Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1890-01-09
THE MIRACLE AT CANA.
TALMAGE ON THE TRANSPORTATION
OF WATER INTO WINE.
An Eloquent Sermon Preached on Biblical
Ground-Christ Loves the Housekeeper-
He Comes In the Hour of Extren,ity-Ffe
Wants Us to BE Happy.


preached at Cana, in the far East, Sun
day, Dec. %, on a Marriage Feast,
taking for his text John IL, 10: Thou
hast keptthe good wine until now" He
said:
Standing not far off from the demoi-
ished town of what was once called Cana
of Galilee, bethink myself of our
Lords first manhood miracle, which has
been the establishment of the ages, Ny
visit last week to that place makes vivid
in my mind that beautiful occurrence in
Cbrist's ministry. My text brings us to
a wedding in that village. 1t is we'd
ding in common life, two plain people
having pledged each other, hand and
heart, and their friends having come in
for congratulation. The joy is not the
less because there is no pretension. In
each other they find ali the future they
want. The daisy in the cup on the
table may mean as much as score of
artistic garlands fresh from the hot
houee. When daughter goes off from
home with nothing but plain fathers
blessing and plain mothers love, she
is missed as much as though she were a
princess. 1t seems hard, after the pa
rents have sheltered her for eighteen
years, that in n few short months her
affections should have been carried off
by another; but mother remembers how
| 1t was In her own case when she was
young, and SO she braces up until the
wedding has passed, and the banquet
ers are gone, and she has good cry all
| alone.
Well, we are to- day at the wedding in
Cana of Galilee. Jesus and his mother
have been invited. It is evident that
there are more people there than were
expected: Either some people have
come who were not invited, or more in
vitations have been sent out than it was
supposed would be accepted. OF course
there is not enough supply of wine.
You know that there is nothing more
embarrassing to housekeeper than a
scant supply. Jesus sees the embar-
rassment, and he comes up Immediately
to relieve it. He sees standing six water
pots. He orders the servants to llthem
with water, and Immediately it is wine
real wine. Taste of it, and see for
yourselves; no logwood in it, no strych-
nine in it, but first rate wine. l will
not now be diverted to the question so
often discussed in my own country,
| whether it is right to drink wine. am
describing the scene as it was. When
God makes wine He makes the very best
wine; and one hundred and thirty GAL
Ions of it standing around in these
water pots-wine SO good that the ruler
of the feast tastes it and says: why,
this is really better than anything we
have had. Thou hast kept the good
wine until now" Beautiful miracle!
prize was offered to the person who
should write the best essay about the
miracle in Cana. Long manuscripts
were presented in the competition, but
a poet won the prize by just this one
line descriptive of the miracle:
The unconscious water saw its God, and
blushed.
We learn from this miracle, in the
the first place, that Christ has sympathy
with ihousekeepers. You might have
thought that Jesus would have said: Il
cannot be bothered with this household
deficiency of wine. 1t is not for me,
Lord of Heaven, of earth, to become
caterer to this feast. 1 have vaster
things than this to attend to-" Not so said
Jesus. The wine gave out, and Jesus,
by miraculous power, came to the
rescue. Does there ever come a scant
supply in your household? Have you
to make very close calculation? Is it
hard work for you to carry on things
decently and respectfully? If SO, don't
sit down and cry. Don't go out and
fret; but go to Him who stood in the
house in Cana of Galilee. Pray in the
parlor! Pray in the kitchen! Let there
be no room in all your house uncon-
secrated by the voice of prayer. If you
have microscope, put under it one
drop Of water, and see the insects float
ing about; and when you see that God
makes them, and cares for them, and
feeds them, come to the conclusion that
He will take care of you and feed you,
oh, We of little faith!
A boy asked if he might sweep the
snow from the steps of q house. The
lady of the household said: Yes; you
seem very poor" He says: Il am very
poor" She says: Don't you some
God is going to let you starve?" The
lad looked up in the woman's face and |
said: DO you think God will let me |
starve when trust Him, and do the best !
l can:" Enough theology for older |
people! Trust in God and do the best |
you can. Amidst all the worriments of |
housekeeping, go to Him; He will help |
you control your temper, and supervise |
your domestics, and entertain your |
guests, and manage your home econo-
mics. There are hundreds of women |
weak, and nervous, and exhausted with |
the cares of housekeeping. l commend |
you to the Lord Jesus Christ as the best |
adviser and the most efficient aid-the |
Lord Jesus who performed His first
miracle to relieve housekeeper.
l learn also from this miracle that |
Christ does things in abundance. 1
have made up for the deficiency. 1
think certainly they must have had
enough for half of the guests. One
gallon of wine will do; certainly five
gallons will be enough; certainly ten.
But Jesus goes on, and He gives them
thirty gallons, and forty gallons, and
fifty gallons, and seventy gallons, and
one hundred gallons, and one hundred
and thirty gallons of the very best wine.
1t is Just like Him, doing everything
on the largest and most generous scale.
Does Christ, our Creator, go forth to
make leaves? He makes them by the
whole forest full; notched like the fern,
or silvered like the aspen, or broad like
the palm; thickets in the tropics, Ore
gon forests. Does He go forth to make
flowers? He makes plenty of them;
they flame from the hedge, they hang
from the top of the grape vine in bios
SONS, they roll in the blue wave of the
violets, they toss their white surf into
the spiraa-enough for every childs
$500 - ~ - SASuSh w A4anC AOA CNCIs |
brow q chaplet, enough with beauty to
cover up the ghastliness of all the
graves. Does He go forth to create
water? He pours it out, not by the cup
full, but by a river full, a lake full. an
ocean full, pouring it out until all the
earth has enough to drink, and enough I,
with which to wash.
Does Jesus, our Lord, provide re-
demption? 1t is not little salvation ,
for this one, little for that, and little
for the other; but enough for all
-Whosoever will, let him come" Each
man an ocean full for himself. Promises
Tor the young, promises for the old,
promises for the lowly, promises for the
blind, for the halt. for the outcast, for /
The abandoned. Pardon for all, COM 4
fort for all, mercy for all, Heaven for
al; not merely a cupful of Gospel sup ,
ply. but one hundred and thirty gallons.
Ay, the tears of cody repentance are 1
all gathered up into Gods bottle, and {
some day, standing before the throne,
We will lift our cup of delight and ask
hat it be filled with the wine of Heaven; {