Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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  Well, we take some time now to go to God's Word.
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  And so I invite you to open up to the Gospel
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  according to John, John chapter 2. We are starting
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  a new sermon series today on the miracles of
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  Jesus. And as we're going to see, as we look
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  at this, we're going to see a great purpose behind
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  these miracles that Jesus performs. They are
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  really intended, yes, they're intended to help
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  people who need healing. And yes, Jesus performed
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  these incredible signs to help drive out evil
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  spirits. And yes, as we see in our text, this
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  changing of the water to wine. But behind, underneath
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  all of the miracles that Jesus does, is the purpose
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  that people would see and recognize and know
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  that Jesus is the Christ. I think it's very telling
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  that within the gospel, according to John, the
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  word that is commonly used here is not the word
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  miracle, but it's sign. Jesus' signs are significant.
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  They were significant then, and they're significant
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  now. And so let's give attention to this first
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  one here, John chapter two, verses one through
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  12. On the third day, there was a wedding at
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  Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there.
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  Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his
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  disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother
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  of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And
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  Jesus said to her, woman, what does this have
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  to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His
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  mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells
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  you. Now, there were six stone water jars there
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  for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding
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  20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants,
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  fill the jars with water. And they filled them
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  up to the brim. And he said to them, now draw
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  some out and take it to the master of the feast.
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  So they took it. When the master of the feast
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  tasted the water now become wine and did not
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  know where it came from, though the servants
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  who had drawn the water knew, the master of the
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  feast called the bridegroom and said to him,
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  everyone serves the good wine first. And when
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  people have drunk freely, then the poor wine.
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  but you have kept the good wine until now. This,
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  the first of his signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee,
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  and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed
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  in him. After this, he went down to Capernaum
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  with his mother and his brothers and his disciples,
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  and they stayed there for a few days. The grass
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  withers and the flower fades, but God's word
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  stands forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank
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  you for your word. We thank you for this perfect,
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  inerrant, and infallible, and life -giving word,
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  and we ask that as we study this today, Lord,
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  that you would be at work, that you would open
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  up our hearts and our minds, Lord, to hear from
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  you, to know that Jesus is the Christ, and to
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  live for him always. These things we pray in
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  his name. Amen. In the 1910s, liberalism was
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  on the rise in this country. Liberalism within
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  churches. And so to combat that, some ministers
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  of the gospel got together in the Northern Presbyterian
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  Church and they came up with what was called
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  the essential and necessary doctrines. They needed
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  a safeguard against unbelief. For Christians,
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  we're saying, I don't have to affirm what the
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  Bible says on this. I don't have to affirm what
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  the Bible says on that. And so they said, no,
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  we need some way to safeguard from that. And
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  so they came up with these essential and necessary
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  doctrines. And I'll tell you what those are in
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  just a second. But 14 years later, in 1924, a
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  group of supposed ministers of the gospel, in
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  great number, 1 ,200 men said no to those things.
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  They said, no, we don't need to affirm the inspiration
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  and inerrancy of Scripture. No, we don't need
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  to affirm the virgin birth. No, we don't need
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  to affirm substitutionary atonement. No, we don't
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  need to affirm the historical resurrection of
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  Jesus, and those people said, we do not need
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  to affirm the miracles of Jesus. Can you imagine
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  denying those things and calling yourself a Christian?
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  I cannot. And yet, just as it happened in 1924,
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  So it happens in our day that people deny these
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  things, but this is clearly what the scriptures
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  teach. And so we affirm them. We say that Jesus
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  really performed the miracles that we're going
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  to look out for the next ten or so Sundays, Lord
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  willing. The miracles of Jesus showcased for
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  us the power of God, the mercy of God. The signs
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  of Jesus affirm to us who Jesus is as the Son
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  of God and the Savior of sinners. The miracles
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  of Jesus authenticate who he is. So this is what
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  we're looking at. And you can see in John chapter
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  two, this is the first of Jesus's signs. Looking
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  into the context of this, Jesus in the prior
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  chapter had just chosen some of his disciples
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  there in chapter one. Now what's the first thing
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  you do with your disciples? Apparently you take
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  them to a wedding. Call it team building or something.
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  And so they go to this wedding. It's in the city
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  of Cana in Galilee. And they don't crash the
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  wedding, don't worry. It clearly says Jesus was
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  invited to this along with his mother. But let
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  me tell you, I don't think that you've ever been
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  to a wedding like this one. Now, that doesn't
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  mean that there was anything extremely special
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  about this wedding, you know, except for the
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  wine to water thing. But what I mean by that
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  is that weddings in Jesus' day in this place,
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  these celebrations would oftentimes go for as
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  long as a week. Can you imagine celebrating?
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  a wedding for a week, not your wedding, but celebrating
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  the weddings of other people for a week, and
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  you thought it took a long time for the bridal
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  party to take pictures. Here, we have this ongoing
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  celebration, but the ongoing celebration takes
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  a turn for the worse. Look in verse three. The
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  wine runs out. the wine runs out. Friends, in
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  Jesus' day at this time and this place, for the
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  wine to run out, this was a big deal. This is
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  a no -no. This would have brought extreme embarrassment
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  upon the married couple, the couple to be married.
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  This would have brought shame upon them. There
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  is even some evidence that there could have been
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  legal ramifications for not providing wine to
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  last for the duration of the celebration. This
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  is bad for this couple and especially bad for
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  the groom. You see, hospitality was such a big
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  deal. Hospitality in our day, I think it goes
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  by the wayside. It's something we need to reclaim.
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  But in Jesus' day, this was a big deal. Now you
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  might say, well, a celebration that went on for
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  a week with a lot of wine, you can see how that
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  could be a problem. But in Jesus' day, wine was
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  often diluted because you can't imagine what
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  celebration for a week would do to a person drinking.
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  So it was diluted. But the purpose here then
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  of this scripture is not to promote drinking.
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  That's not the main point. We know that drunkenness
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  is sinful. Scripture speaks to that in many places.
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  But also see this, Scripture does not outlaw
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  alcohol. It does not. It does not hear, right?
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  Wine actually within the Bible typically symbolizes
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  joy. And a wedding is a joyous occasion. But
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  there's this problem. Where's the wine? And so
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  Mary says this to Jesus. They're out of wine.
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  There's urgency to this and so look in verse
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  4 for Jesus's response Jesus said her woman.
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  What does this have to do with me now when we
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  read that I don't know about you, but I'm wondering
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  something is Jesus being kind here is he being
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  polite Absolutely, we need to read this not just
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  the way it comes through in the English We should
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  understand that when Jesus says this woman. This
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  is a sign of respect This is a sign of being
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  polite. This is a common expression. Matter of
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  fact, do you remember Jesus on the cross when
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  Jesus said, woman, behold thy son? We might say
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  this is kind of like using the term ma 'am here.
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  Or if you're using the NIV, I think it says dear
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  woman to this effect. And so Jesus addresses
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  his mother and then he says, what does this have
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  to do with me? Now, again, this is Jesus's first
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  sign. So it's not like Jesus grew up performing
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  signs in the living room or something. Hey, mom,
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  check this out. By no means. And so have you
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  ever thought, what did Mary expect her son to
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  do here? Did she expect a sign? I don't know.
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  But I do think that Mary, we can say this, Mary
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  has not forgotten who her son is. You remember
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  the birth. You remember the announcement of the
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  angels, right? You remember perhaps being in
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  the temple with Simeon, right? Mary, I believe,
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  is recalling who her son is here. Luke chapter
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  2 says she treasured these things in her heart.
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  And so she has not forgotten who Jesus is even
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  if he has yet to show his glory. But the next
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  part of what Jesus says I think is often misunderstood.
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  My hour has not yet come. Here is the incorrect
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  interpretation of that. That we think Jesus is
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  saying Mom, I'm not doing anything about this.
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  My time is not now to perform signs. That's not
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  the correct view. The correct view is Jesus,
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  when he says that, he's not talking about the
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  miracles. He's talking about his death. He's
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  saying, it is not my hour to suffer. It is not
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  my hour to give up my blood. for my blood to
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  be shed on the cross. It is not time for that
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  yet. And I think I can prove this to you by looking
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  at some other scripture in John. If you would
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  like to flip over to John 12, 23. Considering
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  the words the hour. John 12 23 and Jesus answered
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  them the hour has come for the Son of Man to
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  be glorified and then jumped down to verse 27
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  now is my soul troubled and what shall I say
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  father save me from this hour but for this purpose
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  I have come to this hour jumped down to chapter
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  13 verse 1 now before the feast of the Passover
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  When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart
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  out of this world to the Father, having loved
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  his own who were in the world, he loved them
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  to the end. Again, the hour jumped to 17, chapter
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  17, verse one. When Jesus had spoken these words,
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  he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father,
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  the hour has come. Glorify your son. that the
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  sun may glorify you. Friends, the hour is his
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  crucifixion, and the wine is his blood. We know
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  this from John chapter 6. Let me read this, John
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  6, 53 through 54. So Jesus said to them, truly,
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  truly, I say to you, Unless you eat the flesh
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  of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have
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  no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and
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  drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
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  raise him up on the last day. Jesus is talking
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  about his passion. Jesus is talking about giving
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  himself up on the cross. One commentator says
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  here, Jesus is saying in John 2 that though his
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  hour was not yet at hand during the wedding at
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  Cana in Galilee, it would eventually be at hand.
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  And when it is at hand, it will become appropriate
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  to ask him to provide wine for the feast, the
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  feast of the kingdom of God. And so as we look
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  at this wedding, as we look at the wine running
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  out, friends, look to the Lord's Supper and what
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  that pictures. When Jesus' blood was poured out
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  for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus again is saying,
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  it's not my time to shed my blood, but it is
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  my time to begin these signs. And so we should
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  be reminded here of the ultimate purpose for
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  this miracle. Yes, Jesus is helping the groom
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  avoid embarrassment. Yes, Jesus will perform
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  miracles to help the suffering. Yes, Jesus is
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  going to drive out demons. But ultimately, the
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  miracles are designed to show that Jesus is the
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  Savior, that Jesus is the Redeemer, that Jesus
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  is the promised and powerful Messiah. Friends,
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  particularly, let me speak to children today.
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  Do you believe this to be true? Do you believe
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  that Jesus died for your sins? Do you believe
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  that Jesus performed these signs? You must see
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  the evidence here. It is overwhelming. Jesus
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  really did come. live and die for you and Jesus
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  is really coming again and so all of you do not
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  deny the miracles of Jesus do not deny the resurrection
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  don't be the liberals of 1924 or 2025 it still
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  works for if we believe that he died for our
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  sins do we not also believe in the signs that
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  he performed John 14 believe in me that I am
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  in the father and the father is in me or else
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  believe on account of the signs themselves the
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  signs had a purpose for Jesus's mother the signs
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  had a purpose for the disciples and this purpose
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  is still hold true today and so you see what
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  Mary does here she believes Jesus And she gives
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  the best instruction of all time in verse five.
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  This is the best thing you could say. Do whatever
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  Jesus tells you to do. Listen to him. And so
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  you see what these servants do. Jesus directs
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  them in verse six to these six stone water jars
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  there for the Jewish rights of purification.
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  They hold 20 or 30 gallons here. When it says
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  for purification, we must remember that the Jewish
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  people, they are a people of cleanliness. This
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  purification, they were at the very least washing
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  their hands and their feet before they came into
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  such a celebration. Cleanliness is a good thing,
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  but what they really needed, and what we also
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  really need, is to be cleansed from within, right?
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  when we believe in Christ the Holy Spirit and
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  dwells in our hearts and pardons us of our sins
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  and and cleans us from sin and we get the righteousness
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  of Jesus So you see there is there is great symbolism
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  here within this Jesus is not performing a haphazard
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  Miracle Jesus is not performing magic tricks
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  matter of fact this sign that Jesus does is actually
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  done very quietly, isn't it? Jesus doesn't have
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  special words over the sign. He doesn't wave
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  his hands about. Matter of fact, the credit here
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  actually goes to the groom, not the one who performed
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  the sign. And so Jesus gives this direction.
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  Fill the jars and draw some of it out and give
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  it to the master, the master of the feast, some
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  sort. of official overseeing this celebration.
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  And so this official, this master, he tastes
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  this wine. And what does he say? He says, hey,
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  this is good. This is good. Now, if you know
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  anything about wine, you know this shouldn't
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  be so because the best wine is aged wine, right?
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  But Jesus is the son of God. Jesus was active
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  in the creation of the heavens and the earth,
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  along with the Father and the Spirit. And so
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  turning water to wine shouldn't surprise us.
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  It's miraculous because we can't do it, but nothing
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  is impossible with God. But still, perhaps you're
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  like me and you wonder, all right, these servants,
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  they do what Jesus says, but what are they thinking?
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  What are they thinking as they draw out some
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  of this water changed to wine? Are they thinking,
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  Jesus, this man must be out of his mind here.
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  I'm about to serve water to the master. I cannot
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  wait to speak to these servants. I believe they
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  must be with Jesus. I would love to ask them,
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  what were you thinking in this moment? but you
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  see their obedience they just do it and the master
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  gives praise you have kept the good wine till
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  now if only he knew of the crisis that was averted
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  if he only knew how jesus changed the water to
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  wine but you see jesus is so humble right jesus
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  doesn't point at the big water jars and say look
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  what i did that's probably what i would do That's
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  not what Jesus does. He doesn't have to. Jesus
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  quietly goes about his work, and he saves the
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  bridegroom from shame. At the same time, he reminds
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  his mother that he has work to do, and the servants
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  observe all of this. But I think the greatest
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  benefit of this sign is for the disciples, because
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  look in verse 11. And his disciples believed
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  in him. This is for their benefit. This is for
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  their benefit. And it is for our benefit. It
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  is for you to see and to know that Jesus is that
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  promised and powerful Messiah. But let's say
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  that you have believed in Jesus for a long time.
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  Let's say that you've grown up in this church.
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  You have followed Jesus closely for decades even.
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  You might say, what's the application for me?
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  What do I do with this passage? Is Jesus simply
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  keeping the party alive? How can I apply this?
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  Perhaps four points of application. Remember
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  the setting of this is a wedding. And you see
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  those servants obey Jesus. And so as Christians,
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  are we obedient to the scriptures? Are we obedient
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  to Christ? Are we living after the instruction
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  of God's perfect word? You've perhaps been in
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  a wedding, maybe you've even been wed. You ever
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  had a wedding planner? You gotta do what the
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  wedding planner says. Jesus is so much greater
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  than any wedding planner. But we recognize as
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  Christians that we must live obediently to the
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  Scriptures, which tells us something else. We
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  must know the Scriptures. We cannot be obedient
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  to the Scriptures if we are not in them. And
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  so friends, get alone with God. Get alone with
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  God in His Word. Get alone each day for time
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  in the Word, even if it's just a verse. Get alone
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  with God for time of... Prayer. Praying over
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  the Scriptures. Be in Sunday school. Come to
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  the other ministries of this church or other
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  good churches. Be studying the Word so you can
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  be obedient to the Word. Secondly, this also
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  shows the importance of the changed heart. The
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  Jewish leaders and the people, they were very
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  good at kind of the externals of religion. But
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  inside, they needed to be changed. It's only
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  with changed hearts that we can rightly worship
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  God. And so pray for God, for the Spirit to sanctify
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  you to be more and more like Jesus, that you
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  may rightly worship him. Thirdly, the emotion
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  of a wedding. There is great joy at weddings.
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  There should be God uniting man to woman. There
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  is great joy there. Imagine having Jesus on your
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  guest list. Jesus here doesn't say, you know
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  what, I got better things to do than go to this
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  wedding. I've got people to heal. I've got classes
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  to teach. Jesus doesn't do that. He goes to the
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  wedding. We as Christians should be growing in
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  joy. That's in that great list of the fruit of
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  the Spirit. Friends today, if you are lacking
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  in joy, go to a wedding. Now make sure you're
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  invited, but go to a wedding and celebrate the
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  good gifts of God. Celebrate the good things
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  in your life. and celebrate the things in the
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  lives of other people. If you find that you're
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  lacking in joy, pray and celebrate the good things.
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  Fourthly, hope. The analogy of the wedding used
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  throughout scripture, that Jesus is the bridegroom
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  who laid down his life for his bride. Jesus is
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  committed to the church. All this is pictured,
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  as I said, within the Lord's Supper. It's also
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  pictured in our baptism, right? And it's also
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  pictured in something that we have to hope for,
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  the marriage supper of the Lamb. Isaiah 25 pictures
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  this, predicts this, on this mountain the Lord
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  of Hosts will make for all people a feast of
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  rich food, a feast of well -aged wine. of rich
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  food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined.
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  This sign should have us looking to eternity.
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  Consider Revelation 19, 9. Blessed is the one
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  who is invited to the marriage supper of the
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  lamb. Will you be there? Will you be at the marriage
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  supper of the lamb with Christ? The wedding invitations
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  have gone out. They have. They go out through
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  the proclamation of the word. And so you have
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  heard the word. Your seat at the marriage supper
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  of the Lamb is only reserved through faith in
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  Jesus Christ. And so if you are lacking in that,
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  if you don't have assurance of salvation today,
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  if you're not sure what to make of Jesus, pray
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  today. Pray now. And ask God to grant you the
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  gift of faith that you will be. there because
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  Jesus is committed to the church. His hour came.
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  He answered the call. Jesus laid down his life
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  for you to wash you clean of sin. Jesus is the
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  groom and he loves you very, very much. Let's
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  pray.