to come
to Christ, and are at the same time assured that we cannot come except
the Father draw us; we are commanded to be perfectly holy, and yet we
know that as the leopard cannot change his spots, nor one of us add a
cubit to his stature, so neither can we put away the sins that stain
our souls and walk uprightly before God. And yet these commands are
plainly given us, not only to make us feel our helplessness, but to be
performed. We feel our inability, we may say it is unreasonable to
demand from us what we cannot perform, to require that out of the thin
and watery substance of our human souls we should produce wine that may
be poured out as an offering on the holy altar of God; but this is not
unreasonable. It is our part in simplicity to obey God; what is
commanded we are to do, and while we work He Himself will also work. He
may do so in no visible way, as Christ here did nothing visibly, but He
will be with us, effectually working. As the will of Christ pervaded the
water so that it was endowed with new qualities, so can His will pervade
our souls, with every other part of His creation, and make them
conformable to His purpose. "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it;" this
is the secret of miracle-working. Do it, though you seem to be but
wasting your strength and laying yourself open to the scorn of
onlookers; do it, though in yourself there is no ability to effect what
you are aiming at; do it wholly, up to the brim, as if you were the only
worker, as if there were no God to come after you and supply your
deficiencies, but as if any shortcoming on your part would be fatal; do
not stand waiting for God to work, for it is only in you and by you that
He performs His work among men.

The significance of this incident is manifold. First, it gives us the
key to the miracles of our Lord. It has become the fashion to depreciate
miracles, and it is often thought that they hamper the gospel and
obscure the true claim of Christ. It is often felt that so far from the
miracles verifying Christ's claim to be the Son of God, they are the
greatest obstacle to His acceptance. This is, however, to misunderstand
their significance. The miracles unquestionably formed a most important
element in Christ's life; and, if so, they must have served an important
purpose; and to wish them away just because they are so important and
make so large a demand upon faith seems to me preposterous. To wish them
away precisely because they alter th