I'm going to ask you please to turn to John 2. And tonight we continue looking at the verses that we began looking at this morning, verses 1-11. John 2. We read together beginning at verse 1. The Word of God says this, On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. And the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with His disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification. each holding 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water, now become wine, and did not know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, The master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, everyone serves the good wine first. And when people are drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for what you've already taught us from these verses today. And we ask, Lord, that you would now deal with our hearts and minds again as we look into your word. We thank you, Lord, that there are inexhaustible riches found on every page of scripture. We thank you, Lord, that you are our teacher. Lord, You have chosen to use men. It amazes us that You would use earthen vessels to declare Your glory. And yet, Lord, we gratefully and joyfully acknowledge that only You can serve as our Teacher. Only You, Lord, can open our mind and heart to grasp the things that have been given to us in Scripture. And so, Lord, we ask You to be at work in this time of preaching. We pray that it would demonstrate Your presence among us and Your powerful working. that You would deal with our lives. We recognize, Lord, that there are some here among us even tonight who do not yet know You. They have not been saved. Their sins have not been forgiven. If they were to die tonight, Lord, they would spend eternity separated from You. We ask in Your mercy that You would save them tonight. We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit would go straight to their heart with Your Word and bring them to Your Son Help me, Lord, to declare the glories of Your Son, our Savior, our Lord, our King, our Chief Shepherd, the Head of Your Church. We ask You this in Jesus' name, Amen. This morning we talked about the fact that this was the first sign, John writes, the first sign that Jesus performed. A miracle that has a spiritual message in it that speaks spiritual truth. So we talked about the purpose of signs this morning. They're intended to bring men to faith in Jesus Christ, to bring men and women to saving faith. But they're also intended to convey to us a knowledge of the Savior. His disciples saw what He did and they believed it. And these men who already had a measure of faith, their faith was increased. They believed again, as it were, already believers, but having their belief informed, stretched, grown, understanding more of the Savior. And we talked about that that's how the Lord sanctifies us. We're not only saved by faith in Christ, we are sanctified by faith in Christ. And as we get to know our Savior better, we are transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. And so we talked about the purpose of signs. And then we noted something about this particular sign. We noted that it was performed, there's nothing ordinary about turning water into wine, but if you look at everything else about this particular sign, there's something ordinary about it. It was an ordinary wedding. at which this sign was performed. This wasn't the wedding of some dignitary. This was the wedding of someone who was so poor they didn't have enough wine for all the guests. It was in an ordinary community, Cana of Galilee, a little small community. Not some large city, not in some huge coliseum somewhere or some huge stadium. There weren't thousands there. There was limited exposure to this first sign. And it had to do with a very ordinary need. It wasn't that someone had died and needed to be raised from the dead. It wasn't that someone was blind and needed sight or someone was deaf and needed to be able to hear. They ran out of wine. An ordinary need. And so we talked about how God is at work accomplishing his perfect and eternal purpose as time and events march forward in an ordinary way. We ought to be reminded that really there's nothing ordinary about any of our lives. Every day in all the ordinary events of our life, do you realize God is at work? God is at work all the time manifesting His glory to us and even through us. He's making Himself known in the ordinary events of our life. God is always at work all around us in all the ordinary events. And yet, even as we say this, we must not be left with the impression that time and events don't matter. Sometimes we can be so convinced that God's at work all the time that we don't recognize the urgency of certain opportunities, the weight of certain moments. We're going to be reminded of that tonight. Jesus said to his mother, my hour has not yet come. There's a time for everything. God's at work all the time, but that doesn't mean that all times are the same. And we need to realize that we won't always have the same opportunities. We have an opportunity even tonight as we listen to the Word of God. We have an opportunity to come to know Christ in a saving way if we haven't already. We have an opportunity to get to know our Savior better. We won't ever have this particular opportunity again. These are weighty moments that the Lord has given us. not to be taken lightly. Now, we said this morning that tonight we would come back and look at this sign for what it teaches us about obedience. And we're not going to complete that tonight, we'll just get started and then come back to it next Sunday morning. But there are three things I want to point out from these verses that have to do with obedience, and we'll look at the first one tonight and briefly look at the second and pick it back up next Sunday morning with the second. These three things Here they are. Number one, we're going to talk about a sin to be avoided. We see in these verses a sin to be avoided. Second, we're going to talk about a submission to be learned. A submission to be learned. And then third, we're going to talk about a satisfaction to be enjoyed. A sin to be avoided. A submission that we must learn. A submission to be learned. And when we've learned that submission, then there's a satisfaction to be enjoyed. But we begin with a sin. The first thing that has to stand out to us as we look at this, the first thing that draws my mind to these verses and a question that I had as I began to look at these verses has to do with the relationship that Jesus had with his mother. It's obvious there's a unique relationship here, isn't it? When the wine ran out, verse three, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you. We don't know for sure whose wedding this was. But it seems that they had some kind of close relationship to the Lord's mother, Mary. Whether it was a relative or a close friend, I'm not sure. But from the concern that Mary shows here, from the way that she was able to instruct the servants. From the fact that she would request something of her son about this need, they have no wine. All that says to us that she had some kind of relationship with the bridegroom or the bride or the family. Whatever the case, Mary is obviously concerned. And when the wine runs out, she comes to her son, the Lord Jesus, and she says something very simple. They have no wine. I want us to think about Mary's request, because that's what this was. It wasn't just information. The Lord Jesus understood that, didn't he? She's not just informing him, oh, by the way, there is no wine. This is a request. Her words were filled with expectation. We've got to ask, why does Mary come to Jesus about this? What does she expect him to do? I think there are some things that ought to be plain to us as we look at her request. First of all, we understand that Mary had an understanding of her son's identity. We need to know that tonight. Mary knew that her son was the Messiah. She knew the circumstances of her son's birth. She knew that she was a virgin when he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in her womb. She remembered the visit of the angel Gabriel to her. In fact, one of the interesting ways to really get a hold of what Mary must have held in her heart is just to sort of walk through it in the gospel of Luke. Go over there with me for just a moment. Go to Luke's gospel and go to the first chapter. Luke chapter one and. Look at verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man. whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the Virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom. There will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy. the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her." Wouldn't you agree that's a memorable experience? And so she knew this. She remembered the circumstances of Elizabeth's conception of John the Baptist. She knew that her cousin was barren. Six months before she conceived her cousin, by the Lord's grace and power, Elizabeth and Zachariah were allowed to have a child, John the Baptist. He would be the forerunner of the Lord Jesus. She remembered the confirming prophecy of Zachariah. We read about this in Luke chapter Look at verse 67. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant the oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us, that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the death and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Mary knew this. She knew about John and she knew about his relationship to her son, the Lord Jesus. In fact, we're told earlier in Luke that she pondered these sorts of things. She held these things in her heart She would have remembered the confirmation of the shepherds. Look over to Luke chapter two and look at verse eight. And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night, and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior. who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased. When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart, and the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. And if you look on to the next verse, no doubt Mary would have remembered this as well. The prophecies of Simeon and the words of Anna. Look at verse 21. And at the end of eight days when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus. the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. Now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples. a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel and his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is that is opposed And a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin and then as a widow until she was 84. She did not depart from the temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day and Coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own town of Nazareth, and the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. She also would have remembered her son's own words when he was instructing the teachers when he was 12 years old. Look on to the next verse, verse 41. Now, his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. But supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances. And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem searching for him. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress. And he said to them, why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? And they did not understand the saying, but he spoke to them and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them and his mother. What did she do? She's treasured up all these things where? In her heart. What I want you to see when you go back over to John 2 with me, please, is that Mary, when she comes to the Lord Jesus about this need, you need to know that she has an understanding of her son's identity. She knows that He is the Messiah. She's heard the promises concerning Him. She's heard the prophecies concerning Him. She's seen the confirmation with her own eyes. She's heard it with her own ears. She knows that she was a virgin when he was conceived. She understands this. But even though she had an understanding of her son's identity, we can also say she had an incomplete understanding of his role and his work. Or if you wanted to say it positively, she had a growing understanding of his role and of his work. There are places in the gospel accounts where we see that Mary, she didn't quite understand it all. This is one of them that we just read there in Luke about finding him in the temple when he said, I must be about, I must be in my father's house. The Bible says they didn't understand completely what he said. We find another amazing example of this, I'm sorry to have had you turn back to John 2. Let's go over to Mark 3 for just a second. I want you to see this with me. An amazing example that that Mary didn't always quite get it, she didn't always quite understand. Mark, chapter three, this is an amazing passage, look at verse. Sixteen, Mark, chapter three, verse 16. He appointed the twelve, Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder, Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home and the crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat. By this time, his ministry was being so broadly talked about, the crowds would come to such an extent he couldn't even have a meal. Verse 21, And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, He is out of his mind. Did you read that? Did you get that? What did his family think of what was going on with him? He is beside himself. Wow, look on. Verse 22, and the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying he is possessed by Beelzebul and by the prince of demons, he casts out the demons and he called them to him. and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. Then, indeed, he may plunder his house. Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. For they had said he has an unclean spirit. And his if you want to know now, we might ask, well. Maybe these were just acquaintances that thought he was out of his mind, maybe the references to family It was some vague or or inexact reference. We'll look at the next statement. Verse 31, and his mother and his brothers came. And standing outside, they sent to him and called him. Now, I'm quite sure Mary did not think he had a demon. But I do think that Mary was concerned about her son. And she thought he was sort of. Beside himself, out of sorts, she was concerned, not even eating because of the crowds and because of the ministry. And so she comes as his mother and asked to speak to him. Verse 32, and a crowd was sitting around him and they said to him, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you, and he answered them, who are my mother and my brothers? And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Follow that away, we'll come back to that here in a little bit. So Mary, she comes to Jesus, she says they have no wine. What is she saying? Well, keep in mind, she knows her son's identity. even though it's a growing understanding, even though it's an incomplete understanding, even though she does some things like we read about in the Gospel of Mark sometimes, she still understands that He is unique, that He is the Messiah. And she longs, I'm sure, to have that revealed, to have Him come on the scene. She understands He has a unique glory. In fact, the way that she says this and the way that Jesus responds tells me that she expected that something unique and powerful could be done on this occasion. She's asking Him to do something about it. So before we talk about the sin, let's notice the positive things we can say about Mary. She had faith in her own Son as Messiah. She had an understanding that He possessed a unique glory and had unique abilities. Otherwise, she would have never requested Him to do something about this lack of wine. She understood he had an ability to do something about the problem. She had a care and a concern for the host of the wedding. She knew this would be an embarrassing thing for them, and she knew that her son would care about something like that also. That also speaks to my heart. She had a confidence that her son would care about something as common and something as practical and something as ordinary as that. So there are some positive things we can say about Mary. But how does our Lord respond to her? And Jesus, verse four, said to her, woman. What does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. How did our Lord respond? He responded not only to her words, but to her desires. He obviously understood she's not just informing. I mean, all she said is they have no wine, but he responds beyond that because he knows what she's thinking. This is one of our Lord's glories, isn't it? He knows us perfectly. He doesn't just hear our requests. He knows what stands behind our requests. He doesn't just hear what we ask for, he knows why we ask for it. On the one hand, that can be frightening, can't it? But on the other hand, isn't that comforting? Because He not only knows your sins, He also knows your righteous desires. He knows that you love Him. He knows, believer, and I'm only talking now to believers, He knows that you love Him and that you desire to please Him and that you want to honor Him in all your ways. He knows that too. And He knows us perfectly so that He knows exactly what we need and what we don't need. And he doesn't answer our requests according to our knowledge of us and our thoughts about what we need. He answers our requests based upon his knowledge of us and what he knows we need. Aren't you grateful for that tonight? I am so thankful for all the requests that Jesus did not give me because he knew that I didn't need that. So he responds not just to her words, but to her desires. He knows she wants him to do something about this. We know that from when he says, my hour has not yet come. She wants him to demonstrate something of his glory. Something else we can say about his response, he rebuked her. That's what he does here. Granted, it is a respectful rebuke. I'll talk about that in a moment. It is somewhat of a gentle rebuke. But nonetheless, it is a rebuke. It is correction. He refers to her not as mater, which is mother. He refers to her as gune, which is woman, lady. It's a respectful way to refer to her, but it's not particularly intimate. Woman, what does this have to do with me? Take something interesting. You can search the Gospels. You'll never find Jesus referring to Mary as mother. A couple of times you find Him speaking directly to Mary. It is with this, gune, woman, lady. She was His mother. The Bible acknowledges that. But He addresses her as woman. This speaks, by the way, also of His glory. Mary must understand that even though her womb was borrowed to bring the Son of God into the world, even though she was given the great honor of being the mother of Jesus, He is not just a man. He is not just her son. He is the God man. He is her creator. He is her King. He is her Savior. He is her Lord. He is her God. He is her Ruler. He doesn't say, Mother, Mater. He says, Gune, Woman, Lady. You see this even in John 19 when He took care of her from the cross. Do you remember that? Look over to John 19 for just a second. John 19. And look at v. 26. Actually, v. 25. John 19. Look at v. 25. It's standing by the cross of Jesus where His mother and His mother's sister marry the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, Woman, Bune, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. Jesus took care of her. Jesus assigned her to John from the cross, but he didn't say mother, he said woman, lady. And then what he says to her tells us this was rebuke. He says, What does this have to do with me? What does this have to do with me? It's a very difficult statement to translate, to understand. Martin Lloyd-Jones, in his comments on this passage, brings out many different possibilities. Literally, it is, what is there to me and you? What is there to me and you? The Amplified New Testament says, what have we in common? Leave it to me. Another has it, leave it to me, myself. Let me follow my own course. Another has it, this is my concern, not yours. We are not in partnership. Whatever the exact meaning, the meaning is clear. Mary has overstepped her bounds. Mary has presumed. Mary, the mother, has forgotten that it's not in her place to dictate to the Son of God His miraculous working. Brought out again very clearly in the next statement, my hour has not yet come. That is, our Lord was on a definite timetable. He was on a divine schedule and Mary had no right to dictate His working and she would not dictate His working. He would do what he was meant to do and he would do it at the right time. This is my concern, not yours. We are not in partnership. And so he rebukes her. She has been guilty of presumption. What do we learn from this? How do we apply this? Well, first of all, we've got to be honest, don't we? Don't we sometimes forget our place too? There's a lot positive we can say about the children of God and our faith. We know that Jesus is the Son of God. We have an understanding of His true identity. We know that He's able to do whatever it is He wants to do. We know there's nothing too difficult for Him. We know that He's able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever ask or think. We even have some understanding of what concerns him. Mary knew he would be concerned about this, and we know there are situations we find ourselves in and we know that the Lord would be concerned about this, that he would care about this. And so knowing who he is and knowing what his abilities are and knowing that we share his concerns, we sometimes try to dictate to him what he should do. and in what time frame he should do it. Instead of resting in his will, we don't submit to his perfect wisdom. We get anxious. We get frustrated. Lord, I know you care about this person, this friend of mine. I know you've put it in my heart to pray for them and to witness to them. Don't you think it's about time you save them? Lord, I know you want me to provide for my family, and you know the struggles I've been having at my job, and you know that I want to honor you in my attitudes, and you know how difficult this situation is for me and what a pressure this is upon me. Don't you think you should have supplied another job by now? Lord, You know how we struggle to try to honor You with our finances and with what You entrust to us. Why do we keep having these struggles? Lord, You know we're making an effort. Don't You think it's time that this pressure is lifted? Or whatever it is You want to plug in. What are You doing when You do that? They have no wine. We're trying to tell the Lord Jesus what He should do and when He should do it. And so the first lesson that I see in this is we need to recognize our sin when we do that. That is the sin of presumption. Folks, we don't know what's best for us. God does. And so while we bring our request before His throne of grace, while He tells us to seek and to ask and to knock, and we should do that continually, yet we must do it with hearts that are willing to wait on Him. and hearts that trust in His wisdom and trust in His plan and trust in His perfect purpose and trust in His timing. We need to learn what it is to rest, not to be anxious, not to be frustrated, not to be resentful, but to rest. There's a second application that I think is very important. Doesn't this make plain to us that Mary is not to be looked to, but Jesus is. Mary was mistaken. Mary needed to be rebuked. Mary needed to be corrected. I love that one translation. Mary was not in partnership with her son. And I don't have to tell you that there is an entire branch of religion calling itself Christianity that would tell us that we have an advantage with the Son of God if we go to His mother. They would tell us that Mary herself was miraculously conceived and kept from sin. That's an amazing thought because Mary herself in the Gospel of Luke After she met with Elizabeth. Remember, John the Baptist leaping in the womb for joy and all of that. And Mary sang her song. She sang to God as her Savior. Let me show you that. Look over to the Gospel of Luke. Luke 1. Look at verse 46. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my... what? Savior. You don't need a Savior if you're not a sinner. And so they tell us that Mary was sinless. The Bible doesn't say that. They tell us that Mary remained a virgin. Which is amazing since Jesus had brothers and sisters. And the Bible is very clear about that. But what they tell us especially is that Mary has this ability to influence Jesus. So that we go to Mary knowing that his heart is tender toward his mother and his mother will have this influence on her son. And very clearly in John chapter 2, Jesus made plain to his own mother, you don't dictate my working. She doesn't influence him. All of that is imagination. None of that comes from the Scriptures. In fact, in the name of honoring Mary, they have dishonored Mary because they have put on her something she would have never allowed. Mary would have been horrified to know what Roman Catholicism has done with her. Oh, she's honored and she's remembered as one who was favored of the Lord. God showed her grace and a privilege in allowing her womb to be borrowed to bring the Son of God into the world. But beyond that, she was a sinful human being who needed her own son to save her. She has no influence on Him through prayer. Nor do any so-called saints. Isn't it an amazing thing? The Catholic Church is spending its time considering who ought to be made a saint when the Bible tells us very clearly that every Christian is a saint. What is it? It's superstition. It's false religion. It's not the Bible. And so this passage makes very plain to us that Mary's not to be looked to, but Jesus is. There's a third lesson that we draw from this, and it's in that connection. This speaks to us of the sinfulness of man. I'm talking now about what people want to do with Mary. Isn't it amazing that we would want to strip the son of God of some of his glories and attribute those to his mother? If you listen to some people, you would really think that Mary is more important than Jesus. But you know what, if we're not careful? We strip the son of God We try, we can't do it, but in our minds, we don't acknowledge the glory of the Son of God as we should. We do this with our Bible study. There are people who get so bogged down in the most minute, meaningless things that really don't have any answer, and ignore the plain teaching of the rest of the Word of God. What is that? That is trying to ignore the glory of God. and even doing it with the Bible. We had a Bible study this past Thursday. I talked to the guys there about this. We talked about Isaiah chapter 6. And the Lord, high and lifted up, and there's a description there of the seraphim. With two wings they covered their face, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. Here's what was amazing to me, and I pointed this out to them gently. But there we are in that passage. And what is at the center of that passage of Scripture? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. God is at the center of that picture. What do you think those guys wanted to talk about? Angels. They want to talk about angels. What is it about us that we want to talk about the Lord's mother, but not talk about the Lord Jesus? What is it about us that would want to talk about angels but not talk about the thrice holy God? It is sin that has made us in such a fashion that we don't have a hunger and thirst for the highest things. And that we would take the glory of God and in any way try to downplay or shift His glory in other directions. So what do we see here? What's the lesson here? The lesson is we must not be guilty of the sin of presumption. Jesus rebuked his own mother when she tried to tell him what to do, which leads to the second thing, a sin to be avoided. The second thing, we just have time to briefly touch on it tonight, a submission to be learned. So I said we'll deal with this in detail next week. But in closing, let me just note this speaks of her godliness. How did Mary respond to this gentle rebuke? And Jesus said to her, woman, what does this have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come. And His sweet and godly mother in verse 5 said to the servants, do whatever He tells you. Do you know what she did? She stood down. Her words to the servants not only reflected belief in her son, but her own submission to her son. I'm not telling him what to do. You do whatever he tells you to do. So that she instantly understood she was out of bounds and she stood down and she not only subjected herself to him, how did she do that? She left it to him. She says to the servants, do whatever he tells you to do. And then from then on out, Jesus dealt with the servant. She's out of the picture. And yet in those words to the servants, do whatever he tells you, we also realize that there must have been some hope in the response of her son. With the rebuke, there was also hope. You see, we learn here that just because God says, not now, that doesn't mean not at all. That doesn't mean not ever. It means His way. His time, His plan, His purpose. We'll learn more about that next week. Obedience. Let me ask us in finishing tonight, do we receive the rebukes of our Lord that easily? When the Lord brings His rebuke to us, whether it's through the teaching of the Word of God or sometimes through another person, we are corrected. Do we receive it? Are we ready to do whatever God says, whatever He says? I love the way she put it, whatever He tells you to do, you do it. Is that where we are tonight? Whatever the Son of God would say to me to do, I want to do it. And am I ready to encourage others to do the same? Will we walk away from our problem once we've made it known to the Lord? Once we've listed our request to the Lord, will we then leave it with Him? It doesn't mean we don't pray about it from then on out. We keep seeking. We keep asking. We keep knocking. But here's what I'm asking. Is our heart in the position of leaving it with Him? Lord, Your will be done. And whatever You do is right. Whatever You do is right. Maybe somebody here tonight would say, you know what? I am ready to obey the Son of God. I understand his unique identity. I'm ready to obey him whatever he says. Where do I start? Where do I begin? Where's the first place to obey Jesus? The first place to obey Jesus is to believe in him. It is to understand that you're a sinner. and that you deserve the judgment of God, you do. It is to understand that Jesus, God, eternal God, came to this earth 2,000 years ago, born of a virgin, and took to Himself a sinless human nature so that now in one person we have the God-Man forever now united in one person, human in divine nature. And he, the God-man, lived a perfect life on this earth under the law of God, the life you and I could not live. And he did so in order to be qualified to serve as the Lamb of God, who would serve as the sin sacrifice for all those who would believe in him. And he died on a tree. And there on that tree, God poured out all of His anger and all of His wrath and all of His judgment that was deserved for all of our sins. All those who will ever put their faith in Christ. And those sins that will be forgiven were punished fully and they put Him in a tomb. And three days after He was put in that tomb, God proved Him to be the Son of God by raising Him from the dead. And now the command of God. To all the world, the command of God, a command to be obeyed is to repent of your sins. That means to turn, to change your mind, to turn around, to do an about-face and trust in God's Son, knowing that He will save and He will forgive based on His death. You trust Him. Matthew 11, 25, at that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father except the Son. And anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. And then Jesus said this, Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden. Here's His promise. I will give you rest. Do you know yourself to be a sinner? Are you weighed down with the knowledge of your sins? Jesus commands you, Come to Me. I'll give you rest. I'll forgive your sins. I'll make you a child of God. Let's bow our heads together, please. Father in Heaven, thank You for these lessons that we're learning in these verses, this first sign that our Lord performed. We thank You, Father in Heaven, that there is forgiveness with You. It's to be found in Your Son. Lord, thank You that we can rest in You and forgive us, Lord, where we have ever presumed to dictate to You. Lord, You do all things perfectly. Who are we to tell You what to do? We thank You, Lord, that You've given us the privilege to come before You in prayer with our needs and with our concerns. And yet, Lord, help us, teach us even there to leave those things trusting You, to ask submissively. And Lord, will You reveal to us that we've been presumptuous? Lord, we've tried to dictate to You, Lord, help us to follow Mary's example and just to stand down and be ready to obey You whatever You say. Lord, I pray for those here tonight who need Jesus as Savior. May they come to Your Son even this night, repenting of their sins and trusting in Him, that You might give them life just as You promised. We ask You this in Jesus' name, Amen.