The first miracle of Jesus, the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana, demonstrates the principle of obedience: "Whatever he says to you, do it." It highlights the eight signs recorded in John's Gospel, explaining that they are not merely miracles but "signs" with spiritual significance, intended to reveal Jesus' deity and lead to belief and eternal life. The narrative of the wedding at Cana, where Jesus provided excellent wine when the supply ran out, serves as a powerful illustration of God's abundant provision and the joy that comes from trusting and obeying Him. The message concludes by emphasizing that obedience to Christ's commands, whether for salvation, baptism, or remembrance, leads to enrichment, divine endorsement, and the fullness of joy found only in Him.
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Good evening. My time has turned place to the second chapter of John's Gospel. John's Gospel, chapter two. On the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. and who 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 said unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee?
Mine hour is not yet come. His mother said unto the servants, What shall we say unto you, do it. And they were set there six water pots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus said unto them, Fill the water pots 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 said unto him, Every man at the beginning, Thou 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 did Jesus, in Cana of Galilee, and manifested both his glory and his disciples believed on him. May the Lord be pleased to bless to us this lovely reading from his precious work. As I mentioned, we want to examine with you the signs in John's Gospel. The Pharisees and the scribes came together and they said, What do we for this man doeth many signs, referring of course to the works, the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then in chapter twelve we read, but though he did many signs among them, yet they believe not on him. John is very selective in his writing, and we read in the last chapter of the book of John that if the things were written that could be written, concerning Christ, John said, I believe that the world itself could not contain the verse. But regarding the signs of the Lord Jesus, there was a special selection of signs. We read in chapter eleven that the Lord Jesus Christ, or chapter twenty rather, that he did many signs in the presence of his disciples, many other signs.
But these things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing, ye might have life through his net. So the Lord Jesus Christ did many, many miracles, did many signs. But there was a special selection by John, and these are eight in number. Seven prior to the Lord's death, and one after his death. There's a sequence to the signs because we read this beginning of miracles that Jesus in Cana of Galilee. And then we read, and the second miracle did Jesus.
So they are found in chronological historical order in the Gospel according to John. Now the first sign, the first miracle, was done right here in chapter two in Cana of Galilee, the turning of the water into one. The second sign is found in chapter four. The nobleman came to the Lord Jesus Christ and said, Come, ere my child die. The Lord says, Go, thy son liveth, and he believed. That was the second sign, the healing of the nobleman's son. The third sign is found in chapter five.
You remember the man's thirty-eight years by the pool of Bethesda. And the Lord Jesus Christ He healed the man. Then we have the fourth and fifth signs, and they are found in the same chapter in chapter six. The feeding of the five thousand, and the Lord Jesus walking on the water. And then the next sign, the sixth sign, was the man born blind in chapter nine. Go wash in the pool of Siloam, and the man received his sight. The seventh sign is found in chapter eleven. There we see Lazarus raised from the dead. And the final, the eighth sign, is found in chapter twenty-one when the Lord met the need of the disciples.
Eight selected specific signs. Now John presents to us the deity of the Lord Jesus. And so alongside these signs, we can employ one of God's divine titles. Here in chapter one, chapter two, rather, the marriage at Cana of Galilee, the turning of the water into one. Alongside that sign, we can bring the Lord's title, Jehovah Shama. The Lord is there. He received a special invitation to this marriage. Alongside the second sign, the healing of the nobleman's son, go thy son, liveth, and the boy was healed.
Alongside that sign we can place the Lord's title Jehovah of Eka. He is the God that heals. The third sign the man cured, healed by the pool of Bethesda, the Lord said to him, Go and sin the Lord. Alongside that sign we can employ the Lord's title Jehovah said ten years, the Lord our righteousness. In chapter six, the feeding of the five thousand, alongside that sign, we can bring the Lord's title, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.
And as this stressed disciple, when negotiating the Sea of Galilee, the wind was contrary, and the Lord was not come to them, then he appeared on the water. Alongside that sign, we can bring his divine title, Jehovah Shalom. The Lord said peace. You remember that day, the Lord said peace to the troubled disciple. In chapter nine, the healing of the blind man, we can call the Lord's title here and bring it alongside that side. When the man received his eyesight, Jehovah Roy, the Lord is my shepherd.
He went beside the still waters of the pool of Siloam. And then the seventh sign, the raising of Lazarus, that memorable occasion when the Lord moved in and he restored joy to these disturbed sisters in Bethany, his title there, Jehovah Elion, the Lord the sovereign. And then the eighth sign, the final one in chapter twenty-one, where the Lord did miraculously bring that multitude of fishes and the net did not break. Here it is, Jehovah Elohim, you, the Lord is my God. Now we shall examine some of these at least during our few days together.
So the selection is eight in number. And there is the sequence that they are found in chronological order. But then there's the significance. Why do we refer to the word sign and not miracle? The revised version? very, very wisely injects the word here, sight. It's the Greek word simeon, which means a sight. In Acts chapter two, verse twenty-two, Peter is addressing the multitude that day. And he says, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, by miracles, and wonders, and sight.
that God do by him in the presence, in the midst of you all. Now the Holy Spirit just does not use this kind of vocabulary for a change, because there is a difference between a miracle and a wonder, understand. A miracle is the supernatural power of Christ in display. The wonder is the superlative awe that it brought to the audience of those that saw the miracle. And the sign is the spiritual significance. The supernatural power, the superlative awe, and the spiritual significance.
This threefold ministry in one is seen very clearly in several scriptures. You remember in Mark's Gospel chapter two, There were four men and they brought their friend who was sick of the palsy to Christ. They went up into the roof and then they lowered the men down at the feet of Jesus. And when the Lord saw their faith, he healed the men. But there was no doubt there was a personal faith of the men along with his four friends. That was the miracle. When the Lord said to him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. That was the miracle.
But then there was the wonder. Those that saw the performance of the miracle of Christ, they said in chapter two of Matthew, Mark's Gospel, we never saw it in this fashion before. And they glorified God. That was the wonder. And then the spiritual significance was, that the skeptical scribes were rebuked as the man carried his bed. This was the outward revelation of an inward work. The man had been cured with him, and then the evidence of it was he took up his bed and he walked.
We have another illustration in the Gospel according to Luke. You remember Peter and his friends, they were washing their nets by the sea of Gennesaret. And the Lord Jesus Christ went into Peter's boat. And there he taught the multitude. And then after his address that day, he said to the disciples, or to Peter and to the fishermen, he says, launch out into the deep. And so Peter went out into the deep And he says, Lord, we have toiled all night and caught nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, we will cast the net.
And you remember the story. There was such a tremendous miracle accomplished that day that the very nets break. And they beckoned their partners, and the two boats would sail with fish. That was the miracle. In the accumulation of all those fish, and brought by the sovereign Lord into the nets. And that was the miracle. The wonder was this, that Peter fell at the feet or at the knees of Jesus and said, Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man. That was the wonder. But then the spiritual significance was, the Lord said to Peter, Peter, henceforth, ye shall catch men, fishers, of men.
So you see there's a difference between a miracle and a wonder and a sign. So the word here sign is very, very appropriate that is found eight times in this lovely book of John. So the first sign was the water made into water. And the key, of course, to the first sign, and the lesson for you and me is the word obedience. Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. That is the lesson in the first sign, obedience.
You remember Samuel said to Saul, Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the Pharaoh read. The Lord said to Israel through Samuel, If ye will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his watch, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both ye and the king that reigneth ever over you will continue serving the Lord. But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord but rebel against him, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you as it was against your fathers.
So the challenge to Israel was obedience. Now friends, we are reminded in the scripture of the cancer of disobedience. And surely we see that has reached catastrophic proportions in our day. In the epistle by Paul to the Romans, we see the origin of the cancer of disobedience. By one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin. For death has passed upon all men, for all have sinned. And by the disobedience of one man, that was Adam, we all became sinners.
But through the obedience of the last Adam, the second man, many have been constituted righteous. That one act of disobedience by Adam has permeated the entire human race. And our society today is eroded because of disobedience. And lawlessness is prevalent everywhere. We are living in terrible days of violence and disobedience. In the book of Genesis we see the calamity brought about by disobedience.
Not only the cancer of disobedience, but the calamity of disobeying God. In Genesis chapter eighteen you remember Abraham tried to force the hand of God regarding his offspring. God promised him a child, a special child. but Abraham was trying to force the hand of God and prematurely and he took unto him Hagar and all the awful devastation that that individual acts of disobedience brought upon the nation of Israel and so today we have the two elements the Muslim world and the Hebrew nation and you know the results individual disobedience is always a tragedy and had terrible results.
Aiken in the days of Joshua, he covered in the goodly Babylonian garment and the gold, and Aiken was stoned to death. So there is the calamity of disobedience individually. We pay a price for disobedience, and it's also true collectively. We were in the Holocaust Museum last summer in the land of Israel. And I don't think there was one of our fifty-one who came out of that building without tears. There was an awesome effect upon everyone that saw that Holocaust Museum, and some of you have seen it in the land of Israel.
And everything within me wailed up. in antagonism against what we saw. The wickedness of a human heart reached an awful dimension in World War II. But as I got outside, then I took myself to task, there go I but for the grace of God. And I thought of the scripture, this was only the results of national disobedience, collective disobedience. They said his blood, be upon us and our children, and that solved the problem for me right there. This is what they ask, and they pay the price in disobedience.
So there's a tragedy when we see the cancer of disobedience and the calamity. But tonight we want to talk about the call to obedience. Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. The speaker, of course, says the Lord Jesus, He is the man with a golden voice, the most authoritative voice. He speaks with authority, not as the scribes and the Pharisees. This is the one that says to you and to me tonight, whatsoever, do it. In Acts chapter twenty-two, three times the Apostle Paul mentions and He said unto me three times.
And he said unto me. First of all, in relation to the first, there was recognition. Then secondly, there was regeneration. And thirdly, there was resignation. And he said unto me, Saul, Saul, there was recognition. And the one who knows all the stars in our galaxy, who controls the wheeling galaxies in outer space, he calls them all by name. He knows every one of us in this gathering tonight by name.
He is the omniscient Christ. He knows every day. And so he knew Saul of Tarsus, Saul, Saul. Why persecute us, thou me? Who are thou, Lord? I am Jesus. For the first time in his life Saul of Tarsus and the Damascus Turnpike recognized that the one who was the Jehovah of the Old Testament was Jesus of the New. And he was arrested that day and brought into the family of God.
What a marvelous conversion he had. Recognition. So also, my dear friend, if you are here tonight not saved, the Lord knows you. He knows your spiritual condition. He knows whether you are born again, really saved or not. He knows everything. And so whatsoever he says unto you, do it. The message to the sinner tonight is come. come unto me all, ye that labour, and they are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Do it. If you are saved and have not obeyed the Lord Jesus in the waters of baptism, whatsoever he says unto you, do it.
And if you are a child of God, and have not gone so far as to remember the Lord in his dying request, regarding the partaking of the Lord's Supper, this too in remembrance of me, whatsoever he says unto you, do it. He's addressing you first of the night, recognition. But then the second time Paul heard the Lord speak to him, he said, arise. He had taken the lonely place, and he fell into the dust of the road to Damascus.
He acknowledged what he really was. He was a giant intellect. He was a commanding genius. He was a master of the greatest vehicle of thought this world has ever known, the ancient Greek. Those in the field of academic pillars, he had the equivalent of six doctorates. Lord Birkenhead, in his book Turning Points in World History, compared Saul of Tarsus with Napoleon Bonaparte and Alexander the Great. He says Napoleon was a pygmy and Alexander the Great was a creature of a moment. But Saul of Tarsus was a colossus.
But yet that great man, he realized his awful sin. He actually aided and abetted him murder. They cast the garments at the foot of a young man named Saul. But he took the rope the lower cliff, and so he buried his face in shame in the dusk of the Damascus rope. But then the Lord said to him, Arise, just as the Lord raised Jairus' daughter and the widow of Nain's son and Lazarus, physically he's able to do spiritually. Regeneration.
If a man or a woman is not saved, God says they're dead. Dead in trespasses and in sins. For the Lord today, if you will take the lowly place, acknowledge your guilt and sinnership and accept his word, his command, arise, then you can be saved. Recognition and regeneration. But then in the life of Saul of Tarsus there was great obedience. There was resignation through the will of God. The Lord said unto him, Arise and go.
The Lord desires those who are saved to be of service to him in his great service. And so the apostle that day fulfilled the command of the Lord Jesus. He obeyed his voice. And he listened, and he labored, and he lived for God. Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. Now the channel of obedience is through faith. God moves contrary to nature. In Genesis chapter twenty-two, God said to Abraham, the man of faith, Take now thy son, thine own, the son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Mariah, and offer him as a burnt sacrifice upon one of the mountains.
Abraham's legs must have felt like lead. His heart at the breaking point. as God was testing his servant relative to obedience. And as he climbed the mountain, thank God, God came to the rescue. Abraham, Abraham, and turning round he saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. But for Abraham, the channel of faith was obedience to the will of God. But certainly, friends, that was contrary to nature. Elijah is by the brook cherished and God would instruct his servant in the path of obedience.
And God sent the ravens to feed Elijah that was contrary to nature. And you remember in first Samuel in chapter six the two milks kind they were carrying the ark of the covenant back to Israel. And we read those words that they went on toward the coast of Israel, lowing as they went. They went away. They knew not where. They left the little ones behind. They worked for men, and they died for God. They were sacrificed to the law.
And so it was contrary to nature that these mills kind went out guided by God instinctively, and the little ones their cares were left behind. Contrary to nature, it must be on the principle of faith. Now here in this chapter, there was tremendous embarrassment. They had no one. The Lord is always the answer to problems. And so throughout John's Gospel, in chapter two, no wife. In chapter four, it is no husband.
In chapter five, it is no man to help. And in chapter six, it is no bread. And we could go on and on. But the Lord Jesus is the answer to your problems and mine. And thank God, where there was embarrassment, no wives. It is possible through him that we can have the joy of the Lord. Wine in Scripture speaks to us of joy. And the first step towards that joy is to receive the Lord Jesus as a personal Savior. We were having meetings in Westfoot, Gospel Chapel in Hamilton, Ontario.
It was very evident the first night of the gospel meeting that God had moved. There was a couple went out of the chapel very, very disturbed. We could see that they were disturbed, but they went out the door. They got into the car, and their teenage daughter, Debbie, said, Mom and Dan, how can you possibly go out of this meeting tonight and not get saved? Dad Don Wessel said, you're right. And he said to his wife Lois, let's go back in again. And so they came back into the chapel, and we had the joy of pointing that couple to the Lord Jesus.
The next night, another couple, husband and wife. And the next night, another couple, husband and wife. Well, we tried to sing, I repeat, we tried to sing at the back of the chapel those nights. oh happy day when Jesus washed my sins away. The joy of the heart knows no bounds when Jesus moves in. And so we recommend that he is the one who can impart joy to the heart that might be troubled here this evening. The woman wife, Cyprus well, no husband, but she found the greatest lover of all, the lover of the soul, the Lord Jesus.
He says, Come see a man that told me all things ever I did. Is not this the crap? And so we who are in God's family, we know something about the divine lover, the lover of our souls. And we can say that Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. He is the husband to us the bride. No wine, no husband. He was the answer to the man's problem in chapter five. He said, I have no man to help. But thank God there is a man who can help. Neither is there salvation in any other.
For there is no other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved. He is the answer to the world's problems tonight. Thank God. And we can say with Peter, Neither is the salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. So there was embarrassment, but thank God there was encouragement. Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. The Lord helped us to be obedient to the word of the Lord.
And then there was enlightenment. in verse six here were jars and they were ceremonial jars used in the ceremonies around the temple and they were empty empty jars this my friend is a thick symbol of earthly religions Judaism could not help those who were in their sins The law demanded that which they could not get, but grace bestows that which we do not rightly deserve.
And so men have discovered that religion can never save the soul. Only a person, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The religions of men are absolutely empty. They are marred by barn. There's nothing to sustain or satisfy. My colleague, Boyd Nicholson and I, were in Victoria, beautiful British Columbia, in the month of January. There was a man there, eighty years of age. He had gone to church all his life.
And he confessed in tears one evening. He should have gone to church all those years. And yet I have lived without traps. What a confession. But I'm thankful and happy to tell you tonight that even at eighty years of age, he accepted the Lord as his personal savior. Saul of Tarsus discovered that religion could not save his soul. No one could point a finger at Saul of Tarsus as far as religion was concerned. He wrote to the Philippian church, he said, I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But what things were gained to me, those I counted but lost, For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, whom I do suffer the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse. And so Saul discovered that religion could not save his soul. And yet there are those today, and they are trying to work their way to heaven, but they are laboring in vain. Paul says to him that worketh is an award not reckoned of grace but of death.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth in him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So what was the enlightenment that the anti-systems of religion could not help at the marriage or bring joy to the heart? But then in relation to the obedience, there had to be employment. Fill, draw, and bear. Now that had to be an act of faith. And without faith, it is impossible to please the Lord.
He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and the rewarder of them, not diligently seek him. So they poured water into those earthen... ceremonial jobs and they drew out wine. Only our sovereign law could perform such a miracle. So while there was embarrassment they had no wine. Thank God there was encouragement. There's one here who is able whatsoever he says to you do it. There was enlightenment and there was employment.
But to conclude, we see also that there was enrichment. The good wine had been kept until the end. When a person accepts the Lord Jesus, that's only the beginning of Job. There are endless resources at the disposal of Christ. Those of us who have been saved now for many years are simply amazed. And quote, we have in Christ. I hath not seen nor heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
We are the riches of his knowledge and the riches of his wisdom, the riches of his grace and the riches of his glory. Endless resources. And these are yours, my friend. if you obey the word of God. And then there's the endorsement of Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. He was the one who made that wedding what it was. And he is the one that can make our spiritual life productive and fertile in the service of the Lord.
whatsoever he says unto you do it. I was having meetings in Hartford, Connecticut on the first war's day of this year. And there was three men stayed behind to talk to me. Lives around forty, between forty and thirty years of age, their name was Brescia. I said, what can I do for you then? George Brescia said, I have been very successful in business, but I will give anything to have the assurance of God's salvation and the peace of God in my heart.
So we took unto John ten, twenty eight, I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. and no one will pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them to me is greater than all, and no one will pluck them out of my Father's hand. And his face began to shine and glow as he had the assurance of God's salvation and peace. Standing by was his brother John. He went through the scriptures. He went home that night. just as they got in the door he got down at his knees and asked the Lord to save him the other brother also came into God's family and the three of them were baptized and one of their wives just a couple of weeks ago we were there again in Hartford, Connecticut whatsoever he says unto you do it tonight he says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt They said, and for us Christians, whatsoever he said unto you, do it.
May it be so for his name's sake, shall we pray. Now, Father, we thank thee again for this first miracle in Cana of Galilee. We thank thee the Lord's presence that day was what made the marriage such a happy occasion. And we thank thee he's a source of happiness. He is the real source of joy. Now none but Christ can satisfy, none other name for me, those love and life and lasting joy, Lord Jesus found in thee. We thank thee for this good number who have assembled tonight. Dismiss us now with thy blessing, with the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it, as we ask it in his precious name.
Amen. Now it could again... sing our theme song. And again, I'm going to ask your brother Ernie to come up and lead this singing. Five hundred and forty-one. Five, four, one. You have longed for sweet peace and for faith to increase, and have earnestly, fervently prayed. But you cannot have rest or be perfectly blessed until all in the altar is laid. Number five hundred and forty-one.