I am Your son He will [55:06] Admit But actually What He's saying To her Is that She needs To realise That he Is a Lord That's What he's Saying To his Mother It's as If he's Saying Don't You know That I Have come For far Greater Things Than Merely to Help out In this Predicament Don't You know That I Have come For a Far Greater Purpose Don't You know That there's An hour Coming My hour He refers To And if You read Through John's Gospel You'll See time And time Again That phrase The hour The hour The hour And he Says to her Don't You know That my Hour Has not Yet Come And I've Come For a Future Time For the Very Purpose Of Suffering And Dying And to Be a Saviour Of Sinners However There seems To be Something In his Attitude And in His [56:06] Response And in His Voice That gives Mary Hope She Suspects That he Will do Something To avert The disaster But if He's going To do Something It's as If Jesus Is saying I will Do it And it Will be In Accordance With My Mission It will Be to Reveal My Glory It will Be Really Related To why I have Really Come Now he Doesn't Say that Explicitly But if You were To run Over and We don't Have time To do It Into John 17 The Real Reason That the Lord Jesus Has Come Was For the Hour And in John 17 He Says My Hour Has Come In other words The hour That the Lord Jesus Was Referring To Was The Hour Of His Death And he's Pointing Mary His Mother Natural [57:06] Mother But he's Saying That's Why I've Really Come My Hour Has Not Yet Come But he Gives Her Hope Even In What He Says And Mary In Verse Five Then Turns To The Servants Who She Seems To Have Some Power Over As We've Said And She Says These Amazing Words That Are Full Of Meaning Really I Think She Says Whatever He Says To You Do It Now There Is A Message In That Those Words In Itself It's A Timeless Statement That She Makes Maybe She Didn't Really Fully Understand What She Had Said But How True Are Words For All Of Us Aren't They Whatever Christ Says To Us And Christ Speaks To Us Through His Word Now He's No Longer Physically [58:07] Here And So He Speaks To Us Through His Word And What He Says To Us We All Ought To Obey Whatever He Says Do It You See Whatever Christ Says To Us We Ought To Give The Upmost Attention Whatever Christ Says To Us We Ought To Listen Carefully And Follow Precisely Christ Is God's God's Word To Us John Tells Us That In The Opening Chapter Of This Very Book That He Is The Word Of God He's God's Final Word To Us And So What Christ Says To Us Through His Word We Ought To Listen To We've Thought About The Wedding We've Thought About The Woman What [59:07] About This Water Into Wine The Sign At The At The Very Center Of This Passage As It Were Well Verse 6 Tells Us That Nearby Stood Six Stone Water Jars Stone Pots For That Were Used In The Purification Or The Ceremonial Washing In The Jewish Religion They Contained Twenty Five Gallons Each There Were Six Of Them And That Makes 150 Gallons And The Servants Are Told By Christ To Fill The Jars With Water In Verse 7 And They Duly Obeyed His Word And Then In Verse 8 The Lord Jesus Goes On And He Says Draw Some Out Take Some Out And Take It To The Master Take It To The Head Waiter Take It To The Master Of Ceremonies Of The Banquet The Man In Charge And They Did So And [60:08] As They Say In Glasgow The Man Was Flabbergasted Flabbergasted By What He Tasted You See Without Even Touching The Jars The Stone Water Pots By A Pure Act Of Christ's Will He Turned The Water Into Wine He Turned Something Old Into Something New Into The Best Of Wine The Whole Process Of Fermentation And All That Process It Takes Months And Even Years Was Accelerated There At The Marriage Of Cana Of Galilee By Christ A Miracle A Miracle Indeed He Had Power Over Creation And His Power To Recreate [61:08] And Make Something New What's The Significance That's What Took Place That's The Story As It Were They Got A Problem They Ran Out Of Wine Mary Appeals To Her Son He Tells The Servants To Do Something They Obey And The Water Is Turned Into Wine What A Miracle But What's The Sign What's The Significance Well The Vessels Are The Clue To The Meaning Of This Very First Sign I Think The Water For Purification That Was Used By The Jews To Wash And They Were Assiduous And Scrupulous About Washing And Keeping Clean And Making Sure Everything Was Pristine And Pure Under The Old Order Of Jewish Ceremony Everything Was Washed And Cleaned And The [62:09] Customs That They Had Were Like That But The Lord Jesus Had Come To Replace This With Something Far Better Everything In The Old Testament Pointed Forward To A Fulfillment Of The Messiah Of Jesus Christ Coming And Here It Was Happening At Cana Of Galilee Now Grace In All Its Fullness Was Going To Be Provided By The Messiah The Son Of God You Remember The Verse I Think In John's Gospel It Says For The Law Was Given By Moses But Grace And Truth Came Through Jesus Christ In Other Words A New Age A Greater Age A Far Superior Age Was Now Dawning That Far Eclipsed The Old Economy And The Old Testament The New Age Of The New Wine Had Arrived With Christ [63:09] So You Can See How This Miracle Is Not Just A Miracle It's One Of John's Signs It's A Sign Pointing Us To The Much Deeper Meaning Of Christ's Mission Why He Had Come You See The Old Age Of Judaism Was Past And This New Age Of Grace Was Come The Lord Jesus Was Bringing It Into This World Here And The Sheer Quantity Of The Wine Points To The Lavish Nature Of God Who Has Provided For Us To Enjoy When Jesus Turned The Water Into Wine He Was Broadcasting To The World That He Had The Power To Bring About Such A Radical Change Someone Has Said The Expression That Mary Said They Have No Wine Is Not Simply A [64:09] Comment By Mary About The Host Panic But It Is A Theological Statement About Judaism That Is Now Meeting Its Messiah In His Very First Miracle So This New Age Has Come But Another Obvious Lesson Or Another Obvious Sign To Us Is In This In This Miracle Is That Christ Simply Came To Meet The People's Need You See Without The Provision Of The Wine The Party Would Have To Have Been Abandoned The Wine Was Indispensable The Need That They All Had Could Only Be Met By Jesus Christ And You See Our Greatest Need As Human Beings Is A Need That We Cannot Meet Ourselves I [65:09] Don't Know Many Of You Not To Any Great Depth I Don't Know Your Needs I Don't Know Your Material Needs Your Emotional Needs Your Social Needs Your Financial Needs I Don't Know What Needs You Are Suffering Under COVID-19 And May Have Made Big Changes In Your Life But The One Thing I'm Sure From God's Word Is That Our Greatest Need Your Greatest Need And My Greatest Need Is A Spiritual Need It's A Need To Be Right With God It's A Need To Be For Our Sins And We Are Powerless To Meet That Need We Are Powerless To Meet That Problem That We All Have This Is The First Sign John Tells Us Verse 11 And The Primary Need That We Have [66:10] Can Only Be Met By Christ All All All Our All Our Needs Are Secondary At Best Whether They're Financial Or Material Or Physical Or Emotional They Can All Be Resolved Somehow Perhaps But The Greatest Need Can Can Can Can Be God In Christ But Thirdly Christ Is The Only One That Can Do That For Us You See In Our Narrative The Mother Of Christ Couldn't Resolve The Problem For The People At That Wedding No Angel Could Solve That Problem Only God In Christ Coming In Human Flesh Coming To This World Could [67:10] Bring About A Solution In The Book Of Acts In The Early Preaching In The Book Of Acts I Think It's Peter That Says There Is No Other Name Under Heaven No Other Name Under Heaven Given Amongst Men Whereby We Must Be Saved You See Only Christ Can Do That For Us Only Christ Can Save Us Only Christ Can Reconcile Us To God Only Christ Can Bring Us Forgiveness And He's The One That The Servants Had To Obey Whatever He Says Do And When We Come To Him We Must Come In Humble Obedience The Servants Couldn't Do It You And I Can't Meet Our Greatest Need They Could Add Nothing To What Christ Could Do Either They [68:10] Couldn't Resolve They Had To Depend On Him To Save The Situation On Their Beh Path And This Is A Sign Literally Of Salvation And Of Conversion The Lord Jesus Turned Water Into Wine And He Saved That Marriage At Cana Of Galilee And Just As He Turned Or Converted Water Into Wine Only He Can Change Us Only He Can Make Us New And If We're Attached To Him If We Are In Him The Bible Says We're A New Creation Old Things Have Passed Away And Behold All Things Become New When We Come To Christ In Obedience When We Become Christians We Get A New Heart We Have New Desires [69:11] We Have A New Hope Only Christ Can Do That For Us But Here's Something That Perhaps Appeals To Those Of Us Who Are Scottish The Wine Was Free They Didn't Have To Pay For It There Was No Charge For It It Was Provided By Christ And There Was Plenty For All Who Would Come And Pertain And Draw It Was A Free Gift From The Son Of God To The Poor And To The Needy That Day To Those Who Were Out Of Resources You Know Wine In The Bible Speaks The Psalmist Tells Us Elsewhere Speaks Of Joy Wine Makes The Heart Of Man Glad So Says The Psalmist In Psalm 104 You [70:13] See The Free Salvation That Jesus Christ Offers Brings Us Joy Sometimes We Don't Show That In Our Face Maybe That's The Reserved Scottishness In Us But It Brings Us Joy A Deep Seated Contentment It Brings It Brings New Life Eternal Life A Life A Life That Is What Eternal Life Is That's What John That's Why John Writes His Gospel That People Might Come To Know Who Jesus Is And Have Eternal Life And The Essence Of Eternal Life Is To Know God And Jesus Christ Whom He Has Sent And The Wine Was Free Here No Penances No Payment No Money Is Required This Payment [71:13] For Sins Has Already Been Paid By Christ At The Cross It Cost Him His Life But Christ As He Did Here Invites People To Draw Draw From Him To Come To Him Christ Provided The Wine But They Had To Draw It Out They Had To Go And Obey What He Said And Partake He Had Done The Miracle He Had Turned The Water Into Wine He Had Made Something Old Into Something New He Had Done The Miracle All They Had To Do Now Was To Come And Receive What [72:13] Jesus Did Here In Closing Was More Than Just Perform A Mere Wonderful Act And Save The Day At A Wedding He Did He What Jesus Did Here In Verse 11 Here In Cana Of Galilee Was The First Of The Signs Through Which He Revealed His Glory And His Disciples Believed In Him It Had Its Effect It Had Its Desired Effect The Signs Were To Point People To Christ So [73:13] That They Might Believe In Who He Really Was And Is And So It Is With Us This Morning The Signs Point To Christ As We've Said There's No Power In The Sign Itself But Jesus Here Provided And He's Provided For Us If We Will Come And Draw From Him What Jesus Did Here In Cana Of Galilee Was The First Of The Signs And His Disciples Believed In Him It Strengthened Our Faith And As We Look To Christ Those Of Us Who Are Believers He's The One That Can Strengthen Our Faith And If We Don't Know Him We Need To Come To Him And Obey Him And Come Humbly May God Help Us To Do So For His Name's [74:13] Sake Let's Pray Together Father We Thank You For This Sign That We Have In John's Gospel It Speaks To Us And It Points To Us It Pointed Those Of The Day In Which John Wrote To Your Son The Lord Jesus And His Mission And Why He Had Come And Father We Pray That In Our Lives Whatever Our Needs Are Whatever We See Our Need To Be Help Us To Realize Whatever That Need The Greatest Need That We Have Is Jesus Christ In Our Lives Father He's The One That Can Rescue The Hopeless Situations Of Our Life And So Father As We Contemplate Your Word We Pray That We Might Have Our Eyes Focused On Your Son The Lord Jesus Father We [75:13] Ask These Things In Jesus Name Amen Now Let's Just We're Going To Sing A Hymn At The End Here It's A Hymn When We Walk With The Lord In The Light Of His Word What A Glory He Sheds On Our Way While We Do His Good Will He Abides With Us Still And With All Who Will Trust And Obey Trust Trust And Obey For There's No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus But To Trust And Obey Hopefully This hymn To a Certain Extent At least The chorus Reflects One of the Lessons From This Passage This Morning To Trust And Obey Whatever Christ Says Do For There's No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus We'll Sing To God's Praise Thank You Obey [76:41] Trust And Obey For There's No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus Don't You Trust And Obey Not A Shadow Can Rise Not A Cloud In Our Skies But You Smile With Me Twice In The Way Not A Doubt Or A Fear Not A Sign Or A Tear Can Abide While We Trust And Obey Trust And Obey For There's No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus But Trust And Obey [77:42] Not A Prayer We Bear Not A Star Will We Share But Our Toil We Talk Which We Remain Not A Grief Or A Loss Not A Proud Or A Cross God Is Blessed We Trust And Obey Trust And Obey For There's No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus But To Trust And Obey Our S We Together Can Prove The Delights Of His Love Until On The Altar We Lay For [78:43] The Favor He Shows And The Joy He Disposed Are For Them Pro When O Trust And Obey Trust And Obey For There's No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus But To Trust And Obey In That Lorsham Sweet People Sit At His Feet Or A Pope By His Side In Away What He Says We Will Do Where He Says We Will Go Never Fear Only Trust And Obey Trust And Obey For [79:43] There's No Other Way To Be Happy In Jesus Let's Let's Conclude With The Benediction May The Blessing Of God Almighty The Father Son And Holy Spirit Remain And Abide With Us All Now And Forever More Amen To Up Verse Left At You