John Hagee - The Best is Yet to Be
People often say, "I have never seen a miracle before". How many of you have heard people say that? I've never seen a miracle. The fact is you see miracles every day. You just can't identify it. Have you ever looked into the face of a baby? Nine months ago, two cells joined together. They multiplied by 47.2 trillion times, and in nine months, became a living soul, born looking like one of its parents. Think about that. Brother, that's a miracle. Mother Teresa said, "The nation that murders its unborn has lost its soul". Amen, Mother Teresa. Amen. David said, in Psalms 139, "You knit me together in my mother's womb, and I praise you because I am fearfully and wondrously made".
You are a miracle. When you look in the mirror, you are looking at a miracle. There has never been, nor will there ever be, anyone on this earth exactly like you. When you were born, the genius of God exploded into an original design. That's you. You are a divine masterpiece. Listen to this. If your personal genetic code was written out in longhand, it would be a three-billion-word book. To help you grasp this concept, according to Mark Patterson, the report is the King James version Bible has 783.137 words. Your genetic code is the equivalent of 4.000 Bibles in print. You are a miracle, a divine original. And there's no one on this earth exactly like you, nor will there be anyone on this earth ever exactly like you.
People say you've never seen a miracle. Step out on your back porch and just take a long look at planet earth. Every 24 hours, planet earth pulls off a 360° spin. We are flying through space right now at an average velocity of 67.000 miles per hour. That's faster than a bullet. It's 87 times faster than the speed of sound. On a day when you feel like you haven't done much, you've just kind of sat on the back porch and let the world go by, you have traveled 16 million miles through space. Miracles still happen. The seven miracles of st. John are a revelation of what Jesus Christ wants to be to his church and to each of you. The first miracle and the greatest miracle is the forgiveness of sin made possible through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
There is no close second. That miracle is available to everyone at any time. It is the only miracle you must experience if you want to go to heaven. The Bible says, "Marvel not. You must be born again". Say that with me. You must be born again. If Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life, today is your day of decision. The Bible says, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow for you know not what another day may bring forth". The second miracle is John 2. Jesus turns ordinary water into precious wine. When Christ enters your ordinary life, he transforms common clay into royalty. Every person in this room, and those of you watching by television across America and around the world, are ambassadors of Christ on this earth. You are kings and priests unto God. You are daughters of Zion. You are a priceless, divine original that will never die, that will live for all eternity. Give the Lord praise in this house.
The third miracle in John 4, Jesus heals the nobleman's son, long distance, revealing there is no such thing as distance in prayer. If your loved one is on the other side of the world right now, in Africa or Australia or Europe or Hong Kong, you can whisper the majestic name and God's angels will race to the rescue and they will be there in a matter of seconds with heaven's answer. How can you say that? I can say that based on chapter nine in the book of Daniel. Daniel is the most righteous man in the Bible or in the Old Testament. He is confessing his sins and the sins of Israel. He has a problem. He's trying to understand the prophetic essence of what God has given him.
You can pray that prayer and it takes about 40 seconds. He's asking for God to send a messenger. That messenger was Gabriel. When he finished that prayer, Gabriel was standing in front of him. Gabriel came from heaven. How many thousand light-years away that is, I don't know. But it's a long, long way. However, I don't think it took him 40 seconds because if Daniel had his head bowed and his eyes closed, Gabriel could've been there in a split-second. I believe in the twinkling of an eye. Think about that. Think about that. People think of heaven as far off, and God, far removed. Let me tell you, he's a split-second from entering every prayer you pray.
The fourth miracle, John 5. Jesus reverses 38 years of pain and suffering with one command, "Rise and take up your bed and walk". Jesus is saying to the New Testament church, dare the impossible. Expect the impossible. Rebuke sickness and disease in Jesus' name. Rebuke covid-19. Don't be mastered by the fear-mongers of this thing.
The fifth miracle, John 6. Jesus defies the laws of physics and walks on the water of the Sea of Galilee to his terrified disciples who are in the midst of the storm. Many of you here, and some of you watching by television, are in an impossible situation. The disciples were raised on the Sea of Galilee. They were created as fishermen. They were certain there was no answer. They had seen this sea before. There was no solution. They were preparing to die. Then they saw the son of man coming to them, walking across the water. It was an unexpected way. He came at an unexpected time from 3:00 to 6:00 a.M. In the morning. They had been in that boat for nine hours. There was an unexpected result. He said, "Peace. Be still". And suddenly, the sea became like glass. Are you in the greatest storm of your life? Do you think your situation is out of control and impossible? Have you given up hope? Listen to me. Nothing is impossible with God. All things are possible to those who believe and are called according to the purposes of God.
The sixth miracle in John 9:6, Jesus spits onto the ground and made clay with the saliva. He anointed the eyes of the blind man and said, "Go wash in the pool of Siloam". Jewish people believe that there was healing power in the spittle of the first-born son. Jesus was saying to his audience, "I am the first born of God, the Father. I am the great physician. I am Jehovah Shammah. I am Jehovah Jireh. I am the Lord who is with you. I am there all of the time. "Call upon me... And I will show you great and mighty things that you know not". Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.
The seventh miracle, I am the answer to every sickness and disease on planet earth. John 11, Jesus calls a dead man out of the grave. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me shall never die". Let me tell you this. If that was the only verse in the Bible for Christians to believe, it would make the Gospel of Jesus Christ the most exciting message on planet earth. "I am the resurrection and the life". We are never going to die. We're going to live here. And in an instant, we will be taken into the balconies of heaven where we will live with the King of kings and the Lord of lords forever and forever.
Today, let's consider the water turned to wine. For 30 years, the one who crafted the universe with his voice, crafted furniture with his hands. Jesus was a man who worked with his hands for a living. Do you? If you don't, shame on you. Jesus was God Almighty disguised as a carpenter. His supernatural power was the best-kept secret in the Roman Empire. Mary, the mother of Jesus, had caught a glimpse of his supernatural power when Jesus was fully 12. Fully 12, then he was 13:13 to his bar mitzvah in Jerusalem. He was teaching scripture to the most brilliant theological minds in Israel in the temple and they said this young man has an unusual understanding of the scripture. I suppose so. He helped write it.
Think about this. For 30 years, Jesus having all power, restrained himself until this very moment, from using that power. His restraint was awesome. See Jesus on the cross, suffering in great agony. He's bleeding from his head, from his hands, from his feet. His side has been ripped open with a Roman sword. His back is an emaciated mass of blood. He could've called 10.000 angels and demolished the world. He could've saved himself. But he couldn't save himself and save you and you and you. So he bowed his dead and died that we could have everlasting life. Restrained himself from using his power for himself and he has given it to you by the mention of his name in heaven.
Think about that. The same is true of us. Sometimes the greatest miracle in your life is restraint, holding your tongue when your brain is flooded with blood and thunder. Toxic poison is oozing out both sides of your mouth and you're just vibrating with something that you want to say. And God is inside of you saying shut up. Be quiet. It was love that led Jesus to the cross. It was restraint that kept him on the cross. Point: often the quality of your life, the quality of your marriage, the quality of friendships, is determined by what you refuse to say, what you refuse to do, where you refuse to go. What kind of restraint do you have?
The miracle of changing water into wine was the apostle John, holding a mirror up to the face of Jesus to show us his nature, his character. The method he had in achieving his purpose, first, it demonstrates the interest of Jesus Christ in common people, ordinary people in their joy and in their sorrow. The wedding is an obscure country village. Who was the bride? Her name is not in the Bible. Who was the groom? We do not know. Both the bride and the groom were common people. Jesus is invited. He accepted the invitation with gladness.
Fact: whenever Jesus was invited into anyone's home in his ministry, he went to the rich, to the poor, to the political connected, or to a fellow carpenter. The question: have you invited Jesus Christ into your home? Have you invited him into your heart? Have you invited him into your marriage? Is he a friend that sticketh closer than a brother or do you even know him? He is in fact, in scripture, the way maker. He is the chain breaker. Nothing is impossible to him or with us. Give the Lord praise in the house.
Why did Jesus turn water to wine? Not to demonstrate his awesome power but to save a friend, the bridegroom, probably another carpenter, from being embarrassed on his wedding day. They ran out of wine. It was a disgraceful moment. The bridegroom was too poor to furnish enough for those who came. The point is, do you realize how much Jesus Christ is interested in every detail of your life? He has numbered the hairs in your head. This morning, when some of you ran the brush through, you lost a few. He collects your tears in a vase. He has given to you an angelic escort that goes before you and behind you. He has given you the authority to use his name to God Almighty in heaven. And he says anytime you use my name, whatever you ask, God will do it. That's not from the president or the richest person on planet earth. That is from a sovereign God who created this world. You have unlimited access and power to God through Jesus. Give him praise in the house.
After his resurrection, Jesus had been to heaven and back. What does he do? His disciples went fishing. They fished all night and caught nothing. How many of you've gone fishing and caught nothing? It's a frustrating feeling. But these were professional fishermen. He told them where to find the fish and they had a monster catch. The nets were strained and almost breaking with the load of fish that they caught. Why? Because he was interested in their prosperity. Just a side note here: why did Jesus create 162 gallons of wine? Did they drink that? No way. A fraction of it. Wine was a marketable product. Good wine was very valuable. Point: Jesus knew this was a very poor, young couple and he gave them a wedding dowry it would take him years to spend because of that wine they could sell on the open market, prosperity he's interested in the smallest things in your life.
Another message of wine to water is the celebration of transformation. Jesus Christ has the power to transform. He transforms ordinary water to priceless wine. He takes ordinary lives and makes them trophies of his grace. He takes the desert of your days and turns it into streams of living water. Nature forms. Sin deforms us. Education informs us. Penitentiaries reform us. But Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, transforms us. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus. I want you to get this point. Many people think when you come to Christ, you're just kind of a remodeled, old you. No. The old you died and the new you became a new creature. You're a new creature in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.
The marriage of water to wine is the celebration of marriage. In doing his first miracle at a wedding, Jesus was giving full approval to the institution of marriage. Marriage is a transformational moment. "These two", sayeth God, "Shall become one". God sees both of you or he sees neither of you because you are so united in Christ. The Bible says, "He that findeth a wife findeth a good thing". Men, this would be a good time for you to say amen. God bless all six of you. Today, America and the world is browbeaten. We have become traumatized by fake news. We have been media-induced fear about Covid-19. Today, America is a nation that is joyless, sensing our constitutional freedoms are being destroyed. On the other hand, Christianity begins with angels singing over Bethlehem's manger, "Joy to the world. The Lord has come".
Our song never ends. In revelation, the saints are singing before the throne of God. Our Gospel begins with a song and it ends with a song. Christianity does have its disciplines. It does have its crosses to bear. There are giants to whip. There are plows to put in your hand without looking back. But if we lose our joy, we have lost our Christian credibility. The wedding miracle took place on the third day. Listen closely. It was a prophetic forecasting of the coming of Jesus Christ for the rapture of the church on the third day. John 2:1 says, "On the third day, there was a wedding in Cana". On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead. The Bible says, "A day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day".
Jesus said to his disciples, you go tell that fox, speaking of Herod, that today and tomorrow, for the next 2.000 years, I will do cures and work miracles. But on the third day, I will be glorified. "Glorified" means he returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords: that he's going to return to Jerusalem to establish the kingdom that shall never end. We are now living in the third day. We are 20 years into the third day. And on the third day, I will be glorified. What is Jesus celebrating in the text? He's celebrating a wedding. It's symbolic of the wedding of the church of Jesus Christ with Jesus Christ. Jesus is the groom. The church is the bride. The marriage supper is happening in heaven. How do you get this? There are six earthen jars. Six is the number of men. When Jesus comes, there's going to be a supernatural, instantaneous transformation.
In John 2, he transformed water into wine, instantly, in the twinkling of an eye. On the resurrection morning, the dead will be transformed, instantly, to have eternal life, glorious life, with a resurrected Christ. In the twinkling of an eye, we will stand in his presence. The madness of planet earth will be over. We're going to a city without social distinction, without masks, without gloves, without fake news, without being brainwashed by the prophets of fear. We're going to wear crowns of glory. We're gonna wear robes of white. We're gonna have mansions of splendor. We're going to the marriage supper of the lamb. It's going to last for seven years. The best is yet to be! The best is yet to be! Give the Lord praise in the house of God!
Listen closely. Stand. Is your life out of control? Does anger and resentment drive you? Is your speech violent? Are your relationships shattered because no one can get along with you? Jesus went to the house for a wedding because he was invited. Have you invited Jesus into your home, into your marriage? If not, do so today. Wine, in the Bible, is the symbol of joy. There are a lot of Bible-carrying Christians who have no joy. You need to have a transformation today. You need to receive joy that's unspeakable. If any of this describes you, those of you in this room, I want you to slip your hand up and I want to pray with you right now. Pray this prayer.
Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin, and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Lord Jesus Christ, as you restrained yourself help me to restrain myself: that I might fulfill your will in my life. I invite you, king Jesus, to be the Lord of my life, the Lord of my marriage, the Lord of my future. As wine is a symbol of joy, today, I receive joy unspeakable and full of glory: joy, the world cannot give and cannot take away. These things I receive, in the authority of Jesus' name. Amen and amen.