[0:00] So let's turn our attention to Scripture. We are going to be in John chapter 2 now. Chapter 2, verses 1 through 12. So kind of how we do things here, you know it.
[0:12] We open our Bibles to the text and we stick in there. I'm going to make multiple references to the text. I'll also be referencing Isaiah. So if you want to go get your Bible tabs ready for Isaiah, specifically chapter 25 later in the sermon, I would love to have you in tune with the message.
[0:34] Today's message is, Out with the Old, In with the New. And we get to a very wonderful miracle.
[0:44] One of Jesus' first miracles. And reading this, it kind of brought to my head, it brought to my mind the wonder of magic at times.
[0:55] Because I'm a sucker for, you know, illusion. Not like weird mysticism and like witchcraft. But like just cool illusion tricks.
[1:08] Like card tricks. The times when my grandpa would gather us around at my grandma's house in Lisbon and he'd take our noses or something like that. And it would freak us out.
[1:19] He'd be laughing. We'd be crying almost. Wanting our noses back. He was, our grandpa was notorious for doing the coin behind the ear trick where he throws, he makes us, he uses misdirection, makes us look in the air.
[1:37] And we're looking all around the room and then behold, behind our ear comes this coin. It baffled us every single time. It never got old. And reading this passage, you know, brought to my head, you know, that same wonder in these illusions that I so dearly love.
[1:58] But even more so, I think this, what we read in the passage today kind of brings the wonder behind what we're experiencing.
[2:10] Behind this act. Especially behind magic tricks. To put it simply, I love to spoil tricks. I love to spoil illusion tricks.
[2:21] I love to learn how, what happened to that card. What did he do exactly? I like to look behind, especially that one guy with the mask, the black mask and the white stripes and streaks on his head.
[2:32] He's all illusion. And he has a video of revealing how he does his tricks. And it's something significant in the passage today. Because unlike illusions and magic and all these, you know, tricks that, you know, card up the sleeve and things that we might experience in our day, Jesus Christ leaves several people in complete awestruck and wonder.
[3:00] Very similar to that of watching our illusionists that we know today. Even one of the common ones, one of the top ten magicians and illusionists, David Blaine.
[3:13] They just leave our minds in wonder of how this happened. And we're going to read about, not magic. Don't get me wrong about the passage today.
[3:25] But it's a miracle which occurred in Jesus' early days in ministry. One of the first miracles that we're going to be seeing, one of the seven in this series that we're going to be seeing.
[3:39] And this miracle was something that may have been extremely confusing and baffling to the mind because unlike illusionists, Jesus Christ doesn't use misdirection at all.
[3:53] Jesus Christ doesn't use fog machines. He doesn't use mirrors to create an illusion. He uses something else and we're going to study that today.
[4:04] And we're going to spoil His miracle. We're going to see exactly how this came to be. We're going to be arriving today at the wedding of Cana. And where people are left scratching their heads of, how is this possible?
[4:20] Who is this guy? And more importantly today, what is this miracle saying to us today at this time? So turn with me to John chapter 2. We're going to start in verse 1 and read all the way up to 12.
[4:34] And then I'm going to pray together and ask the Holy Spirit to assist us in our study. We see in chapter 2 verse 1, On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
[4:50] And the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine.
[5:03] And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not come yet. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever He tells you.
[5:16] Now there were six stone water jars. Therefore, Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water.
[5:28] And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water, now it will become wine.
[5:42] And did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to Him, Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine.
[5:58] But you have kept the good wine until now. This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Canaan in Galilee and manifested His glory.
[6:10] And His disciples believed in Him. After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother and His brothers and His disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
[6:22] Church, please join me in prayer. Father, let us take a moment to pause as we enter Your Word.
[6:36] Father, speak to us today.
[6:51] Father, let Your text come alive in our lives. Let's not just mundanely open the Bible today. Let us not mundanely make our highlights, make our etches in our Bibles of things that are standing up.
[7:08] But Father, let this not just stay on the page, let this impact our hearts and our minds. Father, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, we know this is, this can be so.
[7:19] So we rely solely on Your Holy Spirit to help us at this time to understand Your text and make this be a reality in our lives. Let us change, let it change us today.
[7:30] We pray this in Jesus' precious and His holy name. Amen. We see in section 1 in this passage, verse 1 through 2, just another wedding.
[7:49] On the third day, it says, there was a wedding in Canaan and Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. Here we find Jesus Christ arriving at no other than a great party.
[8:08] And like any, it wasn't like any party that we might know of. This was a Jewish wedding celebration. Which is significant because this was a pretty good party.
[8:22] This party lasted easily a week. And they were on the third day of this party. Up until this point, it's been about a month since Jesus' baptism from John the Baptist that occurred in the River Jordan, which fulfilled the Jewish Old Testament, component of the Jewish Old Testament law.
[8:45] And today, Jesus is in this third day of the celebration. Which, isn't this amazing? thinking of our culture of how we amplify the magnitude of weddings.
[8:59] Man, Jesus was about weddings, wasn't He? He was about weddings. It is no accident either. Weddings are one of God's favorite symbols, in fact, of the covenant He has made with His people.
[9:19] You see, weddings symbolize something. Often we think of, well, you know, it makes financial sense to do this and do that. Well, God has something different in mind. And Jesus, being at this wedding, should hold the show up of seeing something significant because this is no accident.
[9:36] Weddings are one of God's favorite symbols for the covenant He has made with His people. And being in a culture that we're accustomed to and used to today, obviously, most of us have experienced either the joy of our own weddings or the joy of other weddings, being at weddings and great parties like that.
[10:01] And celebrating the beautiful image of two family trees coming together as one. And yes, there is great joy. There is so much great joy.
[10:12] in weddings. But there's often something called wedding chaos. Wedding chaos. Because weddings aren't always a tale of life or death.
[10:25] But oftentimes, we feel the weight of pressure within us and sometimes the pressure within other people who try to throw their concerns onto us and then all of a sudden it's stressing us out, creating a dynamic that you're stressed out, now I'm stressed out, thanks a lot, mom.
[10:43] And then all of a sudden their concerns are our concerns and all of a sudden we look at our wedding and we're like, this wasn't what I had planned. Our weddings turn into the weddings of others, doesn't that?
[10:56] It happens very often in our culture today. And now there's legitimate concerns like making sure the wedding dress fits right. Obviously, you don't want indecent exposure, you know, on the altar of the wedding day.
[11:10] But there's also some serious concerns like having the food cooked right, having your vows prepared. Yeah, those are concerns but often what we get ourselves so wrapped up in a tizzy for are minor concerns, petty concerns.
[11:25] Where do you want the flowers? You know, things like that that stress us out, that bring wedding chaos. And this is precisely the glimpse, I believe, that John brings us into in this narrative as it's unfolding in the passage today.
[11:36] Because we find Mary, the mother of Jesus, in quite a tizzy, it seems, of the shortage of wine in verse 3. Look with me. It says in section 2, obedience to authority.
[11:50] Look with me in your Bibles. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, woman, what does this have to do with me?
[12:02] My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. Here, Mary seems to have quite a bit of concern for the shortage of this wine during this long extended party.
[12:22] We could assume, due to her concern, that this might show that she had some special involvement with this wedding party.
[12:32] that possibly, that she was in the whole wedding planning of this bride and groom. And that she was having a wedding, a case of wedding chaos syndrome in this.
[12:50] Mary casts her concern of the wine shortage upon her son. She obviously believes something about her son that she's, that he is able to do something to help her at this time. But her motives seem a little bit off.
[13:02] And his response indicates that she obviously was suffering from wedding chaos syndrome. And even more so, it's in his response to her.
[13:13] Now, he responds something, I just want to make this clear. He says, woman, not in a condescending tone at all. This is a common tone, and it's actually very significant because this section is obedience to authority in verses 3 through 5, or 3 to 8.
[13:33] We see here that he's not addressing her as mother, which is significant. Now, this isn't to, say, this isn't him being disrespectful to her, as you might get into a New York cab and the cab driver says, where to, lady?
[13:49] You know, something just dry and empty. But he's actually indicating something significant. He's drawing a line. Jesus makes it clear in his response to her that he's drawing the line of where his authority comes from.
[14:04] His ministry has begun, and he is doing the Father's will. She came to him rightfully, concerned about preserving the glory of the wedding party, but Jesus has greater plans to display his own glory at this time.
[14:21] He had his own glory in view and the salvation he will bring. So we have in verse 4 a mild rebuke, it seems. The original manuscripts of this passage is actually unclear of what Jesus actually says because exactly translated from the original transcript, it says, his words are, what is this to you, to me?
[14:43] What is this to you, to me? It's a little bit confusing. Modern translators have rendered it the best that they obviously can. However, you can kind of sense the tone.
[14:54] He's essentially mildly correcting her, saying, don't tell me what to do in my earthly ministry. And after this mild conflict, it seems as if the Son of God here uses this very moment as an opportunity to reveal his concern and care for the wedding party, but even more so an opportunity to reveal his glory to all gathered.
[15:21] So he dealt with the problem. And so we see more obedience to authority in this passage. In verse 6, we see, now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons.
[15:40] Jesus said to the servants, fill up the jars of water and they filled them up to the brim and he said to them, now draw some out and give it to the master of the feast. So they took it. Look at what we have here.
[15:53] We have six stone water jars for Jewish rites of purification. If anybody is attuned to biblical theology and how God has been unfolding his narrative in the Bible, you know that this is pretty significant.
[16:09] These aren't just any typical water jars, the least bits. So let's imagine this. Let's step back for a minute. This is the third day into the wedding celebration.
[16:21] Just put yourself in that narrative. Third day into this wedding celebration. Man, I'm partied out after maybe a couple hours. My extrovert kind of isolates itself and goes, I turn into an introvert.
[16:34] I need my alone time. You're the third day in this wedding celebration. Mary's kind of freaking out from the wedding chaos syndrome a little bit.
[16:46] Leaves the matter to Jesus to do something. No one knows what's going on here except Jesus, Mary, his close disciples who are nearby, and these servants.
[17:00] And think about what this image entails. Six stone water jars, all holding 20 or 30 gallons.
[17:12] Think about how massive these things are. I mean, one gallon of water weighs eight and a half pounds roughly. So these jars, not only was their weight in stone pretty significant, but they hold 170 to 250 pounds of water.
[17:31] Imagine the servants getting a request like this. Are you kidding me, Jesus? You want us to fill these things up with water? But these servants obeyed immediately.
[17:45] There is no even account of any hesitation to that. And if you could imagine this narrative, imagine the doubts in these servants' minds.
[17:56] They know what's going on. They know there's a shortage of wine here. You could probably imagine them hiking down the hill. They're obviously not rolling these stone water jars down the hill, down to the nearest water source.
[18:09] They're taking manual buckets to fill these up. You could imagine the conversations they had on their trip down to the water source, probably joking like, I'm on my way to lose my job because we are out of wine and I'm going to get fired.
[18:25] But Jesus said so, so we're doing it. Imagine the conversations. Imagine the jokes that they're probably playing. Like, oh, we'll fix the wine shortage with some water. Great.
[18:36] Sounds great. Verse 8 kind of puts their doubts to the test. They are either going to be significantly embarrassed and they themselves embarrassing the bride and groom and bring dishonor on the whole entire wedding party because culturally speaking, a wine shortage signified that.
[19:04] It brought dishonor. It meant poverty in this culture and time period. Or they were about to witness a great miracle happen before their eyes.
[19:16] This cup that they take to the master of the wedding feast could cost them their very jobs. So we see something significant here, don't we?
[19:26] We see obedience. Not only Jesus' obedience to the Father, not His mother Mary, He's not even acknowledging her as His mother anymore.
[19:39] She is a woman. His orders and His authority come at this point from the Father. Whenever we see Him address His mother as woman, that's meaning that He's drawing a line of authority.
[19:52] And here also we see the obedience of the servants. No hesitation in this account. It's something, obedience is something that's significant all throughout the biblical narrative, isn't it?
[20:06] From Moses to Joshua, all through Judges to the kings, David, all the way to the book of Acts, the gospels, the epistles, obedience is something that we see all through the narrative.
[20:20] And when God directs, we follow. Friends, we have become lax in our obedience to what God is calling us to do.
[20:32] We are master excuse finders of all these. We could give a laundry list of reasons why we maybe should question maybe our obedience at various times.
[20:43] We're justifiers of our weakness if God calls the introvert to come to pray for the church or do something to talk to the teller at the bank.
[20:54] Yeah, it brings the introvert into an extrovert. It takes the extrovert into the introvert. These aren't your necessarily spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit will equip you outside of your abilities to do His bidding and helps us to be obedient to the Father.
[21:12] If only we could truly observe the obedience of these servants in our own lives. no matter what it costs us because the reality when God leads us it often is not comfortable for us.
[21:28] Which is very interesting because that should also confirm to us His direction and His guidance in the first place. How might God be speaking in your life to take steps of faith in this type of way?
[21:42] Better yet what glory might be revealed through your obedience to the Father. That's still a small voice that's ministering to you saying that you know this person is hurting I need you to pray for this person at this deli line with your number and you're all up in a tizzy that your number got skipped.
[22:02] Well look around you. Our goal needs to be obedience to the Father. Obedience brings glory to God and disobedience brings the latter. Dishonor to God.
[22:12] How might we be doing with this church? As we go into section 3 and the whole narrative comes to a point here out with the old in with the new.
[22:30] Verse 9 says when the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine and did not know where it came from though the servants who had drawn in the water knew the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him everyone serves the good wine first and when people have drunk freely then the poor wine but you have kept the good wine until now.
[23:00] All indications of illusions are set aside. There are no mirrors. There is no misdirection the least bit.
[23:13] There is no fog. This is Jesus Christ divinely using the source of his divinity to perform the miracle of transforming one substance into a complete other substance.
[23:34] If there were any Brents in the room as I could imagine there are they are probably looking around they are probably looking at these stone jars trying to figure out the reason for this.
[23:48] This is crazy. The servants are probably scratching their heads. Like now I am not crazy you are not crazy we put water in there right? Those weren't filled with wine right?
[24:02] They are probably having momentary questioning of one's own sanity. What is going on here? You see Jesus was speaking through this mighty miracle which not only preserved the honor of this bride and groom but also revealed his divine glory to those who witnessed this and also something significant as we are going to look at what this means in the narrative of biblical history.
[24:32] what Jesus was speaking through this miracle symbolically was saying that these jars were symbolic that we read in verse 6 that were used specifically for Jewish rites of purification represented the old order and Jesus is saying by turning something old that was used for the old order into something new he is saying that I am the creator and not only that but I am the new wine out with the old in with the new and no this is no ordinary wine this isn't the bottom shelf wine you get at Giant Eagle that's like five bucks that's kind of tart and sour when it hits your tongue this stuff is the stuff behind a case and not only that nothing even in this world compares to the wine they tasted this day this wine was sweet in verse 10 this is something that is presented at a wedding celebration before our taste buds have become dulled and adapted to the acidity of the drink this wine is glorious and not only that this wine is filled to the brim this wine is abundant meaning that his grace points to his grace his grace is overflowing it's filled to the brim think about how much wine they had after this 600 to 900 modern day bottles of wine they definitely had enough wine all attention is actually taken off of the execution of this miracle because
[26:23] Jesus is speaking through this and it's placing all significance upon the symbolic undertones of what Jesus is saying because he's essentially saying yes we can marvel we can marvel at me turning this water into wine of how this happened we can look all around and we can try to spoil this miracle and try to figure all this out but I'm telling you this is a divine working of God and you can marvel at this or you can listen to what this miracle means for you saying now listen to what this means you Jewish people this water and wine represents something and don't miss this Jewish people because the last time a miracle like this happened the water didn't turn to anything signifying something that wine signifies of joy and gladness no the last time this happened it was a river full of blood in Exodus 7 it was a curse and all that was in the
[27:26] Nile died you see Jesus is the true and better Moses and we know that from reading back in Moses' ministry of leading the Israelites through the wilderness he struck stone and water came out and guess what what comes out of the stone when Jesus is around wine he's doing something new now it appears that Jesus is doing that something new through the work of Jesus Christ it appears that he's doing something which brings joy brings gladness brings sweetness and not only that it's abundant it's filled to the brim the water and wine represents something huge and you don't want to miss this either church the wine was after the water just as the New Covenant is after the old covenants the water was the new covenant is better than the old covenants
[28:43] And this wine was drawn from the stone, just as the new covenant is drawn from the old covenant. Let's talk about what we spoke about a couple weeks ago in John 1, verse 17.
[29:00] Chapter 1, verse 17. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Glory to God in the highest church.
[29:13] The author of life who creates and transforms simple elemental substances into other strains of elements and densities.
[29:25] He is doing something new here. However, don't miss this. Maybe this was his plan all along. Because we see that this was on the third day.
[29:39] And we have significant occurrences of the third day being symbolic of something, pointing towards something. Abraham, on the third day, sees the place where the Lord provides in Genesis 22.
[29:54] On the third day, God meets his people in Sinai. On the third day, the Lord revives his fallen people in Hosea 6. On the third day, Jonah's life is brought up from the pit.
[30:11] Jonah 2. On the third day of creation, when plants that were made created wine, making wine possible, when they were created in Genesis 1.
[30:24] And the third day, here, points to his hour as he spoke to his mother, Mary. His hour has not yet come. The third day points forward to the hour of his cross and resurrection.
[30:38] This is truly Jesus the Christ, isn't it? His hour has not yet come. The cross and resurrection. But he is preparing the earth to behold his glory of who he is and the intentions that he brings.
[30:57] Isn't this what Isaiah wrote about in Isaiah chapter 25, starting at verse 6? Isaiah chapter 25, verse 6 says, On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
[31:34] And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.
[31:46] He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people.
[31:57] He will take away from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken. It will be said on this and that day, Behold, this is our God.
[32:13] We have waited for him. That he might save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
[32:25] Church, how great is our God? This is his plan all along.
[32:35] And looking in this last section, this fourth section, verse 11, We see the meaning behind the miracle.
[32:52] It says in verse 11, This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
[33:03] We often miss so much depth in this passage in our day. Because we kind of look at all the things that are secondary.
[33:14] Was this account on one side, was this account about solely fixed on Mary coming to Jesus for help? Or more importantly, was it Jesus' response to Mary?
[33:29] Or was this account about, Was this fermented wine? Or was this grape juice? Surely the Son of God, divine, wouldn't give this sinful fermented wine that people get drunk on.
[33:43] He wouldn't give this. Are we missing it? Or is it the fact that this wine was the best tasting wine ever served? Or was this account about the miracle?
[33:58] Oh, wow, the miracle, the water turned to wine, it transformed. Or was it about the significance of the symbolism expressed through this miracle?
[34:09] We get so captivated, church, about the secondary things, that we miss that which is laying plainly right front and center of us in this narrative.
[34:21] John writes this clearly for the purpose revealed in verse 11. So that those with Jesus and the centuries of readers to follow, even us today, would recognize Jesus' deity to invoke faith in Him.
[34:41] It was to point and reveal who He is and the salvation and the intentions He brings. If there's three words in verse 11, that kind of highlights this miracle, that stand off the page and jumps at us, I would say circle one of the three being signs.
[35:04] Signs. This was the first of His signs. D.A. Carson writes, John prefers the simple word signs.
[35:16] Jesus' miracles are never simply naked displays of power, still less neat, conjuring tricks to impress the masses. But signs, significant displays of power, that point beyond themselves to the deeper realities that could be perceived with the eyes of faith.
[35:39] Also meaning that we could get so caught up, we're so focused as if these signs are ends unto themselves, but they were a means to an end, which point to something greater.
[35:49] Remember, this was the first of His signs. Don't miss this as we go through the series, because it's pointing at something. Miracles don't just create a magic show of oohing and aahing people.
[36:05] Yeah, people are ooed and aahed, but for those who have eyes of faith, see the significance of these signs, and they believe in Him. They pointed to the identity of His divinity and the intentions of His ministry, which brings about no other than salvation for those who believe.
[36:24] The second word in this verse that I would say jumps off and should stand out to us is glory. The first of His signs, which we're going to see more of, that point forward to the purpose of Jesus' ministry that He did in Canaan and Galilee.
[36:41] It manifested His glory. Circle glory there. We often miss so much depth in this passage. It's just amazing. These miracles plainly and clearly broadcast Jesus' divine attributes.
[36:57] It's not for financial gain. It's not for shock value to oohing and aah people, but it is for the sake of those who have eyes of faith, as D.A. Carson states it, to behold the glory of God, of who He is.
[37:17] It's fully divine. Manifesting His glory. And then the third word that I believe jumps off this page is that manifested His glory and His disciples believed in Him.
[37:33] I would circle believed. Because all of these words are going to stand out as we go along this series. So believe.
[37:44] I've heard so many messages on this passage over the course of years. A message diluted as the central theme of this narrative is fixed upon some moralistic to-do.
[38:01] Preaching moralism. Well, see, preachers would say, well, that's why we can come to Jesus and He can meet all of our needs. So we come to Him and He'll do what we ask.
[38:14] Yeah, Scripture does say that, but that's not the point in this passage. Some preachers might say, come to Him for anything. He's going to get it done for you.
[38:24] All right, let's all come to Jesus and come in faith and He's going to do it for you. Just speak it. Don't be silly. That's not what this passage is saying at all.
[38:37] However, how much more depth in the meaning and basis of this passage when we are captivated by John's emphasis in his structure to this narrative.
[38:50] That Jesus is uniquely the Son of God who is able and qualified to transform substances, one substance to another. Meaning that He's the creator of life.
[39:03] And He came and executed His ministry not according to the authority of Mary, His mother, nor His own humanity, but according only to the will of the Father who is in heaven.
[39:16] All for the end goal of revealing the glory of who He is and the salvation He brings. I'm not a real gospel preacher, but man, I would ask for an amen on that.
[39:38] R.C. Sproul says that Jesus began His public ministry with a work that drew attention both to Him and to His kingdom He was bringing to pass.
[39:49] So as we come to the end and sort of the main point of this, my only point today, we got one point up on the screen for you today. How about that?
[39:59] One point for you as we get to the end of this narrative. The greatest miracle is salvation. Leave that up for a minute. Because at the end of this narrative, we kind of get a scene, a new scene setting.
[40:12] After this, He went down to Capernaum with His mother, His brothers, and His disciples and they stayed there for a few days. So the narrative comes to an end which brings us central to this main point of what this whole passage revolves around which the central theme is in a moralistic message of, you know, come to Jesus with all your needs.
[40:29] He's going to meet your needs. Or, you know, this is why we need to be obedient and everything. Yeah, these might be significant. You can observe that, but the central emphasis of this passage is who Christ is and the salvation He brings.
[40:43] And that is why my point is today. The greatest miracle is salvation. And that is what this miracle signified.
[40:55] Church, as marveled as we can become at such a miracle of Jesus turning water into wine, yeah, that's pretty crazy. No mirrors, no fog machines, no misdirection.
[41:09] Literally, He spoke it and it happened. How much greater at not marveling and being so consumed with the miracle, but how much greater when we marvel at the fact that Jesus is the new wine.
[41:26] Through Him we have eternal life. It is grace abundant in Him. It's filled to the brim. This eternal life is the source of our unending joy and gladness.
[41:39] This is joy that brings us through trials in life. This is joy that brought contentment to Paul as he's in prison, writing letters to churches, expressing His joy and thanksgiving for others as he's starving in a cell.
[41:55] This is joy never-ending, gladness never-ending, because we all have an eternal viewpoint of what lies ahead. How much greater to also marvel at the fact that Jesus is in the business of transformation.
[42:15] He's in the business of transformation. Here we have and we see water, turning water into wine, but for those who call upon the name of the Lord, He takes people who are flawed, broken, and dead in their sin.
[42:31] Literally, stinking in their sin. And He transforms them into a new creation, not dead to sin, but alive in Him through faith.
[42:44] Jesus gives us through this rebirth a new DNA, new gifts, new abilities. He equips us to be obedient to Him, to give us all that we need to serve Him faithfully on this earth.
[42:57] He gives us a new social security card, new birth certificate, all He's made new. The legal record that laid behind us of all the things that happened in the past and transgressions against Him, the Holy One, erased, completely, justified.
[43:17] God has prepared a table for us and the cup set on it overflows for those who drink. The water is the old system, the wine is the new system, and if you have ears to hear this morning, church, believers, non-believers, everyone, if you have ears to hear and a heart to receive this reality, there is time to uphold this reality and die to this world and live for Christ alone.
[43:49] your prerogatives shift, your priorities shift at this reality. It brings you joy never-ending, a promise so secure that will last until the end of our days on this earth meeting us all the way up into eternity.
[44:08] Over the course of Jesus' ministry, His disciples progressively were transformed in the same way by the power of Jesus. They literally, I guess we'll put it, they went from lowly, smelly, dirty fishermen and sinners to, we'll be honest, lowly, smelly, dirty disciples, witnesses of God.
[44:33] He changes us from the inside out. Church, Jesus Christ is in the business of transformation. This was His prerogative since the very beginning of time, all creation that was created by Him, for Him, through Him, toward Him, displays His transformation work.
[44:57] He transformed the biblical narrative and even today is changing our narrative and the narrative of those who believe and put their faith in Jesus Christ alone in this message.
[45:09] So, friends, you can literally look at this as having two choices today. two choices. You can have choice one. This is all a sham.
[45:21] This is all a sham. But it's all a gimmick. That there was no water. John had it wrong. That this, living this life fully devoted to Jesus Christ and devoting all your energy of serving Him, living for Him, shining as bright lights in a world of crooked and perverse people as Philippians 2 says.
[45:46] It's all a sham, right? The Bible can't be trusted. It's all folklore. And to believe in this nonsense truly reveals your ignorance and closed-mindedness, right?
[45:58] Foolish endeavors, you Christians, right? It could be your first choice. Many will choose that. Or, you can realize something here.
[46:12] That Jesus is unique. That Jesus is divinely unique. He's salvifically unique.
[46:24] He is strong to save. He is powerful. He's almighty. How? Because He is the creator.
[46:36] He is the sustainer. And those who encounter Christ's power in recreation of rebirth who can attest that I am no longer a slave to sin, that I am a child of God.
[46:53] We can all attest great is our God. What will your choice be today? To them love the half and yeah.
[47:16] to teeth love the fiz love the name. Oh, babe. Oh, yeah.