LivePrayerSermon 2317. Obeying Christ's Orders
(No. 2317)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, JULY 16, 1893.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 13, 1889.
"His mother said unto the servants, Whatever He says unto you, do it." John 2:5.
IT does not need a strong imagination to picture Mary, probably at that time the widowed mother of our Lord. She is full oflove and of a naturally kind, sympathetic disposition. She is at a marriage and she is very pleased that her Son is there,with the first handful of His disciples. Their being there has made a greater demand upon the provisions than was expectedand the supply is running short, so she, with an anxiety that was natural to such a mother of her years, and of her gentlespirit, thinks that she will speak to her Son and tell Him that there is a need. So she says to Him, "They have no wine."
There was not much amiss in that, surely, but our Lord, who sees not as man sees, perceived that she was putting to the fronther motherly relationship at a time when it was necessary that it should be in the background. How necessary it was, historyhas shown, for the apostate church of Rome has actually made Mary a Mediatrix and prayers have been addressed to her! Shehas even been asked to use her maternal authority with her Son. It was well that our Savior should check anything that mighttend to give any countenance to Mariolatry which has been altogether so mischievous. And it was necessary for Him to speakto His mother with somewhat more of sharpness than, perhaps, her conduct, in itself, alone, might have required. So her augustSon felt bound to say to her, "Woman, what have I to do with you in such a matter as this? I am not your Son as a miracle-worker.I cannot work to please you. No, if I work a miracle as the Son of God, it cannot be as your Son-it must be in another character.What have I to do with you in this matter?" And He gives His reason-"My hour is not yet come."
It was a gentle rebuke, absolutely necessary from the prescience of all that would follow. You can easily picture how Marytook it. She knew Christ's gentleness, His infinite love, how for 30 years there had never come anything from Him that hadgrieved her spirit. So she drank in the reproof and gently shrank back, thinking much more than she said, for she was alwaysa woman who laid up these things and pondered them in her heart. She says very little, but she thinks a great deal-and wesee in her later conduct, in respect to this very miracle, that she thought very much of what Jesus had said to her. Brothersand Sisters, you and I, with the very best intentions, may sometimes err towards our Lord. And if He, then, in any way rebukesus, and puts us back-if He disappoints our hope, if He does not allow our ambitious designs to prosper-let us take it fromHim as Mary took it from Jesus. Let us just feel that it must be right and let us, in silence, possess ourselves in His Presence.
Notice, then, this holy woman's quietude, ceasing to say a word, quietly drinking it all in. And then observe her wise admonitionto the servants who were there to wait at the feast. Inasmuch as she had run before Him, she would have them to follow afterHim and she very wisely and kindly says to them, "Whatever He says unto you, do it. Do not go to Him with any of your remarks.Do not try to press Him forward. Do not urge Him on-He knows better than we do. Stand back and wait till He speaks, and thenbe quick to obey every single word that He utters." Beloved, I wish that when we have learned a lesson, we would try to teachit. Sometimes our Master gives us a sharp word all to ourselves and we would not tell anybody else what He has said. In ourprivate communions He has spoken to our conscience and to our heart-and we need not go and repeat that, as Mary did not. But,having learned the lesson well, let us then say to our next friend, "Do not err as I have done. Avoid the rock on which Istruck just now. I fear that I grieved my Lord. My Sister, I would not have you grieve Him. My Brother, I would try to tellyou just what to do that you may please Him in all
things." Do you not think that we would minister to mutual edification if we did that? Instead of telling the faults of others,let us extract the essence from the discoveries which we make of our own errors and then administer that as a helpful medicineto those who are around us.
This holy woman must have spoken with a good deal of power. Her tone must have been peculiarly forcible and her manner musthave made a great impression upon the servants, for you notice that they did exactly what she told them. It is not every servantwho will let a guest come into the house and set up to be mistress. But so it was when she spoke to those servants, with herdeep, earnest tones, as a woman who had learned something that she could not tell, but who, yet, out of that experience, hadextracted a lesson for others. She must have spoken with a wonderful melting force when she said to them, "Whatever He saysunto you, do it." And they were all looking on with awe after she had spoken, drinking in her message to them as she had drunkin the message of the Lord.
Now I want, tonight, to try to teach that lesson to myself and to you. I think that our own experience goes to show us thatour highest wisdom, our very best prosperity, will lie in our cautiously keeping behind Christ and never running before Him,never forcing His hand, never tempting Him as they did who tempted God in the wilderness-prescribing to Him to do this orthat-but, in holy, humble obedience, taking these words as our life motto henceforth, "Whatever He says unto you, do it."I will handle my text in this way-First, What? Secondly, Why? Thirdly, What then?
I. WHAT IS IT THAT WE ARE HERE TOLD TO DO? In a word, it is to obey. You who belong to Christ and are His disciples, takeheed to this word of exhortation, "Whatever He says unto you, do it."
I want you to notice, first of all, that these words were spoken, not to the disciples of Christ, but to the servants who,in the Greek, are here called diakonois, the persons who were brought in to wait at the table and to serve the guests. I knownot whether they were paid servants, or whether they were friends who kindly volunteered their services, but they were thewaiters at the feast. They were not told to leave their master. They were not told to give up their avocation as waiters.They were servants and they were to continue servants, but still, for all that, they were to acknowledge Christ as their Masterwithout casting off their obedience to the governor of the feast. Mary does not say to these people, "Put down those pots.Leave off carrying those dishes." But while they continue to do what they were doing, she says to them, "Whatever He saysunto you, do it." I thought that point was well worthy of our notice, that these servants, still abiding as they were, yetwere to render obedience to Christ.
That obedience, in the first place, would be prepared obedience. Mary came to get their minds ready to do what Christ shouldbid them. No man will obey Christ on a sudden and keep on doing so. There must be a weighing, a considering. There must bea thoughtful, careful knowledge of what His will is-and a preparedness of heart-that whatever that will may be, as it is known,so it shall be done! At first these servants did nothing. The guests needed wine but the servants did not go to Jesus andsay, "Master, wine is needed." No, but they waited until He bade them fill the waterpots with water-and then they filled themto the brim. But they did nothing till He bade them. A great part of obedience lies in not doing. I believe that in the anxietyof many a trembling heart, the very best faith will be seen in not doing anything. When you do not know what to do, do nothing,and, doing nothing, my Brothers and Sisters, will be found to be, sometimes, the very hardest work of all. In the case ofa man in business who has come into a difficulty, or of a Sister with a sick child, or a sick husband, you know the impulseis to do something or other. If not the first thing that comes to hand, yet we feel that we must do something. And many aperson has aggravated his sorrow by doing something, when, if he had bravely left it alone, believingly left it in God's hands,it would have been infinitely better for him.
"Whatever He says unto you, do it." But do not do what every whim or fancy in your poor brain urges you to do! Do not runbefore you are sent. They who run before God's cloud will have to come back, again-and they will be very happy if they findthe way back! Where Scripture is silent, be you silent! If there is no command, you had better wait till you can find someguidance. Blunder not on with a headlong anxiety lest you tumble into the ditch! "Whatever He says unto you," do that. Butuntil He speaks, sit still. My Soul, be patient before God and wait until you know His bidding!
This prepared obedience was to be the obedience of the spirit, for obedience lies mainly there. True obedience is not alwaysseen in what we do, or do not do, but it is manifest in the perfect submission to the will of God-and the strong resolve thatsaturates the spirit through and through-that what He bids us, we will do!
Let your obedience, in the next place, be perfect obedience. "Whatever He says unto you, do it." It is disobedience, and notobedience which prompts us to select from the commands of Christ which ones we care to obey. If you say, "I will
do what Christ bids me as far as I choose," you have, in fact, said, "I will not do what Christ bids me, but I will do whatI please to do." That obedience is not true which is not universal! Imagine a soldier in the army who, instead of obeyingevery command of his captain, omits this and that, and says that he cannot help it, or that he even means to omit certainthings. Beloved, take heed of throwing any precept of your Lord upon the dunghill! Every Word that He has spoken to you ismore precious than a diamond! Prize it! Store it up. Wear it. Let it be your ornament and your beauty. "Whatever He says untoyou, do it," whether it relates to the Church of God and its ordinances, or to your walk out of doors among your fellow men,or to your relationship in the family, or to your own private service for the Lord. "Whatever." See, there are to be no trimmings,here, no cutting off of certain things-"Whatever He says unto you, do it." Breathe this prayer at the present moment, "Lord,help me to do whatever You have said! May I have no choice! May I never let my own will come in to interfere, but if You havetold me do anything, enable me to do it, whatever it may be!"
This obedience, then, being prepared and perfect, is to also be practical obedience-"Whatever He says unto you, do it." Donot think about it, especially for a very long time, and then wait until it is more impressed upon you, or till there is aconvenient season. "Whatever He says unto you, do it." One of the great evils of the times is that of deliberating about aplain command of Christ and asking, "What will be the result of it?" What have you to do with results? "But if I follow Christin all things, I may lose my job!" What have you to do with that? When a soldier is told to go up to the cannon's mouth, heis very likely to lose his "job" and something else-but he is bound to do it! "Oh, but I might lose my opportunities of usefulness!"What do you mean? That you are going to do evil that good may come? That is what it comes to. Will you really, before God,look that matter in the face? "Whatever He says unto you, do it." At any expense, at any risk, do it!
I have heard some say, "Well, I do not like doing things in a hurry." Very well, but what says David? "I made haste, and delayednot-to keep Your Commandments." Remember that we sin every moment that we delay to do anything commanded by Christ. Whetherevery moment of delay is a fresh sin, I cannot say, but if we neglect any command of His, we are living in a condition ofperpetual sinning against Him-and that is not a desirable position for any of Christ's disciples to live in! Beloved, "whateverHe says unto you, do it." Do not argue against it and try to find some reason for not doing it. I have known some Believerswho have not liked to have certain passages of Scripture read at the family altar because they have rather troubled theirconsciences. If there is anything in the Bible that quarrels with you, you are wrong-the Bible is not! Come to terms withit at once and the only terms will be obey, obey, obey your Lord's will! I am not holding this up to you as a way of salvation-youknow I would never think of doing that! I am speaking to those of you who are saved! You are Christ's servants-His saved ones!And now you have come to the holy discipline of His house and this is the rule of it, "Whatever He says unto you, do it."
Do it practically. Have we not been talking too much about what should be done by our friends, or observing what others donot do? Oh, that the Spirit of God would come upon us that our own walk might be close with God, our own obedience be preciseand exact, our own love to Christ be proved by our continual following in His steps! Ours should be practical obedience.
It must also be personal obedience-"Whatever He says unto you, do it." You know how much there is done by proxy, nowadays.Charity is done so. A is in a great deal of need. B hears of it and is very sorry, indeed. And so he asks C to come and helpA. And then B goes to bed and feels that he has done a good thing! Or else when A has told his story to B, B looks out tosee if there is some Society that will help him, although he never subscribes to the Society because he does not think ofdoing that! His part is just to pass A on to C, or to the Society and, having done that, he feels satisfied. Do you wish theSavior to say, in the Last Great Day, "I was hungry, and you sent Me to somebody else," or, "I was thirsty and you directedMe to the parish pump for a drink"? Nothing of the kind! We must do something personally for Christ.
So is it in the matter of endeavoring to win souls to Christ. There is nothing like personally speaking to people, button-holingthem, looking them in the eyes, talking your own personal experience over with them and pleading with them to fly to Christfor refuge! Personal obedience is what is needed. If one of these persons who were waiting had said, when the command hadcome from Christ to fill the waterpots, "John, you go and do it. William, you go and do it"-he would not have followed outMary's command, "Whatever He says unto you, do it." Do I touch the conscience of anybody here? Well, if so, from this timeforth cease to be a servant of God by proxy lest you be saved by proxy-and to be
saved by proxy will be to be lost! But trust Christ for yourself and then serve Him for yourself, by His own mighty Grace-"WhateverHe says unto you, do it."
It must also be prompt obedience. Do it at once-delay will take the bloom from the obedience. "Whatever He says unto you,"stand ready to obey. The moment that the command, "March," is given to the soldier, he marches. The moment a command comesto your heart and you see it to be really in the Word of God, do it! Oh, the murdered resolutions that lie round about mostmen's lives! What they would have done! What they could have done, if they had but done it! But they have been building castlesin the air, imagining lives they would like to lead and not actually doing Christ's commands. Oh, for a prompt, personal,practical service to the Lord Jesus Christ!
And in our case it is to be perpetual obedience. Mary said to these waiters, "Whatever He says unto you, do it." "Keep ondoing it. Not only the first thing He says, but whatever He says unto you. As long as this feast lasts and He is here, dowhat my Son commands you." So, Beloved, as long as we are in this world, until life's last hour, may the Holy Spirit enableus to do just what Jesus bids us do! Can you say, my Brothers and Sisters-
"Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave, and follow You"?
Is it your wish that until you enter into His rest, you should always bear His yoke and follow His footsteps? Temporary Christiansare not Christians! Those who ask for furlough from this Divine service have never entered it. We have put on our uniformto never take it off. As certain old knights in times of war slept in their armor and had the lance and shield always readyto hand, so must the Christian be, from this time forth and forever. "Ours not to reason why," ours not to delay when thecommand comes, but ours, while there is breath in our body, and life in our spirit, to serve Him who has redeemed us withHis precious blood!
Thus I have feebly set before you what it is that we are called to do-that is, to obey Christ's orders.
II. Now for a few minutes let us ask, WHY IS THIS TO BE DONE? Beloved, why were these men to do what Jesus told them? Letthat melt into, "Why are you and I to do what Jesus tells us?"
First, Christ is, by Nature, worthy of obedience. I count it an honor to serve Christ. Oh, what is He? Perfect Man, risingnobly above us all! Perfect God, infinitely majestic in His two Natures. Why, it seems to me as if we ought to love to doHis bidding and long to be conformed to His image! Here is the rest for our aspiring spirit. Here are the glory and the honorand the immortality for which we pant! By the glory of Christ, whom you adore unseen, "Whatever He says unto you, do it."
Beside that, Christ is our only hope. All our prospects for the future depend upon Him. Glory be to His blessed name! Thereis none like He. If He were gone from us and we could not trust in Him, life would be an endless darkness, an abyss of woe!By all the glory of His Nature and all that we owe to Him, and all that we look for from Him, I charge you, beloved Friends,"Whatever He says unto you, do it."
More than that, He is All-Wise, and so fit to lead. Who but He could get these people out of their trouble at the feast whenthey needed wine? He knew the way out of it all-a way that would manifest His own Glory, make His disciples believe in Himand make everybody round about happy. But if He did not show the way, nobody could. So let us obey Him, for His commands areso wise. He never has made a mistake and He never will. Let us commit our way unto His keeping and whatever He says unto us,let us do it!
Besides, Beloved, Christ has rewarded our obedience before. Did you ever act rightly and, after all, find it a mistake? Someof us have had to do very grievous things in our time that have gone sorely against the grain. Would we do them again? Yes,that we would, if they cost 10 times as much! No man has ever, in looking back, regretted that he followed the voice of conscienceand the dictates of God's Word-and he never will, though he should even go to prison and to death for Christ's sake! You maylose for Christ, but you shall never lose by Christ! When all comes to be added up, you shall be a greater gainer becauseof the apparent loss. He has never deceived you and never misled you. Obedience to Him has always brought you real solid peace.Therefore, "whatever He says unto you, do it."
Yet once more, Christ is our Master and we must obey Him. I hope, Beloved, that there is no one among us here who would callHim, Master, and yet not do the things that He says. We do not talk about Him as one who was once great, but who is gone awayand whose influence is now upon the wane because He is not up to "the spirit of the age." No, but He still lives and we stillcommune with Him. He is our Master and Lord! When we were baptized into His death, it was
no mere matter of form-but we were dead to the world and we lived to Him. When we took His sacred name upon us and were calledChristians, it was no sham-we meant that He should be Captain, King and Master of our spirits! He is no Baali, that is, domineeringlord but He is Ishi, our Man, our Husband and, in His husbandly relationship He is Lord and Governor of every thought andevery motion of our nature! Jesus, Jesus, Your yoke is easy and your burden is light! It is joyous to bear it! To get awayfrom it would be misery, indeed, and that is one reason why I say to you, tonight, "Whatever He says unto you, do it," becauseif you do not, you cast off your allegiance to Him-and what are you going to do, then?
To whom will you go if you turn away from Him? Every man must have a master. Will you be your own master? You cannot havea greater tyrant! Will you let the world be your master? Are you going to be a servant of "society"? There are no worse slavesthan these! Are you going to live for self, for honor, for what is called, "pleasure"? Ah, me, you may as well go down toEgypt, to the iron furnace, at once! To whom can we go? Jesus, to whom can we go, if we go away from You? You have the wordsof eternal life! "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." Throw another bond of love about me, anothercord of sweet constraint and let me never ever think of parting with You! Let me be crucified to the world and the world tome!
Do not your hearts pray after that fashion? Oh, to be wholly Christ's, entirely Christ's, forever Christ's! Yes, yes, we willlisten to the command, "Whatever He says unto you, do it." I have given you the reason why we should obey Christ's orders.
III. And now, Beloved, let me occupy the last few minutes in answering this question, WHAT WILL FOLLOW FROM THIS OBEDIENCE?Suppose we do whatever Christ commands us, what then? I will tell you what then.
The first thing is, that you will feel free from responsibility. The servant who has done what his master has told him, may,in his own mind, fear that some dreadful consequences may follow, but he says to himself, "It will be no fault of mine. Idid what I was told to do." Now, Beloved, if you want to get rid of the whole burden of life, by faith do whatever Christcommands you! Then, if the heavens should seem about to fall, it would be no business of yours to shore them up. You havenot to mend God's work and keep it right. I remember what Mr. John Wesley said to his preachers-"Now, Brothers, I do not wantyou to mend my rules. I want you to obey them." That is pretty strong from John Wesley, but from our Lord Jesus Christ itcomes most suitably. He does not want us to get to altering, mending, touching up and looking at consequences. No! Do exactlywhat He tells you and you have nothing to do with the consequences! You may have to bear them, but He will give you Graceto do that-and it shall be your joy to bear all ill consequences that come of firm obedience to Christ.
This kind of doctrine does not suit the year 1889. If you go over to Scotland and see where the Covenanters' graves are, anybodywho thinks according to the spirit of this age will say that they were just a lot of fools to have been so stubborn and sostrict about doctrine as to die for it. Why, really, there is not anything in the new philosophy that is worth dying for!I wonder whether there is any "modern thought" doctrine that would be worth the purchase of a cat's life? According to theteaching of the broad school, what is supposed to be true, today, may not be true tomorrow, so it is not worth dying for.We may as well put off the dying till the thing is altered-and if we wait a month, it will be altered and thus, at the last,you may get the old creed back again! The Lord send it and send us yet a race of men who will obey what He bids them, do whatHe tells them, believe what He teaches them and lay their own wills down in complete obedience to their Lord and Master! Sucha people will feel free from responsibility.
Then you shall feel a sweet flow of love to Christ. The disobedient child-well, he will not be turned out of the house becausehe will not do the bidding of his mother and father. But when he does not submit to the rule of the house, he has a hard timeof it and he ought to have. There is that evening kiss, it is not as warm as it would have been. And that morning greeting,after long disobedience, has no happiness in it. And, indeed, the more kind father and mother are, the more unhappy he is!And the sweet love of Christ is such that it makes us unhappy in disobedience. You cannot walk contrary to Christ and yetenjoy fellowship with Him. And the more dear and near He is to you, so much the wider does the gap seem to be when you arenot doing His bidding.
Besides, there is no carrying out your faith except by doing as He bids you. That faith which lies only in a creed, or ina little pious book is not good for much. Faith does what Christ bids it do and it delights to do so! It rejoices to run risks,
it delights to put off from the land and get out to sea. It is glad to sacrifice itself when Jesus calls for it because faithcannot be satisfied without bearing fruit-and the fruit of faith is obedience to Him in whom we believe.
Beloved, I also think that if we will obey Christ in what He says, we shall be learning to be leaders. Wellington used tosay that no man is fit to command until he has learned to obey-and I am sure that it is so. We shall never see a race of reallyfirst-rate men unless our boys and girls are made to obey their parents in their childhood. The essential glory of manhoodis lost when disobedience is tolerated and, certainly, in the Church of God, the Lord does put His leading servants throughvery severe ordeals. The best place for the books of a minister is not his library, but very often a sick-bed. Afflictionis our school and before we can deal with others, God must deal with us. If you will not obey, you shall not be set to command.
And lastly, I do believe that learning to obey is one of the preparatives for the enjoyments of Heaven. Why, in Heaven, theyhave no will but God's will! Their will is to serve Him and delight themselves in Him. And if you and I do not learn, herebelow, what obedience to God is, and practice it, and carry it out, how can we hope to be happy in the midst of obedient spirits?Dear Hearers, if you have never learned to trust Christ and obey Him, how can you go to Heaven? You would be so unhappy therethat you would ask God to let you run to Hell for shelter, for nothing would strike you with more horror than to be in themidst of perfectly holy people who find their delight in the service of God! May the Lord bring us to this complete obedienceto Christ! Then this world will be an inclined plane, or a ladder such as Jacob saw, up which we shall trip with holy gladnesstill we come to the top and find our Heaven in perfect obedience to God!
It is not Mary who speaks to you, tonight, but it is the Church of God, the mother of all who truly love Christ, and she saysto you, "Whatever He says unto you, do it," and if you will do it, He will turn the water into wine for you. He will makeyour love more glad and happy than it ever would have been without obeying Him and He will provide for you. Obey Him and Hewill comfort you. Obey Him and He will perfect you. Be with Him in the ways of duty and you shall be with Him in the homeof Glory!
The Lord grant this, of His infinite Grace, giving to us to know the will of Christ, and then working in us to will and todo of His own good pleasure! Amen and Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON. JOHN2:1-11.
Our Savior had lived on the earth for 30 years and had worked no miracle. There was the hiding of His power. He had been subjectto His parents and had lived in obscurity. Now He has broken through the obscurity and He begins His public ministry by workinga miracle.
Verse 1. And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. "The third day." John keeps a kind of diary for Christ.In those first days there was something for every day and they were a specimen of the whole life of the Savior. He could neversay, like Titus, "I have lost a day." Every day had its deed-glorifying to God and blessed to men. Let us also try to laborfor Christ every day-let there be no day without its mark. May God grant that there may be something to make every day memorable!"And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee." The first miracle of our Lord was not worked at Jerusalem, butaway there in the back settlements, in "Galilee of the Gentiles." It was necessary for Him to be seen and to work miracleswhich might be seen, but He began in an obscure region, among a despised people.
1. And the mother of Jesus was there. This expression leads to the belief that there was some kind of kinship between thebridegroom or the bride and the mother of Jesus, for it is not said that she was invited to be there, but that she "was
there."
2. And both Jesus was called and His disciples to the marriage. Happy marriage, where Christ is invited to be present! WhereChrist goes, His disciples go. If they suffer with Him, they also rejoice with Him. If He goes to a feast, they must go, too-"BothJesus was called and His disciples." They were only five, but five is a large number to add to a poor family's wedding party.It shows the generosity of their heart that they invited Jesus to come and bring His disciples. And He went to put honor uponmarriage, especially as He foresaw that the day would come when the apostate church of Rome would reckon marriage to be dishonorableand not permit one who was married to officiate as a minister.
3. And when they needed wine, the mother of Jesus said unto Him, They have no wine. I notice that John calls Mary "the motherof Jesus." I suppose he had in his mind the dying words of Christ, "Behold your mother!" Such things make a deep impressionupon us and we are apt, when writing, to use the phrases that have been burnt into the memory. "The mother of Jesus." Becauseshe has been too much exalted in the Romish church, I fear that we run to the other extreme, and think too little of thiswoman to whom the angel Gabriel said, "Hail, you that are highly favored, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.""They needed wine." They had not been long married before there was need in the house. Even in the brightest days of life,they needed something more. And when the mother of Jesus saw that they were in need and that the marriage festival would bedishonored, so she went to her Son and she said, "They have no wine." I fear she spoke a little like an ordinary mother addressingher son, but the time had come when that discipline was to end. Mary was not His mother as the Son of God. He was about towork a miracle and He would have her and all His relatives know that He would not use His miraculous powers merely for theiradvantage, but for the Glory of God and the instruction of men.
4. Jesus said unto her, Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour is not yet come. It was a very difficult position for Himto be in-to act the part of a loving and obedient son as far as His Manhood was concerned, and yet, as the Son of God, byno means to compromise His Divine Character, but to stand out there as being under no influence of the flesh. Just as we arenot to know Christ after the flesh, so He no longer knew mother, or brother, or friend, according to earthly relationship.And when Mary intruded her motherhood upon Him, it was but right and fitting that He should say, "What have I to do with you?My hour is not yet come." The Savior had an hour for everything-an hour for suffering and an hour for working. And He dideverything punctually, promptly to the minute. That was one of the beauties of His life-"My hour is not yet come." PerhapsHe meant, "My hour to work this miracle is not yet come" and He would not be hurried by anybody. Beloved, it is not easy tobe familiar with Christ, as I trust we are, and yet always to maintain humble deference to His sacred will. Never let us prayas if we were dictators, or His equals. We must keep our place, however near we come to the dear bosom of our Lord. He isstill in Heaven and we are upon earth. He is the Master, we are the servants-and if we are as favored as His mother was, wemust not go too far, as she did.
5. His mother said unto the servants, Whatever He says unto you, do it. This holy woman took the rebuke in silence. She saidnothing. She felt the force of Christ's words-she proved that she did by now fully believing that He would do something orother. Had He not said, "My hour is not yet come"? Did not that mean that the hour would come and that He would do something,by-and-by? So she quietly accepted His reproof. Oh, you who are in great trouble, you feel as if you could force the handof Christ, but you must not think of doing that! Even if you could have power over Him, you would be very foolish to use it.Let Him alone! He knows best how and when to show His Grace towards you. Keep silence before Him and in patience commit yourway unto Him.
6. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or threefirkins apiece. I admire the accuracy of the Holy Spirit. John does not know exactly how much these vessels held. They werenot made to measure things in, so he writes, "containing two or three firkins apiece." Let us always speak correctly. Sometimes,"almost," or, "thereabouts," will be words that will save our truthfulness. Let us not speak positively when we do not know!And when the accuracy of a statement is necessary and we cannot give it in terms that are definite, let us give it in wordslike these, "containing two or three firkins apiece." These were great "waterpots of stone." Stone will not, as a rule, holdthe flavor of anything that has been in it, like an earthen vessel would do. So these pots, which had contained nothing elsebut water, could not be suspected of having any lees of wine concealed therein, or any flavoring material that would makethe water taste like wine. No, they were genuine stone waterpots!
7. Jesus said unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. There was no fear of anythingbut water being there-"They filled them up to the brim." They obeyed Christ to the letter. If Christ says to you, "Fill thewaterpots with water," fill them up to the brim! Never cut down His commandments-carry them out as far as the largest interpretationcan go. When you are told to believe in Him, believe in Him up to the brim! When you are told to love Him, love Him up tothe brim! When you are commanded to serve Him, serve Him up to the brim!
8. And He said unto them, Draw some out, now, and take it to the governor of the feast. And they took it. "Draw some out,now." "Now." He had not turned the water into wine by any incantation. He simply willed it and it was done! He said, "Drawsome out, now." He did not need to leave it unnoticed because He had not worked a miracle before-and
He could not really say whether this was one. He was sure it was, so He said to the servants, when they had filled the wa-terpotswith water, "Draw some out, now. Do not bring it to Me for Me to taste it. I know what it is. Take it to the chairman of thefestival, to Him who sits at the head of the table and is the judge of the wine." "And they took it." The holy confidenceof Christ is admirable. May we be able, by faith, so to work, with a calm consciousness of Divine help! But notice this. Wheneverthe Lord fills any of you with a blessing, think that you hear Him say, "Draw some out, now." He does not fill these potsthat they may be kept full. "Draw some out, now." Did you have a good time last Monday night at the Prayer Meeting? Some ofus had. "Draw some out, now." Have you lived near to God of late, and are you very happy? "Draw some out, now." If He hasfilled you up to the brim, draw some out, now, for, if you try to store it up, it will become useless. Selfishness will poisonit all!
9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not from where it came, (but the servantswhich drew the water knew), the governor of the feast called the bridegroom. There was no collusion, for the governor, whotasted it, did not know where it came from. And the servants, who knew where it came from, did not taste it, so that theydid not know what it was like. If anybody objects to the Savior making wine, I think that the best reply is that all the winewhich is made of water will do nobody any hurt-and the more of it the better! And this was so made, certainly. They say thatthere is a devil in every grape. There were no grapes, here! And I am afraid that there is not much of them in most of thewine that is made, nowadays-there is something worse than devil in that.
10. And said unto him, Every man at the beginning does set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that whichis worse, but you have kept the good wine until now. That the governor of the feast did not understand, but he admired itand here is a picture of what our Lord always does. He gives His people the best, last. At first, the wine of the Kingdomis mingled with much bitterness-salt tears of sorrow flow into it. But it improves as we go on and when we shall drink itwith Him, in the Kingdom of God, what will it be like? The joy of Christ's love on earth is Heaven, but when we get to Heavenand drink it fresh from the everlasting spring, what will that joy be? Oh, the blessedness laid up for the people of God!We pluck some of the fruit from the trees and eat it, but the fruits laid up in the fruit-chamber, to get ripe, by-and-by,are the very pick of the fruit of the Tree of Life! You who live for the world have already had your best, but, as for ourfeast with Christ, we go from good to better and from better to the best!
11. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His Glory. Moses turned water into blood.Christ turned water into wine. One brought a curse upon the common things of daily life. The other put an added sweetnessand blessing into them.
11. And His disciples believed on Him. They believed on Him before, but now they had an ocular demonstration of His DivinePower and Godhead, and they believed as they had not believed before! May you and I often make distinct progress in faith,so that it may be said of us, also, "His disciples believed on Him"!