Introduction
I. In the past, I have spoken from time to time of my friend and former church member, Alex Pfeiffer.
II. Alex was an older gentleman that often gave me much needed support and encouragement in my first pastorate experience.
III. That first church was not very large, and at various times, I would become discouraged, at the seeming lack of growth that was taking place there.
A. As with most small churches, the pastor was responsible for many activities outside of the preaching.
1. One of the activities that I did was to prepare the weekly bulletin.
2. In an attempt not to waste the churches money, I would often try to conserve on the number of bulletins I would prepare.
IV. One of the jobs that Alex enjoyed was greeting people as they came in the church, and handing them a bulletin.
A. One more than one occasion, Alex would ask me how many bulletins I had made for the morning service.
1. “O, I made…” 35, or 50 or whatever the number was I would respond.
2. His next question was often, “How many did you make last week?”
B. About the same number was the typical reply, to which Alex would respond, “Well make more next week. I know God is going to bring some new people to the church.”
1. Sometimes I would protest, But, and I would be lying if I said every week, BUT, sometimes even often Alex would prove right, and if I made more bulletins, we would experience visitors that week.
2. I don’t remember ever running out of bulletins, but I do remember that Alex almost always encouraged me to make more for the following week.
C. “Have faith” he would say; “God wants to do something good here.”
D. I soon learned that faith requires action on the part of the faithful.
V. How do I know that true, biblical faith requires action, well consider that the word “faith” is found in our bibles some 250 times.
A. Allow me to give you a few examples of what Jesus referred to as faith.
1. Matthew chapter 8 reports of a centurion or soldier that approached Jesus concerning a servant of his that was ill.
a. Jesus’ response was, “I will come to your home and heal him, to which the centurion essentially replied
b. “I am not worthy for you to come to my home; just speak the word and my servant will be fine.”
c. Jesus response, in verse 10 – “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”
d. The faith of the centurion resulted in an action of belief in Christ’ word.
2. Mark reports in Chapter 2 of Jesus coming to a home and teaching.
a. A great crowd gathered, so many that when a sick man was brought to Jesus for healing, they couldn’t get near, yet they knew that Jesus could heal.
b. Their response,
(1) Climb on the roof,
(2) Tear away the thatch, and
(3) Lower their sick friend down to Jesus.
c. Verse 5 says, “Jesus, seeing THEIR faith said, ‘son they sins are forgiven, …and the sick man arose.”
VI. True, biblical faith is demonstrated by action of the part of the faithful,
A. Either action before the event, or
B. Action based on the word of Christ.
VII. But it appears to me that faith is not initiated by inaction, nor does it result in inaction.
VIII. My friend Alex was correct, “Pastor you have to exercise faith, and be prepared for what God wants to do here.”
IX. In Hebrews 11, verse one, God says that faith is “…the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
X. Conviction, most typically results in action.
A. God told Israel, “send 12 spies into the land which I have given you.”
1. Moses sent the twelve spies, of which 10 returned and said “it can’t be done.
B. There are giants in the land.
1. Two said, “Come on. God has given us the land. Let’s go.”
2. The acceptance of the popular vote of the 10 resulted in
a. Inaction on the part of Israel,
b. 40 years of wandering in the desert, and
c. The death of that generation, without every seeing the promised land.
C. But for the two who had been willing to act on God’s word, entrance became theirs.
D. I was wondering this week, “What might have happened had Joshua and Caleb said, ‘We are going to take God as His word. If you want to obey with us, we leave at dawn.”
XI. This morning, we are looking at the gospel of John, chapter 4, beginning with verse 43.
XII. This is the story of an unlikely man that exercised faith in God, and reaped a great reward.
XIII. 43 And after the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast. 46 He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain royal official, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, and was requesting Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus *said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off. 51 And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed, and his whole household. 54 This is again a second sign that Jesus performed, when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
Faith Requires We Approach With Confidence (vs. 43-47)
43 And after the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast. 46 He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain royal official, whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him, and was requesting Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.
I. Jesus has just spent some time in Samaria.
A. To this point John has not given any indication of what would cause this royal official would believe that Jesus could heal his son.
1. John has not related any other healing’s that Jesus has done,
A. We have seen Christ turn water into wine.
B. We have seen him explain the new birth to Nicodemus,
C. We have seen his interaction with the women at the well, and then an invitation by the town’s people of Samaria.
II. As he continues his journey, he is approached by a royal official with a request, “Please come and heal my son.”
A. Who is this royal official; we really can’t be sure.
1. It could have been a Roman officer,
2. He could have been part of Herod’s court; we just can’t be sure,
B. What we can be sure of is this
1. He had seen something in Jesus that caused him to have faith that Jesus could help his son,
2. By position, he could have given Jesus and order to come with him.
3. And he had the faith to humble himself, and request that Jesus would come with him.
III. We also know this,
A. John had begun his gospel by saying, the true light of the world,” came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” (1:11)
1. First the Samaritans believe in Christ,
2. Now this “royal official” believes in Christ,
3. Could it be that John is making the point that Christ came to bring life to all that would have faith and believe in Him.
IV. Another point that John makes here is that this official didn’t just ask Jesus once.
A. When verse 47 says, “he was requesting” or “begging” the words mean that he made a persistent plea for Christ to come.
B. Verse 48 seems to be implying that Jesus essentially dismissed this official as only wanting to see a sign, but the man is insistent,
1. Please, come.
2. As in, without your intervention, my son will surely die.
V. It seems that we often wait until every other means has failed before we decide to ask Christ to intercede.
A. God help me, my marriage is about to go under.
B. God help me, I’ve made a wrong decision about my career.
C. God if you don’t help, all is lost.
VI. And what if at first it seems as if God has not heard us.
A. The implication of these first verses is that this royal official made his request, and then made his request, and then made his request again; until he got a response.
B. How often do we fail to come before God in prayer, and
C. How often do we come, Once with our request and say,
1. “Yes, I prayed about it.
2. Now I can only sit back and wait.”
VII. Faith requires us to know where to come, and faith may require us to come more than once.
Faith May Require Approaching More than Once
48 Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
I. Now get this picture,
A. A man, of some authority has sought out Jesus because his son is near death.
1. We can assume that the man has exhausted all humanly known remedies for the situation, which would only be logical.
2. We can also assume that, his being a “royal official”, he is probably used to getting his way.
B. Now here he is,
1. He has come to see this man that so far
a. Has turned water into wine,
b. Confronted a women about her life.
c. And spent two days in Samaria, teaching
2. He has asked nicely, and it’s almost as if Christ is rebuffing him.
C. Almost as if, “I’m already weary of you people. All you want are signs of who I am.”
II. What brought this man to the belief that Christ could heal his son? We don’t know!
III. What brought this royal official to repeatedly ASK for Christ assistance, when normally he could have demanded it? We don’t know.
IV. But the picture is this,
A. The man came because he must have believed that if Christ didn’t intercede, his son would die.
B. And he wasn’t going to give up by only asking once,
1. The Greek in verse 47 implies a consistent asking, “please come before my child dies.”
2. Verse 49 is almost a begging, “please come before my baby dies.”
3. Please come, I will not give up until you have come with me.
V. Again I ask, how many times do we ask once, and then sit back, believing we have done our part, and now we just wait on Jesus to do His part.
A. Now don’t get me wrong; I am not saying that if we ask often enough God will always intercede and give us what we ask for.
1. Sometimes God’s best answer to our prayers is no.
2. Sometimes we are reaping the consequences of our actions, and no amount of pleading will change God’s answer.
B. But sometimes, I believe the lesson comes in the wait.
C. Sometimes truth faith in God demands our
1. Seeking out His will,
2. Praying His will, and not ours,
3. Sometimes truth faith in God demands that we approach Him on a consistent basis.
D. I don’t always say yes to my children the first time either.
VI. Faith requires that we approach Christ with confidence He can act.
VII. Faith may require that we approach Christ more than once.
VIII. Always, faith requires that we act in obedience to His word.
Faith Requires Obedience to God’s Word
50 Jesus *said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.
51 And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living.
52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
I. Three times in this passage a variation of the phrase, “your son lives” is included.
A. But verse 50 begins with “Go your way...” or we might say, “Go home.”
1. Go home; that’s not what this official had asked.
2. Go home; what kind of proof is there in that to confirm that my son is alright.
B. Go home; I asked you nicely to come with me.
II. I believe the most important words in all of these verses are found right here in verse 50, and “Go home, your son lives.” are not them.
A. No. The most important words are the second part of that sentence; “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.”
B. Belief, faith that was confirmed by obedience to what Christ has just said to do.
III. Again, we don’t really know who this man was.
A. We don’t know his background,
B. John gives no details as to how he had heard of Jesus.
IV. All we know is that
A. He had brought his request before Jesus,
B. He didn’t give up, when at first the answer seemed to be know.
C. And most importantly, when Jesus said “Go home,” he went home.
V. It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t what he had asked for, but evidently he understood that if Jesus said to do it, then he should do it.
VI. Consider all the obstacles that this man had to go through in order to see his son healed.
A. First, he had to believe that there was something beyond normally accepted methods that would provide and answer to his dilemma.
B. Second, he had to humble himself, forget his apparent station in life, maybe he even had to ignore the suggestions of others, and personally petition Christ to interceded.
C. Third, he had to even ignore the apparent lack of response on the part of Jesus, and continue to pray for intercession.
D. And then finally, he had to accept what Jesus had said, and return to his home, simply trusting in the Word of God.
VII. Wow, what would happen if we all did that?
VIII. Faith requires action on the part of the faithful.
A. We must approach Christ with the confidence that He can and will act.
B. We must be willing to not give up, when the seeming answer is no.
C. Third, and perhaps most important of all, we must be willing to be obedient to the Word of God.
IX. And when we are, we just might be surprised to find that results begin to happen.
Faith Brings Results (vs.53-54)
53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed, and his whole household. 54 This is again a second sign that Jesus performed, when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
I. Interesting that God sent confirmation to the father, even before he got home.
II. But what I would like us to notice are the results of this mans faith.
III. First, his prayers were answered.
A. Not when he made the request, but
B. When he obeyed Jesus.
1. Christ has not simply said, “your son lives,”
2. He had also said, “Go home.”
a. It took a step of faith for you to come,
b. Now, take another step of faith, and obey me
3. And in that obedient response to his prayer, his son was healed.
IV. Second, “he himself believed.”
A. Now granted, he must have held some belief in Christ, or he wouldn’t have gone to him in the first place,
B. I believe the point here is that through his act of faith, he moved closer in his understanding of who Christ really was.
C. Isn’t that what we all really need,
V. And third, “his whole household” believed.
A. Faith requires action on the part of the faithful.
B. Who was it that discovered that “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction?”
C. It seems that in the realm of spiritual faith, for every action, there is, at least sometimes, a reaction that results in belief in others.
Conclusion:
I. What about you?
II. Many of us claim Jesus Christ as our savior; but for to many of us that seems to be where it ends.
A. Some of us come to church, when we feel like.
B. Some of us serve, if it is convenient.
C. Some of us are obedient, as long as obedience doesn’t get in the way of other things.
III. True, biblical faith requires action.
A. James wrote, - 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
B. Like the muscles in our physical body, when we exercise, we get stronger.
C. So also our spiritual muscles, when we exercise our faith, it only gets stronger.
