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I confess that I enjoy reading and studying about the Bible and I spend quite an amount of time in my life perusing libraries and used book stores' religious sections. One thing that I have discovered through my official and "unofficial" education is that there is a whole world of "academia" -- groups of professors that are so learned that they rarely make sense -- that write these long treatises to each other about little things that they have discovered in scripture. Such books will often quote the original scriptures in Greek and use long words for simple concepts and they will spend forty-five pages talking about the Greek participle used in this particular verse as compared to another and the whole thing makes my head hurt. Usually, it's obvious that these guys have never lead anyone to Christ, and may not even be devout Christians themselves but are just looking for a new angle to impress their academia world and find something that they can spill coffee on their bowtie while they discuss in an ivy league session. In other words, they tend to miss the point of what is truly important.

I'm thankful that you don't have to have a doctorate in ancient languages or a master of divinity in order to understand or apply the Bible to your life. I'm grateful that you don't even have to know much about the Bible for God to come and transform your life. God has made His kingdom based upon a simple concept called faith and without it all the knowledge in the world would not do you any good. You may not read very well and you may not be able to dissertate on the supposed theophanies of the angel of the Lord, and yet if you will hear a promise from the Word of God and believe in it so much that you move in your response to it, then you will receive what God has for you! Really the Word of God comes down to either receiving with faith the promises of God or disbelieving them and thus not receiving them.

Knowing this, I try to preach things that are simple yet profound. And yet every once in a while, one of those stodgy old professors will notice something in the scriptures that is pretty good, and so occasionally -- not all the time -- I will pick up one of these academic works and read them.

One such book that I have been reading for several years now a little at a time is a book on "Johannine Christology." What that means in "English" is "what John has to say about Jesus in His Gospel." (Well, why didn't he just say that!). Some of this guy's revelations are pretty good, once you translate them to common English, and so I'm going to preach to you a powerful revelation but without all of the stodgy language. What attracted me to this book, by the way, was the final conclusion of the prof's studies that he admits to startling him. This "revelation" that he received was revealed in the final chapter of his book, entitled "Jesus is God." He was quite surprised to learn this, and I'm just glad that he could finally figure that out! What I'm going to preach to you, is another revelation from the original Greek language, which I'm going to present to you "potato head" style. In fact, the prof would probably lose his "high waters" if he knew that I was summing up his scholarly work with the simple title stolen from a modern-day comedian of: "here's your sign!"

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What the prof noticed is that in the original language of Greek, there are some neat patterns and stuff that either "John threw in for fun" when he was writing his gospel, or God inspired through the pen of John and that John didn't even realize what was happening. Most of you have heard that the number 7 is the number of God's perfect completeness and that there are 7 zillion "sevens" in the Bible. There are a bunch of sevens that are "hidden" in the Greek text of the Gospel of John that you and I would never notice because we are reading it in English. For example in the fifth chapter of John, where Jesus is talking about His mission, the Greek verb "to bear witness" appears seven times. In the same passage, when Jesus is talking about that in spite of these witnesses, the Jews refuse to believe in Him, the verb meaning "refused to believe" turns up six times, one short of the number of perfection and thus indicating that their faith came up short.

In similar manner, if you read the book of John through, you will notice that he always mentions the Jewish holidays of Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, etc... What you will find if you count is that throughout the book, John mentions a total of six holidays. And then at the end of the book he focuses on the final Passover where Jesus died on Calvary and Jesus' crucifixion makes the seventh holiday! Either John or God did that on purpose to show even through numbers that the Jewish law without Jesus fell short of perfection, but only through the work of Cross in the seventh holiday, could we find redemption and salvation!

Life changing revelation? Maybe not. Could you be saved without knowing that? Absolutely, but I bring it up because it shows that God is much more smarter than we are, and to show you why I so believe that the Word of God is truly the pure, Word of God because no matter how deep you delve off into it, the fingerprints of God's plan are all over it. That's why I sometimes have an "you're an idiot" look on my face when people say "how can you know that the Word of God is really accurate?" because every phrase and every word and every line completely in every way harmonizes and agrees and supports all the others. There has never been a book like this in the history of mankind because there has never been another book where God wrote it through the hands and minds of men! Most people who say "I don't think that the Bible is very accurate" have never truly studied the Bible, because if you would dive off into it and learn about it and compare passages and comprehend what it is saying, then you would come to realize that the only sign that you need that it is true, is the Bible itself! It never contradicts itself and is perfectly harmonious even though it was written over thousands of years from different continents and by different authors. The only way that could happen is if God Himself was the true author just as the Bible says happened. In short, if you want to know if the Word of God is true and you are seeking a sign {hold up your Bible} here's your sign! The fact that it is still relevant and life changing today is sign enough that it is truly what it claims to be!

Do you remember how that God called Moses to go speak to Pharaoh and command him to release God's people from slavery? You may remember that Moses immediately asked God for "a sign" that "you really will be with me and that this will work." And then Moses asked God for a sign to show Pharaoh that he was truly a spokesperson for God Almighty. God gave him three signs for proof. The first was that Moses could throw his rod down and it would turn to a serpent. And after Moses ran away and God called him back, he could grab the serpent by the tail and it turned into a rod again. The second sign was that Moses could put his hand within his cloak and it would become leprous when he brought it out. Returning the hand to the coat and removing it again brought instant healing. And then God told Moses this:

And so the third sign involved taking water from the Nile river and as he poured it out from the container, it became blood. With these three signs, Moses would prove that He really was who He said He was, a person coming in the name of God Almighty to bring deliverance to the multitudes. The signs of changing water into something else, a physical healing, and returning the serpent to a safe rod in the hand would be the "three witnesses" that God would use to prove Moses' calling and authenticity.

In the Gospel of John, there are three specific miracles that are earmarked in the Greek as being "signs" that "manifest" or reveal "Jesus' glory." There are three specific miracles of the many recorded that are marked by such language as "this was to show forth His glory." And these three miracles are also referred to by numbers of the signs as in "the first, the second, and the third, etc..." The first was in our text when Jesus turned the water into wine at the marriage supper of Cana. It was the first miracle that Jesus ever performed and yet the Greek word for "miracle" there is more accurately "sign" which is why most modern English translations let the verse read:

The second "sign" that is earmarked in the Greek is found in the end of chapter four where a man from Capernaum comes and asks Jesus to heal his son. Jesus responds "unless this people see signs and miracles they will not believe." And then after Jesus heals the son, John writes:

The third sign is found after the resurrection of Jesus Christ when His disciples have returned to fishing and Jesus appears to them on the shore of the lake. The scriptures point out:

Our other text that we read mentioned the testimony of the sure word of "two or three witnesses." And in the Law of God nothing could be settled or judged unless it was in the mouth of "two or three witnesses." And so Moses' three signs testified that he truly was who he said he was and that he was sent by God and able to do as he said that he would do. They were the signs given to the unbelievers to become believers. They were the signs given to God's people to know that Moses' identity was true and his word could be established. These signs would show that God was alive and well.

And so it was with Jesus. These three miracles are singled out by John as the "signs" that Jesus was who He really said He was! That Jesus' word could be trusted and obeyed. These were the signs to convince the unbelievers that Jesus had come to seek and save them. These were the signs to the believers that God was at work in their midst. Like Moses, Jesus would perform three particular signs: one involving the changing of water, a second one involving healing, and a third involving pulling something that had been good that turned to evil back to His person to make it good again. All of these would work together as a sure witness that Jesus Christ really was God in Flesh and truly our Savior and the way, the truth, and the life!

And so if you are here today, battling doubt and you are facing the uncertainty that can suddenly creep even into the most devoted of minds, then let me tell you that these three signs are still all the proof you need that God is real and active today! If you need proof that God exists and that Jesus Christ really was who He claimed to be, then I've got good news for you today: here's your sign. Actually "here's your signS" because there are three of them that you can experience today that God has given to convince you that Jesus Christ is the same "yesterday, today, and forever!" If you want a sign that His Word is true and that He can really do what He has said, then here's your signs!

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The first sign is that Jesus still changes water into wine.

Not in the physical sense, because there is no need today of such a miracle. God moves according to our true needs and I haven't known of a situation in modern times that would require the physical sense of the miracle.

But there is a little more to this miracle than meets the first glance. Jesus' first miracle was unique in many ways. Never again would He perform the physical action of turning water into anything again. His response to His mother's faith of "my hour is not yet come" is suspicious given the fact that He went ahead and performed the miracle. There is an allusion and a reference to something greater than just a physical miracle at a wedding feast. "You've started your ministry, Jesus, what do you mean your hour is not yet come?" "You're about to do the miracle and many, many more, Jesus why do you say such a thing?" Could it be that Jesus -- as He often did -- was using the natural in this miracle to refer to something in the spiritual sense?

Have you ever noticed the similarities with the infilling of the Holy Ghost and the miracle of Jesus turning the water into wine? At the command of Jesus, water was poured into stone pots made from earth. At the response of faith to Jesus' Word, the water was transformed into wine. It is interesting to note that throughout scripture both water and wine are used as a symbol for the Holy Ghost. Water referring to the Holy Spirit in general, and wine as the effects of it when received in a person's life. Jesus told the woman at the well about "living water that I will give." Not surprisingly, it is John that tells us that "water" represented "the Spirit:"

So every time you read about Jesus talking about "water" He was referring to the infilling of the Spirit of God! Why? Because water quenches your thirst, and is essential for life and is refreshing and the Holy Ghost is the only thing that will quench your natural thirst, without it is impossible to live faithfully for God, and to quote Isaiah, "it is the refreshing wherein the weary are called to rest" (Isaiah 28:11-12).

And yet when the Holy Ghost was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, there is a similarity between it and wine. When the 120 stumbled out of the upper room they were acting like drunk men, and it was the Apostle Peter who stood up and said "we are not drunk as ye suppose" (Acts 2:15). He wasn't denying that they were acting drunk, but rather just saying that it wasn't the hard stuff that they'd been sipping on, but rather this was the affect of being filled with the Spirit of God! Paul kept the same metaphor that the Holy Spirit was like wine when he wrote the church in Ephesus:

You can get drunk! But not with wine, but rather with the wine of being filled with the Holy Spirit. And so from scripture we begin to get the revelation that the miracle at the wedding feast in Cana was more than just saving a brides' big day, but was a foreshadowing of the miracle of the Holy Ghost that was yet to come! Because the living water of the Holy Spirit was going to flow into earthen vessels of the bodies of men and yet somewhere in the process the water was going to change to a wine-like quality and affect every thing about the person! It would be a high that would be beyond all highs! It would be a taste above all tastes! And so you can say every time that God fills somebody with the Holy Ghost, "He's done it again!" Water has become wine. A sign has been given. Another earthen pot has been used to reveal His glory!

And now perhaps you can understand why Jesus responded with such words as "my hour has not yet come." Because John 7:39 tells us the Holy Spirit was not to be poured out until after Jesus Christ has died, rose again, and resurrected. And at the beginning of His ministry in Cana, it wasn't time for that to happen yet. Jesus was referring to the spiritual meaning of the miracle rather than the physical action!

If you need a sign that God is real and active and that Jesus Christ was really who He claimed to be, then look no further than me standing before you. Look at me and know that I am your sign today of God's faithfulness. Why? Because at the age of nine years old, in a baptistery as I came out of the water from being baptized in Jesus' name, God filled me with the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. You came too late to tell me that it is not real or genuine. You came too late to tell me that God doesn't fill people with such an experience any more. You came too late to tell me it's not for me because it obviously is because I've received it!

Do I have anybody else out there that is a living sign that Jesus is who He says He is? Is there anybody who had the water turned to wine in your earthen vessel through the infilling of the Holy Ghost? Is there anybody else who can stand and say "I'm a sign that God is real and He still fills people and that His promises are the same yesterday, today, and forever?" If you are looking for proof today, here it is. Here's your signs! God still turns the water into wine today but He just does it in living vessels of earth!

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The second sign is that Jesus still heals.

But wait a minute! We want to keep it scriptural therefore we've got to have more than one! We want two or three witnesses to faithfully establish the fact, and so we move on to John's second sign, and that was that Jesus healed the son of the man who came to Him with faith. Like Moses, the second sign of God's proof involved healing.

Before Jesus Christ ever got to Calvary, He first came to the whipping post. As far as our salvation, such a sacrifice in the plan of God was unneeded, but Peter wrote the purpose of those wounds:

The Greek word for "wounds" here literally means "blow mark" or "welt." It is a direct reference to the stripes and wounds placed upon Christ before He ever got to the cross. Why would He undergo such an extra sacrifice? "For your healing!" And notice the past tense of the verb: not you "will be healed" but "you were healed." Your healing was provided for on that day of Calvary! The cross provided you relief from your sins but it also provided healing.

If you want a sign today that Jesus Christ is still on the throne and that He is who He says He is, then look again at me. This bald-headed preacher is a sign to you because I have been healed time and time again by Jesus Christ! When I was about eight years old, I suddenly began to have severe migraine headaches every night. The doctors didn't know why. My parents didn't know why. Medication did nothing for them. Changing my diet did nothing for them. I would be unable to think or sleep. But one night in such a state, my parents took out their Bibles and prayed this scripture and claimed my healing in the name of Jesus. The headache faded and I went to sleep. When I woke up, the headache had disappeared and to this day I have never had another migraine headache! To God be the glory, I'm a sign and a testament and a witness to the unchanging healing power of God!

My father preached here recently about the resurrection from the dead of a lady that my mother saw with her own eyes. Many of you have met Timothy Wallace Jr., and you may have heard him or his father tell about the time that Tim was repeatedly stung by bees, had a severe allergic reaction and died in the woods in his father's arms. The reason Tim is still alive today was because God answered a dad's prayer in the woods and resurrected back to life a young boy that had not showed any signs of breathing or consciousness for several minutes. I have seen blinded eyes opened. I have seen people come out of comas. Some of you know Sis. Patty Zimmermann in San Antonio, and I recently received an email from her giving her testimony of what God had done for her. She has medical proof of her miracle that even the doctor cannot deny. Look at Bro. Patrick here today, and know that he is a sign of God's power! We serve a real God who still heals and who still performs the miraculous.

And I'm happy to say that He doesn't just heal physical issues, but He can heal relationships and issues in the spirit and in the mind. Daniel Whaley who has regularly sat on these pews and will probably do so again, is now in Oklahoma going to college living with a dad with whom he had no contact in most of his childhood and a very strained situation has been made right. He regularly talks to a brother who used to have nothing to do with him. God not only heals physical issues, but God can also heal matters of the spiritual heart!

There are people here in our church that have receive phone calls even this week that began to pave the way for things in family situations to work out and it came after that they had been praying for it to happen! They are a sign of God's faithfulness! They are a sign of His reality! They are a sign that Jesus still works! If you were looking for a sign that God is active and Jesus is able, then look no further than those sitting around you, because you are looking at living, walking examples of the healing power of your God. Look around: here's your signs!

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The third sign is that Jesus still extends mercy to those who have fallen.

And John's third sign was after Jesus' resurrection when many of the disciples had followed Peter's lead and returned to fishing for a living. God has nothing against fishing for fishing's sake, but this was more than just a pleasure trip. When Peter returned to it, he was returning to something from which God had called him from. Peter had forsaken the nets to follow Jesus full-time, and now after Jesus' resurrection and Jesus is not with them day in or day out, in a moment of loneliness and in a moment of doubt, Peter and six others gave up and returned to what they had been called from. In modern day terms, we would say that they were "backsliding." In a moment of darkness, they returned to the very things that Jesus had delivered them from.

And as is usually the case, things didn't go very well for them. Things rarely do turn out for someone "going backwards." They fished all night with no results. As morning came, the tired, frustrated, down disciples glanced toward shore and were astonished that Jesus stood there. He smiled and said "have you caught anything?" knowing full well that they had not. He then said "cast your net on the right side of the ship, and you'll get something." They let the net down again and suddenly there were so many fish that they couldn't haul in the net to the boat! Finally getting their catch to shore, they were even more astonished to see a fire prepared with bread and fish already cooked and Jesus said "come, let's have breakfast and talk."

They had done wrong in returning to their fishing. They had tried to go back to their old ways. In a moment of darkness and a moment of weakness, they had allowed doubt to undo in a second what three and a half years had taught them. But there was no yelling or reprimand from Jesus. Instead they found that He relieved them of their burden, blessed them, and then invited them to come and fellowship with Him! Mercy had been extended!

As usual, there is more than meets the eye in John's account of this miracle. John 21:11 records that there were exactly 153 fish in the net that was hauled in from the boat, the only time in scripture that the precise number of 153 is used. But if you will take the tedious task of combing the four Gospels and writing down each individual that it is recorded that Jesus touched or ministered to in His ministry, you will find that when you remove the doubles and record each individual once, that Jesus ministered to or touched or healed a total of 153 individuals during the Gospels written record! The fish that they pulled in within the net represented what Christ had done in the past, and yet He invited them to partake of fish beyond that number that He had already prepared. When Jesus said, "leave the net, boys, and come over here and dine on what I have for you" He was simply saying "leave the past boys, and it time to walk into a glorious future of new miracles and new ministry and a new anointing that I have for you."

Simply put, "grace" is when God gives you something that you did not deserve. We are saved by grace because we do not deserve such an opportunity. "Mercy," on the other hand, is when God doesn't give you something that you did deserve. We are saved initially by Grace, but we are kept saved through His mercy. Like those seven disciples, all of us grow weak and find ourselves in the wrong boat, heading the wrong direction. And yet, Jesus' mercy is such that He simply says "come back to me." "Leave the past and come forward to a greater blessing that I have for you."

If you are looking for a sign of God's reality and proof of His existence and Jesus' identity and power, then look no further again than this preacher standing before you. I was saved by grace, but I stand before you only because of God's great mercy. I have failed many times in my life. I have sinned since I have received the precious Holy Spirit. I have made some dumb mistakes. I have been caught up in a moment of doubt and suddenly turned direction from a path that I had walked many years. But I can testify to the great mercy of Jesus Christ! He showed up! He helped me out! He drew me to Him once again. He once again invited me to leave the boats and nets and come dine with Him. If you need proof that Jesus Christ is unchanged even today, then look at me because I am a living sign of His mercy. His mercy kept me and brought me back, and it's why I'm here today.

I wonder if there is anyone here today that would stand today as a sign of God's greatness because you too are a product of His mercy. Is there anybody here that can stand and say "I shouldn't be here, and I deserved death, pain, and worse, but God was merciful?" Is there anyone that can stand and say "I received the Holy Ghost and God has changed the water into wine in this earthen vessel?" Is there anybody who can wave your hand and say "He has healed me both physically and spiritually in my lifetime?" If doubt has filled your mind about whether or not Jesus is really real, or whether or not God exists or whether or not He can do what He has said that He will do, then look around you. There's more than three witnesses to the power and reality of God, here. Look around, here's your signs!