Tonight
we come to the final story in John Ch.4
Now after the
two days He departed from there and went to
Now
it must have been Hard for Jesus to leave
A)Revival was breaking out –
the people were gladly listening to him
B) There wasn’t the general
sense of religiosity that he experienced in
C) But now he was going to
head back towards
1) Home town boy – syndrome
Lesson:
Sometimes like with his own Son the Lord calls us to go places that are not
easy.
A)Sometimes that call comes
at a time when it seems like everything is going perfectly for us.
B) First
called into ministry: Working at Alpha Beta
Climbing the Ladder - doing great{ Good money
1) And I was experiencing
effective ministry in leading others to Christ – taking to Bible Study.
C) God
called me to leave that and come to a Church to work with the Youth – 10 at the
time
1)Place
far from my normal surrounding – making
$700.00 { Never even heard of
D) It was a great season
that lasted 7yrs
Then
when God called me after 7yrs of being here to go and start a Church in
A)Things couldn’t have been
going better{ Decent salary 150 kids coming regularly campus ministry
B) Started hosting camps/ In
Charge of CC youth pastors conf. { recognition w/
Peers
1) Wed nite Outreaches at
the AVO
Team of about 20 counselors –
C) College ministry: 70pp in
it – Serving
1) Great time of Ministry.
God said time to go – time to Plant –{ Didn’t know anyone.
A)Place no one knew of CC
–Chuck Smith
B) I think we were 1 of maybe
3 or 4
1) Rough Soil - Hard – 1st year tough
C) After 41/2 yrs there –
things were going great
1)
Just moved into our own building after 31/2 yrs at a School. { God said time to go back to
D)
Came here - Been great – time Challenges
Drama
in a big Church
1) Praying Lord once we get moved can I stay
So
the Father does that at times – See it
with Jesus heading back into
A)Isaiah declared in
B) Now when Jesus arrives in
45 So when He
came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He
did in
C) I have seen this happen –
someone gets a little recognition – suddenly – He is great
1)
Jeremy Camp 7th grade Bible/ Sunday nights
People
were scratching their heads
D) Now he is known as a Christian
music star – which he laughs about by the way.
1)
Doing an outreach – people say: Can we try to get
Jeremy Camp
E)When he was hear we could
get 500 people to come here him – Now we could fill Amphitheatre
1) Funny how that works
That is what
is happening to Jesus – He has had a little recognition – people were more
receptive
So
Jesus came again to Cana of
Now
it is interesting that John points out to us here that Jesus did not go back to
A)But he went back to
B) And he tells us in the
last verse of the Chapter that This again is the
second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into
C) It is obvious that John
is wanting to draw a connection between the two miracles –
1) We will explore that
connection in a few minutes
D) But right now let’s
consider this nobleman with a great need.
46b And
there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at
The
word "nobleman" signifies a royal officer: he probably belonged to
Herod’s court;{ Gentile
A)The
fact that he was a man of power and means is evident from the fact that we are
told in v.51 that he had servants
B) We also learn here that he was from
1) So it was about a 4 hr
walk
C) Despite his power and
means – he had a problem that he couldn’t deal with – Son was deathly sick
1)
So when he heard that Jesus was in
D) Implored in v. 47 is
begged – a word that speaks of desperation.
1)
He probably had already had the best doctors look at his son – to no avail.
E) Even the rich and
powerful suffer.
1)
For this man it would be a blessing in disguise it would be the very thing that
brought he and his whole family to the Lord
Trials
in our lives – can be a Blessing in Disguise –if they drive us to the Lord
A)Bitter
or Better / Break you or make you – depending upon your response.
B) Where you go
C)The
life of faith has many different colors and seasons – Joy/Sorrows / Victory
& Pain
1) More
than conquerors through him who loves us!
D) We need to go to Him {
and experience that thru Him power & grace that He supplies
E) This man did the right
thing – He turned to Jesus.
48 Then Jesus
said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no
means believe."
Now
At first glance – We might think
–Wow Jesus that surely wasn’t very seeker friendly
A)This guy comes with a need
– son is about to die and you rebuke him
B) Understand: Jesus is speaking
to the whole group
1) You people: South – You
all-
C) See they didn’t want
anything to do with Jesus when he was in the area last time
1)
But now that he has performed some miracles – they are singing another
tune.
Jesus
is calling them on that – I won’t believe it until I see it mentality.
A)There are those in the
Church today who are just like this
B) They go
from one faith healing service to another
1) Their whole faith
revolves around experience
C) Always looking for the
new experience. – Faith is connected to – their experiences
A)Embracing God’s word –
taking his word at face value
B) Our faith has substance –
It is not miracles or feelings – it is the Word
Paul declared in
Here
is what I have found to be true about the Christian life-
A)First saved – the Lord allows
us to have a time where the feelings are flowing { Often very emotional
B) Emotional – Might Cry -/ Feel Warmth / JOY
1) Feel God’s Presence is
with you
C) But there comes a point
where the Lord says ok now it is time to grow up.
1)
You are not going to feel my presence right now – but you need to believe my
word – My presence is with you
D)
I have literally had periods that have lasted as long as a year where I never
felt a thing
1) No peace / no emotion /
no feelings – all faith
NOT THE FUNNEST
OF TIMES
E) Times where I desperately
wanted to cry – feel something – anything
1) Ring in my ear – Believe
! Trust – Walk by faith
As
hard as those times have been they have also been some of the most fruitful
times of my life. –
A)Times where I have really
been used.
B) But it has been
emotionless –
C) Jesus is challenging this
mentality here.
D)Well notice how this
nobleman responds
49
The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"
A)The father, in a sense,
had replied, "Sir, I'm just a desperate father.
B)I don't want to argue with
you or talk about what class I belong to.
1)All
I know is My little boy is dying and I need your help." I LIKE THAT
HONESTY
C)
A lot of times Bible teachers like to compare or contrast this nobleman with
the one in
1) Recall – He had servant sick
– Came to Jesus for Help { Jesus said lets go
D) He responded – there is
no need you have authority just speak –
1)
I am not worthy to have you are my house
E) Jesus was impressed – I have not seen faith
like this in all of
That
was extraordinary faith – Unusual – the nobleman in
A)He is doing what most of
us would do – Lord please Come !
B) He has an idea of how
this is all supposed to work out – Jesus needs to come lay hands –pray …..
C) Brings up an interesting
question for us. _
Are
you one who insist on
directing the Lord – or are you
willing to be directed by the Lord ?
A)Fair question: Lord do
this / work in this way.
Bless what I am doing
B) Lord – Help me to do what
you are blessings!
1) See the difference.
C)
In the one I have an agenda that I want God to fit into. My plan / my agenda/
1) What I perceive the
answer is to my need
D) IN the latter I realize
that He has an agenda a plan an answer to my need that I want to fit into.
E) Well Jesus is going to
challenge this guy on this very point.
Jesus
said to him V.50 Go your way your son lives!
A)I am not coming – You
believe – you go your way believing in my word.
B) Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God – Believe it – See it
C)Jesus was calling him to believe at a
higher level of faith. { Guess what? He did! This is
Amazing
V.50b " So the man believed the word that
Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. 51 And as he was now going down, his
servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"
52 Then he
inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him,
"Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 53 So the father
knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son
lives." And he himself believed, and his whole household.
Now
there is something that I have always missed about this passage until today.
A)Look at v. 52 find the
word yesterday. When ….
B) This tells us that when
Jesus said – go your way your son lives – this guy so believed he didn’t even
go home
C) He stayed an extra day
there in
1)
But it wasn’t until the next day when he was on his way home – his 4 hr walk
2)
He was met by his servants who said – Your son lives – When – Yesterday at the
7th hour / exact time
That
is commendable faith: Faith that says I so believe that I am going to live my
life like it is a reality
A)We see the faith of this nobleman in 4
stages
B)1st
Crisis faith -. He was about to lose his son and he had no
other recourse but to turn Jesus.
C) Smart move – right move – Crises tonight
1) Turn to Jesus: His plan /
His agenda /
2nd
stage: Confident
faith he believed the Word and had
peace in his heart.
A)He was even able to delay
his trip home, knowing that the boy was out of danger.
B) 3rd stage: His
confident faith became confirmed faith.
1)
He is met by his servants who confirm what He already believed to be true
C) That right there is such a great picture of
the life of faith. – We embrace the word
1) We believe what God says – we
begin to walk in it.
D)What we believe is confirmed as it is
played out in our daily lives.
1) Love the Story – T & P Tried and proven
E) Can I encourage you to be
become a tried and proven Christian!
4th
Stage of his Faith: Contagious faith
A)He believed that Jesus was
the Christ, the Son of God; and he shared this faith with his family.
B)His whole house believed
C) Amazing what happens when
a father – gets saved or turned on to the Lord –
1)
He has a way of affecting his whole house
C)
When Dads Lead – House follows
1)Joshua
24:15 Choose
you this day … As for me and my house …….
D) Great story of the building of this man’s
faith in Jesus.
Finally
before we go: Why the mention of these two miracles in
A) we must note that both
miracles were “private” rather than public.
B)
Mary, the disciples, and the servants knew where the excellent wine had come
from, but the guests did not.
C) The nobleman’s son was
healed at
Contrast
A)The first miracle
performed in
B)Here, His second miracle
was performed at a time of family devastation.
Lesson:
Whether you are experiencing
times of gladness or times of sadness, Jesus is the Man for the moment.
B)Whether
celebration or devastation, a wedding party or a funeral gathering,
1)Jesus
is the One you can count on, look to, and receive from miraculously.
Jesus’
first miracle at the wedding revealed His power over time.
A)Took yrs to make a good
wine – Jesus made the best in an instant
B)In the second recorded
miracle, Jesus showed His power over space.
1)
He was not limited simply because He was in Cana and the sick boy was in