Sermon nugget Tues March 18, 2008
Theme – Faith
Verses- John 4:42-48 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
43 After the two days he left for Galilee. (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)
45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."(NIV)
John 20:28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Not seeing, but believing
There are barriers to faith. For many it is hard to believe that Jesus is real. Many times Jesus performed miracles and signs, to prove He was the Son of God not to mention His desire to overcome the works of Satan. Many encounter the supernatural, beyond coincidence and are convicted of sin and believe in Christ. Many are spiritually blind and Satan prevents them from seeing truth. Some fail to come to faith in Christ because of a bad experience with Christianity. Many have a misconception of the nature of the gospel and are told wrong information. Some fail to come to faith because of an immoral lifestyle they are unwilling to give up. Some reject it as intellectual dishonesty. Some are embittered because of circumstances in their lives and out of anger feel they can fight God and reject him or are caught up in self and do not want to yield control of supremacy of their lives. Faith is taking God at his word, regardless of outward circumstances.
Believing Jesus because he spoke to the Samaritans is a noble faith. Afterwards, when Jesus went to Galilee He was met by the man whose son lay sick at Capernaum. This man begged him to come and heal his son. Look what Jesus says in vs. 48 “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.” Faith involved a declaration of God’s word and responding to that word as true without regard to circumstances. If you will, the faith of the Samaritans was nobler because they did not need signs and wonders; they heard and accepted His words and His character as true.
Charles Spurgeon talks of 3 stages of faith, the seeking stage, the relying stage and the full assurance. It is true that faith has different maturity levels, but as we look at these three stories this week, there become illustrations of significant elements of faith. Perhaps they serve as illustrations and examples that help in understanding faith.
The Samaritans show the faith that is ready to respond- they came to see. They were in the first stage of what Spurgeon calls faith to seek. Ripe, ready they just needed to be pointed the way. They desired in their hearts to know God and when he was revealed in Jesus they believed him, because of His word.
The nobleman went to Jesus to see if He would heal his son. There is a difference. But there are similarities, they wanted God. The man wanted his boy healed and saved from death. He heard about the first miracle in Cana at the wedding. Perhaps he was one who tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He had faith. He believed what others were saying about Jesus. The testimony of others is the tool of God to cause people to explore more. He was motivated out of love for his son to come to Christ. There was a need in his life that came seeking something from Jesus. The man believed Christ’s power to heal his son, so he pleaded and prayed with God to persist even with a rebuke. The belief that Jesus could help was strong enough to know to pray but not knowledgeable enough to realize it is not by our own ways. He wanted Jesus to go with him. It was enough that Jesus just spoke the word. Jesus did not have to come down. But when he told him his son would be healed, that was enough and he believed and went. The boy was healed.
Do you believe because of the evidences around you? Do you beleive just because of the word from God? This week we will celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. That is the sign that is key to saving faith-the cross, the tomb, and the miracle that it is empty.
Pastor Dale
