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to the marriage. When they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water, when they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, draw it now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bear it. When the ruler of the feast has tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine. And when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou has kept the good wine until now. This beginning was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changes of the money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen, and poured out the changer's money, and overthrew the tables. And said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence. Make not my father's house, and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them. And they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, and when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men. And he did not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you for every soul here right now, Lord, thank you for this church you've given us, and we thank you for pastors. Please fill in with the Holy Spirit as he preaches unto us your word, Lord. Just bless the service in every aspect of it, Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, okay, we're in John chapter two this evening, and the title of my sermon tonight is Jesus Turning Water Into Wine, Jesus Turning Water Into Wine. This is a great story here, and there's a lot that we can learn just from the 11 verses about this story. And we're gonna go over some of the principles that we can learn from here. But let me start off by talking about the most obvious aspect of this story of Jesus turning water into wine, because this is a famous story, and a lot of Christians know about it. They reference it, we read it, obviously. New Christians read it because they're going through the book of John. But unfortunately, the main interpretation of the story is often overshadowed by people who wanna use this as a justification to drink alcohol, which is pretty crazy. If people want to justify their drinking of alcohol, they go straight to John chapter two, and they'll try to use Jesus as an example of someone who supposedly drank alcohol. So before I get into the actual interpretation of what this story signifies, let me go ahead and just talk about the fact that Jesus made juice, not alcohol, okay? And I think it's important for us to consistently throughout the year mention this topic and talk about alcohol, because of the fact that we live in a society of Christians, unfortunately, that have embraced alcohol consumption. They make excuses why they can drink alcohol, and they'll pervert scriptures to try to fit their narrative of drinking beer and liquor and try to claim that God is okay with it, that God has made it permissible to consume alcohol. There's nothing wrong with it. But really, at the end of the day, what it is is just a bunch of Christian alcoholics who can't seem to kick the habit, and they want the Bible to fit their addiction and to make permission for consuming alcohol. Now, let's talk about this for a minute, because you'll talk to someone about the subject of alcohol, mostly these Protestants, Presbyterian, Calvinist types, and immediately, they'll mock you, won't they? They'll make fun of you, and they're like, Jesus turned the water into wine, and so this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. He must not understand that Jesus turned the water into wine, right? This is something they consistently say, and it's not like they can actually point to you to the story where it actually says it. They're just parroting what someone else has said, and they automatically assume that because Jesus turned the water into wine, that wine equates alcohol, okay? Look at verse number nine here. It says, when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but thou has kept the good wine until now. So according to these Protestants, they claim that there's this party, it's a wedding that's taking place, and what do you do at parties? You drink alcohol, you get drunk, it's a feast, and then they run out of kegs. They run out of alcohol, they ran out of beer, they ran out of the liquor, and then of course Jesus, because what would Jesus do? Jesus is obviously going to help them and facilitate their drunkenness by producing more alcohol. So when men have well drunk, they finished all the alcohol in the wedding, all of a sudden Jesus comes and says, worry not, just as he's gonna multiply the fish and the loaves, he's gonna create more potent alcohol for you to drink so you can keep being a drunkard and keep getting drunk. Obviously, that's such a stupid interpretation, and let me give you a couple reasons why. Number one is because of the fact the Bible consistently condemns alcohol consumption, period. And so when you run into a story or a particular scripture that uses the term wine, you gotta use some discernment. Why? Because of the fact that the term juice, though existing in the Bible, is used very rarely, most of the time when the Bible describes juice and or alcohol, it describes it plainly as being wine. Why? Both alcoholic beverages and juice come from the vine, which later on becomes wine. Vine, wine, that's how the word has evolved. They both come from it. The difference is is that alcohol is that juice that has become fermented, it has taken on alcoholic properties, and juice is fresh, right? It's new juice, it's new wine, whereas alcohol is strong wine, strong drink. Go to Proverbs chapter 23, if you would, hold your place there, and we're gonna look at some familiar scriptures. This is also important because of the fact that as our church grows, you're gonna have people who are just simply ignorant of this particular subject and think that it's okay every Friday or every other week or once a month to go to the bar, go with their family, and have a little bit of wine, have a little bit of whiskey. Hey, the Bible makes permission for it, so it's okay to do it every once in a while. It's never okay to do it. Alcohol should never touch your lips. The Bible consistently condemns it. Proverbs 20, you're in 23, Proverbs chapter 20 says, wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. What is the Bible telling us? If you think alcohol consumption is a good thing to do and you think the Bible teaches it, according to the Bible, you're a fool because whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise, the Bible says. Why would someone, or why would the Bible claim that an individual who thinks that alcohol is permissible to drink, why would he say that he's not wise? Well, a wise person understands what God expects of them. Right? And we get understanding of what God expects from us from the Bible. So if a person doesn't know that alcohol is sinful, that means they don't know the Bible. They don't have the wisdom of God, they're not wise, because the simple are passed on and are punished. Look at chapter 23 and verse 29. It says here, who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath contentions, who hath babbling, who hath wounds without a cause, who hath redness of eyes. Now each of these descriptions is illustrating a person who drinks alcohol. When someone drinks alcohol at a bar, socially, whatever, they're gonna have woe, they're gonna have sorrow, because alcohol makes you all sad. They're gonna have contentions, because they become brazen when they drink alcohol. And they think they can just fight anybody. And they ended up waking up the next day with a broken nose and beat up or whatever. They think, they become a little more loose with their speech, a little more bold, right? Who hath babbling? What is a babbler? Someone who just talks like this, they're incoherent when they speak, because alcohol doesn't make you sharp. It doesn't give you an acute mind. It makes you a babbling idiot. Who hath wounds without a cause? In other words, you come home with cuts on your face, broken nose, black eyes. Why? For no reason. Who hath redness of eyes? Now this one can vary, because I get red eyes, because I have a hard time producing tears. And my eyes are always dry, so I always have to carry around the little clear eyes, clear eyes. I always have to carry those around, and I'm constantly applying those. But in this context, it's referring to the fact that alcohol, you can tell if someone is drunk based upon, first and foremost, their breath, their stammering lips, their sorrow, and the redness of eyes, okay? So the question he's asking is like, who is the individual who possesses all of these physical characteristics that don't really seem appealing to us? First starting, they that tarried long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. Now, what is this talking about specifically? It's not saying that if you look at alcohol, you're gonna get all these things, right? When it says someone who tarries at the wine, it's obviously referring to a person who likes alcohol, and is constantly tempting themselves to drink alcohol by being in the presence of alcohol, right? You know, you have someone who is a former alcoholic, they're never gonna get over their addiction if they're always hanging out at the bar. Why, because they're tarring long at the wine, they're going to seek mixed wine, and so what they're beholding with their eyes, they will eventually consume with their mouth. This is what it's talking about. Look at verse 31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. Now, I'll quote that verse to people to tell them that we shouldn't even touch it, and they mock it. They're like, oh, you know, you're trying to tell me that we can't even look at it. What the Bible's teaching here is don't make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lustre of. That's what it's telling us. You know, if you're a person who's giving over, if you have that weakness in your life, where you like to drink alcohol, and let me just say this, you could insert marijuana in here, you could insert any type of drug in here, and the principle still applies, but if you struggle with that type of addiction, the Bible is telling you that you should have a standard of not even being in the presence of that particular drink, drug, or whatever it may be, because what happens is that when you're in the presence of your sin, you know, you will be enticed, lust will be conceived, lust when it is finished, bringeth forth sin, sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And what it's telling us is that when you make provision for the flesh by just looking upon something that is your weakness, eventually you will give in to that. He says in verse 32, at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder, thine eyes shall behold strange women, thine heart shall utter perverse things. This is why when people drink alcohol, they're more susceptible to commit fornication, adultery, get involved in physical relationships that they will later regret because of the fact that they're drunk. This is why a lot of women who consume alcohol in public settings, they get raped. Because of the fact that it places you in a situation where people can take advantage of you, you would do things that you wouldn't typically do if you were sober, if your mind was in the right place. And it says that thine heart shall utter perverse things. You would say things that you typically would not say because it's almost as if alcohol possesses you, where it kind of gives you a different disposition and someone tells you afterwards like, hey, I can't believe you did those things last night. I can't believe you said that. And you're like, man, I said that? I can't believe I would have said something like that. I can't believe I would do something like that. Yeah, it's because you were drunk, okay? And it's interesting that I said possesses you and they often refer to alcohol as spirits. And I'm not saying that there's like a demon in every bottle, but it makes you act like a demon and it makes you act like someone who is possessed. Says verse 34, yea, thou shalt be, as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast, they have stricken me, thou shalt say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me and I felt it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. So again, kind of emphasizing how stupid it is for someone or how stupid a person is to drink alcohol because they suffer all of these physical ailments. They get beat up, they are sick, they vomit, they get taken advantage of. And you would think someone who experiences that type of repercussion would be like, whoa, I'm never gonna do that again. But the fool will wake up and say, I will seek it yet again. And in fact, I've known people who will drink alcohol, wake up with a hangover, and literally drink alcohol again to reduce their hangover. It's crazy. But you know what, the Bible rings true when it says, when they said they will seek it yet again. So I don't think we could look at Proverbs 23 and say, well, this is different though. No, obviously, Proverbs 23 is telling you, don't drink alcohol. Well, you could drink a little bit. Well, that's funny because it says, don't even look at it. So how can you drink a little bit of it if you can't even get in close proximity to look at it? How do you, you know, you just, the Bible's actually telling us to just stay away from alcohol, period. And there's plenty of verses that we can go, we can look at the law first mentioned in the Bible where we can see what alcohol, the influence that alcohol had on people in the Old Testament throughout the Bible, and you'll always see that it's in a negative context. It's always in a negative light. There's never an instance where someone is drinking alcohol and it just turns out well. There's always rape involved, incest involved, just a bunch of nonsense and sin and iniquity that takes place. You know, God's trying to tell us something here. He's trying to set the tone to let us know this is not a good thing, people should not be drinking alcohol, and it's obviously a simple thing to do. But not only that, you know, the Bible tells us consistently to be sober. So how can you be sober if you're drinking alcohol, even if you are just buzzed, okay? You know, because people don't want to say they're drunk, they want to say that they're buzzed, meaning they're just a little tipsy. Well, if you're a little tipsy, you're drunk. There's no like spectrum on the Bible. There's no meter on the Bible that says like drunk, buzzed, tipsy, whatever, you know? Bible just refers to it as being a drunk. So you cannot be drunk and be sober at the same time, it does not exist. So in order for us to maintain scriptural integrity of what it means to be sober, we obviously have to be honest with ourselves and say, well, that means we can't have any type of, you know, mind altering drug, such as alcohol, because then at that point, we would cease being sober minded, okay? Not only that, go with me if you went to Song of Solomon, chapter eight. Not only that, but the Bible uses the term wine to describe both juice and alcohol, okay? And it blows my mind how many times I've said that to people and they laugh at me, I mean, they literally laugh. They're just like, pastor, don't you know juice was like discovered or invented like in the 1800s or something? And I'm like, what? He's just like, yeah, you know, Welch's grape juice was invented in, I don't know the date, I don't have the date in front of me, but it's like within the last couple hundred years, that was just invented. So I was like, are you trying to tell me that before that, everyone's just drunk? Unless they're drinking water, everyone's just getting drunk because they had no idea that they can drink juice. And then someone told me that, you know, there's this guy, his name is Inspiring Philosophy, there's nothing inspiring about him. But like, he even said, he's like, this pastor doesn't understand that they didn't have refrigerators back then. Oh, thank you for giving me that historical lesson there. I seriously thought they had, you know, some sort of freezer back in those days. That's crazy, I didn't know that. But in his mind, he thinks because they didn't have some sort of refrigerator the way we would have today, they could not preserve the juice and therefore it would ferment immediately. But what they seem to forget is that people back then were able to preserve liquids all the time. And in fact, today in 2024, there are societies all around the world who don't have refrigeration that will use certain systems and tactics and methods in order to preserve juice to keep it from fermenting because I don't know if you know this, drinking juice is delicious. And not every person that drinks juice wants to get drunk. Maybe they just want to feel sugared up and have a little bit of juice with their meal. They will often boil the juice when it's freshly squeezed and it'll keep it from fermenting. You could look at many articles online of people who from the Roman Empire and from the Grecian Empire that spoke of drinking juice and how they would boil it in order to prevent the madness from going into the wine. What is it talking about? It's talking about drunkenness. It's like in order to prevent you from going mad, which is drunk, they would boil it to preserve it in that manner. But this guy's like, no, by the time they would squeeze the juice and put it in there and take it to the wedding and take it to point A, the final destination, it's gonna ferment and therefore they couldn't do it. Now obviously when he made that video, he's doing it with literally a cup of beer in his hand. So, you know, he's one of these people who's obviously trying to make alcohol consumption permissible because of the fact that he's a wino. But he'll say this, he'll often say, you know, juice didn't exist in the Bible. But there's literally mentions of juice in the Bible. And here's one of them and it's used interchangeably with wine. It says in Song of Solomon, eight verse two, I would leave thee and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me, I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. Spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate, this is referring to a non-alcoholic beverage. Because it's talking about juice. So how are you gonna say, first of all, that juice doesn't exist in the Old Testament or in the Bible when we literally found a reference here? And this is what that same guy said. He doesn't understand what the spiritual meaning behind this is. Well, here's the thing, though. We're not talking about the spiritual meaning. But spiritual meanings have to stem from some physical illustration. So if juice didn't exist, then the illustration wouldn't make sense. Because people would be like, what the heck is juice? Juice of the pomegranate, I don't know, what does that mean? They wouldn't know what it meant. This is a literal illustration that it's using here, right? And it's talking about the spiced wine of the juice of the pomegranate. So I gave him that verse, and then he proceeds to mock me, saying, he doesn't know the spiritual meaning. We're not even talking about the spiritual meaning, though. And I've read songs, I know what the spiritual meaning is behind it, because I'm married, okay? We're talking about the fact that juice is mentioned in the Bible, and it's used interchangeably with wine, which is the point that I was making, but then he moves the goalpost and says, oh, he doesn't understand the spiritual meaning. How about you address the fact that I literally said and proved that wine and juice are used interchangeably, and here we have an example of that. Go into Numbers chapter six, I'll give you more proof. Numbers chapter six. And of course, the famous verse in Isaiah 65, verse eight, says this, thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, and once saith, destroy it not for a blessing is in it, so will I do to my servant's sake that I may not destroy them all. So he says that new wine is found in the cluster. You do not find alcohol in a cluster of a grape. You find juice in the cluster of a grape. And again, I quoted that verse, and he was like, well, he doesn't understand the spiritual meaning behind, we're not talking about the spiritual meaning. I'm showing you the fact that the Bible uses wine interchangeably to both describe alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. But let me give you more proof. Look at Numbers chapter six and verse number one. Juice doesn't exist, never existed, it's never been around until the 1800s when Welsh's grape juice came out, everyone was just getting drunk. Look what it says in verse one, this is talking about the Nazarite vow. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speaking to the children of Israel, and saying to them, when either man or woman shall separate themselves to a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. Now, he's gonna give some stipulations to a Nazarite. Some of the things that they are supposed to do and some of the things they're not supposed to do during the time that they are fulfilling their vow. Until the vow has been complete, they are not allowed to participate in this. Now, and he says, they can't drink wine, strong drink, and it says, and shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink. Listen to this next word, neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes. Now, what is a liquor of grapes? Is referring to the juice of the grape. And neither means, aside from what I just mentioned, which is the strong drink, which is the wine, aside from that, you're not supposed to drink any liquor of grapes. What is liquor of grapes? It's juice. So he's saying, obviously, don't drink alcohol, because you're not allowed to do that. But even as a Nazarite, the standard is raised and you can't even drink liquor of grapes. Now, people might get confused about that and say, well, I thought liquor was alcohol. And the modern definition of liquor would be alcohol, but you'll be, I don't know if this, you know this, but it also just means juice. It's referring that which is made, that which is liquefied. When grapes are liquefied, that's what it's referring to, is juice. So, you know, thank God for neither, the word. Because it's showing us that they both can coexist separately, meaning that juice did exist even during this time, because that's why God is telling them, don't drink that. Go to Genesis chapter 40, Genesis chapter 40. Jesus turned the water into wine. Well, you know what, Jesus doesn't contradict the Bible. He came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill, he works in conjunction with the word of God in the Old Testament, because he basically wrote it. And so, therefore, everything that he teaches is in conjunction with the rest of the word of God, including the consumption of juice and alcohol, okay? He does not permit it, it's not right. Now, I gave another example, because, you know, he kept badgering about this concept of, oh, this guy doesn't understand, like once they juice the grapes, once it gets to the marriage, you know, it's just gonna ferment, and they have no choice but to drink alcohol. Because it's just like squeeze and hurry, and they're like, oh, it's alcohol. Bottoms up, you know, this is just what we have to work with But, you know, what this guy doesn't seem to understand, obviously, is the fact that even though juice is readily available to us today, and we can consume it pretty much every single day, in those days it was a luxury. Because it's very difficult to, you know, it takes a lot of work to juice certain fruits and to have it readily available, and to keep cold and refrigerated, of course that's difficult, and so often, this was something that people of wealth can have, right? And in fact, if you really wanted to be bougie about it, back in those days, you know, the king would have someone squeezing grapes into their cup. That's freshly squeezed juice. I mean, that's like, you're pretty high status there, you know, a person is your juicer. And that's their job, right? Look at Genesis 40, verse nine. The chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, in my dream, behold, a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches, and it was as though it budded, and her blossom shot forth, and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes, and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, and I pressed them into Pharaoh's cup and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. So he's talking about this dream that he's having, because he was the cup, he was a butler, but he's gonna become the cup bearer later on, and his job is literally to squeeze the grapes into Pharaoh's cup, and I'm sure Pharaoh's just waiting there for it to ferment. No, he just drinks it right then and there. Freshly squeezed juice. So I give this verse to this guy, and this is what he says. This is a vision. Come on. This is a vision that God gave this man so he can get it. This has nothing to do, and it's just like, so you think this is just a non-existent scenario? This is like, well, look at verse 20. And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants, and he restored the chief butler unto his butler-ship again, listen to this, and he gave the cup unto Pharaoh's hand. So this is the real deal. This is not a vision. But we know that the vision and the dream that he had was going to come to fruition, and when it says that he gave it unto his hand, we would wonder why. Well, because of the vision, we know why, because he's gonna squeeze grapes into it again. Oh, but we're supposed to believe no juice in those days. Welsh didn't exist in those days, and therefore, they had to drink alcohol. It was forced upon them. Well, you know, it's not forced upon you, so why are you doing it? And here's what they'll say. Now go to Ephesians chapter five. You know, they'll also say like, well, you know, a little wine for thy stomach's sake, it's a little good for you, but no, it's actually not. It's actually poison. And we need to stop like listening to idiots online that try to say, it's okay to drink a little bit of wine, a little bit of alcohol, it's not bad for you. No, it's all poison. And look, if it was good for you, if it had any type of healthy properties to it, why don't you give it to a kid? I'll tell you why, because it's illegal, because it's poison. Hey, if it was healthy to consume, why don't you give it to a pregnant woman? Because it'll kill the baby, because it's poison, that's why. And why is it that every person who drinks alcohol doesn't look healthy? They either have a massive beer belly, or they have a huge fat red nose, and if they don't have any of those, they probably have cirrhosis of the liver. That doesn't look like health to me. But it makes glad the heart of man, though. Wine maketh glad, yeah, juice does do that to you. Hey, join us for a festival. Hey, you know, during Gio's wedding, there was sparkling cider, right? And it was good. I mean, I didn't have any, but I know it's good, though. Okay, I cannot have it as of yet, but I know that it's good, because during New Year's Eve and Christmas, I killed a bunch of those. And you know, it makes your heart glad. You're just like having a good time, and you're not waking up with a hangover. It's just having a good time. That's what it's talking about. Wine, when referring to an alcoholic beverage, does not make your heart glad. And in fact, the Bible talks about the fact that it gives you a sorrowful heart, those who are ready to die. And it says to give wine to those who are ready to die. Someone who's ready to die, it doesn't sound like they're really happy now, do they? And here's another thing that they'll say. This guy thinks that they drink juice at a wedding. Well, what's wrong with that? We've had, now we're calculating, it's about like 20 people have gotten married in our church, whether they've had a ceremony here or not, but it's like 20, about 20 weddings. But every single wedding that we've ever had here, though, has always had juice. So what are you talking about? But in their minds, it's like you can't have a good time unless there's alcohol involved. Well, then what you're doing for fun sucks, then, if you have to drink alcohol to have fun, to mask how lame it is. And here's the last thing they'll say, is that they'll say, well, you know, pastor, I agree with you to a certain extent, but it's not a sin to drink, it's just a sin to get drunk, right? That's what they'll say. It's not a sin to drink, it's just a sin to get drunk. And I mentioned this a couple sermons ago, but someone who has never consumed alcohol, if you were to give them a small dose of alcohol, they will get drunk. If they've never drunk an alcohol before, they will get drunk. And the only time they will build tolerance to that alcohol is if they keep drinking and they essentially get used to the alcohol. So explain to me how is it that drinking is not a sin, drunkenness is, if you have to get drunk in order for your body to tolerate the alcohol to the point when you drink, you're not drunk. I mean, think about that. Well, it says be not drunk with wine, though. So we're not supposed to be drunk. I think it's okay to drink a little bit every once in a while. Little whiskey here, little Jack Daniels, because the Bible says, be not drunk with wine, okay? Now let's read it, Ephesians 5, verse 17. Wherefore be it not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. This is the verse that they quote a lot. But I'm gonna read to you the way they think it's written. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but drink a little bit. Is that what it says? Because their alternative, they think, well, if it says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, the alternative is to drink a little bit then. But that's not what it says. It says be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Now, I don't even believe this is referring to alcohol. But let's just go ahead and humor them for a little bit and believe that it's referring to alcohol. Well, the alternative to not being drunk with wine is that you're supposed to be filled with the Spirit, not just drink a little bit. But they add that, well, it's okay to get buzzed and drink a little bit, because be not drunk with wine. No, the alternative is you should be filled with the Spirit. So I don't know what your modern day version of the Bible says, but mine says to be filled with the Spirit not be filled with spirits. And here's the thing, we'll go back to John chapter two. Based upon that argument, think about it, folks, because again, they're saying it's okay to drink a little bit, just don't be drunk. Well then, based upon your interpretation, Jesus made a bunch of people sin. Because the Bible says when men have well drunk, then he brought out the good stuff. So everyone's just all drunk and they're just hammered, and then Jesus just gets them even more drunk. So their interpretation just kind of caves in and of itself because of the fact that it doesn't fly with Scripture. You're basically saying that Jesus made them even more inebriated than what they previously were before he even came to the party. It's stupid. So what's the only valid interpretation? It's juice. Because when you look at all the Scriptures and you compare what the Bible says about alcohol, you're left with no other interpretation for John chapter two than to say that it's juice because alcohol is strictly condemned very clearly throughout the Bible, and the Bible clearly states that we should not touch it, should not drink it. Yeah, but that's Old Testament. Well, John chapter two is also in the Old Testament. So apparently nothing's changed, okay? So I just want to get that out of the way first because that's like, unfortunately, such a wonderful story has been hijacked by these reformed alcoholics. And when I say reformed, I'm not referring to the no longer alcoholics. I'm talking about reformed Calvinists who are alcoholics. These reformers who just, they want to follow after Martin Luther and all these other drunkards of the past, and they want to make alcohol consumption permissible because, I don't know, they're just alcoholics. And you know, you have churches that serve alcohol. They don't mind that, and they have a tattoo parlor. I mean, it's just nonsense. It's garbage. And this is what happens when you get outside of the parameters of God's word and you start taking the church father's opinion over what the Bible clearly says. It's like you'll get a clear Scripture from Proverbs 23, and then it's just like, yeah, but church father did this. Well, I don't care what the church father did. That church father was an alcoholic, probably. He's probably a wino, and you're following in his footsteps. All right, let's move on here. Let's get into the nice things of this passage, amen. It's a great story, but we gotta talk about the fact that it was not alcoholic wine. And I don't mind calling juice wine because the Bible does it, and I think everyone should just have some common sense, though, to distinguish what are we talking about in its context. You say, well, how do you know? Well, when it's spoken of in a good way, it's juice. When it's spoken of in a negative way, it's alcohol. Plain and simple. All right, so let's get into this. So what are some things that we can learn from this passage? Well, first and foremost, we see that this was Jesus' first miracle, okay? It was his very first miracle. Verse 11 tells us that this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. So this is the first out of approximately 37 miracles that Jesus performed in his earthly ministry that are actually listed. But John 21, you don't have to turn there, verse 25 tells us that there are also many other things, which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written, every one. I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written, amen. So obviously, aside from what the gospels actually record, there is just a myriad of different miracles that he actually performed that the writers did not record because there's just so much that he did while he was on this earth. But one thing that's for sure is that turning the water into wine was his first miracle. And I'm gonna explain to you at the end of the sermon why it was his first miracle. It's very significant to the passage and very significant to a particular doctrine. Now, why is this also important? Well, because you have something known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. And the Infancy Gospel of Thomas will claim that when Jesus was a child, he was doing all types of miracles. And Catholics will buy into this as well, and they'll claim that Jesus, when he was a five-year-old, was performing all types of miracles and he was doing this and that and the other. Let me read to you some of the miracles that he apparently did. And obviously, I don't believe this, I'm just reading to you what it says in this apocryphal reading, which is toilet paper. Okay, Infancy Thomas 2, verse 3, he made birds of clay and brought them to life. So, you know, he's just putting mud together and boom, makes a bird and it starts flying. Chapter 9 of Thomas talks about the fact that he resurrected a dead playmate named Zeno. He's playing with a friend, I don't know if he kills him or what or how he dies or whatever, but the point is that he brought him back to life. Infancy Thomas 10 says that he healed a woodcutter's foot. Chapter 12 says that he harvested 100 bushels of wheat from a single seed. 14 and 15 of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas says that he resurrected a teacher he earlier struck down. Ha ha. And there's a bunch of them, but this is the last one I'm gonna cover, Infancy Gospel of Thomas 19 says that he healed James' viper bite, James' brother. They're all playing and then he gets bit by a viper and then he heals them or whatever. This is complete and utter nonsense, it never took place. Now, these are things that Jesus could have done when his earthly ministry began at the age of approximately 30, but the Bible doesn't record him doing any type of miracle prior to that because his ministry began at approximately the age of 30. Now, go to Luke chapter two, if you would. Hold your place there, go to Luke chapter two and let's look at verse 42. This is obviously referring to when Jesus was 12 years old. This is the only information that we have to work off of. Okay? And so let's go ahead and look at how he was at the age of 12. And this is something that has perplexed me as a Christian because of the fact that we know that the word of God was made flesh, Jesus Christ is 100% God, but he was 100% man as well, right? And so I remember talking about this with my pastor friends and we were just kinda like, I wonder how it was for Jesus to kinda find out like, oh, I'm God, because he did have to grow in stature and in wisdom, right? And the Bible even says that he had to learn obedience, so there's some sort of transitional period where he realized or understood he's God. We don't know when that was, but what we do know is that at the age of 12, he already came to that understanding, right? Because it says here in verse 42, and when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast, and when they had fulfilled the days, as he returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance, and when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. How do you just lose Jesus? Isn't that crazy? You have this responsibility as the Messiah, you had one job, you lose Jesus, you know? And not just like they lost him in the marketplace, they lost him like a day ago. Verse 46 says that it came to pass that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all of that, all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers, and when they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said unto him, son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And his response is very telling, and it helps us to understand that at this point, he knew what his purpose was. Because he says in verse 49, and he said unto them, how is it that you sought me? Wish ye not that I must be about my father's business capital F. So at this point, he understands that his father is God the father, and that he is the son of God, right? So this is something that he understood. Verse 52 says that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Now, I don't wanna speculate too much, because obviously, this could be a very sensitive subject, because we're dealing with the son of God. We can't really speculate too much outside of what's already given to us. But the fact that it says that he grew in wisdom shows us that he was born as a man, and based upon his physical growth, that's how he began to receive wisdom and grow in that understanding and grow in that knowledge. And sometime between the fact that he was born till he was 12 is where he understood, like, he's the son of God, okay? But the point that I'm making here is that nowhere in those 12 years do you see him striking people down and making birds out of clay and all this other stuff. In fact, you know, to say that he just struck someone down would be like he's committing murder or something, right? And we don't have any record of that. And you know, Jesus never sinned. The Bible says he was tempted at all points, like as we are, yet without sin. And in fact, I don't even think that he got spanked as a kid, I'll just be honest with you. He's probably 100% obedient, you know? And you know, parents are supposed to spank their children when they disobey, but I don't think Jesus disobeyed. I think he was, I mean, he's God. So he doesn't have that sin nature of rebellion, right? He just, and we'll look at this afterwards, but he was someone who just constantly subjected himself unto his mother and father in spite of the fact that he's God, okay? And that's all I'm gonna say about that. Go back to John chapter two. Another thing that we can see from this story of the wedding at Cain of Galilee is this, is that Jesus was pro-recreation. So how do you know? Because he went to a wedding. He says in verse one, the third day there was a marriage in Cain of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. So they went to a wedding. Now, you say, well, what's the point of that? Well, let me just make myself very clear that I don't think Jesus was just being a sourpuss at the wedding, in a corner somewhere, arms folded. All these people having fun, all these people going to hell, and they're over here getting married and having fun. I think he was probably having a good time with them. Why, he said, why do you think that, Pastor? Because of the fact that if Jesus Christ embodied humanity, he embodied all aspects of humanity minus the sinfulness. And so he embodied joy, because he is joy, he is the source of joy, but I'm sure he embodied laughter and recreation, and I'm almost, I'm like 99.9% sure that he was just having a really good time at the wedding. He wasn't being some hyper-spiritual, holier-than-thou at the wedding, just trying to crash the party and just be like, you know, what you guys should be doing is fasting and praying right now, you know. You know, this is what they were doing in the days of Lot, right, like, you know. They invited him and he went, right? They invited him and he went. So what does that teach us? It actually teaches us that Jesus is pro-recreation. Now, I don't believe he lived in a recreational state at all times. Why, because of the fact that, you know, he only had three years to fulfill this particular ministry, but even with the urgency of accomplishing so much within a span of three years, he took time to relax every once in a while and to have a little bit of fun. And in fact, he told his disciples, come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile. And the Bible says that the son of man came eating and drinking, meaning that he would feast with his disciples, people invited him over to his house, and he wasn't necessarily having a Bible study, he was just eating with them. So I think that's an important point because of the fact that I think sometimes Christians, if they're not careful, can have this holier than thou attitude, or it's just like, oh, wedding, this is a church, you know. Bless God, I'm gonna go soul-wanting during that time. While you guys are out there congratulating Sarah and Geo, you know, I won 10 people to Christ, you know, and I'm gonna be reading my Bible and studying. And often people who have that disposition are some of the most carnal people. And let me just say this, people who do that, when they say 10, more often than not means zero. But let me say this, I also believe that Jesus probably laughed too. Now, do we have a plethora of examples where he was laughing? No, but we do have a lot of examples of God encouraging laughter in the Bible, and speaking of it, of something that's a good thing. And in fact, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10.19, a feast is made for laughter. So like, you know, if we ever have a party, some sort of feast at our church, don't be that one person that walks in with your New Testament or something, and you just wanna have a Bible and just ruin everyone's day. You know, there's a time and place for everything. Enjoy the feast, have laughter. The Bible says a feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh Mary, which is another proof that it's referring to Jews, because alcohol does not make you merry. But money answereth all things, and that's referring to something else. Now, let me read to you a couple scriptures here, because I'm gonna talk about this just a bit. Go to Proverbs chapter one, if you would, Proverbs chapter one. I believe that God likes for us to laugh, okay? I don't think, you know, the Bible obviously condemns being characterized by jesting and just by living your life like that, but I do believe, because you know, the Bible says that there's a time to weep as well, time to mourn, and there is a time to laugh. And I reject this whole stoic philosophy, the stoicism, where you just don't laugh at anything, you don't have any fun. Take that back to the Greeks, okay? I'm a Christian, I'm not some pagan Greek who came up with this stupid philosophy that you just have to be serious all the time, there's no emotion. No, the Bible says to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. In fact, let me say this, is that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. So when you come to church, look a little joyful. Turn that frown upside down, you sour puss. You know, you should come to church and then smile a little bit, and be a little happy. You say, what is there to be happy about? How about salvation? Let's just start there, how about that? The fact that you have a church to go to? The fact that you have the King James Bible? And then when you're in the service, enjoy the service. Sing unto the Lord, laugh at the jokes, have a good time, why not? That's what the Bible tells us to be. You know, when we have joy, and when we rejoice, this is a byproduct of being filled with the Spirit. Being a mournful sour puss who just, is sour all the time, you just can't have a good time, it just shows that you're just a fleshly carnal Christian. You know, either that, or you just gotta consume some more protein, hit the gym or something like that, go run a lap, or something! Get the blood flowing or something! Because there's so much to be joyful about in the Christian life, my friends. And look, don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that this is exactly how we're gonna be 24-7. Because when I get home, I'm home, I'm not trying to laugh all the time. I'm home, I want things to be quiet, I'm ready to hit the sack, I'm tired. There's times of soberness and meditation where when I'm reading the Bible on my own, I'm not just like laughing, you know? I'm sober-minded, I'm thinking upon the Lord, I'm meditating upon the truths of the Bible, I'm shedding a tear, I'm mourning for my sin, I'm thinking upon the principles of the Word of God, that's a time to be serious, amen? Hey, when we're addressing sin in the church, that's a time to be serious! But let me say this, there's also a time when we can just rejoice, and smile. Show your teeth, smirk a little bit, okay? Give yourself a personal facelift every once in a while. And actually show that you're a Christian. Because Christians should be joyful. We're not Amish, we're not Methodists, we're not Lutherans here. Take that disposition to the Lutheran church, with the dude with the band-aid on his neck, and you can sing all the lame songs and be as sad as you want. We don't accept stoicism here. That's not in our doctrine of faith, we don't believe in that nonsense, that's crap, that comes from a bunch of Greeks, who are overcompensating because they're not saved, they have no joy in their life. Yeah, how's that working for you down there? Looks like stoicism didn't help them at all. But you know, I'm glad that I'm able to laugh, and I'm still going to heaven, because my salvation is based upon my faith in Christ, not how serious and stoic I am. Nonsense, my friends. You know, you young guys, you need to get away from that crap. You know, this is one of the reasons why young people, young guys, can't find a girl. They take themselves too serious. Reference the morning sermon, they think they're the main character. You know, I think some girls just like to see you with a smile on your face, enjoying life. The light of the eyes rejoice at the heart, the Bible says. You know what that means? It means when you see someone come in with a lively disposition, it kind of makes you happy. My kids, they come to me and their eyes are bright and they're excited, I get happy about that. When I see people come through the doors and they're happy, their eyes are bright, they're smiling, hey pastor, or hey brother, how's it going? I mean, that makes me happy. And like you said, it's contagious. That's also contagious. That's why no one wants to hang around with you. Laughing, I think, is a good thing. I believe the Bible talks a lot about laughing. The Bible even says, blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. The Bible tells us there's a time to weep and a time to laugh. Look at Proverbs 1 26. Now, if you think, well, you know, I don't think that, I don't think God's about laughter. God has some pretty crazy sense of humor. And you'd be surprised what makes him laugh. He says in verse 26, I will also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. God said that. So he's talking to his enemies who hate him and God is saying, when you are destroyed, I'm gonna laugh at you and then I'm gonna mock. Like, what does it mean to mock? It means like, you know, when their fear, they're like, ah, you know what God's gonna do? He's gonna mock them. He's gonna meme them. Look at chapter two of the book of Psalms, if you would. Chapter two of the book of Psalms. And look at verse number one. I need to go through this quickly because I need to get to a really important part in John chapter two. But look at Psalm two, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine the vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointing, saying, let us break their bands of sunder and cast away their courts from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Look at Psalm 37, go to Psalm 59 actually. Psalm 59, I'm gonna read to you from Psalm 37, verse 12. The Bible says, the wicked ploddeth against the just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. Well that's figurative, figurative of what? What does that symbolically represent? Laughing represents joy, laughing. He could have used a different word but he constantly is using laughter as something that he will do to his enemies. This is why I have zero issue with memeing against the enemies of God. Makes me laugh. You know the comments section on that post recently was making me laugh, because you guys are funny. And it's funny some of the things that you said about the reprobates who bombed our church. I think it's hilarious. Look at Psalm 59, verse eight. But thou, O Lord, shall laugh at them. Thou shall have all the heathen in derision. Now the Stoics, Christians of this world, they'll say this, but that's God though. You know, because you show them all these verses where God is laughing and they're like, yeah, but that's God though. God, you know, it's like, God hates people. Yeah, but that's God though. Basically saying you can't do that because you're not on God's level, you know. That's God though, you can't. The Bible doesn't say that we're gonna do that. That's God who's doing that. Well look at Psalm 52 and verse number one and let's just see if that's true, okay. Look at verse one. Why boast that thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. The tongue deviseth mischiefs like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness, Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee forever. He shall take thee away, pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living Selah. Listen to this, verse six. The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. Lo, this is the man that may not got his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his righteous, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. Ah! He's saying there that we're gonna laugh at them. The righteous shall also laugh at them. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! That's what it says. Why? Because we weep now, so that later we'll laugh. All the mockery of Christianity, all the mockery from the atheists and the fagnostics out there, all the reprobates who hate the Lord, and they constantly mock the things of God. Oh, don't worry, Christians are gonna have the last laugh. It's gonna be the biggest comedy in history. Heaven's just gonna be laughing at the wicked. This is what the Bible says. So it's not just God. God says, you will laugh too. You know why? Because he knows that we want to laugh at that. God has the best punchlines. He has the best punchlines. And so the point that I'm making, go back to John chapter two, the point that I'm making here is the fact that God is definitely full rejoicing, laughter, having joy, being jovial every once in a while. Don't be this person, this cloud, that comes into church and you're just always angry and you're always serious. You know, obviously there's a time for sobriety and gravity, but there's also a time to joy, to laugh, to have a good time. We see this example throughout the word of God, okay? Now, here's another point that I want to make regarding this story. Let me just breeze over this, is the fact that Jesus subjected himself to his earthly parents, okay? Because it says in verse three, when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine, implying you should give them wine. Jesus said that to a woman? What have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. So what does he mean by that? Well, when he says mine hour, he's referring to the fact that he is, that hour that he's referring to is the hour of temptation when he's about to be crucified. Okay, that's what he was actually referring to, okay? So what he's implying here is that when this begins, people are gonna view this, they're gonna want to make him king, and according to the chronology, once they want to make him king, it's only a few days later where they're gonna want to crucify him, which is exactly what happened. So he's just like, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. So he obviously disagrees with her, but look what it says in verse five. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever you saith unto you, do it. So he ended up doing it anyways. And we see this example in Luke chapter two when he says I must be about my father's business, but then it says that he went and subjected himself to his mother and earthly stepdad as well. And I think this is just showing us that Jesus Christ had a perfect balance. He was perfectly balanced in the sense that he kind of let them know who he was, but because he's God, he's also allowing himself to be subjected under their authority and not being rebellious because he's God, okay? And here's the last thing that I want to mention. Look at verse six. Because the question is, you know, when you look at all these miracles that Jesus performed, all of them have some sort of significance, spiritual significance to it, right? Sometimes they signify salvation. You know, they have a lot of different metaphorical meanings behind them. And although they literally happen, they foreshadowed something else, okay? And it's the same thing with him turning the water into wine. And I think this is the reason why it's one of the first miracles that he performed. Look what he says in verse six. And there went, excuse me, and there went, sorry. And there were set there six waterpots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews containing two or three firkins apiece. So these waterpots, which are gonna be used to turn the water into wine, are vessels that were used in the rituals of purifying the Jews. This is an Old Testament thing, right? That's what they would use in those days. Verse seven says, Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water, and they fill them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, draw now, and bear unto the governor of the feast, and they bear it. So obviously we see that he turns the water into wine. So what does this signify? Well, if you think about it, you know, there's a reason why he mentions that these waterpots were for the purifying of the Jews. Because it's a call to the fact that it's an Old Testament practice, filled with water. But then he turns it into wine, which is juice, the fruit of the vine, which is also synonymously referred to as like the blood of Christ. And it's the blood of Christ that brings in the new covenant. So he's signifying here that these Old Testament rituals and purity laws will be transitioned and fulfilled with the blood of Christ that brings in that New Testament, right? That's what it's talking about. So it's not like he just turned the water into wine. No, I mean, when Jesus does something, I mean, it like, it's got a lot of meaning behind it. You know, and obviously we can pull out a lot of other principles, you know, that the best is yet to come, and I preach sermons like that, and that's definitely true. But the main thing is the fact that he's showing everyone that he's turning the Old Testament water, have you, into this New Testament that is sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ, signified by that juice and that wine, which by the way, is further proof that it's juice and not alcohol because of the fact that if it was alcohol, it would have leaven in it, implying that Jesus Christ would have sin in his blood, which he doesn't. Yeah. But not only that, though, okay, that's not the only thing it signifies, because let's keep reading here. It says in verse nine, when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse, but that was kept a good wine until now. So this is just another way of saying, man, this is some good juice. Like, I like this juice, it's just like, you typically, you know, the weddings, they put out the good stuff at the beginning, and then, you know, people leave, and when you start running out of juice, you put the watered down stuff later on, right? But he's like, it seems as though you've held on to the good stuff until now. Now, what is the significance of that? Well, I want you to think about the fact that the governor really liked that new wine. Now, what does it say at the beginning of the chapter? Where is this taking place? Cana of Galilee. Who are those? Gentiles. And what does the Bible say in Luke chapter five, when comparing both Old and New Testament, new wine being put into new bottles, it tells us that new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth the new, for he saith, the old is better. And who's that talking about? Juice. So the only ones who really enjoyed that new wine were those in the Cana of Galilee, the Gentiles. You know who are the people who really enjoyed the New Testament? Gentiles. Gentiles do. We love that new wine. In fact, it tastes better than the old. In fact, there's an entire book that we're going through on Thursdays, called the Book of Hebrews, that is basically telling us that this new wine tastes so much better than the old wine. And anybody, all these Jews, and Hebrew Israelites or whatever, they're the ones who are constantly saying, no, the old is better. The old is way better, and it's not. But you know what, the governor of Cana of Galilee, who is a Gentile like us, we know that the wine that Jesus is producing is way better. People, these Jews are content with the water in these water pots of the Old Testament, whereas we know that this new wine that Jesus gave us through the New Testament is way better. So why is this the first miracle? Because it's showing us that Jesus' ministry will ultimately produce this new wine, which is his blood, sealing that new covenant, and will be widely accepted by the Gentiles, more than by the Jews. They're gonna love that new wine, but those Jews are just gonna be like, no, the old is better. No, it's not. It's watered down, it's lacking. This new wine is way better than what you guys have in the Old Testament. Pretty cool, huh? So when you read this story, think about that. Think about the fact that, obviously, there are principles that we can learn that he makes all things new, and the best is yet to come, but right off the bat, he's telling us it's the Gentiles who are gonna be loving this new wine. And you know what? A lot of Jews thought that the Old Testament was great, but then Jesus turns that water into wine, and it's just actually, this tastes way better. This is more potent. This is juicier. This tastes great. And so that's it, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the symbolism, Lord, and thank you for the admonishments through the Bible that we get, and Lord, help us as your people to continue to spread that new wine to other people throughout our city and throughout the world, Lord, and show them that the new is better. And so may you bless us as we go on our way. Bless our fellowship and our week to follow. We love you and we thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen, song number 100.