Ep 1046 | Uncle Si Has a Hot Take About Turning Water Into Wine & How to Deal With Alcoholism
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I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We've lost Jahliel Zak to the motherland, to Great Britain. He's gone. We thought maybe we could get him to zoom in. He's supposed to be scouting.

A treasure hunting trip. For me. For Jace. That was the whole reason we let him go. Oh, so... And we've heard nothing. He went dark. He went dark. I was on Si's podcast yesterday. Really? Somehow. Oh, yeah. It was...

That's a whole different atmosphere over there. It's kind of like a barnyard situation. You know, it was a first, though. All the animals are there. All the animals are there. There's a lot of clucking and noises. It's like Noah loading an ark. Come on, Wes. That's a very good illustration. Exactly.

So we had Willie and I talked about. So Willie was on too? Yeah. Oh, my. Yeah, the brothers were there together. Oh, my. Somebody said it was the first time me, Willie, and Si have done a podcast together, which doesn't sound interesting to everyone listening. However. I don't know. It sounds interesting to me. I've done over 1,000 podcasts here. Yeah. And Si and them have done almost 500. Yeah.

So you would think that would have happened. It would have crossed paths. Of course, then we got into, you know, Willie gets his feelings hurt. We realized what the problem was. Because Willie said... Are you talking about his weight again? No, we weren't talking about his weight. No, we wouldn't let him talk. Well, that was what it was. He said he came on our podcast the first time and just sat there for 47... He said it was 44 minutes before he was ever... He said 47. Oh, now he's up to 47. Okay. Which they're only 48 minutes long, so...

Well, it's just kind of ironic, Cy, because...

Me, you, and Willie were on Sadie's podcast last year. And it's the first time we had all been together on a podcast, and it was her podcast. So I guess you'd think there would be more opportunities for that to happen. But my point was— So did y'all have fun? Well, we were talking about Phil and Kay and managing that situation, so I'm not sure you can go that way. Yes, we did have fun because we laughed a lot. We did laugh a lot. Well, that's going to happen. Well, when you're dealing with a situation we're having to deal with—

You don't expect to see the kid. Yeah, laughter is good. It is, and it's kind of always been the Robertson way anyway. I told Cy when he got here this morning, Jace, because we were talking a little bit about that as well, because we're going out, everybody's out one day or the other with mom and dad. And I said, Cy, I'm just grateful. Dad was right. I'm grateful to God that you were born demented. Yes.

so that we could get used to that. That's right. We've had 75 years of size dementia, and we know how to deal with it. That's right. You're just fine. You're happy-go-lucky. It's fantastic. Well, hey, the human race, I said it when I come in here because I'm getting ready for this.

When I'm thinking about Jacob's letter, okay. I planted that seed in his head yesterday. No, no, no. What are you talking about? I was like, well. Look, I got to think about it. I said, I've read it. I said, I've read it before. And I said, but I didn't think. I said, you missed the whole point. Okay. When God created the heavens and the earth, and he done that it.

Yeah. Which is very important in my opinion. Yeah, which is very important for us. Okay. Yeah. Well, we talked about, okay, well, hey, there's more to this, just this heaven and earth and our being a Christian. Because, hey,

I'm already in the heavenly realms. Because you have the Spirit. Because I've got God's DNA in me. And Jesus is there. Yeah. Saying he's there representing us. So it's happening in real time. Yeah. Well, that's what I got out of it. It was said, you know, that, hey, there are angels there.

Descending and ascending. Yeah. In other words, they're going up and down the ladder of Jacob from heaven to earth and back. So, hey, look, folks, there's things happening, okay, on a daily basis. You just may not understand it. You know what's funny about this is because all this came up because when I said, I said, I want to go treasure hunting in England.

Because we have a lot of people that support us when we had a little duck show from England because I used to get...

Over there they call it Duck Dynasty. Yeah. Dynasty. Yeah, Dynasty. They don't say Dynasty. They say Dynasty. That doesn't come out of a letter, as I'm just reading. Well, if you could have heard it the way they were saying it, they were like, oh, we love that chap in Duck Dynasty. Yeah. So that's the way they would say it. Well, I didn't know that. But I was saying I brought up –

Luke 15, because they were like, treasure hunt. But they don't realize, and I kind of went through that England, they let you treasure hunt if you can get permission from somewhere. Well, treasure hunt is biblical. Well, that's what I brought up. But I brought up Luke 15. You remember the parable of the lost coin? Yeah. But the point I was making aside of the heaven and earth thing is because...

When he says they'll be rejoicing in heaven over one sinner. Well, that's the first story about the lost sheep. Then it says, you know, there's rejoicing on earth, obviously, because on the lost coin, she gathers all her friends and they throw a party. But then it says, in the same way, I'll tell you, they're rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents and dies.

Same principle in the last story. But I just thought, that's kind of fascinating. Heaven and earth are coming together in celebration over why Jesus was eating

with mischievous characters, tax collectors, and sinners. That's why he told the story. Right. Yeah, that's what it was about. Well, you don't think about it until you kind of stop and do. Well, no, no, because he had told you before, how do I tell you about spiritual things in heaven when you don't even understand things that are on the earth that you can see? Well, exactly. How do I explain this to you?

Well, exactly. That's a good verse. So that's a theme in the Bible about heaven and earth coming together. So, I mean, just to prove it, you know, when we studied Ephesians, you remember Ephesians 1.10, he goes back to the beginning, kind of like John does, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God.

So he does that in verse 4 of Ephesians 4. He chose us in him, which that's a key phrase, before the creation of the world, which when he created the world, he said, first thing, he created the heavens and the earth. Well, then he gets to verse 10, and it says about the times of all this, because it was a mystery, because they didn't believe God existed.

could be a man or would become a man from the Jewish perspective. But he gets to verse 10 and he says, this will be put into effect when the times reach the fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. Well, then he goes on in chapter two and he says,

Verse 6, which is he made another mention of it. And when he said God appointed Jesus to be placed him above all things. Yeah. Verse 20, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion. Well, in between those two verses I read, he had said we were marked in him in verse 13.

with the seal, the promised Holy Spirit. So we get his spirit. He's seated at the right hand. Well, then in Ephesians 2, 6, it said God raised us up. Of course, now we're talking about our transformation from becoming outside of Christ to in Christ. You remember? And then it's like he raises us up and seated us with him in the heavenly realms. Well, you mentioned three or four times, maybe five times, something about time.

Yeah. Well, I, that's what all of this is about. Okay. Time or the lack of time. That's it. Because I, with us, Hey, we're, we're going to be outside of time, which is his whole point, which by the way, if you keep going, Jay's three 10, uh,

His intent was that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be known to the rulers and authorities where? In the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus. So again, there's this idea of both realms, but Si is right. And then it's outside time, and yet it's inside time. It's both. So Ben, this is important for Christians to realize.

We're with in time and out of time. Okay. If you're with God.

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Make the switch today at puretalk.com slash unashamed and join America's wireless company, Pure Talk. I made up a little skit I used to do when I was out preaching to people. Oh, I got to hear that. No, no.

I mean, like singing and dancing skit? No, no. No, I went to the doctor because I always watch television. Do you play this out on stage? I play it out on stage. Really. I've heard the skit. I go through my whole life talking about, okay, look. Oh, I've heard this skit. You're calling this a skit that you act out? Yeah, I actually did. But it all goes with, okay, I went to summer camp.

Christian summer camp. Okay. And the whole time I was there for like two weeks, the only thing I heard was Jesus. Jesus this, Jesus that, Jesus this. While you were at summer camp? Yeah. Just over and over and over. Well, I finally opened my mind and said, well, wait a minute. Let's see what are we talking about here? Yeah. Who is this Jesus? Who is this Jesus and why is that all y'all are talking about? Well, then I got his story.

who he is, what he's done, okay? And then, hey, like, I finally said, okay. The light bulb clicked. Okay, I believe in this man named Jesus, okay? And then when I reenacted his death, burial, and resurrection, something miraculous happened. You changed. Okay, I changed, okay? I became a new, clean creation. Yeah. Okay, and all because of one thing.

I reenacted Jesus's real death, burial, and resurrection. And when I did, guess what? When I come out of the water, Jesus said, I have made you a new creation. Yeah.

Okay, and to seal the deal on that, I'm going to give you part of me. Yeah, well, this sounds like a sermon, not a skit. Yeah, well, hey, it is a sermon and a skit. But anyway, it's a skerman. Hey, when you look at Opus I, okay, hey, I've got three DNAs.

I've got dad's DNA, mom's DNA, and now I've got Jesus' DNA. Okay. I like that. And guess what? That gets me where I'm in time and out of time, babe. I go either way. My favorite time that I was with Si, and he did this skit, we were at Auburn University in their basketball arena, and it was packed.

I don't know if you remember this. There was 15,000 people in there. So I did his thing. It was so good. People were loving it. He said, no, by the way, let me tell you one other thing. When you let your little bird go, you know, your war eagle, he said he's landing right now at midfield. Which is confusing. He said, it's confusing me. He needs to land in the end zone so the football team will know where they're supposed to go.

And everybody just roared. I looked at Zion when we walked out, and I was like, did you just think of that? That was brilliant. It was the perfect way to close it. He closed it with that, and they cheered us all. You know what's weird, which I hate bringing up poker stories because there's some, but we're in John 2, and where Jesus changed the water to wine. Yeah.

So if I was ever going to bring one up, and I know how people hate poker stories. I told Si last night. But you had the three people at this table play poker. We've gone here, and I haven't played. I've played maybe twice in months.

And they took me off the list. You're either on a list, somebody has you on a list, which is do not invite. And I'm wondering why they took him off the list because he describes himself as studying for his podcast presentations and then winning some money. I did that last night. He's the most disengaged poker player ever. I was literally reading the Bible last night at the poker game. I can't imagine why they don't want you. On my phone. And so look, I made a play.

Then we play this crazy game that Si has quit playing. It's broke, boys. So you get four cards, but you're not going to believe what I'm fixing to tell you because it's exactly what we're talking about. I was literally playing with tax collectors and sinners because one of them is a tax collector.

And everybody in the center, including you. You can't get away from them, boy. So there was a big pot. There hadn't been too many huge pots, but there was a pre-raise. And even if you don't understand poker, you'll understand some of this.

Well, as soon as what they called the flop, the community cards came out. Three cards come out. Yeah, three cards came out. They were all hearts. There's four suits in a different card. There's a flush. There's a flush if you got two hearts. So if somebody has two hearts, there's a flush. But it's a raised pot.

So like somebody raised before, so the pot had swollen. Well, the first guy to act was to my right, and he didn't have a lot of money. He was what they call short stack. That's right. And so he goes all in. I've been short stack most of my life. How do you get a big stack? In my mind, there was a king of hearts out there. There was an eight of hearts, and there was a six of hearts.

Well, I had the jack ten of hearts, so I had a flush. But there's still two hands that could beat me. Somebody could have the ace of hearts or the queen of hearts. But this guy goes all in, so in my mind, I thought he's probably got the ace high flush because he doesn't have much money. He thinks everybody's going to call. It's a complicated game because you've got four cards, but you can only play two. Yeah.

So you can play two of your four. And so I'm obviously, I thought, well, I'll raise him because if anybody on the side, because you can only win what you have. Because this guy's probably got me beat. I'm not folding this flush. So I raised. Well, here's where it got tricky. When it got around to one of the other players,

He re-raised me. All in. And I thought, uh-oh. Yeah, he's got the A's. He's got the A's. Why would he do it? There's been an all-in. Now, here's the deal. I looked at my four cards, but I also have a king and a six. Well, I told you what was out there. There was a king, an eight, and a six. So even though I think this guy's got me beat, I have most of my money out here, and I do see a path forward.

To somehow get lucky if this guy. Get a little bit, yeah. Yeah. No, I was like, if I hit a king or a six, I can hit a full house. Yeah. Which beats the flush. Which beats the flush. Yeah. So I thought about it, and I was like, call. Go for it. Well, the next card. So we all turned the cards over, and everybody immediately started grumbling because this guy had the ace high flush.

I had the jack-eye, which is no good. This first guy had two sixes, which I hated because I need one of those sixes. There's no more sixes. I have one. There's one out there, and he has two. So kings are your only option. I pretty much need a miracle king, you know. So here's what happened. The next card came out was a 10. Well, guess what? I have a 10.

Because I had the jacked 10. So now I got some more possibilities, you know. But I'm like thinking I'm going to lose. And when you know it, on the last card, a king. Oh, a king. Not only do I have a boat, I have a barge. I have a full house. He's barged. Which means, look.

All of the chips come in front of Jace. And boy, somebody who wasn't even in the hand said, well, that was a miracle. Well, that made me pause because that's a spiritual reference. And I said, no, you witnessed a transformation.

Because I was thinking, I had a flush. Yeah, I went from nothing to a baby. No, I had a flush. That was my guy. Only Jace could turn it into a biblical point. And I said, it transformed. Into the hand. It was a flush, like when somebody's embarrassed. And then it turned into a barge. The barge was carrying all sorts of cargo that all the people... Needed. Yeah. Yeah.

Was this helping the crowd? They got angry. Grumpy. I got quiet because then I thought, I think they're really mad.

And I got to get out of here. So I was just going to say it seemed to fit because transformation, which is what John 2 is about. So just, I want to set this up. It's bad enough that you took my money. Now you're going to preach me a sermon about it. Now you need to repent. I thought about this because it really helped me understand what we're talking about today. People's like, well, you're just fine.

I'll put some of it in the collection plate if that'll make you feel better. And I'll guarantee you this. And Manny wants her cut, too. Yeah, he'll play Robin Hood for all your money. And I will guarantee this. I will not be invited back anytime soon. That was made really clear. Because when it got about 1 o'clock in the morning, I was like, look, guys.

I gotta go. Oh, then you short. Speaking of time, then he's out of there. I was like, look, I got to do some podcast tomorrow. I'll see you. Good luck to you. God be with you.

So Al, we're trying to eat healthy. I'd love to know, what is the latest home chef recipe that you've made? Well, Zach, I'm glad you asked. Lisa and I got the, I'm a big fish fan. I mean, I love fish, all kinds of fish. And so we got some fish. And so this was a almond butter recipe that was super fresh. You don't want to overcook that, so you cook it really quick. And then they also sent us some super fresh fish.

Brussels sprouts and some broccoli in there as well. Absolutely loved it. Felt good about it when it was over because it fit into my diet. So it was a fantastic meal. Was it difficult to make? No, very easy. Made it in about probably 20 minutes. That's what I love about Home Chef. Most milk has often market themselves as like an easy meal prep solution. But when you get it actually in the mail, it's a lot more difficult. I'm using this product as well. The recipes are super simple to make.

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It's a miracle, you know. I was like, no, it's a transformation. In that game, I did have that as a possible window. Yeah. Like the most famous poker player ever said. Man's got to look at all his options. That's right. Doyle Brunson said one time, when the door gets shut on you, sometimes you got to come through the window. You got to sneak in the window. But it made me think why this is the first sign. Because we did. He introduced this.

idea about this ladder and heaven and earth being somehow connected, which he is going to get into that in more detail because that's temple language. It gets heavy. Yeah. And you said, well, what was a temple in the Old Testament, which the temple is where they worship, it's where they met God.

So now just think about it. If you go back to John 1, 14, and you say, well, when he said the word who was with God in the beginning, he was with God and he was God. Through him all things were created. In him was life. It was the light of all men. Everybody's like, okay, okay. And then all of a sudden he became flesh. The word became flesh and made his dwelling, which is their word for tabernacle,

among us and that it it introduced like yeah we used to meet god in the temple we had oh yeah i need i need to inject here okay man-made okay the temple was man-made exactly that's where god dwelled that's right but god told them to make it and they did yeah yeah and the tabernacle now all of a sudden there's a man well well just think about this just take two steps back

It's going to be hard for me or hard for us to believe that God became a man. That's just kind of like it was hard to believe that I could possibly win this. But it was possible. But when you think about why the verses that say, with God all things are possible. So I think to help us understand

understand that john goes back through some of his terminology and and i was studying this which led you know led me to kind of having this thought uh you know when he got to john one and made this made this illustration in verse uh 17 for the law was given through moses and

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And then it says, no one has ever seen God, but God, the one and only who is at the father's side has made him known. Well, it made me go to think about that Exodus 33. Because look, do you remember Moses? I want to read this because I think it's kind of fascinating. Do you remember Exodus 33? And the point, what was the verse about he was going to show his glory? Oh, when I read the verse 33,

14, when it said, the Word became flesh, made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. So in Exodus 33, the Lord said to Moses, leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go to the land I promised you. I will send an angel before you. Well, there's that

Like what we were talking about. We have an angel coming from where? Heaven, coming to earth. You're already getting this. So he gives them instructions. Now, I want to get to where I didn't make a notation of this.

Let's go to like verse seven. Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. The reason I'm bringing this up is that word when Jesus made his dwelling was tabernacle, which literally means pitching a tent.

anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrance to their tent, watching Moses until he entered the tent.

As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of the cloud would come down and stay at the entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. And by the way, just to set that up, so the pillar, remember, had been above them the whole time they're coming out. So the idea was the presence of God was there, but he was still far away. He was like above them. So that's the idea. So I'll skip down, and you can read the whole story in your own time. But he gets down to verse 14.

of Exodus 33, and it says, the Lord replied, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Just think about that statement. So later on, we get to the Sabbath, you know, and these are shadows. That goes along with Jesus is always with you. Exactly. So in verse 15, Moses said, if your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?

What else will distinguish me and your people from all other people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked because I'm pleased with you and know you by name. Then Moses said, now watch this statement. Now show me your glory, which...

I just read in 14, the Word became flesh, made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory. So watch this connection, though, because I never thought about this before. In verse 19, and the Lord said, I will cause my goodness to pass in front of you. I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. But he said, you cannot see my face.

For no one can see me and live, which is why they would have a lot of trouble believing that God would become a man also. Because it's like, well, even if he had his face, you couldn't see it because you wouldn't live. Whatever, radiation. I'm using radiation. I don't know what.

But he was glowing when he came out of the sewer. He was glowing. So I was like, something is radiating. The power. But then the Lord said, there is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft in the rock. Somebody had a song about that. And cover you with my hand. But I just thought...

Why is he using that kind of terminology? And I think it's introducing, because that's where John is going. He just made a comparison to Moses, to Jesus. But you see this moment around the glory of,

And he's like, you'll see my hand. I'll give you a glimpse. But it makes you think, well, God can do that. He's a transformer. He created the atoms and the molecules and the people. And I think that's what this miracle is going to be about, is getting your head wrapped around, okay, I mean, we'll read the story. But you have jugs or these ceremonial cleansing stone jars. And then Jesus says,

transform the contents of water into wine which normally takes a long time you need to inject here okay making wine is a time consuming yeah

Long time. Okay. And he did it. Yeah. All he did, he said, Mary had told him today, whatever this man tells you, do it. Which I think is one of the key phrases in the whole thing. It's really good. Just take that. Most of the time I say keep the sentences in the context. But if you just live by that, whatever he says to do, you need to do. Yeah. Yeah.

So one of the most, I would say, faith-inspiring things in my life, Jase, is reading stories about martyrs for the cause. I mean, starting, of course, with the original group, but for the last 2,000 years, there have been people that have paid the ultimate price for the kingdom. Yeah. The resurrection became real in people's minds when they realized the followers were

gave their life. Yeah. Rather than deny Jesus was who he said he was. Yeah. So I just saw 70 people, 70 Christians were killed in the democratic Republic of the Congo just this week. Yeah. In a gruesome, terrible way. And, and that's the sort of thing, I mean, the evil one has definitely been trying to stamp out the kingdom of God in different ways. Uh,

The Voice of the Martyrs, which is a fantastic organization that's been inspiring me for many, many years. I've shared it with the congregation and everywhere I go. Todd Nettleton, who is the radio host of Voice of the Martyrs, has written a new book. And it's right here if you're watching. It's called When Faith is Forbidden, 40 Days on the Front Lines with Persecuted Christians.

And so what he does is like you're going on this journey through these restricted countries and each step along the way, there's another story, kind of like the ones that just mentioned of amazing faith driven bravery. Yeah. You know, to step up for the cause of the kingdom. And he's offering it for free.

For free, which you can't, yeah, and you don't want to miss out because these stories are going to super inspire you. You can request your free copy of When Faith is Forbidden today, not only to be inspired yourself, but to support this fantastic ministry, which has really been on the front lines of persecution for many, many years. So here's what you do. Request your free copy of When Faith is Forbidden by calling 844-463-4059 today.

That's 844-463-4059. Or you can visit vom.org slash unashamed. That's vom.org slash unashamed. Check him out. Look, he turned water. All Jesus told him to do is fill up to the brim with water. And he said, now, thank that to the man of the household.

Take it to him and let him taste it. Yeah. And then the rest of the story is, well, wait, oh, wait, normally you bring out the bad wine first. You've saved it. You've saved the best till last. Yeah. You know, that's why I hear people that have read this and have talked about, oh, it wasn't alcohol. Hey, come on, guys.

Well, yeah, a lot of, yeah. Don't start injecting stuff that is not true. All right. Let me say one thing. Cause there's a lot of people that love our rabbit holes. So Jace went to Exodus 33, which is an excellent point. For those of you who want to read that and then dive a little deeper, read second Corinthians four, because Paul makes the exact same point Jace made in more detail. And the key there is that Jesus was the only link between,

to see the face of God, as it's explained in Exodus, and then also to be present to us. That's why I tell the disciples, when you've seen me, you've seen the Father. So finally you can look into the face of God because of Christ. Yeah. Well, and another thing I didn't say, but even in chapter 34,

In verse 6, it goes on to say, And I'm saying when you put all that together, you see the same terminology from John. He's full of grace and truth, love.

That's going to be a common theme in the book of John. And he has this image where he didn't see him, but his hand came by. He was introducing this human aspect. Right. And he's using the word the Lord, pitching the tent, the tabernacle. All this is like Jesus fulfilling God.

Here. Yeah. In John 1, which I think is very. Which, by the way, one other thing we skipped over the verse, but back in Exodus 33, there's a verse that says in Joshua, his aid stayed in the tent when he came out. So the idea of mentorship and then preparing somebody for the next leadership, which Joshua was to Moses, it's very important.

He experienced that as well. Most people don't realize Moses was the only one to be in that tent, but Joshua was there writing everything down at the same time, which is important. Well, it's not just that scientific. I mean, I started just doing a search on the internet in the poker game of just transformation in general because you even see the signs of creation, which I think the one that stands out the most is like a caterpillar

Going into a butterfly. Which, look, I was reading... I mean, this person wasn't even a believer, but was basically...

going through that process with a lot of words I've never heard of. But what I did find interesting when I was reading that process, because DNA came up. It's like, well, the caterpillar, now I'm paraphrasing, basically dies, but the DNA that was in the caterpillar... Transforms into the butterfly. Yeah, transform. Well, they use photosynthesizers or whatever. Yeah, but you got to think about this. The caterpillar inches along, you know, just...

forever to get anywhere. And what happens when the transformation that you're talking about comes to play? Hey, he don't need nowhere. He flies. Yeah. I like that. He's gone from crawling at a snail's pace to, hey, he throws his wings out and takes off. And with all this beauty. Yeah. I mean, if you just analyze 100 butterflies,

I mean, I remember as a kid thinking, there ain't no way somebody didn't make this. This is like art on the backs of a wing that came from something that's pretty, because a caterpillar is pretty pathetic. Well, not only that, again, I have to go back to time. Okay. The time involved in all this. Yeah. Well, Jesus just snapped his fingers. And Jesus is the light of the world.

He talks a lot about darkness, light, salt, all this stuff. All of it points, it all connects together. Yeah. All right, well, let me read it, and then we can dive more into it because we've been talking all around it. So this is John 2. On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. We've already said that was just maybe four miles from Nazareth, which is where Jesus is from, which would probably explain why his mom is there.

Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine. Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied, here you go, son, here's your line. My time has not yet come. And yet it really had. His mother said to the servants, which is an interesting response to that statement, do whatever he tells you.

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing. 20 to 30 gallons. Holding 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim. We've got a lot of water. Then he told them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. Now, I just want to stop for a minute just for a commentary. Can you imagine what these servants are thinking now?

When they told him this, like they just... No, they're probably giggling under there. Oh, they're probably thinking, we're fixing to get throttled. Yeah, we're going to get fired. But they did it because Mary had said, do whatever he says. Yeah. And the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. So that happened in the process here.

So he gets a praise, you know, from the host here. This, the

The first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, to Jesus' point, and his disciples put their faith in him. Okay, and now I need to go back in time again. Okay, this was like a week-long festival when a marriage took place back then. That's right, it was a week long.

Okay. Which probably went through a lot of wine. Yeah. And you invited everybody. That you knew. That you knew. So you're going to need some serious wine. Okay.

Okay, because this is a week party. Because remember, Cy, this is not like, we have pretty big weddings now, but this whole idea, this was arranged ahead of time. The couple had been betrothed usually for a year or more. Yeah, for years. They'd been building a house somewhere to wait to go in together. So this thing is like a huge celebration of coming together. And the one faux pas-

that you could ever have is to run out of food or wine. No, no. You don't do that. Yeah. Because the hospitality is big in the, it's still big in the eastern region. That's why when Mary talked to Jesus about, hey, why do you bother me with this woman?

My time is not... That struck me, Si, because Mary, it doesn't say much about Mary. You don't see her. This is one of the few times she pops up. I think she's only twice at the cross in here. And the one where the brothers, remember that time they came to see her. But most of the time, she hasn't been seen twice.

But obviously, those verses early that says she pondered these things or treasured them in her heart, she knew something was going on because why would she say whatever he told her? But you know when you're a virgin and you get burned. Well, exactly, exactly. Because nobody knew for sure except her. Joseph went because the angels told him. I've heard people debate that, and I'm like, okay.

You know. Yeah, but she knew. She knew. Everybody else is thinking, yeah, I bet. Yeah, right. Yeah. Which is very... Which, by the way, is what we would say today, right? We would say, okay. Well, I'd roll my eyes. Yeah. I don't remember how they worded it, but Mary said something to herself like, she knew, she asked Jesus about this. Well, I think it's implied because, obviously, she was a virgin. Yeah. And I think...

She realized how ridiculous this request was, but she didn't want the embarrassment also. Well, she was thinking about the man of the house and what it would do. This would be a crushing thing for him. Oh, it would be the biggest. I'm one to think that when she said, do whatever he says, that probably came after them saying, no,

You want us to do what? I know they had to question it. The redneck inside of me. Look, I've been gathered around a problem. When you show up with some water when they call for wine, that would be in our day a fireball offense, in their day much, much worse. So whatever is going to happen. I think these stories, we're so familiar with them, we don't realize how ridiculous it would really be

to real people, which is why I'm thinking John is carefully saying why God has the shadows in life for you to wrap your head around it. That's why I brought up the butterfly. It's like, well, what a creature to make. Well, no, no. Cause we take it for granted. Cause you've seen a butterfly and you're like, Oh, this person I'm listening, droning on about the science of it all, which is awesome. But I'm like,

You only believe this because you know it happens. If somebody tried to introduce this and you'd never seen it, and you'd say, okay, look, if you've never seen that transformation, you'd say, now I'm going to turn this caterpillar

and just put the most spectacular butterfly you can find. I'm going to turn that into this. Well, no sane person would say no. You'd probably say maybe because you're not all sane. But that's basically why God, I think, set this up for us. So we're like, okay, so you're telling me that you have a plan here.

So Jace, there's a lot going on in the world. It's easy to kind of get distracted. It's something every day that's new that kind of shifts people's attention.

But one of the things that I think is there every day for us as believers, there are babies in mothers' wombs who need help. I mean, they need us to be able to defend their right to be here and to hopefully provide a pathway to get here and to take care of them once they're here. Yeah, and life is special to us, especially the younger they are. Yeah. Just because it reminds us all, you know, the greatest gift possible.

in this world is life. - It is, and we all kind of fight this life battle at different stages in our family, but we're all in this thing together. And one of our sponsors, which is also one of our friends in this ministry, is Preborn. They have a network of clinics, and they're literally on the front line. They're nationwide, and they're on standby for women deciding between the life of their babies, obviously at the most crucial decision in both of their lives.

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To donate securely, just dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250, baby. Or you can visit preborn.com slash unashamed. That's preborn.com slash unashamed. Well, he's told us, you know, like I'm talking about, you know,

You know, that's why, like, with God, okay, with us, we're limited. But with God, everything's possible. But it's why we also should be open-minded. Yeah. So I want to make this point because this was something interesting when I did research, to your points about my time has not yet come. I first thought about what Paul said in Galatians 4.4 when he said when the set time had fully come,

God sent his son born of one, born under the law. You remember that passage? So there's this idea that there was an appointment of time for us. Well, that goes back to Ephesians 1. Exactly. But also in Galatians 4, he also says, which is interesting,

There's not too many passages that says this, that he gave us the spirit of his son. And that's why we're talking about what, you know, when I first read this, because look, I've never been drunk in my life. I mean, I've made a lot of mistakes and done sins like everybody else, but that's one I haven't done. And it makes people uncomfortable because I say, hey, this was real wine, but

Because I'm like, look, this is the one thing I don't have a problem with. However, we came from a group of...

that they you know that this kind of stuff would come out that they're missing the yeah beauty and the power because i think this is even if you approach this text by wondering whether it was al-qaeda you've missed the big yeah big point yeah you missed the whole thing but it's kind of like god one day is gonna throw a party and i really believe this is a shadow of

of us being married to Christ. I think that's why he did it as the first sign. As a wedding. And you're going to have all this transformation, all this newness,

And I really think that is what the wine is all about. It's like new wine. You remember the parable you told about the, you can't put new wine in old wineskins. For years, I would think, why is he saying that? Because of power. What's he talking about? New wine. Well, when you start talking about new creation...

Which is what he's introducing here. Yes. He's talking about people being transformed into new creations. All right, so let me share this with you, James. This is going to prove the point you just made. This is something I didn't know until I got into the study this time. Five times this phrase is used, my time has not yet come, by Jesus or about Jesus, because John used one of them. One of them is here in our text.

There's three in John 7, John 7, 6, 7, 8, 7, 30. That's the context. You remember where the brothers told him he needed to go up to the Feast of Tabernacles and he was like, no, my time has not yet come. And they were like, oh, you need to get out there. And you know, if you're going to be a man of the people, you got to show yourself. They were the marketing director. And he's like, he's three times. He says in that context, my time has not yet come. And then again, in 820, he,

Remember, we get into John 8 is where they were questioning him. Who gave you the authority? He said, my time has not yet come. Listen to this. There's three times later in John where he says the time has come.

The first one doesn't start until 1223. The second one is 13-1. That was with his disciples the night before when he was washing their feet. And then the last one is 17-1 where he was praying, and he said, my time has come. Guess what happened before that language changed with Jesus? All seven of the miracles that John talks about, and guess which the last one was? The raising of Lazarus from the dead.

which was the pinnacle sign that God had now come to defeat the very power of death, which Jesus would later do. So it's really interesting that the language Jesus uses goes right up to that point through John 11, and then all of a sudden says, my time has come. Well, I think in Ecclesiastes, it says there is a time for everything.

Oh, it does say it many times. And it goes into detail. There's a time for death. There's a time for life. There's time for news. It goes on and on. And that's why I said all of this we're studying right here is connected with time, and it's the earth and heaven, and it's all connected. Exactly. With us. God has connected everything he

He's connected all the dots through his son. So listen to this. So it's the power. So this is the power over this idea and this situation and transformation, water to wine. Listen to the seven signs. I'm just giving to you quick.

In chapter 4, it's the power over distance. It's where he healed the guy. He just said, oh, yeah, he's ready. Yeah, the guy said, hey, look, you don't need to go. You don't have to bring him. I don't have to go there. You don't need to go. Yeah. The third one was the guy at Bethsaida in chapter 5. That was the power over disease. No disease was more powerful than Christ. The great physician. So then in chapter 6, it was the feeding of the 5,000 and later another 4,000. So that's insufficiency. We can't take care of ourselves. He said, I'm bigger than that.

Then he walked on water and calmed the storm in John 6. That's power over nature. Anything's out there. I made it. So if I tell the winds to stop, they stop. Well, no, because they know the creator. And then listen to this. John chapter 9, the sixth one was the man born blind. And that shows you the power over sin. Because remember, they were saying, who's sin? This man or his parents? And he's like... Which, by the way, is mentioned in Exodus 34. Because when I read verse 6, well, 7 I didn't read because...

Sometimes you read a verse and you're like, ooh, because it says he will punish those who don't trust him or bow down to idols. And then it says they're children's children. It's like a legacy because they're worshiping idols, which is why they got the idea of, well, who sinned?

that he was born blind because they were familiar with these passages. With us, we're like, why are they thinking that? Because it's in Exodus 34 in this promise, which goes back to if God wants to dwell with people, if he wants his presence to be with people, which is why I read that 33 and 34. Well, now Jesus is present with the people. He has entered people.

The arena. So what has to happen for us to be able to live with, dwell with God? At some point, we've got to be able to live longer. Yeah. Something new has to happen. That's it. Which is then we're getting back into why he gave us his spirit. Of course, this is an analogy because we don't want to make light of people who do struggle with alcohol. And I've turned to this verse when people have sat down, they're like,

Well, it just bothers me that somebody's drinking, and I have a problem, and I don't need to drink. And I'm like, well, you need to think. Wait for the new wine. It's not going to be actually wine, but it's better. Because that was his illustration. There's a new creation that's going to form, and that desire you have needs to be concentrated on Jesus himself. And we are going to have a party. This is a feast party.

shadow of us celebrating as the bride of Christ.

In eternity. Right. And it's a part, who doesn't like a party? And look, the bottom line is, as believers, we have to look at it and say, look, because I have a weakness in a certain area, I'm going to remove myself from that because it's not good for me. I can say the same thing about cheeseburgers. The reason I'm on a diet is I got a weakness for cheeseburgers. But I'm not going to resent Cy for eating a cheeseburger. I'm just going to say, brother, you enjoy that. I'm going to go over here and fix me some veggies. Well, it's more about you because there's nothing wrong with wine. Exactly. He didn't,

have a three-point deal here on where, well, now don't drink too much because that's a sin, but we tend to look at the Bible differently.

As this is to me rather than for me, you know, and that's why he uses these pictures. But to your point, I grew up hearing sermons that included this text that never dealt with the beautiful picture in the text. Zero. Because it was always about what wasn't really happening or what wasn't really. That's why most people have got God as a metaphor.

of someone up there with a big hammer and just waiting for you to mess up. No, Missy's a big fly swatter. Yeah, that's just the opposite. Yeah, Missy said this yesterday. He wants to be with you. He wants a relationship between you and him. It's personal, guys. Missy was having a Bible study, and she was telling me, because she knows I use that illustration a lot, of

I'll say, you know, close your eyes and picture a guy. What do you see? Yeah. Well, most people see nothing or, and she said all those, the women, the number one answer was old man with a gavel, you know, and a judge like,

And she said, one person said Jesus. And she said, well, that's the right answer. But what, then you get into the comedy aspect of it's not Jonathan Rumi of the chosen, but that tends to be where we go. In our current era is what it tends to be. So Simon, you came in there today and sat down. The first thing you said was, boys, what we're talking about today is about time. So I got to tell you, we're out of time. Yeah.

How fast did that go? That's what I'm saying. Okay. But I, like I always, I love coming here and being on, on, on a shame because I always learn something new. And, and this one was okay. Look, there are angels descending and ascending.

between heaven and earth all the time, and it's on our behalf. Yeah, that's a good point. The Almighty has sent them for crying out loud. And I'll say this to close. In the next afterlife, where we're imperishable new bodies living forever. Outside of time. Because that last sign, by the way, was defeating death. There are no alarm clocks.

No need. We have eternity to enjoy. No need. It's always a pleasure having you on Unashamed. I love coming on here. Awesome. Because we actually open God's word and actually learn something. There you go. See you next time. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast.

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