Thank you. I'm sure that you've heard that our brother, Peter Bliss, who wrote that hymn, wrote, Oh, how I love Jesus. And later years he wrote the one you just sang, and someone came up to him and said, Oh, I love that song, Oh, how I love Jesus. And he said, I liked it and do like it. But he said, when I got older, I realized it wasn't so important that I love Jesus. What was important was that Jesus loves me. Here in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us. and gave his son. Turn if you would to John chapter two, the second chapter of the book of John. It's been nice to be with you today. I feel like I ought to call this grandfather's day here instead of father's day. We had one little boy come to Frostproof and visit his grandparents for the first time. And when he looked at all those white-haired In the meeting, he said he never saw so many grandpas and grandpas in one place, grandmas and grandpas in one place. And I thought I'd just tell you what our little grandson said one time. When my father passed away, my sister gave me a shoehorn, one of these with the stick on the end, you know, so it's about that long. And I keep it alongside of my chair in the living room or in the family room in the kids' room. play with it, and then I put my shoes on there with it. And one day our oldest grandson, when he was about four years old, was tussling with his dad in bed. And he said to his dad, he said, you know, when I'm a daddy, he said, I'll be able to beat you up. And his father said, well, why do you say that? He said, because you'll be a grandpa. And he said, grandpas are old and weak. So my son-in-law said to him, do you think your grandpa's are old and weak, meaning his father and me? And my grandson said, well, I know my grandpa in Frostproof is because he has to have a stick to help him get his shoes on. So anyway, they all have their ideas about it and it's wonderful to have grandchildren. My father said, that's why they're called grandchildren. It's grand when they come and it's grand when they go. But we surely love them, and it's a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a day remembering the fact that we have children and grandchildren. And we've enjoyed being with you. John chapter two, we're going to begin reading at the first verse. 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 a woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine ours not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And it was set there six waterpots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called a bridegroom and said unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk than that which is worse, but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him. As we know, the Gospel of John begins with the Lord's public ministry. It doesn't cover anything concerning his birth or anything concerning his life prior to his public ministry. And here we see the third day as far as we're told in the Gospel of John of the Lord's public ministry, and we see that he's invited to a wedding. And it speaks of it as being the beginning of miracles now there's some interesting things about this there's some interesting things dispensationally which we're not going to particularly get into at all but we want to give you some interesting things from a practical point of view concerning this first miracle and we see that the Lord first of all honors his presence is I mean the marriage I should say by his presence at this miracle he comes to this wedding and he honors the couple by being at the wedding. And then in addition to that, he adds joy to the occasion by providing the wine, because in the Bible, as you know, wine speaks of joy. And so he placed this stamp of approval in the institution of marriage, and then he supplied the wine. And it seems to me that apart from the stamp of approval of the Lord upon the institution, upon a marriage, the wine probably will run out. probably not on the wedding day, but the joy probably will run out. You see, when the Lord plants His approval upon your marriage, then there is a good chance that there's going to be joy in that marriage. You and I that know the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, I think it's important for us to bear in mind that we should be married in the Lord. We should have the Lord's approval. upon our marriage and we'll talk about that just a little bit more in a moment or two. I was thinking about the fact of years ago when I was invited to speak at a funeral, I was thinking about something that I should speak on and I thought I'd look in the word and I thought I'd see what the Lord had to say at funerals and then I realized when the two funerals that he went to really Lazars had been in the grave a while, but he went to the funeral there when they were coming out with the widow's son. In both cases he raised the dead, and so I didn't figure that would be much help to me in speaking at a funeral. But it did remind me of what we're talking about here this evening, and that is that he takes the sorrow out of funerals, and he puts the joy into weddings. The Lord Jesus did that here. And, you know, he'll be the host at every wedding if you allow him, if you'll invite him to come in. That's what happened at this wedding. He was invited to come there. It said that Mary was there. The third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. The mother, Mary, was there, but the Lord Jesus was invited to the wedding. He was asked to come to the wedding. And as we've said, it's the beginning of the Lord's public ministry that this happened. I want you to notice that the name of the bride and the bridegroom are not mentioned at all. You know, I find that when you go to weddings, Generally, the bride is the main attraction at a wedding today. Sometimes the bridegroom has a place of some importance, but certainly nobody else has much of a place of importance at a wedding, other than the bride and the bridegroom. But at this wedding, the bride and the bridegroom are not mentioned at all. The important thing was that they had the Lord's approval. of the intimate relationship of marriage. It's an institution that too often is dishonored today, but the Lord honored their marriage. If you look way back in Genesis chapter two, we see that the Lord after the Lord had made Eve from Adam's side, Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. You see, the Lord in reality instituted marriage way back in the beginning with Adam and Eve. He supplied Eve, and he instituted the fact that they would leave the father and mother, and they would cleave to each other. And now we see him blessing it with his presence and with the wine. And I want to... just again mention the fact that you and I, that know Christ is our Savior. And if you're young people here, and you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior, you want to be very careful that you marry in the Lord. I remember some years ago there was a couple in our assembly and they had a daughter that wanted to be married and she was in the assembly professing to know the Lord as their Savior and she wanted to marry an unsaved man. He did not profess to be a Christian. And they asked my brother if he would perform the ceremony. And when he said he could not perform the ceremony, we were very unhappy with him. And ultimately they left the assembly. They went to another assembly later on, but they left that assembly. But you see, how could we do that? How could we stand up if I'm there to marry that couple, and at the beginning I'm praying... of blessing in that couple. How can I ask the Lord to come and bless that marriage? How could I do that? You think about that. How could you do that? How could you ask the Lord to bless the marriage of one that knows Christ as their Savior and there's one that does not know Christ as their Savior? It reminded me of what happened years ago when a friend of ours was going to a funeral and he was riding in the front seat with the man in charge of the funeral, the mortician. And he was riding in the front seat of the hearse. And as we were riding along, this brother began to smile. And the man said, well, what are you smiling about? And he said, well, he was looking for an opportunity to talk to this man. He said, I was just thinking, here I'm riding out to the graveyard with two dead people. He said, what do you mean two dead people? He said, well, we've got one in the back that's physically dead and we've got you here in the front and you tell me you're spiritually dead. So I'm riding along with two dead people. Well, you know, lots of times you don't think about it. But you see, you would not marry your daughter or your son off to a dead person. You'd say that's ridiculous. And yet that's exactly spiritually what you do when an individual who's saved, the Bible says they're dead in their sins. And I believe that we cannot ask God to bless it. I'm not saying that God will cause any problems within that marriage, but I don't think that God can bless a marriage that's married outside of Him when one of the individuals, if both of them don't know Christ as their Savior, that's something else. But when one of them doesn't know Christ as their Savior, and I encourage you in that today, there's a great deal of that problem, and it's just an aside in connection with this message tonight. Now we notice that Jesus' mother was there and she seemed to have some authority. She was probably either a very close friend or a family member. It does not say that she was called to the wedding. It said she was there. So evidently she had some part in the wedding. It says that Jesus was called and the disciples were asked to come. And I'm sure that the reason the disciples were asked to come was because The Lord Jesus was called to the wedding. And I thought that that's a good thing to learn at the beginning of his earthly ministry. It was a good thing for them to learn. And it's a good thing for you and I to learn. The blessed truth that those who follow Jesus feast with Jesus. They fare as he fares. The Lord said in John twelve, twenty-six, and if any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man served me, him will my Father honor. You know, it's a wonderful thing to realize that a love to Christ is testified by his love to us. You know, it's wonderful when you realize as a Christian that the Lord says that he will supply your need. He'll supply your need here in this world if you trust him and look to him. You and I, you know, I look about in the world and I see people going through tremendous problems in the world, tremendous needs. But my Bible assures me that if I'll look to the Lord, He will supply my need as I go through this life. Isn't that nice to know? Isn't it nice to know that God assures us? And these disciples learned early on in the Lord's ministry that when He feasted, they feasted. They fared as He did. They were able to go where He went and enjoy what He enjoyed and suffered as He suffered. But God says that we shall never be lost we can never be separated from his love here in this world and then in the third and fourth verse it says and when they wanted wine the mother of Jesus hath unto him they have no wine and Jesus hath unto her woman what have I to do with thee mine hour is not yet come the wine had run out and they wanted more and you know sometimes that's the way it is true in our life as well we've used up our joy And it's then that we find out it's true that joy is not found in the world, but joy is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that any individual who honestly looks at life would have to agree that there is absolutely no joy in the world. There is thrills. There are thrills. There is excitement. There are things that give you pleasure for the moment, but there's no real joy in the world. The joy is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where joy is found. The Lord said, My joy, I give unto you. And I want you to notice that this joy was at a wedding. In marriage, one must care for the needs of the day, must care for all of the problems of life. And those are the areas in which we find the most disappointment. It's the problems, the everyday things of life. I've often said that the greatest problem with life above everything else is that it's boring. You know, life has these things every day. You know, I went out a week ago and I mowed my lawn and you know it needs again. And I'll mow it next week and it'll need it again. And I shave this morning. If you look close, I need another shave. You see, every day you've got to do the same things over and over. Every morning I get up, I have to decide what socks to put on. and what pants to wear and what shirt to wear. And you know, we have all of these disappointments. You just have your new battery put in your car and the starter goes out. And you have all of these disappointments in life and most of them are in the everyday things of life. The everyday things, most of the disappointments, most of the discouraging things are not in the pleasures and in the greater things of life. They're in the everyday things, in the marriage, and in the family and in the home and these kinds of things. And it's nice to know that God came into this marriage and He put His blessing upon the marriage. For we realize that that's where the joy so often runs out. It runs out in the everyday things of life, like the marriage, the things that we live every day. And as we said, the wine speaks of joy in the Scripture. We read that wine that cheereth God and man And dispensationally, the fact that the wine ran out, pictures, of course, at the marriage feast, pictures the fact that Israel has departed so far from God that all of their ceremonies and so forth have become empty, as pictured in the empty water pots. They don't mean anything anymore. God one day called them the Feast of Jehovah. But in the New Testament, when the Lord was here, he called them the Feast of the Jews. They had so desecrated them that God no longer put his name upon them. At any rate, Christ was there, and his mother had observed this perfect son all of those years, and she had kept all those thoughts in her heart. We remember that when he was a lad and he was twelve years old, remember, and he disappeared, and his mother had found him, and he said, with thanks not that I should be about my father's business. and and then he came and was subject to them but it said that his mother Mary kept all of these things in her heart and she had watched him over the years she had been told of course who he was but she had seen it as well and now the joy ran out at the wedding and a joy should not run out at the wedding and so she comes to him and you know That's a nice thought for you and I too, that when the problems of life come, we can come to the Lord Jesus. She could come to him and she could ask him for what she wanted. And you know, I like the way that she asked. I'm sure that you've enjoyed looking at that. When she came to him, she said, they have no wine. That was all she said. She said they have no wine. You know, so often when we come to the Lord and we ask for something, we give the Lord this great big blueprint of how we want it. We describe exactly the way that we want him to answer the prayer. We go into great details. And you know, it's so nice when we come to the Lord. I like the way Martha and Mary, they wrote to the Lord and they said, He whom thou love us is sick. And they knew that the Lord would understand that kind of a message. And you see, you can come to the Lord and you can say, Oh, Lord, my husband is sick. Oh, Lord, my child is away from thee. Bless him or bless her. And the Lord will do what is best. How much better to leave those kind of decisions with Him and bring the problem before the Lord. Oh, He wants us to bring the problem. But you know, sometimes we get in this outline of exactly how we want the prayer answered. And when it's not answered that way, we think the Lord didn't answer the prayer at all. One man, his wife, always said that the Lord didn't answer so many of her prayers. And he said the trouble with Mabel is she doesn't take no for an answer. You see, sometimes the Lord doesn't answer in exactly the way we ask. He doesn't always say yes to exactly what we want. But how blessed it is that you and I are able to go and we can present to the Lord the problem. She said they have no wine. She didn't have to tell the Lord that that was a problem at a wedding feast. He knew that. He knew the customs as well as she did. She didn't have to tell him that it would bring a degree of sorrow to that wedding feast if there was no wine at the wedding feast. She simply had to come and appraise him of the situation. And you and I are able to do that. And you know, he alone can put true joy in the hearts, for we have been made for him. You know, sometimes when I'm dealing with young people and they will come to me And they'll say, well, Mr. Van Ryn, is it all right if I do this? And they'll mention something that they would like to do. Is it all right if I do that? And sometimes I don't make them happy by saying, well, the fact that you ask the question means you have a problem with it, or you wouldn't be here asking me the question. But sometimes I tell them they come to me and they say, well, is it all right if I do this or that? I take them to the Scripture and I show them what the Word of God says. And so often they say, well, don't confuse me with the facts. Is it alright if I do it? They really don't want to know what the Word of God says. They want my permission to do it. And I can't do that, but I can show them what the Word of God says. And then I remind them of this little illustration. You know, some years ago I bought an electric drill. And I'd only had it a couple days and something went wrong with that electric drill. And so I took it apart and I fixed it. And then it really something went wrong with it. It kind of blew up at that point when I turned it on. And I took it back and the man said, well, did you read the directions? And you know, I hadn't read the directions. I just took off with the drill and then I fixed it. And right in the directions it told me what I should have done. Now, you know, if I'd have been smart, I'd have realized that the people who made that drill and had given me a book of directions knew the best way to care for the drill. That makes sense, doesn't it? And God made you and I, and when God in His Word says, don't do that or do this, or don't do that or do this, He's doing it because He wants you to have joy. He wants you to have peace. He wants you to be blessed in your life. He's doing it for your benefit. He made you for Himself, and He knows what works best. Now that's simple, and yet we have a great problem. with that. The hymn writer had a problem with that, for he wrote this hymn. He said, I tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but ah, the waters failed, ee as I stoop to drink. They fled, and mock me as I wail. Now none but Christ can satisfy another name for me. It says, love and life and lasting joy. There is love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in thee. Now, she came to Christ. If the bridegroom would have realized that he was out of wine, he probably would have sent to a different source. But she came to the very source. She came to the access where wine was to be found. And their conversation is interesting, as we pointed out. She doesn't ask him to do anything. And he says to her, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour has not yet come. Now, she hadn't asked him to do anything. She had just mentioned the wine, as we said. And the Lord says, what have I to do with thee? The interesting thing to me about her statement as well is that it was not a concern for her own needs. It was a concern for the need of others. And that's normally the way our prayers should be. Our prayers should normally be concerned with others. We certainly have to commit our own needs to the Lord. But in our life, the Lord said, By this shall all men know that you're my disciples, that you love one another. And when you and I have a concern for others, then it would be particularly noticed. And as this would have been an embarrassment for the bride, Mary comes to the Lord. And the Lord answers. Some have suggested that he spoke roughly to her. Woman, what have I to do with thee? But I don't think so. I believe that the Lord always addressed his mother with kindness, with respect and love. You see, today a lady is the wife of a Lord or a king or another personage. But in those days, woman... had that same level of title, it seems, as I understand it. I understand that if we would put it in today's English, he would have said something like this to her, My dear lady, what have I to do with thee? He would have spoken kindly to his mother, and he said, Mine hour is not yet come. You remember that the Lord often stated that. Mine hour is not yet come. And his public ministry often mentioned the time, the fact that the time was not yet there. And then later on, you remember, for instance, in the twelfth chapter of John, he says in the twenty-third verse, And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. It abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it. And he that hateeth his life in this world. shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this world. Father, glorify thy name. You remember that Philip had come to him, and Andrew, and they had said that the Greeks desired to speak with him. And the answer he gave them was, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except the corn of wheat, fall into the ground and die. He said, it isn't important that they see me in my physical form. What is important is that they see me in my physical form. What is important is that they see me in the purpose for which I came. And that's what's important for everyone outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they see the Lord Jesus and the reason for which he came. He came in this world to be the Savior of the world. He came to die. And he said, the hour is now come. You remember when he prayed in Gethsemane, he said, the hour is at hand. When he prayed to the Father in John, he said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy son, that thy son may also glorify thee. But at this time, at the beginning of the ministry, he said, Mine hour is not yet come. But Mary was not disturbed by his answer at all. She told the servants, do a bidding. She said, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. She didn't disregard him, but like a mother, she just went right by what he said. And she said, whatsoever he doeth, he bideth, do it. Whatever he saith unto you, do it. She kept her hope in him. In Romans chapter four and verse eighteen, it suggests that we must hope We must against hope, believe in hope. Whatever He says, do it. And then the Lord said, To take water. And you and I that want bledding from God, we must be willing to follow His directions by faith. We might not understand the how or the why. You know, when the Lord said to them to take these water pots and fill them with water, it must have seemed like a kind of an odd direction. She had come and said that they need wine and he says, get these great big old water pots and fill them with water. And they were big water pots. But you know, you and I are blessed when we are serving the Master and the Master calls upon us to follow that. Some years ago, I asked a young man if he would teach a Sunday school class and he said, I'm sorry, but I don't feel that that's my calling. And I said, well, where do you get that information? that it's not your calling. I'm the superintendent of the Sunday school. I'm an elder in this assembly and I've watched you and I feel that it's your calling. It's not up to you to make that kind of decision. It's up to the Lord to make the decision. If He's laid it on my heart to talk to you, then you have to assume that the Lord has asked you. And you may not think it's what you should do, but if you have the time, you should lay hold on the opportunity. And many times in life we miss out. God's work is going to be done. Somebody comes and gives us the opportunity to serve the Lord, and we say, that doesn't seem like a very wise idea to me at all. But these servants did exactly what he said. He said, draw the water, and they drew the water. Today there are those that pray to Mary, but she couldn't answer their need then, and she can't answer need now. She, like you and I, must direct the needy to the Savior. And it's important that you and I, if we're going to be a blessing to others, remember that, that the blessing was in Christ then. If there was going to be wine at the wedding, then it had to come from Christ. And if there's going to be salvation, it has to come from Christ. There's in salvation in none other. So you and I need to be careful in the day in which we live. We live in a day when if you listen to the messages that are going to be being preached today, many of them, the Word of God is not even being read, much less ministered. And the gospel is not being preached. And by many of the major programs today, the gospel is not being preached. And you and I need to be very careful that in our lives and in our visits with individuals and from the platforms that we preach the Word. because that alone is able to be a blessing today. We hear from major platforms, people trying to solve the social ills of the world. Abortion and drug addicts and all of these things are being sought to being solved from the platforms instead of the Word of God being preached. And even if you help that individual with that problem, they're still going to lost eternity. But if you win them for Christ, that problem will be solved and they'll be going to heaven. as well, so you and I should remember to preach the Word and put our efforts in seeing that the Word is preached. And all of these empty water pots were sitting around, and they were large water pots. They would hold, I understand, about a barrel of water each, they no doubt were for ceremonial cleansing, that's what they were there for. But you know, we see some of those pots. When you go to public buildings, they have these great big pots sitting out in front of them. When you go to Washington, D.C., you'll see some. And I don't know if you've ever looked in some of those pots. I'm kind of curious about those things. And I've looked in them. And you know what you see in them lots of times? We're a great littering country. You see garbage in them. There's candy wrappers and pop cans and pop bottles and cigarette wrappers, all inside those things. They need to be cleaned out periodically. And I thought, well, that's a little bit like the way we are sometimes here in this world. As Christians, we're sitting around and we're gathering the garbage of the world. You know, we're taking it in through the TV and we're taking it in through the magazines and we're taking it into conversations and we're taking it in through sports events. We're gathering garbage. We're sitting in this world and we're filling ourselves with garbage. That's what they say about computers, garbage in and garbage out. What you put in is what you get out. And you know, you put all the garbage in and you allow your children to put all that garbage in when they're young and when they're old. That's what they're going to have to remember what's in there. But, you know, if you put good things in, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance all of those things concerning Christ. He can. And he will in the time of need. And then sometimes I've looked in those pots and they're filled with rainwater or they've got some in the bottom. And, you know, it's been sitting in there for a while and it smells terrible at rainwater. It's just gotten rancid from sitting in there. And that's kind of the way it is with some of us as Christians too. We take in the blessings of God on Lord's day morning and all week long we don't take in anything else and by the end of the week it's not very good anymore, is it? We need to have it fresh every day. We need to spend time in God's presence every day if we're going to really be blessed. At any rate, these were these great big pots and the Lord said to fill them with water and he uses them for a purpose now of filling them with water. And he puts as it were, the joy in them. And, you know, he used these pots for a different purpose. And you and I were told in Luke, let me read to you from Luke chapter five, we're told that we have to be made to be used. It says in the thirty-sixth verse, and he spake also a parable unto them. No man put as a piece of a new garment upon an old, if otherwise they both the new make of the rent and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeeth not the old. And no man put as new wine into old bottles, else the new wine will burst the bottles and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved. You see, God says that He gives unto us eternal life. He said, we're created anew in Christ Jesus. And it's the new life that allows us to hold all of the joys and the wonder of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The unsaved cannot enter into that. You try. You try to explain to them what it means to know Christ is your Savior. And the unsaved individual doesn't have a clue about what you're talking about. But the Christian does. because they're able to hold the new wine. And so he puts the joy in us. And notice that he fills the bottles. And I want to mention two things about that. He fills the bottle. First of all, it shows that it's a lot of work to serve the Lord sometimes. They had to draw a hundred and twenty gallons, as I understand it, to fill these six bottles. A hundred and twenty gallons of water. Now, they didn't pull a fire hose over and click it on. They had to go to well and draw all of that water and take it and pour. There was a lot of work. And then I want you to notice that his joy is bountiful because he filled them. He filled them. They were overflowing. And may I suggest also that when the truth of God's Word is poured into the empty forms and ceremonies, everything will be changed, as it were. And I would also suggest that the filling would show that the Lord amply provides for every need in the believer's life. The believer, for it comes by faith. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. You have to believe. And then in verses eight, nine, and ten, we see that he was to draw out and bear it unto the governor and so forth. It was a simple order. It would seem, as you read it, but it took faith. read this passage, I believe it to be true, that that water was water until those that drank it drank it. When they bore it to the host, to the feast, to the governor of the feast, it was still water. And these servants had to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to do that, because they were servants not of him, but of the governor of the feast. And had they carried water there, they would have been in real trouble But they took God at His word and they took it to the governor of the feast. They had faith in Christ. They had faith that He would bless it. And how very important in the service of the Lord is faith. You remember Moses as he crossed the sea, it stepped back as he stepped out. The sea rolled back. As he took the steps of faith, the sea rolled back. And that's the way it is in your life and mine. God wants us to walk by faith. You know, when I have bills to pay and I look to the Lord for that, I'd like for him to put it in about thirty days in advance so I don't have to worry. But the Lord doesn't do that. You see, that doesn't require any faith. That's sight. And God wants us to operate by faith. And then when he tasted, when the governor tasted the water, there was wine, made wine. I want you to notice that the water had been made wine, and that was a miracle, and we think of that. It's spoken of as the first miracle, and it was truly a miracle, and yet it is not so great a miracle as we look at it, is it? He does that every day on the hillsides in Spain and France and Italy and in California. He takes water and he turns it into wine in those grape vineyards every day. He turns water into orange juice. here in Florida. He turns water into apple juice. The Lord has always done these kind of miracles for you and I. It was a very special miracle then. And then I want you to notice that it says that the governor did not know whence it was, but it says the servants knew. The servants knew. You see, why? Because they were in touch with the Lord. If you want to know, then you've got to serve. True service begins with worship. To serve him properly, you're going to have to know him. You're going to have to spend time in the Lord's presence. That's the highest form of service, is to worship him. And when you love him and worship him with your heart properly, then you'll be able to serve properly. They knew because service brings us into the enjoyment of his love and presence. We as servants are encouraged to be faithful. God never asked anything of us other than to be faithful. To be faithful. She said to them, whatsoever he said to you, do it. And they did. And you remember that the Lord did all of this without any fanfare at all. Suddenly there was the wine, and it was all done. He could have filled the glasses just as easily with a word. He could have done it. He didn't have to draw the wine. He could have simply spoke. and it would have been filled. And so it is with us. You know, the Lord could speak and everyone that's going to be saved could be saved. He could do it with angels, but he allows us to be involved so that someday he can bless us. He allowed the servants to be involved. They knew, and they were blessed as a result of it. He could have fed the five thousand with the word, but he used the boy's lunch so that he could bless him. The Lord didn't draw it out and taste it, he just sent it as water. And when they drew it out, it was perfect because all of his ways are perfect. How wonderful to rest in that assurance that all of his ways are perfect. Our time is gone. Let me just finish by saying this. I want you to note that the governor of the feast did not make a comparison. He did not say that thou hast saved the best wine to last. He said thou hast saved the good wine to last. There was no comparison between the wine that the Lord gave and the wine that they had. There was no comparison at all. He said, Thou has saved the good wine until last. You see, the joys of this world are fleeting and they end to death. They come for an instant and they pass away. As I mentioned, they're really only thrills and excitement. But you know, when you know Christ is your Savior and walk with him day by day and you enter into the joys that he gives you, it just gets better every day. It grows better every day. And someday we're going to leave this world and we're going to be with Him. And just like in this case, He saved the best to last. He saved the good wine to last. When we leave this world, it's going to begin then and it's going to get better and better throughout the endless ages of eternity. But it's going to be at the end of this life that it really begins for you and I. The governor knew that it was best when he tasted it. You see, when you've tasted wine, as I understand it, I don't happen to like wine, but they tell me when you taste wine and you drink several glasses after a while, somebody could give you very poor wine and you wouldn't know the difference because your palate has lost its taste. But this wine was so good. And normally they would take the good wine and they'd give it first and then that which wasn't so good at the end. But the Lord brought the best wine at the end. And so you and I see that when we take God at His word, He gives us the very best. They said, take it, and they took it, they took it, and they had the good why. And when you and I will put our trust in Him day by day, first of all for our salvation, if you've never put your trust in Him, and then day by day, look to Him, walk with Him, read His word, spend time with His people. If we'll do that in the day in which we live, the Lord will truly give you joy in your heart, satisfaction, and will enable you to be a blessing to those roundabout. May it be so for His namesake. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank You again as we look into Thy Word for these wondrous truths that are found here. We know our God that this story has been told so many times. Some know it far better than we. And yet we know our God and Father, that thou canst take thy word and warm our hearts with the wondrous thoughts of thy Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful that he's seated on thy right hand in glory, that his suffering time is war, and that the work is complete. And we wait now till we hear that welcome shout, and we shall enter As he says, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. And we thank thee, our God and Father, that we have this wondrous message to proclaim. Not a message of anything of value in ourselves, but a message that tells us that all the value is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the blessing comes through him. And we're so thankful, our God and Father, that it's a free message. For everyone, all of thy saints can receive and be blessed. All of the unsaved can accept and be saved and blessed for time and for eternity. We ask our God that thy Holy Spirit may make these things so very plain to every heart this evening. We ask now that thou would part us with thy blessing. We pray a special blessing on the fathers and grandfathers today. We ask our God and father that thou would enable us to be better fathers and better grandfathers because we know thee. And then we ask that thou would bless our country now, and we ask that thou would part us, take us to our homes in safety, give us a good night of rest. Bless us in the week that follows. And we'll be careful to give thee the honor and the glory. We give thee thanks in his worthy and precious name. Amen.