The Faith Walk

Guest (Male): Today with Jonathan Evans.

Jonathan Evans: We are not called to live at a standard that says just don't sin. You're called to live at a standard that says for the sake of the gospel. And for the sake of the gospel, that determines. There there may be some things you do in private that you don't do in public because you know it's for the sake of the gospel. Both of them may not be sin, but one is a better choice for the sake of the gospel. So I need you to understand that just because it's not sin, that's not your focus. Your focus is gospel.

And how am I representing the gospel?

Guest (Male): You're listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. In a moment, Jonathan will continue today's message. But first, to thank you for your support of this ministry, Jonathan has two gifts for you. The first is the audio series that you're currently hearing called All Eyes on Jesus, helping you refocus on the one who changes everything. The second part of this gift is a book by Dr. Tony Evans called The Power of Jesus Names. Discover how the names of Jesus reveal his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith?

I'll tell you more about these later in today's program, or you can call right now at 1-800-800-3222 or visit Tony Evans.org to learn more. Now here's Jonathan with part two of his message, A Wedding You'll Never Forget.

Jonathan Evans: If it wasn't for Mary, they would have had to deal with their embarrassment and their lack, and they wouldn't have had an experience with Jesus. So if they speak, don't be mad. You could have spoken, you didn't. And Jesus moved on the invitation. Well, actually, Jesus had kind of an interesting response. Jesus said, Mary said, hey, they ain't got no wine. Jesus said, woman, what they got to do with us? My hour has not yet come. Now, I do not suggest We we don't we don't talk to our mothers that way. In their culture, it was a little bit different where this wouldn't have been viewed as disrespectful.

Matter of fact, at chapter 19 verse 26, he calls her woman again when he tells her, hey, John is going to be your son. John, this is going to be your mother when he's being crucified and saying that who's going to take care of you. He calls her woman again. The in their culture, it wasn't disrespectful, but it was also to show that there was a switch and a change in the relationship between Jesus and his mother. That her title, now that he's starting his messianic journey to let everybody know who he is, her title is not greater than his title.

You may be mama, but I'm Messiah. You going to have to submit to me now like everybody else. Well, it's a different playing field now. You you need to make sure you understand that no matter how high up you go and no matter what your title is, your title better never be higher than his title. So him speaking to the mother this way was showing an inverted structure that was happening between the relationship with him and Mary. That Mary would now have to submit to him, not the other way around. And when Mary hears this, woman, basically he said, this is an idiom, hard to translate, but he said, woman, um um this is not a matter that we need to be concerned with in everyday language.

This is this is not for us. This is not my concern. That's what he said. You know what Mary said? Nut. He said, woman, what they got to do with us? My hour did not come. She said, okay. She didn't say nothing. She didn't nag him. She didn't go back to say do it this way to She didn't say nothing. She submitted and and she just said okay. But let me tell you what she did do that was smart. In verse five, his mother said to the servants, whatever he says to you, do it. Woman, what they got to do with us?

Nut. Hey y'all, just in case he decide to do something, whatever he tells you, you do it. Oh y'all don't Woman, what they got to do with us? Nut. I don't know what he's going to choose to do because he's sovereign. He can do whatever he wants. But whatever he says, I'm going to need you to do it. Okay. Let me say it to you from a preacher. I don't know if he going to heal you. I don't know if he going to bring your mate. I don't know if he going to give you a promotion.

I don't know if he going to give you a better day tomorrow. I don't know if he going to take your suffering away. I don't know if he going to take your pain away or that person away. I don't know what he is going to do, but what I can tell you is whatever he tells you to do, you better do it. Some of us need to stop wearing Nikes and live the logo. Just do it. When he speaks, you just do it because you never know what the sovereign God has up his sleeve. You never know what he's going to do.

You never know what prayers he's going to answer. You never know how he's going to move. You don't know what he's going to do, but what you better do is be obedient when he speaks. Because your miracle is processed through your obedience. So if you're waiting for him to do something and he waiting for you to do something, you going to be waiting a long time. Whatever he says, Mary said you better do it. We need to get into a a place in our lives where we understand just do it. Just do what God has called you to do because the miracle is evidently processed by obedience to God.

So I can't turn no tricks for you. I can't make something happen for you. I can preach the word of God, but I am not him at all. He decides what he's going to do in your life and with your prayers and with your family and with your wife and with your husband and with your job and with your health. He's going to make that decision. But what if he's waiting to see you move? Mary said to the servants, hey man, I'm going to need y'all to serve. Whenever he speaks, I need you to move.

Now let me tell you let me tell you how this went. Because he said to his mother and servants, whatever he says, do it. And Jesus said to them, fill the water pots with water. So they filled them to the brim. Now let me tell you what Jesus does. Okay, I want you to be obedient. I want you to fill these water pots with water. I want you to fill them up. That makes no sense. His command makes no sense. In verse six, it tells you the they are stone water pots that hold 20 or 30 gallons.

He's telling them to bear a load that's heavy to carry. This is actually what I want you to do. I want you to go carry this heavy load and fill it up. A stone water pot that's got 20 or 30 gallons, try that. So he's telling them, go carry this heaviness. And then he tells them to go fill up the water pots. That doesn't answer our prayer. We need wine. You telling me to go put water in it. That don't make no sense. So now he's asking me to do something that makes no sense at all.

And then these water pots were used for ceremonial cleaning. Everybody already in the party, Jesus, they didn't already clean before they came in here. This makes no sense. It's too heavy. It makes no sense and it doesn't solve our problem. But Mary still said, do it anyway. There are going to be things that come to you with the spirit of God is impressing upon you and hitting you and he's nagging you and he's touching you and he keeps hitting you with the same thing over again and you keep justifying. It's too heavy. Don't make no sense.

It don't answer my prayer. This has nothing to do with nothing. Why do I keep experiencing God hitting me with this same thing? Because he's trying to give you a miracle and he wants to see if you have the faith enough to get it. So I've said it before. I mean the spirit of God will knock you out. Because you're justifying your way out of it because it doesn't make sense, but you can't stop that sensation from hitting you. And you're justifying and it's boom, justifying boom, justifying boom. And he's just going to sit there.

And many of us are wasting a lot of time when our miracle sits right on the other side of our obedience. And he says, whatever I 'm telling you, do it. And it did not make any sense at all. But you know what they did? They filled it to the brim. You know what they did? Their obedience was to the brim. It wasn't quarter obedience. It wasn't halfway obedience. It wasn't obedience that I feel like I can carry. It was obedience to the absolute max when they didn't understand when it was heavy and it didn't make sense.

Real faith as a Christian doesn't mean it makes sense. It means when God speaks, it doesn't have to make sense. I will still carry it. And I'll do it to the brim. He's looking for faithful people who will not just come to church, but they will live a faithful life to the brim. That they will fill it all the way up. And he tells them, okay, now that you did that part, now draw it out and give it to the head waiter. Drawing out is like a well. They drew out. They handed it to the head waiter.

The head waiter tasted it and it had already become wine. So somewhere between the drawing and the handing, there was a miracle. They were obedient and they had the water. But when they drew it out and handed it to the head waiter, all of a sudden there was a transition that occurred. In other words, you can have obedience, but the question is, do you have service with the obedience that you have? Because the miracle is not just in your obedience. The miracle is when your obedience is drawn from in order to give to somebody else.

Oh, you don't The feeding of the 5,000, they had two fish and five loaves. But when Jesus said, you give them something to eat and they started breaking the bread and passing it out, that's when it began to multiply. So the obedience is good, but a lot of Christians are spiritually waterlogged. They are satisfied with their own holiness, own righteousness, and own obedience as if it's just for them. But the miracle is when you draw it out and hand it to somebody else. Don't you know that when it comes to this, your work can become somebody else's wine?

That's why you can't get tired, single mama. When you're raising those kids and doing your thing, I know it's heavy for you and I know you're trying to be obedient to the brim, but Jesus is saying just continue to do the work because when you draw it out and hand it to your kids, your work will become somebody else's wine. Single dad, keep doing what you're doing. I know it's heavy and it's hard, but when you draw it out and hand it to your kids, your work will become somebody else's wine. Don't you know that your obedience when it's drawn from and it's given to somebody else, your work which was hard and heavy can become somebody else's wine.

Guest (Male): More of The Faith Walk with Pastor Jonathan Evans in a moment. When life leaves you feeling spiritually dry, pressured by culture or unsure of your purpose, All Eyes on Jesus will help you refocus on the one who changes everything. Today, with a gift to support the ministry of The Urban Alternative, Jonathan wants to give you a copy of his eight-part audio series All Eyes on Jesus. What could happen if you fixed your eyes on Jesus in every area of your life? Also included with your gift is a book by Dr. Tony Evans, The Power of Jesus Names.

Discover how the names of Jesus reveal his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. Both the book The Power of Jesus Names and the eight-part audio series All Eyes on Jesus are a gift for you to thank you, to show our appreciation for your continued support. It is listeners like you who make this program possible. Our 24-hour resource request line is open at 1-800-800-3222. Let one of our team members help you. 1-800-800-3222 or get all the details at TonyEvans.org. How could knowing him more deeply transform your faith? Now let's get back to Jonathan with the rest of today's message.

Jonathan Evans: Your work will become somebody else's wine. Don't you know that your obedience when it's drawn from and it 's given to somebody else, your work which was hard and heavy can become somebody else's wine. This is when the miracle had occurred. And he as the head waiter said, I have no idea where this came from. But it says in parentheses, the servants did. Because the servants know when they're obedient and they serve and somebody else is experiencing Jesus, they know where that came from. That miracle didn't come from them. The miracle didn't come from their work.

That miracle came from the Lord. They understood where it came from and Jesus said, be obedient. They were obedient to the brim. They drew from it. They handed it to the head waiter. Why in the world would Jesus tell them to hand it to the head waiter? Because the head waiter's job is to continue to pass it out. The head waiter's job is to continue to serve it. Jesus is not looking for cul-de-sacs. He's looking for conduits. The blessing of God to you that flows through you. And so here he is. He says, give it to the head waiter because the head waiter is going to make that wine, the transition that he made go further than anybody else can make it go.

Don't you know that when you are serving somebody else from your obedience of God in your life, you may be given that thing to a head waiter? Okay, you don't get it. Not There was a man one day who had become saved and he was holding a lot, trying to hold his marriage together. He was trying to you know, trying to make things happen. He was trying to learn his new faith. He was trying to not get a divorce, all of those different things. But as he continued to learn the word, he had a 12-year-old son.

That 12-year-old son was somebody that accepted the gospel, somebody that got saved and and that dad's work became that 12-year-old son's wine. But that dad had no idea that that 12-year-old boy was a head waiter. And that 12-year-old boy in 1976 would grow up and start a church where you're sitting now, where wine continues from Jesus to be passed out to thousands and millions around the world. That man was carrying a heavy load, but little did he know that he was drawing from it and passing it to a head waiter. I need you to understand that God is calling you beyond you.

Your obedience is tough. What you're going through is hard. Be obedient to the brim, draw from it, and give it to who he tells you to give it to because the gospel can come from you to you and through you. Called it to give him to the head waiter. And the head waiter said, I'm going to make this thing go further than it can go on my own. Believers, your obedience is necessary. It is necessary to be obedience for the for the sake of the gospel. And this head waiter, when the head waiter tasted the water, which had become wine, he did not know where to come from, verse nine, the head waiter called the bride groom.

Here we go. And said to him, every man serves the good wine first. When the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. What was the head waiter saying to the bride groom? He said, say bro, everybody serve the good wine first. You kept the good wine until now. What they did in that culture is they would serve the good wine first. Everybody would would get their drinky drink on. And then to make the wine last, they would dilute it with water. Because they knew by then the people wouldn't notice.

Tongues would get a little numb. And they wouldn't notice that they had diluted it to make sure that it carried on. This head waiter said, wait a minute. You you got good wine at the end. Where did this good wine come from? Good wine means not only is it fermented, but it's been sitting long enough to mature. How did you get this good wine to sit long enough to mature at the end? Where did this come from? Okay. I'm a foodie. Any foodies in the house? Any food Okay. Let me give you another pro tip.

Me and my wife every year go to one of our favorite restaurants in the country, not Dallas. It's called Burn Steakhouse in Tampa, Florida. Burn Steakhouse in Tampa, Florida. We'll go sit on the beach for a day in Clearwater, but we thinking about Burns. If you go to Burns, you're going to have to set your reservation 60 days ahead because you ain't going to get in. You'll probably be there when you get in there for three or four hours because it's an experience. They give you the meal, then they take you on a tour of their kitchen, then they take you on a tour of their 150-year-old wine cellar, the oldest and most expansive wine cellar in the country, hundreds of thousands of bottles, and they take you on a tour of it.

Then after that, they send you upstairs to their dessert restaurant and seat you again. It's a whole situation. Write that down. As we were going on our tour of the wine cellar, this dude who was giving us the tour took us to a place where they had a crystal glass in the middle that had some wine in it. And then he stood there like this. This is our Don Swellion whatever. And you know, I'm sitting there looking at Keneeka like, man, if you don't put his leg down this This is our Don Swellion whatever the case is.

And it will not be opened until 2065. I was like, well, we I don't know if we going to be here at 2065. He said he said and when when it opens and when we pour our first glass, the glasses will be $100,000 a glass. I said, well, it don't even matter because we ain't going to $100,000 a glass. I said, so it's going to take 40 years for that to mature? Yes, it'll take 40 years for that to mature. And Jesus got good wine in an instant. You mean that all the maturity happened right now?

You mean that the perfection of the wine was given immediately? You mean that it wasn't by works, that it was by grace? That it was just set in there? Okay. The good wine was at first, but then they got good wine at the end. In the Old Testament, there's something called the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant is good wine. It is perfect. It is a good law. Even in the New Testament, they say it's perfect. It's a good law. That there's nothing wrong with the law. It is good, but by virtue of the fact that it can't carry you through, it runs out.

See the that old wine doesn't just give you joy, it gives you judgment. That that that old wine doesn't secure you. It just lets you know how bad you are. And so it runs out. But enter Jesus Christ who would give a new covenant. And this is called new wine. And in that new wine, it never runs out. In an instant, he's able to perfect you. In an instant, he's able to mature you. In an instant, he's able to settle you. In an instant, he's able to secure you. And anybody that accepts the new covenant, in other words, drinks this new wine will become the bride of Christ.

The head waiter was talking to the wrong bride groom. The bride groom was actually Jesus Christ who was saying anybody who drinks this wine will become my bride. And when you become my bride, I'm going to take you to a wedding. And when I take you to the wedding, it will be a wedding you never forget because your joy will never run out. Your assurance will never run out. Your abundance will never run out. Your prosperity will never run out. Your security will never run out. It will truly be a wedding you never forget because it wasn't just the old covenant.

I came in with new wine called the new covenant. You say Jonathan, how in the world you know this got anything to do with Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and giving us this new covenant with this new wine? Because what I didn't tell you is how the story starts. In John chapter two verse one, it starts with four words, on the third day. Oh no. On the third day, he went to Cana. On the third day, he was at the wedding. On the third day, he gave new wine. All I know is he died on Friday.

But on the third day, he rose from the grave and introduced new wine. On the third day, he rose from the grave and gave you victory. On the third day, he secured you, gave you joy, gave you abundance, gave you prosperity. So when he comes to get his bride, he's going to take you up and give you wine and a wedding you will never forget. Jesus is the bride groom. And you are the bride. And he's starting his ministry, letting us know that this thing's going to carry on. And it will never run out. I'm so grateful that it will never run out.

I'm so grateful that I get to live an eternity with him. I'm so grateful that he covers me, secures me, gives me joy, gives me confidence. I'm so grateful that he holds me, that he loves me, that he redeems me, that he restores me, that he delivers me, that he adopted me. I'm so grateful that he's bringing me in as his bride to give me a wedding. I will never forget. Thank you, Lord Jesus for saving us. Thank you, Lord Jesus for loving us. Thank you, Lord Jesus for redeeming us and for giving us new wine.

How you going to give us the maturity of perfection instantly? To ferment us in your word and then to mature us by your grace. And it is a grace that never runs out. Thank you, Lord in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): That was Pastor Jonathan Evans. Before you go today, I want to remind you that we have a couple of gifts for you, an eight-part audio series All Eyes on Jesus and a book The Power of Jesus Names. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith through Dr. Evans' book The Power of Jesus Names? You'll discover how the name of Jesus reveals his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. We're also including Jonathan Evans' All Eyes on Jesus audio series, helping you refocus on the one who changes everything. Discover how to deepen your faith, stand firm in difficult times, and live with confidence in God's calling.

What could happen if you fixed your eyes on Jesus in every area of your life? Both resources are a gift to you to thank you for your donation to help support the ministry of The Urban Alternative. It's our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible. Call 1-800-800-3222 anytime or get all the details online at TonyEvans.org. Again, that's TonyEvans.org or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Thank you for listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans.

The Faith Walk is produced as a part of The Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.