Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - The Feast

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Jesus’ first sign was not feeding the poor. It wasn’t healing the sick or raising the dead. It was keeping a party going.  In the book of John, there’s a series of miracles that are called signs. That’s important because it means Jesus’ miracles weren’t naked displays of power. They signify. They’re symbolic. They point to who Jesus is and what he came to do. And the first sign of Jesus’ ministry is turning water into wine. What does that say about him?  Let’s take a look and ask 1) what do the jars point to? 2) what does the brusque exchange with his mother point to? 3) what does the wine point to? and 4) what does this mean for us? This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 19, 2014. Series: Seeing Jesus. Scripture: John 2:1-11. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Welcome to the Gospel and Life podcast. John's Gospel recounts several of Jesus' miracles, from turning water into wine to healing a blind man. John says these miracles are signs pointing us to something greater. But what is it that we should see? In today's sermon, Tim Keller looks at one of these signs and what it reveals about who Jesus is and what he came to accomplish during his life on earth.

Today's scripture reading is from John chapter 2, verses 1 through 11. On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. 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. Woman, why do you involve me, Jesus replied? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he tells you.

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews, for ceremonial washing, each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water, so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, now draw out some and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, and the master of the banquet

tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, everyone brings out the choiced wine first. And then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink. but you have saved the best till now. What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee

was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him. The word of the Lord. Now, between Christmas and Advent, we think about the birth of Jesus and Lent and Good Friday and Easter, when we think about the death and resurrection of Jesus, there's a season that is not, as famous in the church here that's called Epiphany. An Epiphany is a time in which we think about

the life of Jesus, usually by looking at his accounts of what he says and what he does. And what we're going to do at Redeemer for January and February is we're going to look at what the Gospel of John tells us about Jesus' words and deeds, but in particular we're looking at his miracles. So in the book of John, there is a series of miracles that are called signs. You see down here at verse 11, it says what Jesus did here in Cane of Galilee, the miracle of turning water to wine, was the first of the signs. Now, that's important, which means that the miracles of Jesus weren't just naked displays of power. That would get something done just to prove, hey, look, I'm a divine person. Look what I can do. But Jesus miracles are not mere displays of power.

they are signs. That means they signify. They're symbolic. They point to who Jesus is and what he came to do. The reason it's important to point this out is we're going to look at the symbolism here. It doesn't necessarily mean that every single part of the Bible has to be read symbolically. If you read the account of the Battle of Jericho, where the Israelites came in and they sacked the city of Jericho. And at one place, at one point Rachel, I'm probably Rachel, Rahab. puts a scarlet cord, a red cord out of the window of her home, as a sign to the Israelites to spare her home when they sack the city. Now, I've heard people say, look at that and say,

see this red cord here, Rehab's cord? This red cord, what does it mean? What does it mean? What does it symbolize? And the answer is it's a historical narrative. It means that the Israelites shouldn't, you know, should spare the house when they sack the city. It's just what happened.

It's not symbolic. We shouldn't be thinking that every single part of the Bible is to read symbolically. Sometimes it's just telling you what happened. That's not the case here. Because even though this did happen, I don't mean that. But it's called a sign, which means it has symbolic meaning. And it's important for us to realize that the first sign that Jesus Christ's ministry, when you're rolling out a campaign, the very first thing you do is always,

always got to be, all the symbolism is very important. What you do and who you're on the podium with and everything's got to convey what you're all about. Jesus' first line was not feeding the poor. It wasn't healing the sick. It wasn't raising the dead. It was keeping a party going. And what does that say about him? See? How is that a sign? So let's take a look at that. And let's look at three things. First of all, let's look at what are the jars point to? He does his miracle in a set of jars. What are the jars point to? What is the bruskness with which he talks to his mother? What does that point to? What does that indicate? And what's the wine point to? What are the jars? What is the bruskness? What are the wine? What do they point to? What do they symbolize? And then what does that mean for us?

So first of all, let's look at the jars. What are the jars point to? On the third day, A wedding took place in Cana and Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and the disciples were there. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine. Down here, verse six, nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by Jews, for ceremonial washing, each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water. They filled them to the brim.

Then he said, now, draw some out, take it to the master of the banquet. They did so. It was wine. Now, the jars. First of all, what's happening here? Weddings were a big deal. You say, well, weddings are a big deal now. It was a bigger deal then. When I met, when I first met Kathy's grandfather, who was Croatian and who had been married in like 1910 or something like that, I was in his little home, and it was a picture of his wedding, his wedding party, his wife. and himself and the wedding party around. And I said, weddings were big deals in those days, right? And he said to me, ooh boy, four days. And what he meant was his wedding reception, they don't call them receptions then. His wedding feast went on for four days. It was long, it involved the

entire village. It was a far more socially significant event than it is even now. And You also have to keep in mind that even though this isn't life and death, they run out of wine. They run out of wine. Well, especially back then, the wine was what I made a feast to feast. And it was a major oversight, a major problem. This is an honor and shame culture. A lot of us, some of you do know what that is and some of you don't. In a more individualistic culture, it's different, but in an honor and shame culture to bring dishonor to your family, to bring dishonor to your people, it was a big deal.

Also, by the way, in those days, in that time, eating was a value, eating with somebody was very value-laden. To eat with somebody meant friendship, to not eat with somebody meant rejection and disrespect. Everything was more value-laden. It was an honor and shame culture, and therefore, this major lapse in judgment meant that this couple were going to be shamed. They were going to, they were going to experience guilt and shame, and Jesus rescues them. And the fact that he knows he's rescuing them is seen in the fact that he deliberately chooses to make the wine in these jars, the kind used by Jews for ceremonial washing. The ceremonial system, the sacrificial system of worship was such that there were all these various ways in which Israelites were to wash and they were to shed blood and all these things

cleansed people. It represented being cleansed for sin. You can't go in before God unless your sin is cleanse. And what Jesus is saying is this. I have come to bring in reality what the ceremonial and sacrificial rights of the Jews only pointed to. I have come to bring atonement for sin. I have come to bring cleansing for sin. I'm coming to bring the reality to which these things point. He rescues them from guilt and shame. And he has come in order to, deal with guilt and shame. By the way, shame, in English now, the word shame kind of means a general sense that you're not what you ought to be. Guilt is painful guilt over something you've actually done. So shame is more general. I just know that I'm not what I should be. Guild is more pointed.

If you want to get an idea about the two things, one way to talk about shame, for example, is in the 1941, I got it, recently I saw the 1941 movie, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Spencer Tracy. There's a 1931 movie, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, starring Frederick March as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This starred for Spencer Tracy. By the way, watch the 31.

It was much better than the 41. Frederick March does a much better job than Spencer Tracy. But at one place in the movie, however, I got a sermon illustration from 1941, so I like it. There's a place in the movie where Spencer Tracy is at this dinner party, and Dr. Jekyll is explaining that he is working on some kind of science

in which he'll be able to separate the good from the evil in every person to be able to separate them. And this shocks the dinner guest, and one person says, but see here, that's how they used to talk back then, but see here,

aren't you rather presumptuous in assuming that there is evil in all of us? And Dr. Jekyll gets his back up a little bit and says, we'd be hypocrites if we didn't admit it, We've all had thoughts we wouldn't care to have published or shout out loud. Our desires aren't always confirmed in a drawing room. As Christians, shouldn't we face it?

And everybody gets very uncomfortable. You know why? This is a terrific argument. Here's what he's saying. Wouldn't it be a nightmare if all of your thoughts were published? If all of your thoughts appeared on the wall, or suddenly became audible. Nobody could live with that. Do you know what that means?

See, everybody gets very quiet in the drawing room. says, there's nobody here who would be able to live even a few hours with all of your thoughts, the thoughts of your heart and thoughts of your mind, all suddenly being published. You know what that means? We're ashamed of who we actually are. To lose control of what people see about what's going on inside would be a disaster. And what that means is we all know at a certain level we are not what we should be. We know we're not what we should be. we all live with a degree of shame. You see that? Or else we wouldn't have no trouble with that idea, that thought experiment. But probably if you want guilt, there's no better image in all

literature, I think, than poor Lady Macbeth. You remember poor Lady Macbeth? She killed a man. It was part of what she was trying to do to help her husband and so what. She killed a man, but then the guilt destroyed her and she went psychotic and she saw blood on her. She saw blood on her hand that she couldn't get out. She saw blood on her hand and of course her famous delirium, she's saying, out damn spot. See? Who knew that that old man would have so much blood on them? Not all the perfumes in Arabia can sweeten this little hand. Out damn spot. I can't get it out. I can't get it out. And Jesus comes and says, I can. I can get it out. Whatever spot, whatever guilt, whatever stain, no matter what you have done, I can. I can get it out. I can get it out. Whatever. I can get it out. Whatever spot, whatever

guilt, whatever stain, no matter what you have done, I can cleanse it. That's what I came to do. That's the first thing we learned here. Well, how does he do that? Secondly, let's take a look at this interesting exchange. When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine. Woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied, my hour has not yet come. Now, this is an this is extraordinary and it's also a key. First of all, it shows, well, it immediately raises a question because he calls his mother, woman, and somebody says, oh, you're going to tell me in the Greek, it means, no, it sounds, it means what it looks like. It's, it's not wrong exactly, it's not, you know, evil, but it's cold, it's brusk, it is brusk. And in a paternalistic

society, patriarchal society, where your mother and your father were king and queen, it is very stark. But it's, why? He's saying, well, he's in a bad mood? Well, listen, Jesus Christ was tortured to death, and I just want you to know that when you're being tortured to death, that really puts you in a bad mood. And even when he was being tortured to death, you never saw a false word. Now, something is troubling him.

something is troubling him enormously, and he tells you what it is. Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come. In the book of John, the word hour always means the crucifixion. It means the hour of his death. Whenever the hour has talked about, it's the hour of his death. You know what that means? We have a really, really big non-sequitur here.

She comes to him and says, they've run out of wine. and he says, I'm not ready to die yet. Come again? Why does the situation make him think about his death? Why does a wedding feast make him think about his death? Why does the request to keep the wedding feast going, to bring joy to the wedding feast? Because the wine was the joy of the wedding feast, see? Why does this all make him think about his death?

It's not a really easy question to answer, but I think it can be answered. The answer starts with the first. fact that, well, this starts with something that you can see yourself. If you go to a wedding reception, it's interesting to watch single people at a wedding reception or to be a single person a wedding reception. There's always a little faraway look in their eyes occasionally. Why? Because if you're single at a wedding reception, it's very hard not to wonder about your own wedding day. It's very hard not to envision your own wedding day or to think about your own wedding day, right? Very hard not to.

And you say, wait a minute, wait a minute, but Jesus didn't have a wedding day. Oh, yes, he did. Oh, yes, he did. And it was on his mind all the time. What? Jesus Christ was saturated in the Old Testament, with the Old Testament. He understood the Old Testament very well. And in the Old Testament, God constantly calls himself the bridegroom of his people.

Because God doesn't, sometimes he calls himself the king, of course, but God doesn't just want a relationship with his people like a kid. king to a set of citizens. He also wants a love relationship with his people, like that of a bridegroom with a bride. And so sometimes, actually fairly often, he calls himself the bridegroom of his people, the lover of his people. Now, Jesus comes along, and there's one, only if you understand that background, are you as astonished as you ought to be when in Matthew chapter nine, they're talking, they're complaining that Jesus' disciples never fast. John the Baptist disciples were always praying and fasting. They always repenting and fasting trying to get close to God. So they always

had hollow cheeks and they always look kind of, you know, kind of worn out. They're always fasting, not eating in order to pray and all. But Jesus followers never fasted. They always were eating and drinking. And people said, you guys aren't very spiritual. Why don't you're, why don't you fast? And Jesus says in Matthew 9, why should the friends of the bridegroom fast when the bridegroom is still with him. He calls himself the bridegroom. Boy, that's one of those places in the Bible. You read past it, and unless you know the background, you won't be shocked, but you should be shocked. He's calling himself the bridegroom of Israel. He's calling himself the bridegroom. He's calling himself the son of God. And John, the author of this past, of this gospel, also wrote the book of

Revelation. And when you get to the end of the end of the book of Revelation, you see this vision that John has about how history is going to end. And you know how it's going to end? It's going to end in a wedding feast. and it's Jesus' wedding day. Revelation 21 talks about the city of God, which is the corporate people of God, it's us, those of us who believe, coming down dressed beautifully as a bride is dressed for her husband.

And at the very end, there's this call that comes out, you know, blessed is he who is invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb. Jesus Christ is going to have a wedding day, and this is how history is going to end, according to the Bible, that all those people, people, all those of us who have learned to love Jesus Christ and see his beauty, but only by

faith in this life, on that day, we'll see his beauty by sight. And we will fall into his arms, as it were. And the long, the long, waited for union will occur. And it'll be the feast to end all feasts and it'll go on forever. It'll be the joy that will end all joys and we'll go on forever. And see, Jesus absolutely has a wedding day. Why the history is climax and the history of the universe is going to climax in his wedding day. Well, you say, well, then why would that make him sad? Don't you realize? Here's Mary saying, please bring joy to this wedding feast. And if he's thinking about his own wedding, this is what he must be saying in his heart. Oh, mother. if I'm going to bring joy to my wedding feast,

if I'm going to fall into the arms of my bride, first I'm going to have to go through the hour. First of all, I'm going to have to go to the cross and die. And absolutely that's what he's thinking, because he talks about the hour, because he puts the water turned to wine in these jars that cleanse from sin. Jesus was the most influential man to ever walk the earth,

and his story has been told through books, movies and articles in hundreds of different ways. Can anything more be said about him? In his book, Jesus the King, Tim Keller journeys through the Gospel of Mark to reveal how the life of Jesus helps us make sense of our lives. Dr. Keller shows us how the story of Jesus is at once cosmic, historical, and personal, calling each of us to take a fresh look at our relationship with God. During the month of March, we'll send you a copy of Jesus the King as our thanks for your gift to help Gospel in Life share the transforming love of Christ with people all over the world. So request your copy today at gospelonlife.com slash give.

That's gospelonlife.com slash give. Now here's Dr. Keller with the remainder of today's teaching. And that leads us to our third question. What does the wine mean? What does it point to? Well, remember this. Wine was not drunk in a glass. It was drunk in a cup, right?

didn't have glasses. It was drunk in a cup. And there's only one other place near the end of Jesus' life. In fact, one night in which he talks about wine cups twice, once figuratively, once literally. In the Garden of Gassimony, he knows he's going to go to the cross and he's praying and he's sweating and he's bleeding and he says, Father, if it be I will, there's any way out of this, this cup pass from me. Let this wine cup pass from me. He's talking figuratively because the wine cup he's talking about is the cup of wrath. It's the, it's divine justice. It's what sin deserves. Look at sin in the world. Look at evil in the world. Look at injustice. What does it deserve? It deserves punishment. And that punishment is the cup. The punishment we deserve. And Jesus says

there's some way I can get out of drinking that cup, that cup of cursing, that cup of poison. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done, he says. And then he goes to the cross. But see, just before that, he had lifted up another cup, a literal cup, a cup with real wine in it. And he said, this is the cup of my blood. I won't drink it again with you until I drink it in the kingdom. Now, here's what this means. Jesus Christ has to take the cup of God's curse so that we could get the cup of blessing.

He raises the cup of cursing to his lips so we could raise the cup of cursing to his lips so we could raise the cup of blessing. He dies in the dark all alone so that we can be brought into the wedding feast so we can be married to him, as it were. Got it? In other words, the wine, his blood, is joy. See, he turned water into wine in the ceremonial pots. He knows what does this all mean? My blood, which is going to bring, the shedding of my blood, which is going to be agony to me, will be joy to you. Now this idea that Jesus' death brings joy, I think is the theme of the passage, I think it's what the sign is talking about. Let me show it to you on two levels. It brings joy. First of all, in general, why, let's go back to an original question. Why is this the first sign?

Why is this the first thing he wants to tell out of the gate that he's all about? Why didn't he feed the hungry? Why didn't he heal the sick? Why didn't he raise the dead? when the wine is brought to the master of the banquet see this in verse 8 they took it and the master of the banquet tasted the wine that have been turned the water that have been turned into wine he didn't realize where to come from and then he called the bridegroom and said hey everybody brings out the best wine first and the cheaper wine after the gets have too much to drink and can't tell the difference you have saved the best to last now why did the math who's the master of the banquet it kind of the presider the mc

And the reason why he was really happy that the better wine was coming now was it was his job to kind of keep the festivities going. But don't you see, Jesus is the real master of the banquet. He is the real Lord of the Feast. He knows how to bring joy. And I think it's as if Jesus is trying to tell us this. He says, I came to suffer, of course. And my followers will suffer. Yes, they will.

But those are just means to an end. I'm not here to bring suffering. Suffering is not an end in itself. I'm not here because I exult in suffering. I'm not a masochist. I come to bring festal joy. It is as Lord of the Feast that I am come. I'm doing all this so that someday we could be in each other's arms. We can have a new heavens and new earth. All tears are wiped away. All sickness and sorrow and death is all gone. on that mountain Isaiah 25 death will be they will make an end to death so first of all he says I'm here I'm about joy

isn't that interesting that's his calling card I'm here to bring joy but a particular kind of joy and I want you to think about this Jesus it's a little bit of an extended metaphor but think with me the fact that Jesus calls himself the bridegroom God calls himself the bridegroom. Jesus calls himself the bridegroom.

This points to the idea that he is a true bridegroom. Do you know what that means? Look, if you hear this, people, you've heard this. These are very important words. Jesus died on the cross for your sins. If you believe in him, your sins are covered. You're washing the blood of the lamb. God accepts you now for Jesus' sake.

Those are very important words. In fact, as some of you may know, I say them all the time. And yet I want you to know that at some level, that's still kind of an abstraction, but this is not. As a minister who does weddings, I want you to know that I think I've seen as many brides as anybody. Think about it. Who sees more? You say photographers.

Yeah, maybe. Maybe. I don't know. I've seen an awful lot of brides. And I'll tell you where I see them, I'm standing right behind the groom. Do you realize that? I mean, when the bride walks out for the first time, you know, and seen in all her glory, and turns and comes on down, here's the groom, and here I am.

So he gets that once, you know, and I get it like every week, or I did at one time. Now, here's what I want you to know, what I learned about brides. Every woman knows that she has imperfections in how she looks. And evidently, they must spend weeks and weeks and months and months and months thinking about how to make sure that every single one of those imperfections is covered. Because no matter what a woman looks like, when she turns that corner, she comes down as a bride, I mean, I know this is a cliche, but I'm trying to show you, this is not just a cliche. I've been there. I've seen it. You always look up and say, wow, she looks great. And it's not just a compliment. It's not like, okay, you say that to a bride.

No, she actually really does look great. Why? All the imperfections are covered. They've thought about it, and there's just a little dab of powder at the right place and there's just a little all the imperfections are covered and when she turns that corner and the grooms sees her you can hardly keep him where he is from running down the aisle in other words no matter what she looks like in reality as a bride she's absolutely beautiful all imperfections are covered how dare Jesus Christ use this metaphor does he really really mean that he delights in us that way? Does he really mean like a bridegroom feels at that moment that he's ready to do anything for us, anything at all for us? Well, the point is he has done

anything for us, anything at all for us. He's gone to the end. He's gone to the, he's gone to infinite lengths. Is it really possible that because of what he has done on the cross, all of our imperfections are covered. And we are an absolute beauty to him. And he is that committed to us. Is that possible? Yes, of course it's possible. It's the gospel.

But here's what I want you to see. The knowledge of that is the wine. Why is it called wine? Why would the blood of Jesus be wine? Why would the salvation of Jesus be wine? Because it goes to your heart. Because it's joyful. Why would it be wine?

Do you know how to sip the wine of the gospel? Do you know how to think like I just try to do? I mean, with a little bit of humor, just try to do for the last couple of minutes. Just take some of the metaphors. There's also the fact that he's the true elder brother, the true son, and now we're children, and God is our father. There's that. You need to think about what you are in Jesus Christ.

What has happened to you? And to the degree, you realize that he looks at you, the way the bridegroom looks at the bride. There'll be a poise. They'll be a joy. be a peace. Listen, there is nothing better than this to be adored by someone you adore, to be loved by someone you admire to the skies. There is nothing better than that. And the fact is we only have it by faith, but the knowledge that we're going to have it by sight at the end of time, the very knowledge of that is like wine. You can sense it now, you can taste it now, you can

sip it. You can't really drink it, but you can sip it right now. And it will bring you a peace, will bring you a poise, it will enable you not to rest your heart too much in anything else. Have you a taste of that wine? Look, let's ask this question. What would this mean to us? If we took this seriously, and there's the teaching about the fact that he can take out any spot, about the fact that he is our bridegroom, and we're his bride if we give ourselves to him in love and faith, about the fact that the knowledge of how he regards us is the wine. What does that mean for us? Five things.

I'm going to give you five. Five. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Five things, all right. Number one, what do we learn for this? Practically, this is practical application. What do we learn? Number one, I want you to know that any wine except this wine of Jesus Christ will run out.

Okay? Let me get a little allegorical on you here. see if what is it that gives you joy in life you know you may believe in god you may believe in christian you may say i'm a christian but what's the real wine what's the real joy in your life is it your your career hmm or is it a person or is it your family or is it a cause what's the real joy in your life i want you to know that if it's not this it will run out something will come in and ruin it you can't stop it doesn't matter how savvy you are i want you to recognize that all wine but this wine will run out number one number two the second thing i'd like you to learn from this is do whatever he

tells you it's pretty interesting how often in the bible people ask jesus for something and he gives a kind of confusing enigmatic answer there's we're going to see some others instead of just giving you the answer you expect he gives you the kind of what come again kind of answer you her. Now, what's interesting about Mary, why did Mary tell Jesus about the problem to start with? Well, we don't really know what Mary knew about her son yet. But after all, if you read the birth narratives from Luke and the angels and all that, she knew he wasn't normal. She knew he was something special. And whatever her theology, it's hard to imagine she had figured it all this out, but she knew enough about his greatness to go and talk to him. And then she knew enough

about his greatness, not to be too upset. I mean, what she could have said is, I am your mother. How dare you talk to me like that? You know what? Nope, nope, you know. She knew enough to say, to go to the people around him and say, you see that guy over there, do whatever he tells you.

He sometimes acts in a strange way. He sometimes says things that nobody can understand. But I want you to know, he knows what he's doing. And see, frankly, there's a lot of things. things about Jesus we don't get, and there's a lot of things going on in your life right now that you don't understand. It doesn't matter. Do whatever he says. It wouldn't make sense that if he is who he says, everything he says and does would make sense to you. You know, when you have a five-year-old child and you have a 35-year-old parent, sometimes the five-year-old says, explain it to me. And a certain

point, the 35-year-old father has to say, you're five, I can't explain it to you. You're just going to have to do what I tell you. Third, learn how to draw on your knowledge of what's coming in the future to help you deal with the troubles of the present. Edmund Clowney, a teacher of mine and a great preacher, once said this, as he was preaching on this text, listen, I'll read it to you twice. Jesus sat amidst all the joy, sipping the coming sorrow, so that today we can sit amidst all this world's sorrows, sipping the coming joy. See, in the midst of all that joy, why was he saying, woman, hour, you know, death? In the midst of all that joy, he was, in a sense, sipping, foretasting the sorrow to come

so that we can sit in the midst of our sorrows. you will have sorrows, except in the coming joy. Thinking about it. Fourth, this is going to be brief, and some are you going to say, I wish it wasn't so brief, but listen, please don't let marriage throw you. This is all about weddings. This is all about weddings, but please do not let marriage throw you. What do I mean by that?

Well, here's what I mean. Some people are very anxious right now because your marriage isn't very good. Some people are very anxious or angry or upset right now because you're not married and you want to be. Some people are very, very discouraged, maybe despondent because your marriage is really pretty bad. Now, all three of those situations are rather different, and therefore they each have their own distinctive way that you should be responding. But here's one thing you should keep in mind no matter what. There's only one person in the universe that can give you everything your heart longs for. and if you believe in Jesus Christ, he's waiting for you.

And you mustn't think that any other kind of relationship or spouse can ever give you that. You must never look to marriage, to fix you, to give you all the love that you need, to give you all the sense of value and significance you need. If you are, you may believe in God and you may believe even in Jesus, but he's not an existential reality to your heart, then you're going to put all the weight of your soul's longings and hope on somebody or something else, and it will crush him or her or it.

And so what you need to do is, look, you need to say, all right, I want you to do this. I'd like to be married. I'd like to get my better marriage. But I have to also realize that the deepest longings of my heart will be satisfied. The deepest longings of my heart can only be satisfied by one person and he's waiting for me. And what that does is it keeps you from putting

too much, too much, too much, too much hope and too much weight and too much anger and too much even joy in anything but Jesus. You know, okay, lastly, so don't settle for anything but a rich prayer life. Don't settle for anything but a rich prayer life. Jesus came to bring joy. He came to bring sensation. He came to bring love. And even though it's the future, we also are supposed to be able to sip it now. And what that means is you've got to be able to learn how to access this right now. Dwight Moody was a Chicago minister in the 19th century, and in 1871 there was a terrible fire in Chicago, and many of the buildings of his institutions and his church were devastated, and he was devastated. He got very depressed, actually, and he spent quite a bit of time in prayer seeking God's

love. He wanted to sense it. He wanted to remember all that God was, and when he was actually in New York City, trying to raise money to repair buildings and things, his prayers were answered, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, he began to experience God's love. He began to, sip the coming joy. And this is what he says about it. He says, one day in the city of New York, oh, what a day, I can't describe it. I seldom refer to it. It's almost too sacred an experience to name.

I can only say that I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand. I would not now be placed back where I was before that experience if you should give me all the world. don't settle for anything other than a rich prayer life. Don't let marriage or anything else throw you. Do whatever he says. Sip the coming joy. See his glory in this sign and believe. Let's pray. Our Father, all we ask is that you would help us apply this to our hearts by your Holy Spirit. Let us know these realities. Let us know the joy. of really grasping all that we have through your son. And we pray that you would bring the kind of joy into our lives we need

in order to live the lives we ought to live. Thank you, Father, for assuring us of all these things in your word. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening to today's teaching. It's our prayer that you are encouraged by it and that it helps you apply the gospel to your life and share it with others. For more helpful resources from Tim Keller, visit gospelandlife.com. There, you can subscribe to the Life and the Gospel Quarterly Journal.

When you do, you will also receive free articles, sermons, devotionals, and other great gospel-centered resources. Again, it's all at gospelandlife.com. You can also stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and X. Today's sermon was recorded in 2014. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel and Life podcast were recorded between 1989. in 2017, while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.