Signs
Pt. 2
I. Introduction
I have a sign situation. My situation is not that Jesus did signs! My issue is that Jesus, in John 14:11-14 and Mark 16:14-20, made it crystal clear that we would not only have signs following us, but even greater signs than He performed. My sign issue is that I see no signs following us!
You will also remember that I told you that we don’t see signs because we are too busy chasing what is supposed to be chasing us, we are afraid of the risk that are required to see them, and we assign them to superstars. We desperately need signs because they validate our testimony and the lack of signs reveals the lack of faith on our part.
So today I want us to begin looking at some of the miracles or signs that Jesus performed and see if we can’t learn something from them. I am not going to have time to deal with every miracle. Over the course of our years together I have already hit on some of the prominent miracles Jesus performed. I have dealt with His first miracle, turning water into wine (He uses ordinary things and do what He says to do), the blind man that Jesus took out of the village and touched twice, the woman with the issue of blood, and the man with the withered hand. So I want us to move forward in Jesus’ sign show. Let’s pick up at the 2nd miracle.
John 4:46-54
46-48Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king's court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: "Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe." 49But the court official wouldn't be put off. "Come down! It's life or death for my son." 50-51Jesus simply replied, "Go home. Your son lives." The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, "Your son lives!" 52-53He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, "The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o'clock." The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, "Your son lives." 53-54That clinched it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.
50Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (NIV)
II. Sign
a. Sometimes you have to go out of your way to get an answer to your need.
Apparently this man was desperate. He was so desperate that he was willing to go out of his way to get to Jesus. In order for him to gain access to the miracle of Christ he had to be willing to go the distance. It had to be a pretty good distance to his house because after the healing it took him at least 12 hours to get back home to find out that his son is healed!
How many of us are in dire need for the assistance of Jesus, faced with desperate need and yet we refuse to go out of our way to find a miracle? We won’t do anything out of our comfort zone. Attend another service . . . are you out of your mind? Praise a little harder? Are you crazy? Praise different? I am just not into that! Pray a little longer? You must be insane? Give my tithes or God forbid even above my tithes? That is nuts. Fast a meal? I think I might have to find a different church!
We expect Him to come to us. Our terms. It may just be that you need to do something that costs you. You may have to go out of your way. Too many of us won’t ever see any signs because we do the same thing, refuse to go out of our way, and demand that Jesus meet us in our time frame and in our preferred manner! I challenge you to go out of your way for your miracle! How far are you willing to go? How uncomfortable are you willing to be? When was the last time that you actually made an investment prior to demanding a withdrawal?
b. Don’t let a put off result in a walk off.
Have you ever prayed for a miracle and felt put off? You pray and pray and see no results. Too many of us allow the put off to cause us to walk off. We give up! Some of you have heard “wait” and mistook it for a no and you have walked off. There is something to be said for perseverance! Some of you have given up too soon and too quickly. You have walked off into despair and depression. You have walked off to try to find other solutions or to take matters in your own hands. Just because He put you off doesn’t mean you can’t trust Him or that you won’t see a sign. Wait for His timing. Wait for His touch. We don’t like to wait and our impatience often causes us to walk away from the only real solution we would have ever found! Our cultural is so impatient. We don’t want to wait on food, movies, service, and certainly not on God. Those that wait on the Lord see signs. He doesn’t wait on us . . . we wait on Him.
Notice this man asked again after Jesus put Him off. His refusal to be put off resulted in healing. If your situation is severe enough to approach Jesus in the first place, isn’t it severe enough to refuse to give up when you don’t get the answer you want or need? We must become more determined to see signs!
c. Decide whether you believe it or not?
Notice the statement made about this man. He believed the bare word of Jesus and departed. He took Him at His word and departed. He believed the Word. But it wasn’t enough to just hear the Word. He had to believe the Word.
Some of you hear every week and have been hearing for decades. I know you hear the word! So my question is, “When are you going to actually believe what He says about you?” When are you actually going to believe what He says about your finances, family, and your health? If we are going to see miracles, then we are going to have to take Him at His Word.
His Word is that He heals.
His Word is that He provides.
His Word is that He mends.
His Word is that He promotes.
His Word is that He delivers and sets free.
His Word is that He breaks addictions.
His Word is that He can make the crooked way straight.
His Word is that He can rescue the perishing.
His Word is that nothing (NOTHING) is impossible with Him!
We either believe this or not! And if we believe then our belief should be driving our going! He took Him at His Word and then departed
How many of us get Word and refuse to go our way? He banked on the Word He got! He went his way once He got the Word! He walked away in confidence that Jesus’ Word was enough. He operated on Jesus’ Word as if it was a done deal. How many of us keep waiting around for proof or another Word rather than just accepting it as fact. Faith is what? Evidence of things yet unseen. We allow our five senses to dictate our faith. It is time to allow our faith to dictate to our senses.
He went his way . . . we would have stayed and badgered Jesus. What more do you need than a word? His 5th miracle speaks to the power of His Word. It is found in Matthew. 8:16. They brought him many possessed of the devil – worst situation possible. Not oppressed or bothered by or tempted by a devil . . . out and out possession and He cast them out not with a paragraph or a dissertation. He didn’t exercise them with an hour-long prayer or some magical phrase. He simply spoke one word!
Some of you are waiting on a formula. Some of you are waiting on a feeling. Some of you are waiting on the right moment. If you have a Word you have the formula and your feelings don’t matter! Walk into your miracle. You miracle is found in the authority of His word!
Is there anyone here who will join me in taking Jesus at His Word about this church? Is there anyone here who will join me in taking Jesus Word about our children? Is there anyone here will finally take His Word on your marriage, finances, dating situation, and health? We either believe His Word or we don’t!
Again it comes down to the faith factor. In Matthew 9, Jesus is approached by some blind men and they ask for healing. Jesus asks them if they believed He could do what He says He can do. Their response was, “Yes”. In essence, they are saying “We believe Your Word, Jesus.” Jesus responded by touching them and saying, "According to your faith will it be done to you!”
Your faith level is crucial. What if Jesus said to you today – according to your faith let it be done? Would anything change? Would anything happen? Would healing come? Would breakthrough come?
Our issue is that we don’t have faith in the Word. In Mark 6:4-6, the Bible says, "Jesus said to them, 'Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.' He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And He was amazed at their lack of faith."
At first glance, one might get the impression that Jesus' miraculous power was utterly dependent upon people's faith in order for it to work. However, that is not the meaning of this passage. It is not that Jesus was incapable of performing a miracle in Nazareth. Rather, Jesus "could not" do miracles there in the sense that He "would not" do so in view of the unbelief in that city.
We must be a group of people in which He will do miracles because of our complete and total belief in the power, ability, and effectiveness of His Word. A bare Word is bankable. A bare Word is sufficient. Why? Because a bare Word from Him is never barren.
d. His Word is timely, but isn’t bound by time or distance.
He spoke the word on one day and the man didn’t see the result of that word until the next day. Yet, he discovers that his son was healed at the very moment the Word came across Jesus’ lips. Jesus’ Word was and is timely! You may not see the result immediately, but you can rest assured that His Word isn’t bound by our time frame or by distance. Jesus’ Word traveled miles ahead of the man!
It may seem like your miracle is a long ways off and the timing may not be what you expected, but Jesus has the ability to speak a Word today that will travel ahead of you and resolve and heal something in your tomorrow!
Don’t let your restriction to time and space destroy your faith in the timeless and limitless Word of Jesus! Some of you need to go back and grab onto Words that you were given as a teenager about your marriage. Some of you need to go back and grab words you received decades ago about your business. Some of you need to grab words that were given to you before the birth of your child about your child!
Isaiah 55:11 - So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed.
They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them.
Jeremiah 1:12 – He is watching over His Word to perform it!
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