The profound significance of Jesus Christ as presented in the Gospel of John, highlighting seven key "signs" that reveal his glory and divine nature. Beginning with the miracle at the wedding in Cana, where Jesus transforms water into wine, the message illustrates the beginning of his public ministry and the manifestation of his power. It then moves through other signs, such as the healing of the nobleman's son and the feeding of the five thousand, to demonstrate Jesus' provision, power, and presence in various aspects of life, including home, personal, and assembly life. The sermon emphasizes that these signs are not mere miracles but point to Jesus as the resurrection and the life, offering hope and eternal life to believers. Ultimately, John's Gospel is presented as a powerful testament to Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, through whom one can receive life.
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this morning, first of all, from the second chapter of the Gospel of John, John chapter two. John chapter two, and we'll read beginning at the first verse, the second chapter of John. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servant, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
And they were set there six waterpots of sown. After the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three perkins apiece, twenty to thirty gallons, Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. and he said unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and set unto him every man at the beginning thus set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now.
this beginning of miracles that Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. And I'd like to read also with you in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John, and we'll begin our reading there at the twenty-first verse, John eleven, twenty-one. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord If thou hadst been here, my brother has not died, but I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus said unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were died, or though he have died, yet shall he live. and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this? John had known the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here on earth for a period of three and a half years of his public ministry and probably had known the Lord previous to that time. And John had now known the Lord for sixty years after the Lord Jesus had ascended to heaven.
And he is considering, I'm sure, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, the life of the Lord Jesus. And as we read the Gospel of John, we are impressed with the fact immediately that John looks at the Lord Jesus' life in a very distinctive sense. He presents him, as we know, as the Son of God in connection with the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The other three Gospels have been called the Synoptic Gospels, which means to look at them the same. And indeed they are very similar, but John's Gospel contains much that is not in any of the other Gospels at all, and we are not only surprised by what it says, we are surprised by what it doesn't say.
One of the most amazing things to me about John's Gospel is that though while we know The mother of the Lord Jesus was committed into the custody of John. John doesn't say anything whatever about the early life of our Lord. I'm sure he must have talked to her about that. The Lord's life that is not recorded. No one would have known it better than his mother. And yet John makes no reference to that whatever. John's gospel is the simplest gospel. And yet I believe it is perhaps the most profound of the gospel. And we come to it and we say in the language of the woman at the well, the well is deep.
I don't believe anyone has ever plumbed the depths of this gospel. Truth so profound in it, and yet the simplest truth. And it's noteworthy that when missionaries go to new fields of labor, the first book that they translate is always the gospel of John. And it's been translated, this portion of God's word, into more... languages than any other book of the Bible. God has used it in a remarkable way to the salvation of many precious souls. I believe if we can examine the books of heaven, we find that there will be more people in heaven through this book than any other book that has ever been written under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Many can claim the salvation through this book, the Gospel of John.
You know, John was very selective in connection with what he wrote. He tells us so in the concluding verses really of his Gospel. John XXI is always considered as an appendix and add-on, although it's a very real part of that book. You remember he says this in John XX. It says, And many other signs, truly, did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written. that he might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing he might have life through his name. John doesn't call what the Lord Jesus did miracles.
He calls them signs because they signify something. And I want to think with you a little bit this morning of the seven signs that John selected. to portray the truth which he meant to present concerning the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that in our Lord Jesus Christ we have a complete, a perfect Savior. He selects seven and I read the first of these signs recorded in John chapter two the first beginning of miracle which Jesus did in Cana of Galilee it says and manifested forth his glory and I read the last of these signs the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
Perhaps the gladdest day in a man's experience is that day when he stands in front of the preacher or just as of the peace whoever, and they say something to you like this. You promise before God and these witnesses that you will love, honor, and cherish her, and that forsaking all others, cleave only to her for the long that you both shall live. And you say those fatal words, I will. Or I do. And in like fashion they turn to the woman and they ask the same question. And she responds. Perhaps the gladdest day is the day of a man's marriage. And in a way, that's the way life really begins.
Life doesn't begin at forty. Life begins when you're married. Somebody said that one fellow said he didn't know what happiness was until he got married and then it was too late. My son was telling me the other day, he said, man is incomplete until he's married. And I said, is that right? Yeah, he says, and when he's married, he's finished. But anyway, the Bible presents the thought of marriage as being the beginning. You know, when God began life here on earth, it didn't begin as a baby. He began as a full-grown human being. It was with Adam and Eve. We didn't come from Amoebas or... some slime, like some of these fellows like to imagine, God created a full-grown man.
And he made a woman. And he presented to him. That's the way life began then. And that's the way life still began. Because apart from marriage, there's no continuation of life. God said to Adam and to Eve, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. And that's where life begins. You know, when I was a boy, I was a part of my father's home. In fact, I was a part of his home for quite a while. I was just five days short of thirty-one before I made that fatal, quote those fatal words. But anyway, I was a part of his home. But when I was married, I started my own home.
God said to me, a man shall leave, his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife. They too shall be one. And so life begins with a marriage. It's the gladdest day of a man's life. And the saddest day is the funeral. That's the way it ends in John. Because that's the way life is. You know, as far as this earthly life is concerned, it begins with a marriage. And it ends with a funeral. In fact, we say that when we get married. Do you promise until death do us part? And you agree to that. You agree that this is a lifelong obligation, but it's only an obligation as long as this life is concerned.
The Lord Jesus said that in May, heaven, there are no marriages. That's something for earth, that he has made for his purpose and for our blessings. And while marriage is the gladest day, the funeral is the saddest day. When you have to say goodbye to a mother, a father, a wife, husband. And even though we saw him not as others which have no hope, yet it is a sad day. But the Lord Jesus is the only one who can put gladness into the marriage and is the only one who can take that out of the future. And I think that's what John has illustrated to us here.
You know, it's interesting that the first book of our Bible begins with a marriage and it ends with a funeral. It begins With God presenting to Adam his wife, Eve. Here they start out on life together. And it ends with these words. Joseph was put in a coffin in Egypt. The marriage and the funeral. And yet it ends on a note of hope. Just as John's gospel ends in a note of hope. Joseph says twice over. God will surely visit you. He says, my bones are not to be let see.
God has promised of the land this is not my resting place. And he says, I want you to promise that when you leave, take my bones with you. David Kirk has written a very interesting book on Joseph's bones. And he uses a picture of the remembered feast of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because as those children of Israel journeyed through the wilderness, they said, what's the meaning of these bones? Ah, they said, this is not our resting place. We're only in the wilderness now. But we're going to an eternal place that God has given to us.
We're going to that land which he has promised us. You know, when we remember the Lord Jesus Christ in his death, as we've done this morning, each time we do so, we remember that God is going to visit us. God will surely visit you. And we do show forth the Lord's death as the Scripture until he comes. And so it ends in hope. Now there are seven signs, and I want to look at these seven signs from three points of view. The first two has been illustrated of our home life. You know what it says in John chapter two that the Lord Jesus turns the water into wine.
He turns the water of wine into joy, because that's what wine signifies in the Word of God. We read in the book of Judges that wine cheers the heart of God and of men. And it suggests that to us. And then in John chapter four we have the healing of the nobleman's son. And both of these miracles took place in Cana of Galilee. Of course the son was in Capernaum as we know from which this nobleman came. But the miracle itself was performed by our Lord Jesus Christ in Cana. And the healing of the nobleman's son suggests to us the fact that normally in the home you have children, and you have problems with children.
You have children that are sick, not physically sick, but spiritually sick, and only the Lord Jesus Christ can heal. And so, first of all, you have the home life illustrated. And then you have personal life suggested. In John chapter five, we have the healing of the impotent man. And that suggests to us that the only possible way that you and I can walk a life that pleases God is by his power. Rise, take up thy bed and walk. It's only his power that makes this possible. And then in John chapter six, we have the Lord Jesus feeding the five thousand. And that suggests it's provision for us. all during the wilderness journey. Just as Israel was fed, you know, from heaven with a manna, so the Lord Jesus Christ says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
I am the food of God's people all along this wilderness way. He says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. He which eateth of me shall live forever. And then we have in John chapter six again the Lord Jesus walking in the water, coming to them, and we see in that his presence. You know, he said, it is I, or really it's the same word, I am. I am. Be not afraid. He is sufficient. You remember the children of Israel said that they would not go up unless his presence went with that. And we have the assurance of his presence every step of the way. Not only of his power and of his provision, but we have his presence assured. And then we have, thirdly, what I have considered as assembly life, church life, suggested by the last two.
First of all, this restoring of the sight to the blind. And I want to think of that as the portion of the church in the present day. And then finally, raising Lazarus from the dead as a picture of the prospect that is before the church of God. Let's think then of these seven signs that we have in John's Gospel. First of all, the marriage in Cana of Galilee. You know, the Lord said way back in Genesis concerning marriage, he says, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Now God set the pattern for marriage right at the very beginning.
It hasn't changed from that day to this because the Lord Jesus said so in Matthew chapter nineteen. It says, In the beginning, he didn't say what's happened since, but it says, in the beginning he made them male and female and sex. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. God made it very simple. It was just one man, one woman. That's God's intention. That's God's program sense. He's never changed. I like the story they tell about, it's a fictitious story, but they tell the story about Adam and Eve walking in the garden one day. And you know, like women will do, Eve said to Adam, Adam, they said, do you love me?
And he said, who else? You know, it's very simple when you've only got one. And that indeed should be the attitude of every Christian, who else? The husband to the wife and the wife to the husband. We promise before God on our solemn word when we're married that we will cleave only to her or to him the long as we both shall live. And as Christians, We should be like God, just as good as our world. We should be men and women who speak the truth, who mean the truth, and who live by the truth we express.
A man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined under his wife. Now it's very obvious that while God spoke those words to Adam, in a way they weren't for Adam because he didn't have any father and mother to leave. That's obvious. And yet God said to him, a man shall leave his father and mother shall be joined unto his wife. And I think what God was saying to Adam was simply this. Your home is to be a model home. Because one of these days, those children, those many sons and daughters that are reborn into your home, and the Scripture speaks of the fact that he had many sons and daughters, they're going to leave your home.
They're not yours to keep. Adam, they're not yours to keep these. They're just the trunks. And you only have them for a little while. And the character of the home that they set up is going to be largely determined by the character of the home in which they're lit. They're going to leave. That's my word. A man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife. You know, the world has a saying that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. And the character of my home and the character of your home is going to determine largely the type of home that you're going to see in your children and in your grandchildren.
You know, God designed marriage. It wasn't man's idea. He designed it. He made them at the beginning. Sometimes you read people today like they thought it's something that men thought of. But God designed it for man's blessing. God who knows us like no one else does. He designed everything that he's ever designed. for man's blood. One of my favorite verses, it's in another connection, is in First Timothy six in verse seventeen. He says, charge them that are rich in this world that they trust not in uncertain riches, but that's not the part that interests me so much, but this part. But in God who giveth us richly, it doesn't say God gives us with a niggerly hand. It says God gives us richly, gives us liberally, all things to make us miserable.
Have you ever read that? That's the way a lot of people read that verse. But everything, the husband that God has given, the wife that God has given you, the children that God has given you, the health that God has given you, the food that God has given you, everything that God gives. He gives man to bless. For he's the God of all things. His attitude is everyone of blessing. You and I should consider that well. He giveth us richly, all things. to enjoy. Now the Bible says that he that gets the wife gets a good thing. My dad always adds that he gets a good wife. I don't put that in, but the scripture says he that gets the wife gets a good thing.
I like what John Milton says that the first thing that God said was not good. It was loathe. Think about that? God made man for fellowship. First of all, for fellowship with himself. And he illustrates that for us in human fellowship. Friendship that we have. You know, man was not meant to be alone. God, it says, on the first day, he said, when he made the world, he said, God thought it was good. On the second day, no comment.
The third day, it was good. The fourth day it was good. The fifth day it was good. The sixth day it was good. And then God looked at all of his creations. He saw it was very good. But God said something was not good. He said it is not good. The man should dwell alone. God made man of fellowship. And he illustrates this on a very human level. Or... I like what Matthew Henry said. You know, when God made man, made woman rather, he didn't make him out of man's head because she wasn't to rule over him.
He didn't make her out of his feet because he wasn't to tread her down. But he made her out of his side because she was to be his love companion. He was to enjoy fellowship with her. Life was what? And I like that. I think that's strictly accordance with what God's word has to say on the supper. Now we notice in John chapter two that this marriage took place on the third day. And that suggests to us that if I'm a Christian, the person to whom I am to be enjoyed is a person that I'm getting married to on the third day.
What does that mean? Well, in the Bible, the third day is suggestive of resurrection. The person I am to be married is one who enjoys resurrection life, who has been quickened together, who has been made alive together with Christ. In other words, my responsibility is to marry in the Lord. Marry one who knows the Lord. And not simply one who knows the Lord, but it says marry in the Lord. It doesn't say marry a Christian. It says marry in the Lord, which suggests I am subject to his will, his guidance in my life. in relation to this subject Mary in the Lord and I like what it says here that both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage and I'll tell you this that if you want a marriage that God will offer and God will bless you get married in such a way that you can invite the Lord Jesus to the marriage When you're sure that you can invite him to the marriage, you can be sure you're on the right track.
When you have the confidence of having his presence with you in that marriage, then you're on the right track. But not only the Lord Jesus and his disciples enter into a marriage where you can enjoy the fellowship of God's people in it. Both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. You know, in the Old Testament we have a man by the name of Amram. Do you know who Amram was? That was Moses' father. And his name means my people, God's people, is exalted. And his wife's name was Jacobite, and her name means the Lord is glorious.
And you show me a couple who bowed to the Lord, and value the Lord's people, and you have the key to a happy Christian marriage. Both Jesus, it says, and his disciples were called to the marriage. The Lord was the only one who could provide the wine, the joy, the cheer, at the marriage. And by the way, it's interesting to notice that the only recorded command of Mary in the Word of God, I suppose she issued command But the only recorded command of Mary in the Scriptures is this one. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
And that's good advice. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And we have where the Lord Jesus commands him to take the water and pour it into these empty vessels. And he's still doing that. He pours the water of his word into empty vessels and he turns into the joy. But it was into full vessels. And we're commanded in the Word of God to be filled with the Spirit of God. And not only so, but to be filled with the Word of God. There are two verses that interest me. One in Colossians chapter three, verse sixteen, and the other in Ephesians five and eighteen. And in Colossians three, it says, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another, in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Now that verse suggests that if the Word of God is controlling my life, then it'll have two effects. It will result in blessing to God's people. I'll be teaching and admonishing, warning, one another, and then it'll have effect Godward. In psalms, in hymns, and spiritual psalms, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. If the Word of God is controlling my life. And then... It has a similar expression. Ephesians only puts it this way. It says, be not drunk with wine. We're in the success, but be filled with the Spirit, the Spirit, speaking to yourselves. That's the first thing. We'll have a message for one another.
In songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart so long. In other words, in Colossians it says, if the Word of Christ fills you, you'll be doing these two things. And it says, if the Spirit of Christ The Spirit of God is controlling. It'll have the same effect. And what that tells me is this. The Scripture-filled man is the Spirit-filled man. And the Spirit-filled man is the Scripture-filled man. Because God, the Holy Spirit speaks through His Word. And therefore it's my responsibility to search the Scriptures, to make them my own. And the Spirit of God will work through that Word and accomplish His purpose of blessing.
in my life and he'll turn the water into the wine of joy and blessing to others and I'll be a blessing to the Lord as well leave and cleave this is the word to Adam and to Eve and God says in his word what God has joined together let no one put a son When we consider what the Scripture has to say in Ephesians chapter five, what a privilege it is for you and I who know the Lord to manifest in our lives in the living way the relationship that exists between the Lord Jesus Christ and his church.
It says that the husband in the home is to be the model of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the wife is to be the model of the Lord Jesus Christ in connection with his submission. Both things are true of him. He set an example in both ways. Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. He took upon himself the form of a slave. He took the place of submission. But he took the place of authority as well. And the Bible says that authority is exercised in love. And that's the way the authority is to be exercised in the whole. Christ loved the church. His husband loved your wife even.
As Christ loved the church and gave himself full. That's sacrificial love. And that's what they characterize up in our home. Giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. The husband is not told to lord it over his wife. He's told to love his wife. His authority is to be exercised in that way. And then the wife is told to be subject to her husband. That even as the church is subject to the cross. And what a privilege it is. to carry this out in a practical way in the home. The greatest way in which the wife can be a help meet to her husband is by taking a place of submission in the home.
And the greatest way that the church can be a help to Christ in this world is by being submissive to his authority. And the wife is to illustrate that in the home. Believe and believe. Those are God's simple words to the man. Believe. and cleave. And the better leaving job you do, the better cleaving job you'll do. The better cleaving job you do, the better leaving job you'll do. Forsaking all others, cleave only to him or her, as long as you both shall live. And then in John four we have the healing of the nobleman's son, which illustrates to us the fact that in the normal home, in the average home, children come into the picture.
And like this child, every child is sick unto death and needs divine healing. Not for the body, but healing for the soul. And what did this man do? This nobleman, and I should say he's a noble man. He did what every individual should do with their children. And the burden of the children. Bring it to the Lord. You know, that's a wonderful thing. We need to be impressed with it over and over again that the Lord hears and answers for us. This man had a problem with his son. And he did the only sensible thing. He brought the burden to the Lord. And he spread it out before him.
And he learned that the Lord hears and answers for us. How much many of us have to thank God for the prayers of godly parents and grandparents and other loved ones who have prayed for us. I thank God for a mother that prayed. I say my father didn't pray, but I know my mother prayed. she told me shortly before she passed away three years ago that never a day went by but she didn't get down on her knees three times during the day and commit her children and her grandchildren to the Lord I remember years ago reading the story of the conversion of Hudson Taylor Hudson Taylor was saved through the reading of a tract his father was a Christian and he kept a lot of tracks around the place and Hudson Taylor would read the first part.
You know, the story part. When the thought comes to the application, he'd just lay it down. You know, a lot of these tracks, they'll tell an interesting story about someone and done some heroic act. And when he'd come to the gospel part of it, he'd just put it to one side. But one day he was reading a track and he went a little too far. So he thought, I guess, at the time. And he read this statement, the finished work of Christ. And the other guy got a hold of him just that expression, the finished word of Christ. And he said, well, if it's finished, then there's nothing neat to be done. And finally it got a grip on him to such an extent that he got down on his knees and trusted Christ to save.
His mother had gone away on a trip for about two weeks. And he could hardly wait to tell her when she came home that he was a Christian, that he's frustrated. He knew how overjoyed she would be. And when she came up to walk and he said, sworn his sister to secrecy that she was not to tell his mother that he had trusted the Lord. He wanted to break the news itself. And his mother came walking down up the gate, you know, up the towards the gate. And before he could get to her, he says, I know, son, said you've trusted Christ. And then he was immediately, he was angry with his sister. He said, I'm sure that she must have told her mother. And so he said, his mother, did his sister tell her? He said, no. She said, two weeks ago, I was sitting at the dinner table.
And I was thinking about my only son, not saved. And I got up and it said, I just felt precious. And it said, I went into the bedroom. I got down on my knees and I prayed. And I got up from my knees with the assurance in my soul that God had answered my prayer that very day. And she says, I have never prayed for your conversion sense. I've just been enjoying it. She says, God told us, pray. How important is this? You and I should do like this man did with his son, bring him to the Lord in front. That's the secret, because we should heal no one.
Salvation is of the Lord. It's our responsibility to share the Word of God with our children, that's true, and to see that they're under the sound of the Word of God, and that's true. But to lay all of God for their spiritual blessings. And then we have in John chapter five, we have this impotent man, man is not able to walk. And he's illustration of all of us by nature in our personal life. We can't walk a life pleasing to God. And in Mark chapter two, you remember the story of the Lord said to that man who was Lord into his presence, son, thy sins be forgiven thee. And they said, who can forgive sins but God only? And the Lord Jesus said, is it easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee, or say, rise, take up thy bed and walk?
but that ye may know that the Son of Man hath far on earth to forgive sins. He sets the sick of the palsy. Rise, take up thy bed and walk. It costs the Lord Jesus his life. Nor does it say thy sins be forgiven me. Much more difficult than to say take up thy bed and walk. But the proof of the reality that our sins are forgiven is in our walk. And the Lord Jesus is the only one who can empower, walk alike, well pleasing to him. It has been well said, there are two marks that Christ has given to his sheep.
The mark of the ear and the mark of the foot. He said, my sheep hear my voice. That's the thing that evidences that you're a true sheep of Christ. Are you listening to what he has to say? Not only simply listening, but eating is worth. And then he says, And they follow me. You know, there are some people that profess to be Christ, but they suffer from what I call hook and mouth disease. You know, their walk isn't right, and their talk isn't right. Because when you come to Christ, if you're truly His, you'll change your talk, and you'll change your walk.
my sheep, hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Here was a man at the pool of Bethesda. He hadn't walked for thirty-eight years. He's a picture of Israel in the wilderness. The law was given to them, and for thirty-eight years they walked under the law, but the law didn't bring them into the land. They were unable to walk, because it is not in man that's walking the directed steps. They needed divine power. The law is fulfilled enough, says Paul in Romans eight, who walk not after the flesh, but those after the spirit. Do you want to be made well? Ah, Lord, he said, there's nothing I want more than that. He seemed to mock him for the question.
The Lord says, rise, take up thy bed and walk. He could have said, my Lord, I've never walked a stroke for thirty-eight years. He says, I can't do it. It's impossible. But he took the Lord Jesus at his word. And he found that when he acted on his word, he got the power to do what the Lord commanded him to do, because his commands are his enabling. Rise, take up thy bed and walk. It's all during the wilderness journey. The Lord illustrate for us in that fourth miracle in John chapter six, the feeding of the five psalms, provision for the way. As we journey through the life, what is our food? What is going to sustain us in the way?
He says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. He was ye that me shall never hunger and never thirst. He says, he is the bread of God. He satisfied the heart of God and he meets the needs of men. He's the living bread. We sing in one of our hymns, nothing but Christ is on we track. The gift on Christ. God's living bread, showing to all where once he trod, nothing but Christ and the Christ of God. Nothing saved him in all our ways. Giving the theme for... ceaseless price, our whole resource along the road. Nothing but Christ. Christ is God. He's the only one that can meet our needs. And then we have the Lord Jesus walking in the water in John chapter six.
The assurance of his presence. That is I. Nothing to fear. As he not said, I will never leave you nor forsake thee. And cannot we boldly say, as it says in Hebrews, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do unto me? Can he fire me from his job? The Lord is my helper. No matter what may come in life, it is us to be not afraid. I am with you always, even under the end of the age. It was that which sustained the psalmist. He says, the Lord is my shepherd. He says, Lord, I walk with the valley of the shadow of the earth. I will fear no evil. Why? But ours didn't mean ours didn't mean His presence.
Now my dad lived He sold his home, but up until a couple of years ago, he lived down the street from where we lived, five doors down. When our children were small, I often used to walk down that way to see my mother and dad. There used to be a family lived down the way from us, and they had a dog, big black dog. My boy was just terrified of this dog. There was a lot of bark and no bite, but he was afraid of the bark. But I remember one day walking down there with my little boy, and when we got up near to that yard, and the little boy said, Daddy Carey, I picked him up, held him in my arms, and we walked by that dog.
You know that dog? You know, barking like that? And I never will forget, my little boy, who's then only about two or three. As he went by that dog, he went like this. You know, it made all the difference. I will fear no evil. I will fear no evil. Boom shall we fear. Boom shall we be afraid. Am I not with thee and will keep thee? God said to Jacob, In all places. He said to us, With us or ever thou goeth.
Well, I only got half through, and our time is gone. But anyway, you get the picture. These wonderful miracles, the wonderful assurance that God is with us from the time we're married until the funeral and then why there's a hope. Because he says, I am the resurrection. I am the life. He that believes in me, though you have died, yet shall he live. What a hope we have. Our Father, we thankful for thy precious word and we pray that thou would bless it to each of our hearts and use Thy word today, for the health, the challenge, and the encouragement of all thy known. Bless our fellowship together, we pray, as we give these thanks for thy holy word in our Savior's name.