In this sermon, the preacher shares a story about a man named James who was burdened for his wife's salvation. After praying and surrendering his life to Jesus, James decides to share his newfound faith with his bride on their wedding day. This surprises and shocks his bride, but James explains that Jesus can make things better and better, just like he did at the wedding in Cana where he turned water into wine. The preacher emphasizes the importance of serving the Lord in our homes and allowing Jesus to transform our lives.

Our text for this morning we find Namshanjexen Sitwola and John, chapter 2, from verse 1 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. 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 twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water, and they filled them 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 and now became wine, and did not know where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And said to him, Everyone who serves the good wine first and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. This the first of the signs Jesus did at Cana in Galilee and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. I don't think there is a portion in the Bible known as well as this one. Especially among drunkards, they know the story. That Jesus made wine. But this wine, unlike the wine we know, caused those who drank it to believe in him. Jesus manifested his glory in this manner, this being the first miracle. It is said that back in the 1700s, a young man of the name James Taylor proposed marriage to a young lady. And the wedding date was set. Neither of them were Christians. James, in fact, detested the Gospel. He so detested itinerant preachers that he would pelt them with rotten eggs and tomatoes. And just before their wedding day, an evangelist, a preacher who was part of John Wesley's group, came. And then he thought, well, let me just go and see what this person has to say. And then I will disrupt the crowds. But as he began to listen, the preacher was speaking from Joshua 24 verse 15. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The words struck James like an arrow in the heart. And when the day of their wedding arrived, this verse was still lodged in his thoughts. And that morning, on the wedding day, he went out to the fields near the forest. To think, today I'm getting married. I'm taking a girl to be my wife. And I'm about to begin a new home, a family. And yet I don't serve the Lord. And then he knelt in the grass right there and then and earnestly prayed with all his heart, saying, Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to you. After which, after praying, he was alarmed to discover that it was already the time for the wedding. Rushing to the chapel, he apologized for being late. And then the ceremony proceeded. Then he shocked his bride by saying that he had given his life to the Lord, announcing it to the whole congregation. And he soon began to witness. But his wife was resistant. Finally, one day when he came home, he was very burdened for his wife. And then he took her, carried her into their bedroom. And with a forceful hand, he made her kneel beside him. Soon both were weeping and weeping tears of joy. For she had, she turned her life and became a Christian. And they both served the Lord. Now, eight generations have passed. Each of their generations of their children had preachers of the Gospel. Included among them is James Taylor's great-grandson, Hudson Taylor. Hudson Taylor founded the China Inland Mission and opened the Chinese Interior to the Gospel. Marriage is no small thing. For we have seen that just in the life of this couple, the whole world, even China, was shaken. Though the wife was resistant in the beginning, but through him, the husband, being a real man, he won her to the Lord. Now, it's written here that on the third day, there was a wedding at Cana. Remembering that three often is of symbolic significance in the Bible, meaning God's day. And on that third day, there was a wedding at Cana. In Galilee, Jesus was invited with his disciples. When they were at the wedding, keeping in mind that the weddings in those days were not like today, they lasted for a week, those days. Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to Jesus saying, When the wine is finished, and Jesus answered in a strange way, Mother, what do you have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. Mary was, humanly speaking, the mother of Jesus. However, though she might have been his mother, Jesus was still her Lord. Though Jesus was known as the Son of David, he was also the King of David. Therefore, Jesus answered her, Mother, what do you have to do with me? On the third day, it was God's time, and it was the very first miracle Jesus performed. That is why Jesus then replied to her, Mother, what business do you have to do with me? Jesus was busy with God's business, healing, and he then healed people later. He allowed no human interference when he was busy with God's labor. It was his time, it was God's day, to reveal his Lordship. The Father was far greater to Jesus than his own human mother and father. Jesus answered her, Mother, what do you have to do with me? When Jesus was twelve, remember how he was in the temple and his parents were looking for him, and finally, after three days, the mother finding him there rebuked him. And he then said, but Mother, did you not know that I must be about my father's business? When God is at work, when it is his third day, he is busy. No human interference should be allowed. I remember Mrs. Mzila of Oswatini, my first co-worker, preaching the gospel with me. The brothers of Mrs. Mzila's husband had a row with him and said, What type of a man are you to allow your wife to go off preaching with this white man? And so he resisted and forbade her to preach the gospel. While he was in Durban, he met with an accident. A bus rode into him, hit him, and he lost a leg instantly. Then they told me he is in hospital, seriously injured. When I got to King Edward Hospital, and I stood at his bed, I said, Mr. Mzila, what's happened? He told me, a bus rode over me. He said, Pastor, my wife told me about the calling that she felt to preach the gospel. And as a man, I felt that I shouldn't allow her to go and preach here and there with the gospel. He said, but preacher, now I realize I was resisting God himself. I thought I was just resisting my wife and forbidding her to go and preach, but now I realize I was fighting against God. I thought it was just my wife for whom I had paid a dowry, but now I realize I was fighting God. When he got home after leaving hospital, he went straight to his wife and said, Mzila, from today, I'm releasing you to feel free to go and preach the gospel. Even if I'm alone at home, I'll cook for myself. For I realize that when God speaks, I must fear him, for he is great and awesome. He said, Pastor, now I realize I was resisting my wife and forbidding her to go and preach the gospel. However, if Jesus is there daily, the beauty and the wonder, the harmony and the love only get better with time. Finally, it is better than the beginning. Jesus was revealing His glory. So too with us. We are like these jars. These six jars speaking symbolically of humanity. But when Jesus is in you, joy, patience, and all good things come in, and the end is better than the beginning. No person with Jesus can divorce because that marriage only gets better. And with children, if Jesus is there, things only get better. Even if you only have one child, if it does not have Jesus, it is enough. You have had too many. But if you have the Lord Jesus, and if the Lord is in their lives as children, even if you have a dozen, it is like heaven. Not too much. There are not too many. If Jesus is in their heart, but if the devil is there, one is too much. Whether a wife, you are a wife, or you are a husband, your marriage is beautiful. Or without a husband, or without a wife, if you have Jesus, things are marvelous. And firstly, and at the beginning, Jesus, when you first meet Him, reveals His glory. And then, the end is only better than the beginning. And the beauty, and the glory, and the wonder only gets better all the time until the final trumpet sounds. Now, you have heard how the grandmother of Hudson Taylor did not want to be a believer. But she did not want to be a believer. She did not want to be a believer. But by the power of God, the Lord enabled that husband to bring her to the Lord, and their children, and children's children, eight generations have produced preachers in every generation. How marvelous it is. It is amazing when Jesus is there. Do not try and interfere with His work. Let Him do as He pleases. May it be that this story of the wedding at Cana might help everyone, the drinkers and everyone here. Jesus never makes something that creates people to live like swine in a pig pen. However, instead, Jesus will make you into a real man. He will reveal His glory in that person. May it be that each one of us would have the Lord Jesus in our hearts, releasing Him to do what He wants in us. I now end with the story of that Afrikaans man in South Africa, who was a very rich person. He was childless. He and his wife were childless because children are a blessing. He did not have many children. He had one daughter, and she was 18 years of age. She went to a service. In the service, she was touched by the Word. She felt called by the Lord to preach the Gospel in China. When she got back home, her parents, father and mother, were in bed already. She went into her room, into their room, and said, Mother and Father, I have just been in a service, and I experienced the Lord Jesus speaking to me, calling me to go and preach in China. The father said, No, never, I will not allow it. He said, Look daughter, I have no son, I have no other children, you are everything to me. You will be my heir. All the farms, all the money I have, all my wealth. Who can inherit it if you go off to China to be a missionary? Just two years later, that daughter became ill. Seriously ill. The doctors came, trying to heal her, but they failed. She died. On the day of the funeral, as her coffin was descending into the grave, her father, his heart broke. He said, O God, O Lord Jesus, forgive me for forbidding my daughter to go as a missionary to China. Had I allowed her, I would have had a living daughter in China. But now, all I have is a daughter in the grave, and I have lost her. It was their third day in that family. It was God's hour, it was his time to work, and he was calling that daughter as a missionary. But then that father interfered in God's work and forbade her to go to China. Jesus said to Mary, Mary, woman, what do you have to do with me? I am busy with my father's business, in other words. Let us also not forget the story of that rich man in South Africa. His daughter had shared with her parents about the calling of the Lord Jesus, and then the father interfered. If Jesus is at work, when he is moving, don't put your dirty foot into it. Don't interfere, let him do as he wills. Then his blessing will be upon you, and you will meet with his glory. I don't know, dear friends, whether this is understandable or not. I don't know whether you find it difficult to bow to the Lord, or you like that wife who was resistant until her husband forced her to bow to the Lord. If Jesus speaks to you, allow him to do what he wants. Otherwise, you will regret it one day. Let your life be a life of the third day, where God's will is being performed in your life all the time. Don't resist him. Shall we pray? Lord Jesus, we have heard now about your first miracle on the third day. And how his mother tried to interfere between him and your will. And Lord, how you had to rebuke her not to interfere with your working. Lord, help us. You know everyone here in the service. Let not one come in between you and your will. But rather, that they would let your will be done in their lives as it is done in heaven. Amen.