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The Message In The Miracle | David Fisher

So good to have you Well, y’all ready to study the scriptures together this morning. Let’s go to John 2 the second chapter of John We’re gonna get right with it. Like we got some folks out from spring break.

So y’all got some homework What’s your homework if you you know somebody who’s been coming they weren’t here today you need to call them today or tomorrow and say man, we sure missed you and We know that people have Places to be but I’m gonna tell you there’s no better place to be than with God’s people this morning Glad to have you John second chapter. This is regarded as as the first miracle That Jesus performed once he began his ministry Y’all know the story. He turned the water into what? Turned the water into wine But sometime we focus on the miracle without focusing on the message My hope and my prayer is that we will begin to look for the message in the miracle Because miracles are for God speaking to us.

They’re not just a perk They’re just not a a thing we get because we’re a Christian. They are a message directly from the throne of God In this first miracle Mary y’all y’all turned us here to the second chapter of John. It’s the third day So I mean this is very early in Jesus’s ministry They’re in a small town at a wedding in Cana in Galilee very small village very small town and the scripture says that the mother of Jesus was there and Now both Jesus and his disciples.

He had already started gathering some disciples who were beginning to follow him Just in the chapter beforehand. Some people started following him. He says, what are you looking for? And and He just they said where you stay and he says we’ll just come and see he started inviting people he started telling other people It was a diverse crowd that he ended up calling People who became his disciples his followers.

He just said follow me And so they’re now here invited to the wedding we don’t know whose wedding it was John doesn’t tell us I guess it’s not significant or that important that needed to be written As John was inspired by the Holy Spirit we we don’t know how many people were there But we do know that back in those times, you know, we have weddings and what they usually last an hour Maybe an hour and a half If you go to a Catholic mass wedding to make take a couple of hours And but it’s not it’s not a long event, right? and then it depends on what kind of reception you have afterwards and Back in in our day when we got married you were doing good if you had watermelon balls chicken salad sandwich And and some butter mints, you know those mints those dinner mints that people had and some punch And so I mean we had you know nowadays they have these big festivals and people have Meals and those kind of things that that wasn’t our day So, I don’t know what y’all’s experience was but in the Jewish experience it was a feast It was sometimes lasted for days where they have these all the family members that bring in all the food and they’re drinking and they’re eating and they’re having a great time and They had a problem And Mary knew it he says and when they ran out of wine the mother of Jesus said to him they’ve got they don’t have They have no more wine Now, I don’t know why that was important to Mary if she was just a guest My guess is she was not just a guest, but we don’t know that it was a family member But it might have been it might have been a close friend might have been a relative But Mary knew there was a problem at the wedding. They had no more wine And there would have been nothing more embarrassing To the bridal party Then to run out of wine because the festival of the feast was supposed to continue But Jesus brought our Mary brought this prompt to Jesus I’ve read accounts and heard people say well Mary knew that his ministry had started So she was trying to get them to do a miracle Maybe that’s possible. I don’t think that it is Now reasonable minds can differ I think she just saw there was a problem It was a big problem.

And who does she go to but her oldest son Jesus and said Jesus We need some help here. I Don’t think she was saying I know what Jesus is going to do. Jesus is just gonna turn this water into wine I don’t think that was even remotely in her idea But she came to Jesus says we got a problem.

We don’t have any more wine And I think he said it in a kind way but just woman what what does this concern have to do with me He’s just a guest. He’s not part of this wedding He said it’s not my time yet The mother says to the servants whatever he says to you go do it We don’t know what she had in her mind we but we know what mama said And mama said whatever he tells you to do you need to do I think Jesus was more concerned with what his father said Let’s turn over to John we know that on John 5 verse 19 I’ve got that verse up there We’ve got that verse up there There we go for the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself Does and he’ll show him greater works than these that you may marvel verse. Well, I have a verse not yet verse 20 Verse 19 there we go Then Jesus said to them most assuredly I say to you the son can do nothing of himself But what he sees the father do and whatever he does the father also does in a like manner See Jesus did not go rogue Jesus did what his father told him to do Jesus did what he saw his father doing It doesn’t say it in the scripture, but I believe that after mama came and said this is Jesus I need some help.

I believe Jesus went to the father says father. What do I do? Because he did something very unusual that normally wouldn’t be done. He says I want you to go get some water pots Fill them with water And then go take some of that water to the person who’s in charge of the feast So you have to remember what Jesus is is learning to do as As the Son of God, he’s learning to listen to his father and to do what it is His father tells him to do he had just gotten through with this temptation Y’all remember for 40 days in 40 nights as soon as he was baptized the Holy Spirit sent him out through the wilderness And during that time he’s alone with the father until the devil shows up The devil starts tempting him trying to tell him what he ought to be doing He ought to go rogue And one of those rogue things that the devil tempted him to do was to make some bread See because Jesus had no bread And he knew what it was like not to have bread And it was hungry for 40 days because he didn’t have bread and the devil came to him and said you can turn these stones into Bread because I know you got the power Y’all know what Jesus said.

He’s he said man shall not Live my bread alone, but by what? Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God So Jesus in his in his desperate time in his Temptation time began to understand and to learn and to to live The fact that he’s going to listen to what the father tells him to do and that’s exactly what he did. I Believe the father told him said go tell them to fill these pitchers full of water and let’s see what happens. I Think it’s really interesting that after the temptation The Scriptures both Matthew and Mark say and after the temptation and the devil left he said what came and ministered to him Said the angels of God came and ministered to him.

Let’s talk about why that’s important Let’s back up to verse 31 of chapter 1 So just go back right back up and y’all remember back and when these were written These didn’t have chapters these chapter numbers and verses were added later. So John’s writing this it’s almost a continuation from verse 30 or 51 I’m sorry verse 51 in chapter 1 that just strings right in and to the first miracle here in Cana And he’s just gotten through talking to Nathanael and Speaking to him and Nathanael’s amazed on what he said and in Jesus says here in verse 31 He says most assuredly I say to you hereafter You shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and Descending upon the man of God or the son of man. You see who what’s he talking about? He’s talking about angels descending Meaning they’re they’re coming down.

He’s talking about angels ascending going up and For all good Jewish people good Jewish men, particularly they would have understood the symbolism of what Jesus was saying He says you’re if you’ll just stay here with me I’m gonna tell you you’re gonna be amazed at what you’re gonna see you’re gonna see heaven open up This is who I am Heaven is going to open up and the angels are going to descend and going to ascend messages up messages down messages up messages down if you turn back back over to To Genesis Genesis chapter 28. You’ll remember the story about Jacob’s ladder Jacob it was Abraham Isaac and his son Jacob and he had two sons had twin sons Esau and Jacob and Jacob is running away from his family more specifically He’s running away from his brother Esau because his brother Esau wants to kill him Because he just got blessed even though he was the younger son Esau was ticked off And he’s coming to kill him and so Jacob is leaving he’s running and he’s stopping as He’s going to some of his family members and he has a dream And in that dream There was a ladder Bottom was on earth and the top was on heaven and he saw angels Descending and ascending Descending going up and down the ladder between heaven and earth And God spoke to him in that dream Telling him what he was going to do and what he was going to be and what he was going how he was going to Be with him And it says in verse 16 when Jacob woke up from his sleep When Jacob woke up from a sleep, he said surely the Lord is in this place And I didn’t know it He was afraid and said how awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven Well, tell us what Jesus is telling them. Jesus is saying you ain’t seen nothing yet See for Jacob.

It was a dream for Jesus. It was a reality And he’s about to do that with his disciples He says I want you to understand most assuredly. I want you to know this for certain You are going to have an opportunity to see heaven open I want you to know God is in this place because Jesus is in this place He says you’re going to see angels going up and seeing angels coming down angels or messengers.

They’re the messengers from God They bring his word. They speak his word and they take our prayers It’s up and down this interaction this connection between heaven and earth and that God is in this place And so when we have the very first miracle that Jesus does here in John 2 And we’ll tell you that’s what it was Angels ascending and angels descending upon the Son of Man upon Jesus And he takes these water pots. He tells him to fill it with water Said the they fill it to the brim.

These are big pots. They’re 20 to 30 gallons each They fill it to the brim and he tells them to go take it to the master of the feast and the master of the Feast takes it and draws it out. The master didn’t know where it came from and he was just astounded He says usually when you got a party usually when you got a wedding y’all bring out the best wine first and then after people have had enough to drink then you You bring in the less quality wine He says y’all have done it just the opposite.

You’ve waited till the end to bring the best You’ve kept the good wine until now in verse 11, it says this beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and he manifested or he revealed his glory of who he was and his disciples believed in him Jesus Is beginning to call disciples And he’s given them an invitation to see heaven open in God’s connection with people Interaction with angels he’s given this Invitation for them to follow him and start seeing the things that Jesus knows to be a reality that they’ve only heard stories about We ask you Do you want to be a disciple? Do you want to get the invitation to be drawn into the tent to see the things that you’ve only heard about? the things that you’ve only read about Because when Jesus is trying to make disciples when he’s making disciples he is giving you the opportunity to see the work of heaven and To see the connection of heaven He’s given you the opportunity to hear from the father and to hear the messages It was not just about making wine It was about revealing the fact that Jesus is the Son of God Tell you what other message was there God’s given the message that nothing is impossible with God The headmasters drank wine the disciples knew how it got there Not everybody who sees a miracle gets it In fact they participated in the miracle the people at the wedding drank the wine But they missed the message Because they weren’t disciples yet The Message was nothing is impossible with God You have problems in your life You say I don’t have any more wine I’m out of wine I don’t know what your problem is, but I bet there’s people in here who could say, you know, I’ve got a problem. I Don’t have any more joy in my life, and I don’t know where to go I don’t have any more resources. I Don’t have any more energy I Have no more energy Lord knows I have no more patience with all these morons that I’ve got to deal with Don’t tell me you don’t think that sometime But we do we thank God.

How are you gonna provide for me? How are you gonna provide for me I need somebody to provide for me and Jesus says Nothing. Nothing is impossible Nothing is impossible And they had an opportunity as disciples to see to see what was impossible water to turn to wine To see it happen And I’m gonna tell you what Jesus is inviting you to follow him to come along beside him and to understand to understand That nothing is impossible with him nothing And when I have these bad attitudes of losing patience with all these people the problem is not with them the problems I’m lacking And I say father, I don’t have any wisdom I Don’t know what to do. I Don’t know how to react.

I Don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to help Jesus has come into my tent and be my disciple and I want you to know you come start bringing these prayers to me And these prayers ascend up to heaven and answers will be coming down Because nothing is impossible with Jesus Nothing Jesus knew what it was like to say I have no bread But he knew the answer was not for him to do it on his own his answer was to go to his father And we ministered to by the angels We don’t talk about that very much in church Angels are ministering spirits Created and sent by the father to minister to us to bring us into the presence of Almighty God Why would we not want that Jesus is giving you the invitation as a disciple To see that nothing is impossible And that he truly is the Son of God And when you have lack in your life when there’s answers that you can’t come up with He wants you to go to him so that he will give you a word that you need to hear Hearing from his mama was important, but hearing from his father was so much more important These were the beginning of signs That Jesus did And all throughout this through the New Testament Jesus began to do miracles that they called signs There are a lot of people who saw it, but they’re not a whole lot of people who got it When you come in from Louisiana on interstate 10 You usually see a sign And what does that sign say Welcome to Texas El Paso Have 14 hours away. Oh, it doesn’t say it gives you the the mileage.

I should have memorized the mileage It gives you a sign. It tells you what it tells you. This is What’s coming? You’re not there yet You’re not there yet, but this is what’s coming Jesus is starting to give us signs of what’s coming You want to experience the kingdom start looking at the signs and start reading the signs Because the signs say he’s the Son of God And he wants you to get on that road with him A sign It’s not just what’s ahead but the signs that Jesus was giving were divine revelations Of a reality that God wants you to experience He wants you to be his disciple It’s not enough for us to be church people It’s not enough for us to be religious it’s not enough for us just to be hanging out with The church crowd Because hanging out with the church crowd doesn’t make you a disciple y’all know that We’ve got to decide we want to follow him that we want to follow him And That’s my call for today.

I’m not going to go a whole lot further because I want us to spend some time You asking yourself. Do you even really want to be a disciple? Because I’m gonna tell you there’s something good that comes with being a disciple Jesus brings the disciples close to him to experience things that other people don’t have a chance to experience He gives you an opportunity to understand that other people have no way of Understanding because they’re not getting the revelation from God and I’m going to tell you revelation from God is real It’s real for those who are his disciples For those who follow him Jesus is just saying I want you to follow me because I want you to believe in me because I died I died I died So that you would believe in me And if you’ll believe in me, let me give you a sign I’m gonna rise from the dead and so will you because that’s what’s coming to the disciples of Jesus Christ Man that ought to give us something to celebrate It ought to give us something to celebrate and I don’t want to miss it. Do you I? I don’t want to miss it There’s a message in the miracle Jesus took something that was completely impossible and he did it because his father told him to do it Because his disciples needed to see he was more than what they expected him to be That he was not going to be a king to come save them from Rome.

He was going to be a king sent by the father to rule and reign over the kingdom of darkness and to destroy the kingdom of darkness and to reestablish to establish and to reestablish the kingdom of God that he wants to live in you This is between you and God it’s not between you and me It’s between you and the father it’s not between you and me he’s calling you to say come and see And he’s asking you to follow me And I promise you this if you’ll follow him, you’ll see things that are beyond Explanation If you don’t you’re just going to miss it and I don’t want one of you to miss it Are we disciples of Jesus Christ I’m asking are we disciples of Jesus Christ? We all stand if you’re a disciple of Jesus Christ Because it’s important for us. It’s important for us when people come to church They’re not here just to Mix and mingle. We’re here to tell people that Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is the opportunity to experience the presence the manifest revealed presence in the glory of God I’m gonna tell you folks.

There’s no other way for us to be successful in life And to be saved from death and And for the Holy Spirit to come dwell in us So that we live with the presence of God at all times Want to ask him to turn the lights down a little bit I’m gonna ask you to do one thing during this song If you want to come to the altar feel free if you want to do it in your chair You do it in your chair, but I’m gonna ask you I’m pleading with you Just to say I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ And you may have done it in the past. You may have said it in the past But you know, you’re not following him the way you ought to Today’s the day of salvation. Don’t harden your heart and don’t let another day go by And I’m gonna pray that you will get right with God And he’s gonna start revealing things to you that are impossible In human terms, but I’m gonna tell you he’s a miracle worker If God’s done a miracle in your life, I’d like to see you raise your hand God has done miracles, but I’m gonna tell you he didn’t do a miracle just so that you would be blessed He did a miracle in your life so that you would get his message His message And I pray and I hope that minister angels will minister to you and you will minister to them As they bring messages up and down the ladder