John Chapter 2:1-10

We're supposed to be filled with joy. Now does that mean we walk around laughing all the time?

Well, sometimes, but not all the time. See, happiness depends on what happens. Joy is given by the Lord. And even while stuff is going on, that joy, joy unspeakable, the peace that passes all understanding, yes, a fear for the Lord, yes, a reverence for His Holy Word, but yes, a reason for joy.

Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is a senior pastor of the Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina, and we're glad to have one of David McGee's associate pastors, D.A. Brown, here with us as Pastor David continues through the book of John. Bob, when you take a step of faith and follow Jesus and what He's asked you to do, and you see the results when He shows you the results, sometimes we don't always see Him, but when He shows you the results, it's super duper exciting to see what He's done. But D.A., as we learned about last week, sometimes we are not sure what the Lord is doing in our lives, and sometimes there's not always a joy feeling going through our hearts and minds as we're stepping into the faith to do these things. Bob, we can stick with what He's told us to do. Just stay true to it, what He's spoken to you through the Word, or through a teaching, or through another brother or sister in Christ. Just stick to the plan and watch what He'll do.

That's cool. So let's listen as David McGee continues teaching through the Gospel of John, chapter 2. John, chapter 2, verse 1, And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?

My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Whatever He says to you, do it. Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. And Jesus said to them, Fill the waterpots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. Now what these were is these were pots for purification, as it says, and they would take this water. They believed that you were contaminated through various things that you did during the day, and there was special water that was set aside that you would purify yourself with. And then also what they would do, because gnats were unclean animals, they would strain the gnats out, because they didn't want to get a gnat on their hand. So when Jesus said, You strain it a gnat, and you swallow a camel, that's what He was referring to.

But you know what's cool here? Again, we see Jesus using what they had. He didn't say, Go out and get some pots.

They already had pots. See, how often we think, Well, if I had this, Jesus could use me. No, no, no, no. Jesus wants to use you just right now, just as you are. He's going to change you, but He wants to use you right now with what you have. See, as long as you're thinking, Well, if I get that, if I do this, then I can help Jesus.

No, no, no. Jesus wants to use you right now, right where you are. The Lord uses what is on hand for a miracle. And the pot, the pots.

There's something here, guys, because we are referred to as pots in a lot of different places. In Jeremiah chapter 18, verse 6, it says, The Lord, look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand. Isaiah chapter 64, verse 8, it says, But now, O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay, and you are potter, and all we are the work of your hand.

Romans 9, 20 says, But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Well, the thing formed, say to him who formed it, Why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? We're the clay.

He's the potter. I have not made clay pots or anything. But I don't think when the potter's sitting there with the clay, making something, that the clay looks at him and goes, You're not going to make me a cup, are you? I don't want to be a cup.

I want to be a bowl. I don't think the clay says that to the potter. Well, guess what, guys? We're the clay.

He's the potter. And how often we look at somebody else and go, Oh, I wish I was like that, or I wish I was like this. I see him, I see her. Boy, I wish I had that gift. I wish I could do.

No, God has given you special and unique gifts. And when you look at somebody else going, I wish, I wish, I wish, you're saying to the potter, I wish you made me different. See, we have to be able to trust God with what He's doing in our lives and allow Him to have His way with us. We need that.

We're desperate for it, to be honest. Now, there's more here because, see, we see, there's mentioned a number. Now, you know, I jokingly say that, you know, if you've been here a while, you're no longer a normal, well-adjusted Christian because you'll read the scriptures and you'll go, Six water pots. What's up with six?

There's something there. We're told six pots. Why are we told six pots?

Ask yourself, why is that in there? Because six is what? It's the number that represents man. We're told that in the book of Revelation, 13, 18, something like that. These pots represent man.

Let me ask you another question. What is water in the scripture? It's the Word of God. Oh, well, this is getting interesting. The pots represent man or mankind and water in the scripture is the Word of God.

Don't miss this. Who filled the water pots? The servants. This is what's supposed to be happening today. The people of God are to be filled with the Word of God by the servants of God. This is what's supposed to be happening.

The servants of God are supposed to be taking the Word of God and pouring it into the people of God. And friend, when that gets messed up, the world gets messed up. The society gets messed up. The church gets messed up. Now, this is what happens here.

You guys get filled with the Word of God. Now, sometimes, you know, you get like 15 minutes or 20 minutes into it and you put your lid on. I'm done. I don't want any more. If you're here for the first time this morning, you're sitting there going, He has gone way over 15 minutes.

What is up with this? Well, let me ask you a question. I believe the Word of God prepares you and equips you to deal with life and handle life. Are you telling me that 15 minutes a week is enough to equip you to do that? Oh, now, it would make my job a lot easier, but I don't think that's my job. My job is to take some time and to pour into you guys because you've got so much stuff coming at you.

You've got so much stuff going on that you need to be poured into thoroughly. I can't understand how a church that spends so little time proclaiming the Word of God, 15 minutes a week, is going to be 15 minutes a week, is really preparing their people for anything. There's a saying, sermonettes for Christianettes.

And to be a deeper Christian, you've got to get into the Word and understand and get filled with the Word of God. Now, these servants didn't do the miracles, but they were used to see the miracles happen. We don't do the miracles here. We see the Lord doing the miraculous. Verse 8, and He said to them, draw some out now and take it to the master of the feast. And they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the wine, the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

This is a miracle or an occasion of joy. Now, one of the servant had not done what Jesus told him to do. I'm not doing that. I'm not pouring. We said we need wine.

We don't need water. But they did what He said. And notice, Jesus didn't give them all the details.

He didn't say, hey, come on, guys, come here, come here, come here, come here. Okay, this is what we're going to do. We're out of wine. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to fill up some water pots.

And then as you fill them up, as you take them out, I'm going to change it to wine. It's going to be really cool. And this is going to be awesome.

So just go with me. And it's all going to be written down. It's going to be in John chapter 2 for future reference. He didn't tell them that. He just told them what to do. Go do this. Guys, that's the way it works in ministry.

God says do this. And you sit there and go, well, I don't have enough details. You're going to miss it.

You're going to miss it. And He changes. Are you listening? He changes what's in the pot on the inside. He can change the outside. Outside didn't look that different.

The inside changed drastically. And this was a thing of joy. Joy, joy, joy. You understand it's okay to be happy as a Christian. It's even what you should be. You should be filled with joy. See, some of you have been brought up in churches and so your mind is trying to wrap around what I just said.

It just can't, that's not right. He said we should be joyful and happy. I thought this was a church. Quit smiling. Don't tell me you're happy to see me.

Put your hands down. We're supposed to be filled with joy as Christians. When these guys got baptized, they got baptized in water. They didn't get baptized in vinegar. Because then what happens when you go out to witness? You want some of this joy I got?

No thanks. I'm fine, really. We're supposed to be filled with joy. Now does that mean we walk around laughing all the time?

Well, sometimes, but not all the time. See, happiness depends on what happens. Joy is given by the Lord. And even while stuff is going on, that joy that there's a lot of definitions for, joy unspeakable, filled with joy, the peace that passes all understanding. See if you can understand it. It's not the peace that passes all understanding.

These things you can walk in. Yes, a fear for the Lord. Yes, a reverence for His Holy Word. But yes, a reason for joy. Life lesson number two, Christianity, our relationship with the Lord is something that should cause great joy in our life. If you don't have that joy in love, may I suggest this morning, something might not be right. Maybe you've lost your focus.

Maybe you've somehow got something else that's in the way. But that joy can be restored. Over and over, scriptures talk about this. Nehemiah 8, 10, says, then he said to them, go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. See, if I'm your enemy and I know the joy of the Lord is your strength, I'm going to be after that joy.

And that's what the enemy does. He comes after our joy. Psalm 21, 1. And these are just a few references.

Guys, maybe you want to jot them down. The king shall have joy in your strength, O Lord. And in your salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice.

51, 12. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit. Isaiah 12, 3. Therefore, with joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation. I love that verse.

Psalm 132, 16. I will also clothe a priest with salvation and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

It's complicated, so let me say it again. Her saints shall shout aloud for joy. Why don't we just do that right now? Can you just say hallelujah loudly right now, right here? Go ahead. Hallelujah.

Praise God. It's okay. Don't get freaked out if you're new here. It says that it's okay to do it here.

It's a good thing to be happy. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A. Brown.

Hey, Bob. We want to take a minute to pray for our listeners in these cities. In California, we have Joshua Tree, Lake Isabella, Lakehead, Las Cruces, Laurel, Lompoc, and the San Jose area. God, we thank you for these cities. We pray for the leaders in these cities, that you would give them wisdom and discernment. We pray that people would be following you with all their heart, all their soul, and all their strength, and they'd be sharing with others the hope that they found in you. We pray that many would accept that offer of hope and eternal salvation, and that they would get plugged in Bible teaching churches, and they will begin to grow in their relationship with you and be a blessing to other people. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. In verse 9, When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom. What an interesting miracle. Reading one commentary, I read something I thought was cool. It said, the water saw the Creator, and it blushed.

Isn't that kind of cool? And look who knew that Jesus had done a miracle. The servants.

Nobody else was aware. How often that is in life, that the servants of God are aware of the miracles of God. Guys, week in, week out, in serving the Lord here, the team leaders and the staff members, we get to see miracle after miracle after miracle after miracle.

Change lives. It's an amazing thing. You want to see stuff, begin to serve God. I promise you. It's not a, you know, show me and then I'll believe. No, you believe and then He'll show you. That's the way that works. And so these servants knew.

Why? Because Jesus did a quiet miracle. Guys, that's often the way that it works. He does quiet miracles. But God wants to turn your water into wine. He does. He wants to change you. He wants to change what's on the inside. Isaiah 61 3 says, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.

Isn't that awesome? Beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, praise for heaviness. Maybe some of these words describe you this morning. Look at what God wants to give you. Oh, He longs to give you these things. Verse 10, and He said to them, every man at the beginning sets out the good wine and when the guest of well drunk, then the inferior, you have kept the good wine until now.

Do you know what? That's a spiritual, I believe that's a spiritual concept that God always saves the best for last. Remember that.

Write it down even. God always saves the best for last. We think that in this life, we got it good. Man, this is nothing.

This is nothing. We are practicing for what I call the big gig. Heaven is going to be something. Remember the best is coming last. And God, what God puts forth is always the best. Man can't improve on what God has put forth. How arrogant some of these authors are in writing these books. What we're going to do is we're going to take the gospel and we're going to improve on it.

What? How do you improve on the gospel? Well, we're going to change it a little bit. It's the new postmodern Christianity. I read an ad and the guy was saying, and the title of the sermon was Why Christianity Has to Change so it Doesn't Die.

You know, if it wouldn't have been on Sunday morning, I might have gone over there. Excuse me. Something has to change or die. It's not Christianity. God saves the best for last. And when God does something, God does it well. Galatians chapter 3 verse 3 says, Are you so foolish having begun in the Spirit, you're now made perfect by the flesh?

No. God is at work in your life. It's not like you got saved and now it's all up to you. God is doing a work in your life. God desires to do that work in your life. It's amazing to think that we can do it. Now, let me hit something before we close. I've heard people say, well, in regards to their drinking, well, you know, actually, you know, Jesus turned water into wine, so obviously it's okay.

There's a couple problems with that. And I love the story. There was a guy who was an alcoholic who got saved and quit drinking. He was talking to one of his buddies and his buddy was trying to get him to drink and his buddy said, well, you know, after all, Jesus turned water into wine. Don't you believe that? The guy said, yep, and in my case, he's turned wine into furniture, clothes for the kids and food for the family.

It's an amazing thing. But you can't use this scripture as a way for you to be okay with drinking. That's a really, really weak argument. Three verses. 1 Corinthians 8 and 9 says, But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to those who are weak. 1 Corinthians 10 23, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.

All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. 1 Corinthians 10 31, Therefore, whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. And some people say, well, you know, Jesus is my example and he made water into wine and he drank wine. Well, I'm not even going to get into the unfortified beverage that he was drinking, but let me, if Jesus is your example, that's great.

That's great. Let's go with that. Luke 22 18, Jesus says, For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. So if Jesus is your example, according to this scripture in Luke, Jesus is teetotaler now.

So let's go with that. Well, maybe that's, maybe you're still sitting there going, whoa, wait a minute. Look, I have, I have drank in my life. I've drank my share and a few other people's and everybody starts out thinking I can handle it. It's just one beer. It's just one glass of wine. Nobody starts out saying, you know what, honey, I'm going to go to the grocery store and get a bottle of wine because I, you know what, I really want to become an alcoholic. And so I'm going to go get a bottle of wine.

I'm going to start down my way on that path. Nobody says that. It starts with one drink and then you get carried away. And guys, as a pastor, I've seen so much damage from alcohol that I don't understand why somebody would want to place themselves at such risk.

Because I think the fact of saying you can handle it places you in a place where you're in danger. Well, but Jesus, but Jesus, but Jesus turned water into wine. Okay. I'll tell you what, if you go home and you take a pitcher of water and you turn it into wine, go ahead. You can drink it. Praise God. I guess that'd be scripturally consistent, wouldn't it?

But if you don't do that, I would suggest that you don't do that. Proverbs 31, 4, and 5 says, it's not for kings, O Lemmiel, it's not for kings to drink wine, nor princes for intoxicating drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice of all the afflicted. It's obvious that drinking affects your decision-making ability. If you've ever been intoxicated, you won't question that verse. I mean, come on. If you've ever drank to the point that you're drunk, you've done something that was really not intelligent. I've done those things, you know, and hurt myself and hurt others. And it usually starts out with something like, hey, watch this. And it doesn't end well.

It impairs your decision-making ability. Well, back to the clay pots, because there's more here. What's interesting in verse 7, it says, they filled them up to the brim.

I like that. Didn't fill them halfway. They filled them to the brim. And if you remember with Elisha in 2 Kings chapter 4, verse 3 and 4, it says, then he said, go borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors' empty vessels.

Do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons, then pour into all those vessels and set aside the full ones. What happens when they fill those pots up to the brim? Those things became a blessing to everybody around them, to the brim. The clay pots, guys, there's so much here.

Do you understand? The potter formed the clay, and then what did he do? He took it and put it in the heat of the oven to finish it. And that's what happens in our lives sometimes.

We go through heated things and tough things, and we pray for these things, and then we get in the middle and we're like, God, get me out of here. Well, if you take a clay pot out of the oven in the middle of its baking, you realize you've got to start the whole thing all over again. Then you've got to take the clay pot.

You actually have to hammer it down into powder, re-wet it, reform it, and then put it back through the process. And sometimes as believers, do you understand, we don't learn from the trial that we're in, and then so we destined ourselves to repeat it because we get out in the middle of it when God's wanting us to go through it. And we leak. As clay pots, we have to be filled up constantly. You can't go, well, you know, I was filled up four years ago, praise God. Well, brother, you need a fresh filling. Sister, you need to be filled again, especially if you've been pouring out. The amazing thing is, you know, the biggest obstacle to us being filled? It's yourself.

It's pride, saying, no, I'm okay. I don't need to be filled. And you get ripped off and left dry. But if you're honest this morning to say, you know what, I've been feeling empty. It's been a while since I've asked the Lord to fill me. And I may be filled a little bit, but you know what, when you start talking about to the brim, I'm not filled to the brim.

You can be. It's the heart of the Lord to fill you to the brim this morning. And He's just waiting on you to ask. And maybe you're an empty pot and you've never been filled at all. You've never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins. Maybe you've thought it's about your goodness and what you can do for the Lord and the way that you do what's right and not do what's wrong.

Reality is, is your best is not good enough. And Jesus died on the cross to forgive you of your sins. And that's where it starts for you to say, Lord, I turn from my sins and I turn to you and I ask that you would help me knowing I'm not, it's not that I'm going to be perfect for the rest of my life, but I ask you to forgive me and help me to live for you. But maybe you already know that, but you need to fill up. Jesus wants to fill you with joy. He wants to fill you to the brim.

He told us He came that we might have life. That joy in that life waits for you. If you're willing to humble yourself and say, you know what I need, I need to be filled again. I've been feeling dry and I've been feeling empty.

I don't feel like I'm filled to the brim. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven? You can know.

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. Jesus said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him.

And He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to crossthebridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27117, and share how God is working in your life. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee.

That sounds good, Pastor D.A., and again, it's been great to have you with us on the program today. But tell us, what else can our listeners find on crossthebridge.com? If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our livestream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our livestream link. There, you'll experience a live service from David's home church, The Bridge, in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.