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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ...Jesus
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Christ did in his life, as he cried out, Not my will, but your will, O Lord.
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So Lord, help us to have a right view of you, a right view of Christ. Help us to have a right view of ourselves, and a right view of our salvation.
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Lord, we pray that in our own lives, it will be your will that we seek, and not our own. So Lord, help us to empty ourselves.
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Help us to cast aside our wants and our desires. And I pray, Lord, that we would find fulfillment in accomplishing your will.
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In your desires. Lord, we pray that you would guide us and lead us in this endeavor.
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Help us to walk as Christ did, in the power of the Spirit. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name.
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Amen. Well, let's turn in our
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Bibles to their passage that we've been considering. Moving on a little farther today.
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We're toward the end of John chapter 4. And here we have the account of Jesus healing a noble son, but he's actually set forth as giving life to this son who was at the point of death.
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And so today, in our consideration of this Gospel, we move onward in our study. It was penned long ago by the
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Apostle John. And so through the narrative before us, here in John 4, we follow our
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Lord and his disciples northward from Samaria into Galilee. And after his arrival in the city of Cana of Galilee, Jesus performed a miracle by giving life to the dying son of a nobleman.
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And he did so through a distance, through his word, and that's an important point of this account.
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It was through his word that this boy was healed. And John who wrote this
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Gospel described this miracle as a second sign that Jesus did. The second, which is out of a total of seven signs that are identified specifically by John in his
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Gospel. This account will direct us to consider several matters respecting our faith as we attempt to understand it and apply it.
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Principally, there are some lessons for us regarding the nature of afflictions. This nobleman had an affliction and it hurt deeply.
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It was his son. And how the Lord employs afflictions in bringing souls to faith.
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And we also may receive instruction on how we are to react and respond to afflictions which every one of us encounter at different times.
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And then we'll also consider the nature of faith in the Lord and how the Lord increases our faith and how that faith is manifested in our lives in and through afflictions.
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And then lastly, we'll learn something about the nature of the Lord's Word itself. And how the
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Lord employs His Word in accomplishing His purposes in His people. And so there are applications here that we will receive
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Lord willing. We read in verses 43 and following that after a two day stay with the
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Samaritans who were hated by the Jews and they hated the Jews Jesus and His disciples traveled into Galilee, which lied just to the north of Samaria.
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And we read of John's description of our Lord's arrival there in that region in John 4, 43 through 45.
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Now after the two days, and that would have been His stay in Samaria in the town of Sychar, after two days
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He departed from there and went to Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in His own country.
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So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things
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He did in Jerusalem at the feast for they also had gone to the feast. And so this paragraph begins an entirely new section of the
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Gospel. After six Sundays we depart the woman of Samaria and we arrive in Galilee.
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John the Evangelist established the time and occasion for our Lord to depart from Samaria and arrive in Galilee.
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And a lot of times a statement of place, a statement of time, will be an indicator that a new narrative unit begins with these verses.
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And a narrative unit in the Gospels is commonly referred to as a pericope.
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Jesus stayed two days with the Samaritans and not only were the Samaritans most certainly influenced and affected spiritually, but we should assume that His disciples also experienced quite an adjustment in their thinking about the identity of the people of God.
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These Samaritans were to be included and of God's plan to expand His kingdom beyond the borders of Israel.
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I suspect that with the Apostles witnessing this encounter of Jesus with the Samaritans it enabled them, it enabled the
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Apostles to embrace the later conversions of the Samaritans to Christianity that's recorded in Acts chapter 8.
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The statement of verse 44 seems to be somewhat out of place. You might have noticed that when we read those three sentences.
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It reads, for Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
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And it's put within this context of leaving Samaria and going up into Galilee. Although Jesus was greatly welcomed and received with honor by the
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Samaritans, He knew He would have no honor conferred upon Him by His own countrymen.
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There's a contrast here between the Samaritans and the way they regarded
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Him and what He anticipated among the Galileans, His own people.
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The Galileans would not honor Him actually for who He truly was but rather as we will see the
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Galileans would only desire Jesus for what He could do for them and that's significant.
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There's a lot of people that are in churches this morning not because they've come to truly worship
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God, worship Jesus Christ for who He is but because they want something from Him and they think they're going to get it from Him.
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Now, you know, that's a good beginning motive. Oftentimes the Lord brings us to Himself through difficulties and needs but hopefully we grow past that and we recognize
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Jesus for who He is and we desire to honor Him for who He is, not simply because He gives us the things that we want from Him.
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This was a deficiency on the part of the Galileans. The sentence of verse 44 is set forth as an explanation but it's really not clear what verse 44 explains.
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Now the expression itself is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. In each of those instances, however, it was our
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Lord's comment upon His rejection by the inhabitants of His hometown of Nazareth.
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A prophet's not without honor except in his own country, in his own hometown.
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But here in this account, it's placed prior to Jesus' entrance into Galilee.
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Some have suggested, therefore, that what John was declaring, that Judea was actually
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Jesus' home and not Galilee. Maybe a reference to Bethlehem.
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In other words they say the reason Jesus was going into Galilee was that His ministry in Judea had not been received by most.
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He was without honor there in Judea among His own countrymen and so He was going to Galilee as this quote sought to describe that position.
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Some, it is true, argue that His own country refers to Judea which would have been south of Samaria which
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He was just leaving both by fact and the current interpretation of prophecy, Judea alone could receive that title, that is that title of His home.
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Judea was the home of every true Jew. Similarly, Hoskins, he was a commentator about the middle of the 20th century, maintains that Jerusalem was the home of every
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Jew and preeminently must it be so in the case of the Messiah. It's often added that only this interpretation accords with the circumstances.
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Jesus had been rejected in Judea, His own country, so He turned to another region Galilee. That's a wrong view though.
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Alright, but it's a proposal that a number, some make. The problem with His view is that the gospel,
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John's gospel does not portray Jesus as it having been rejected by the people of Judea.
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They had actually responded greatly to Jesus and His message and further John recorded that it was not due to difficulty or rejection of Jesus that He left to Judea for Galilee but actually it was because He had been so successful and His fame so spread.
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That's why He left Judea and went to Galilee and so it's more likely that Jesus made this statement in verse 44 because He did not anticipate a true welcome of Him and His disciples when
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He arrived in His own country of Galilee. This would then be consistent with what
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He declared in the Synoptic Gospels. Maybe in His human nature
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He was quite surprised at the warm welcome that He and His disciples received and yet again even those who welcomed
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Him there in Galilee did not seem to have true faith. It was a faith based on what they saw, a faith based on seeing signs and wonders rather than faith in Jesus for who
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He was, the very Son of God. And I might just interject this frankly that's the
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Christianity of much of the world today. So called Evangelical Christianity.
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It's the Benny Hinn ministries that are so popular worldwide and what does
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He purport to do? He offers signs and wonders in the name of Jesus and people flock in the hundreds of thousands to His meetings.
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But that is not the kind of faith that the Bible sets forth, faith in Jesus Christ. It's not signs and wonders that generate faith.
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Jesus said, a sinful and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. Those who have true faith believe
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Jesus because of who He is and therefore they believe His word. They believe
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His word not because of what they see, signs and wonders and miracles, but they believe His word because of who
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He is. And that's the emphasis of this passage for us by the way, which we'll get to.
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And so as one wrote, although He will be accepted by those in Galilee, verse 45, it was dependent on the wonder arising from their sight of the signs, that is miracles.
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Not a realization that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. Their acceptance of Him was in its own way a rejection.
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But perhaps what is suggested by this statement that Jesus traveled to Cana is that He would not travel to His hometown in Nazareth.
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And I think that's probably the more specific idea here. He's going up into Galilee, but a prophet is not without honor except in His own country.
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He'd already been rejected in Nazareth. And if you look at a map of the first century, you can actually see that they went to Cana, but they apparently bypassed
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Nazareth to get there. And so it seemed to me that He avoided going to His hometown and went directly to Cana.
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This was the view of Matthew Henry, by the way. Whither Christ went into Galilee, into the country of Galilee, but not to Nazareth, which was strictly
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His own country. He went among the villages, but declined going to Nazareth, the head city, for a reason here given, which
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Jesus Himself testified, who knew the temper of His countrymen, the hearts of all men, and the experience of all prophets.
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And it is this, that a prophet has no honor in His own country. And so He wasn't going to go into Galilee, but He'd stay away from home.
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That is Nazareth. And He went to Cana. Well, when He arrived in Galilee, Jesus discovered some, perhaps many
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Galileans who had witnessed firsthand His teaching ministry in Jesus, in Jerusalem, pardon me, which had been accompanied with the performance of miracles.
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Now, we're reading about seven signs in John's Gospel, but that doesn't mean there are only seven miracles
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He performed. He performed many miracles, but John identifies seven specifically as signs.
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And we'll talk more about those signs and their meaning at a later time. We read in verse 45,
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So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast.
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For they had also gone to the feast. Large numbers of Galileans, of course, would travel to Jerusalem regularly, and they would have to pass through Samaria to get there.
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That was the shortest route. They would go to observe the major feasts. This journey would have been in compliance to God's law, the law of Moses, as we read back in Exodus 23.
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Three times you shall keep a feast to me in the year. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread.
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You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you at the time appointed in the month of Bib. And in it you came out of Egypt.
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None shall appear before me empty. That would be the first feast. And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you have sown in the field.
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And the feast of ingathering. That would be the harvest at the end of the year, when you've gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.
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Three times in the year, all your meals shall appear before the Lord God. And so Galileans would travel to Jerusalem rather frequently.
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The feast mentioned here was the feast of unleavened bread. The feast that the
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Galileans had gone up to when they'd seen Jesus there teaching and performing miracles. And of course, the feast of unleavened bread was in conjunction with the
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Passover. The Passover was observed during this feast of unleavened bread.
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And we read about that earlier in John 2, 23. Now when He, Jesus, was in Jerusalem at the
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Passover during the feast, that would be the feast of unleavened bread, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He did.
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And so when Jesus returned to Cana of Galilee, there were present there many Galileans who had seen and heard
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Jesus when they had recently been in Jerusalem. They had been eyewitnesses of miracles that our
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Lord had performed while there. It had impressed them, and they believed on Him.
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Again, I'm not saying they had saving faith, but they believed on Jesus and He had the power to perform great works, great miracles.
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Now again, it's true that John did not speak of Jesus having performed miracles while in Jerusalem, but it certainly implied here.
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And by the way, this also reveals to us that John, as well as the Gospel writers, did not record everything that Jesus did.
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These Galileans saw miracles He did, but they're not recorded for us in John's Gospel, nor in the
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Synoptic Gospels. As one rightly wrote, once again we're reminded that Jesus did many things which are not recorded.
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It's not John's purpose to attempt a complete chronicle, but only select such events and teachings as will bring out his thesis that Jesus is the
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Christ, the Son of God. So now he does not mention what things, what the things were that so impressed the
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Galileans, but contents himself with pointing out that their attitude to Jesus was conditioned by what they had seen in Jerusalem.
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And that's the point. Their faith in Jesus was a shallow faith, and it was based upon what they saw.
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And so many Galileans welcomed his arrival, which was perhaps somewhat of a pleasant surprise. However, although they had, in a sense, received
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Him, that's what the text says, and we shouldn't understand that they received
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Him with full honor. They gave Him honor of a sort, but it was not the honor that was due
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Him, as our Lord Himself would say so shortly. Well now we come to the episode that's just been introduced for us, the occasion in which
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Jesus healed the nobleman's son, which means actually that He gave life to the nobleman's son because he was at the point of death.
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And so we'll read the account in verses 46 -54 of John 4. So Jesus came to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine, and there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
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When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored
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Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. And Jesus said to him,
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Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe. The nobleman said to Him, Sir, come down before my child dies.
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And Jesus said to him, Go your way, your son lives. And so the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
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And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, Your son lives. And then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.
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And they said to him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. And so the father knew it was at the same hour in which
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Jesus said to him, Your son lives. And he himself believed in his whole household.
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And then this summary statement, this again is the second sign Jesus did when he had come out of Judea into Galilee.
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So we read in verse 46a, So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine.
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We consider this first sign of Jesus, turning water into wine at the wedding reception in Cana.
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And perhaps John made this statement here in verse 46a to connect this miracle with the first one.
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Because this is the second sign, and that was the first sign. And so what's being presented by John, he's attempting to remind us as readers of the major miracles that he's recorded of Jesus.
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Why did Jesus go here to Cana? Well not only had he been there before, but Nathaniel, one of Jesus' disciples who was traveling with him, was from Cana of Galilee.
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And it's likely that Jesus' mother Mary had relatives in Cana. She had a prominent position and role in that wedding earlier that we considered, indicating it was probably the wedding of a relative.
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And therefore Jesus and his disciples could probably be assured that they would find accommodations in Cana while they were in that region.
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We then read in verses 46, actually b, in verse 47, and there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
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And when he had heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and implored him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
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This nobleman was a man of wealth and influence, but his son fell ill seriously so.
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This nobleman was probably an influential political figure in Galilee. He was probably connected with King Herod.
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In fact, in another place of the scriptures it speaks about one of the disciples being of Herod's household.
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Some translate nobleman as royal official, because that's what the Greek word really means.
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This nobleman must have traveled the distance from Capernaum to Cana, a distance of about 10 to 15 miles.
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He knew of Jesus' reputation as a great healer, but he probably also knew of Jesus' compassion and his willingness to help those in need.
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And that this nobleman, this influential and probably rich man, made the effort to make this journey to Jesus shows the great concern that he had for his son to live.
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If he was to be healed, his son, it would have to be Jesus who would heal him.
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The man's concern for his son brought him to Jesus. And often the Lord will use the burden of parents for their children to bring those parents to Jesus.
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Over the years I've known people that started attending the church not out of concern for themselves, but out of concern for their children.
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And the Lord will often use other kinds of motivations to get people initially into the house of God where they hear the word of God and the
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Spirit of God begins to work in their souls. It's interesting that in all the Gospels we never read of any sons or daughters coming to Christ on behalf of their parents.
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It's always the parents coming on behalf of their children. The Lord rebuked the men saying to him, unless you people see signs and wonders you will by no means believe.
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Here the Lord revealed that he knew the state of this man's soul, even the nature and the degree of his faith. It was due to this man hearing or perhaps seeing
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Jesus bring forth miracles that moved him to seek out Jesus. He had faith in Jesus, but it was flawed.
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It was weak. He did not imagine that Jesus could heal his son at a distance.
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Repeatedly, twice he says, come down and heal my son. But in spite of this man's deficient faith, nevertheless the
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Lord had compassion on him. And the Lord saw to it that when this man returned to his son, his faith would be much stronger and of a much purer nature.
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This man undergoes a development of his faith and the Lord Jesus was producing this in him and the way he dealt with him.
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There's good lessons for us in dealing with souls. Our Lord made a generalization about this man's faith, generalizing it, this is the faith of all these
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Galileans. Of many people. And it's very clear in the text that he did so.
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He spoke to the man but when he did he rebuked them all, unless you people see signs and wonders you will by no means believe.
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Now that English text makes it clear. The Greek text makes it clearer. The Lord again was telling, was saying that the faith, the faith in him that's based on signs and wonders is not true saving faith.
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And there's a lot of people who would claim to have or be Christians because they believe in the miracles that God has wrought.
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But that's not enough. The Samaritans had believed on Jesus solely due to his word to them.
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Remember that? The Samaritans said to the woman, now we believe Jesus not because of your word but because we heard his word.
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The Galileans were believing on Jesus because they saw a miracle, signs and wonders. Their faith was deficient.
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It was not of a saving kind. And so this man had a kind of faith when he came to Jesus or else he would not have come.
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But his faith was based only on what he could see. As one wrote, what the
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Galileans saw on Jesus was not who he truly was. It was who they selfishly wanted him to be.
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They thought themselves to be healthy when in truth they were already dead spiritually. This is why
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Jesus speaks right past the father to the crowds, right past the concern of that father to the concern of his father in heaven.
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I thought that was a good word. So understand what happens. The man comes,
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Jesus clearly says you know he has faith but the only reason you believe on me because you have signs and wonders.
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But when he said the only reason you believe on me, he doesn't use the singular pronoun you, he uses the plural pronoun you all.
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This characterized the faith of the Galileans. And this man exhibited that when he came into his presence.
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So the Lord used this occasion really to point out the weakness and the faultiness of these people and their faith.
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They wouldn't have believed unless they saw signs and wonders. And so this man had a kind of faith but it was not true saving faith.
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But thankfully our Lord's words to this father drew a higher and nobler faith from him. And so we read the father's response in verse 49.
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The nobleman said to him, sir come down before my child dies. Again there's a limited faith here.
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He thinks that unless he got the Lord down to Cana, he had to be there physically present. And if he didn't get there in time before his son died, there's no point in going.
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It would be hopeless. He was desperate. But he didn't have faith in the
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Lord ability to just say the word and that man would be healed, that son would be healed. He didn't have faith that the
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Lord could heal that man from a distance. It was a deficient faith this man had in Jesus.
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One wrote Jesus does not deny the poor faith which this official had but declares that this is not enough.
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Is thus calling for a better faith one that is real must however not lead us to the hasty generalization that Jesus wrought signs only in answer to real faith and never where faith is absent.
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And that's often times the teaching of these health and wealth guys. These signs and wonders guys.
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The reason Jesus hadn't done a miracle for you or the reason I can't do a miracle in your presence is because you don't have faith.
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And this writer was pointing out that when you make a study of miracles in the gospel it reveals that the
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Lord Jesus healed people sometimes when there was faith and he healed people sometimes when there was no faith.
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In other words, it's not faith itself but it's a sovereign Lord that brings forth healing.
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The fact is the man was not dissuaded from pleading with Jesus by Jesus' initial rebuke of his faith and that of the
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Galileans in general. Desperation drove the man to look to Jesus himself and not simply what
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Jesus could do but to look to him for the healing of his son. To look to Jesus for who he truly was.
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Jesus first attempts to turn this man's faith in a higher direction namely upon Jesus' own person and his heart.
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And Jesus succeeds with pleading reverence the man lays all his distress upon Jesus' heart.
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It's as though Jesus said to this man oh that you would think less about the wonders and more about me.
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And I think that's one of the emphases that you have in John's gospel. Pointing people that they might know
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Jesus as the true Christ, the Son of God. Not simply as someone who can give you good things.
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We read in verse 50a Jesus said to him go your way your son lives. And the response of the man was a fuller true faith in Jesus Christ.
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We read in verse 51 so the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and he went his way.
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If you mark that mark your Bible you might underline that expression that the man believed the word.
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And that's significant. A significant point in this episode. I might say a quick word about verse 50.
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The New King James Version which we're using reads go your way your son lives. Present tense.
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The English Standard Version which many of us have which is a good translation generally reads go your son will live.
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Translates it in the present tense. And that's not accurate. The Greek text has a present tense.
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Your son's living. Not your son will get better. Your son will be living.
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Your son lives. And that's significant. We read in verse 50b so the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and he went his way.
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God wants us to believe his word. Not because we see some physical evidence as proof that we can believe on him.
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Again a sinful and adulterous generation expects or demands to see a miracle before believing on Jesus.
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And that's very dishonoring to the Lord. I'm not going to believe you Jesus until you prove it by doing something for me.
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That reveals a sinful heart. An unbelieving heart. Not a heart of faith. And then we read in verses 51 and following.
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As he was now going down his servants met him told him saying your son lives. Again present tense.
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And he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
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He was immediately healed at that seventh hour. And so the father knew it was at the same hour in which
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Jesus said to him your son lives. And he himself believed in his whole household.
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Here you have a higher degree of faith. He and his household believed on Jesus.
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They became his disciples. He had saving faith. He believed Jesus' word.
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Not because he saw his son healed but he believed Jesus' word.
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And then it was he believed and then he went and he saw it was true. And so when the man inquired what time his son was restored he was told the seventh hour.
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Probably one o 'clock in the afternoon the previous day. Not that the boy began to recover but that he was fully healed at that seventh hour.
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It was then that the fever left him. The boy was completely destroyed or restored so completely that the servants were at once hurried off to the father.
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Let's go tell him his son's living. He's been delivered. And then the last verse of this pericope is a summary statement positioning the account within the narrative of the larger gospel.
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And so verse 54 reads this again is the second sign Jesus did when he'd come out of Judea into Galilee.
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And so John's gospel sets forth the ministry of Jesus as manifesting seven signs and this is the second of those seven.
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The gospel writer declared this to be the second sign in order to bring remembrance of the first sign. He's setting forth an account to lead to a true understanding of who
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Jesus is. And for also for us to remember the mercies of God as Matthew Henry wonderfully wrote.
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Fresh mercies in other words when God intervenes and gives you a fresh manifestation of his mercy fresh mercy should revive the remembrance of former past mercies as former mercies should encourage our hopes of further mercies future mercies.
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And so the writer is drawing our attention to this is the second of two signs thus far.
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Now that's the account basically but with not a great deal of application so now let's try and consider some lessons that we may glean from our passage.
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First let's acknowledge that there is no one that is not vulnerable to the afflictions in this life and even this young man this son.
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We don't know how old he was but I would assume he was relatively young. Here we read of a son who was deathly ill though he was a young man perhaps just a boy.
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We might think that he would normally have strength and vitality nevertheless we read that this boy is near death this son is near death perhaps a short time before death seemed to be quite distant to this boy but now it's upon him death was at his door and was knocking.
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Christians even all human beings should be mindful of their own mortality that's an important lesson that is found throughout scripture.
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Death might be at our door if it were not for the mercy and the grace of God. If we would think rightly we would be cognizant of the uncertainty of life and I put uncertainty in quotation marks uncertainty from our perspective and we'd live accordingly.
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Yes from God's perspective the duration of every lifetime is a fixed certain date. God appointed the day you were to be born and God appointed the day that you will die and nothing's going to change that.
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As J .I. Packer once expressed Christians should view their own forthcoming death as an appointment in Jesus' calendar which he will keep faithfully keep every one of us unless the
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Lord returns first. God has declared for everything there is a season a time for every matter under heaven a time to be born a time to die and this time to die is fixed by God in his eternal decree.
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Before even creation God determined everything that happens in history from the greatest to the least event.
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I love Spurgeon's quote he says I believe that that the feet of an aphid unsettling the dust on a rose petal is as much ordained of God as the marching of armies to vanquish the world from the least to the greatest of events in history is in the decree of God.
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That's fresh on my mind because I just had to write some class notes for our institutes there in Kenya and India and emphasize this matter of God's God's decree.
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Everything has been decreed including the time of your death. But from our perspective of course we have no clue as to when that will be.
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David once confessed my times are in your hands but the fact is we should be mindful of our own mortality the certainty of our death and the uncertainty of when that will occur should shape how we think and how we live.
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And yet there's something about fallen man that he will ignore or even suppress the thought of his own mortality.
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The Lord Jesus described this kind of man as a fool. We read of our
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Lord's parable of the man who lived with no regard to his death whether it be sooner or later.
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Luke 12 Jesus said one of them from the crowd said to him teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
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Settle this estate between my brother and me. He said to him man who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?
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And he said take heed of covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses.
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And he spoke a parable to them saying the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully and he thought within himself saying what shall
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I do since I have no room to store my crops. So he said this I will do this
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I will pull down my barns build greater and there I will store all my crops and my goods and I will say to my soul soul you have many goods laid up for many years take your ease eat drink and be merry.
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But God said to him fool this night your soul will be required of you.
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Then whose will those things be which you provided? And so he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
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We ought to if we're thinking rightly and living rightly we ought to live each day as though tonight the
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Lord is going to call us into his presence. However younger people will often have little thought of their own death.
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And actually this is a rather paradoxical matter because on the one hand it would seem the younger generation has a preoccupation with death.
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Let's consider the Halloween season we just went through. The television commercials that you see this preoccupation with death and yet that may be said generally but when you speak to an individual younger person directly they think that they're going to be the exception.
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And again I'm speaking from experience as a young man thought I was invincible and I lived accordingly incredibly and the
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Lord was merciful sparing me. But in the Lord's providence one of my good friends with whom
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I was out having a wild time on a Friday night the next morning he was tragically killed in a hunting accident through a stray .22
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bullet. And the Lord used that event to put the fear of God in my own soul regarding the uncertainty of life and the fact
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I was mortal. And for the first time I became aware of the fact that I'm not necessarily guaranteed a long life in this world.
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And within a couple weeks I was converted to Christ. And often times it's a person's sense of their own mortality that will bring them to consider the matters of eternity.
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But as Christians we should think of these terms always. Job expressed the words in his prayer, my days are determined the number of his months.
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My months is with you. He was mindful of his own mortality and so should we be.
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And so may the Lord help us to be mindful of the wonderful life he's granted us. May we enjoy and value the life he's given us as we live before him.
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But may he also enable us to keep our own mortality before us. No, not in a morbid fearful way.
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But that it might help us and lead us to wisdom. Knowing how to order our lives rightly in the light of who
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God is. And in the light of the truth the fact that we are accountable to him.
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We should take to word the warning that God gave to Israel prepare to meet your
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God. And we ought to live each day prepared to meet our
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God. None of us are guaranteed that we're going to be here next Sunday. Secondly, there is no one that is not vulnerable to the affliction of this life, even the rich man.
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And there's a point of emphasis here, this was a noble man. He was a rich man, probably a powerful man in his community.
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And J .C. Ryle, I appreciate him, drew this lesson from this passage. The lesson is one which needs to be constantly impressed upon the minds of men.
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There is no more common or mischievous error than to suppose that the rich have no cares. The rich are as liable to sickness as the poor, and have a hundred anxieties beside of which the poor know nothing at all.
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Silks and satins often cover heavy hearts. The dwellers in palaces often sleep more uneasily than the dwellers in cottages.
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Gold and silver can lift no man beyond the reach of trouble. They may shut out debt and rags, but they cannot shut out care that is anxiety, disease, and death.
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The higher the tree, the more it is shaken by the storms. The broader its branches, the greater is the mark which it exposes to the tempest.
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David was a happier man when he kept his father's sheep at Bethlehem than when he dwelt as a king at Jerusalem and governed the twelve tribes of Israel.
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And yet, there's a temptation to think this way, if only I were a rich man things would be a lot better.
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Thought of Tevi, you know, the fiddler on the roof, Lord, who made the lion and the lamb? You decreed
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I should be what I am. Would it spoil some vast eternal plan if I were a wealthy man?
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That's a reflection of a covetous heart, isn't it? That's not saying it's not wrong to have goals and aspire to do well and succeed, but do it for the glory of God, not because you think that somehow it's going to make your life a lot easier.
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What underscores this thinking is that life would be much better off for us if we were so, if we were wealthy.
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The scriptures of course correct this wrong notion, giving us a right assessment and perspective on this matter.
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And so James wrote, let the lowly brother, and he's talking about those in poverty, let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation.
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In other words, think upon and thank God and glory in the fact that even though you're in poverty,
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God has made you his son. And you've got a kingdom you're going to inherit one day. But the rich you to glory in your humiliation.
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You're just a sinner saved by grace just like anybody else. Because as a flower of the field, he'll pass away, no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it, and he's talking about the rich here, withers the grass its flower, falls its beauty appearance, beautiful appearance perishes, so the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
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And yet, many, that's how they govern their lives. But ultimately it's not a matter of how much money you have, that's not what we're talking about.
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But rather, the problem, the real problem is how much the heart desires to have riches.
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And so the problem of riches can be that of the rich man or the poor man. You should read the appeals
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I get weekly from third world countries. You know, they think that we're just rolling in money over here.
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And you can see the covetousness coming through. There's a lot of good, sincere people that you know, just are trying to build the kingdom.
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Pastor Prem in India, Pastor Andrew in Kenya, good, godly men. And that comes over.
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But I hear it all. And they desire to have riches. As Paul wrote in 1st
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Timothy, he was writing to Timothy instructing him on how to pastor a church, the church at Ephesus.
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Let as many as bond servants, that is slaves, who are under the yoke, count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and his doctrine may not be blasphemed.
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And those, in other words those slaves who have believing masters, okay, your slave owner is a Christian, let them not despise them because they're brethren, but rather serve them because they who are benefited are believers and beloved.
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If you're you know, if you're owner, slave, if you're a slave and your slave owner is a
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Christian, well you ought to rejoice that you get to serve a Christian. Teach and exhort these things. And one of the reasons
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I mentioned this this morning because this is instruction to the pastor, to Timothy, teach and exhort these things.
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I'm supposed to do it. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our
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Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which accords with godliness, he's proud, knows nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men, corrupt minds, destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
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Hence the health and wealth crowd, folks. That's them. From such withdraw yourself.
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Don't even be associated with them. Now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world.
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It's certain we can carry nothing out. Having food and clothing with these, we shall be content with those who desire to be rich.
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He's not saying those who are rich. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
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For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves too with many sorrows.
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In other words, they became hypocrites rather than true Christians. And so Paul spoke about the godly man as a contented man.
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He gave reasons. Brought nothing into the world. We're going out with nothing. And having food and raiment, the basic necessities and what not, to get by in life, we should be content with those.
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Middle of page 9. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare. Let's not go there.
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But let's be godly and be content with what god has given us, and be content with what god has not given us.
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And then he warned about covetousness. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people pierce themselves too with many sorrows.
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They may not have, you know, ten dollars in their banking account, but their heart is filled with covetousness.
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What was that recent lottery? Was it over a billion dollars or something like that? You know, we used to have convenience stores.
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You can't go, there's no such thing as a convenience store now because you have to go in and get in line with ten other people buying lottery tickets.
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There's nothing convenient about it anymore. And I don't want to sound proud, but I thank the lord,
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I've never lost a dollar. I've never bought a lottery ticket. You know. And some people just pierce themselves with many sorrows because of this.
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Somebody was telling me, I forget who it was, I'm glad I don't remember who it was, but they were cleaning up after a loved one who died, and they found a whole bunch of spent lotto tickets.
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I mean thousands of them. Of people spending, it's a lie, isn't it?
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You know, they say that your chances, you know, a billion dollars, the chances are better to go out and find a hundred thousand dollars in a paper sack on the sidewalk than winning that.
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It's just not there. And then even if you did win it, you know, it'll probably be to the ruin of your soul, and it's a terrible thing.
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It's a wonderful thing to be content with what God has given you, and content with what
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God has not given you. Yes, you try to improve your lot for yourself and your family and what not, and God blesses that, but don't make it the drive of your heart.
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It'll take you to ruin. The third lesson, and I want to get through this in the next few minutes, alright, because this is important.
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God in His providence will commonly use afflictions in this life to bring people to faith in Jesus. That brought this man, what else?
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This man had power, he had wealth, what else would have brought this man to Jesus? The Lord touched his son, didn't he?
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That brought him humbly to the Lord Jesus. I suspect the father had already exhausted all the help and hope that his wealth and connections might have brought him respecting his son.
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Some are like that poor woman who came to Jesus, Mark said, she'd spent all her money on physicians and was none the better for it, but the
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Lord brings us through afflictions to be humble before Him. I love the account of the prodigal son after he spent all of his goods, partying and what not in the far country, and he's down there feeding with the pigs, their slop, the scriptures say, and he came to himself.
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I love that expression. He went out in the far country, went here, there, he finally came to himself.
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The Lord has to bring us to ourselves to see our need and our poverty and our need for Christ.
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Frequently there's a stubborn self -sufficiency on the part of those who are noble and influential. They've acquired much, they've achieved much, much among their peers, the one most likely to succeed in the yearbook and he did, and sometimes it takes a great deal of mercy for God to afflict that soul to bring him to an end of himself.
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To bring him to himself. And this is what the Lord does through afflictions.
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This man, I suspect, would later write as David, I know, Lord, that your judgments are right, that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
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That son was at the point of dying because the Lord Jesus had a love for that father and a love for the son.
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And the Lord will use afflictions to bring us to himself. Again J .C. Ryle wrote, top of page 11,
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Affliction is one of God's medicines. By it God often teaches us lessons which would be learned in no other way.
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By it he often draws souls away from sin in the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly.
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Health is a great blessing, but sanctified disease is a greater. Prosperity and worldly comfort are what all naturally desire, but losses and crosses are better for us if they lead us to Christ.
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Amen. And so here we read of a quite wealthy, possibly certainly influential man whose son was ill.
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The man was distressed. He was brought an end to his resources. He saw
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Jesus as his only hope for recovery for his son. And then lastly we want to point out
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God in his providence will commonly use afflictions in his life to bring his people to greater degrees and quality of faith in Jesus Christ.
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And that's what the Lord did with this man. In this pericope we're considering the quality of faith in Jesus is a major emphasis.
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When Jesus came into Galilee we see that the people received him, but it wasn't saving faith.
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It wasn't like John 1 12. As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God.
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No, they received him because he was a miracle worker and they wanted to have some goodies. And that's what drew them.
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But the Lord in his dealings with this man brought a measure of development, a measure of substance to his faith.
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He came to Jesus in faith and he left Jesus with greater faith and better faith, nobler faith.
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Here's one description. This is a great quote. The kind of belief this pericope displays for the reader is one that is firmly rooted in the person and work of Jesus.
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Jesus is not rebuking the failing faith we all might have, but a faith that is resting in inappropriate objects.
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Their faith was resting in things that Jesus could do for them. That is faith that is inappropriately motivated.
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Are we motivated to believe in a God who does things for us in the manner we deem most appropriate?
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Is that why you're here this morning? Or is our belief rooted in the God who declares,
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I am, to whom we are to respond, yes you are. Are we motivated to believe in a
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God in whom we derive pleasure? Or is our belief in the God in whom pleasure is entirely redefined and established?
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Let us not believe as the Galileans, but as the children of God. Let us worship
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God not for the wonders He can perform, but for the wonder that He is a
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God who is worthy of worship even when there is no sign, even when our request goes unanswered.
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Even still, He is to us, our God, the true sign and wonder.
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That's a good statement. And it shows the development of faith in this man. And one last lesson.
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The Lord Jesus shows forth to this man and to us that His word is as good as His presence.
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Come down and heal my son. Come down. Just come and heal my son. But He spoke the word.
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Your son lives. And so the Lord directed him and the
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Holy Spirit directs to us that the word of Jesus is as good as His presence. His word is with power.
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And so we read the emphasis on His word in this passage. Go your way. Your son lives. And what does it say?
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So the man believed the word of Jesus. That's significant. And then at last he himself believed in his whole household.
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J .C. Ryle said a good, put it together well. We learn lastly from this passage that Christ's word is as good as His presence.
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We read that Jesus did not come down to Capernaum to seek the sick young man, but only spoke the word,
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Thy son liveth. Almighty power went with that little sentence. That very hour the patient began to amend.
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Christ only spoke and the cure was done. Christ only commanded and the deadly disease stood fast.
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And then he makes the application. The fact before us is singularly full of comfort.
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It gives enormous value to every promise of mercy, grace, and peace which ever fell from Christ's lips.
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He that by faith has laid his hold on some word of Christ has got his feet on a rock.
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What Christ has said he's able to do and what he has undertaken he will never fail to make good.
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The sinner who has really reposed his soul on the word of the Lord Jesus is safe unto all eternity.
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He could not be safer if he saw the book of life and his own name written in it. If Christ said him that cometh to me
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I will in no wise cast out, our hearts can testify I have come and we need not doubt that we are saved.
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In the things of this world we say that seeing is believing but in the things of the gospel believing is as good as seeing.
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Christ's word is good as a man's deed. He of whom Jesus says in the gospel he lives is alive forevermore and shall never die.
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And so there's emphasis here. Yes he healed the man of the fever but really he gave him life as it were.
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And what John the gospel writer is setting up is really the next episode in John chapter 5 where Jesus is set forth as the one who gives forth spiritual life to his people.
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And so this is just kind of setting the stage for better things to come regarding this matter.
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Thank the Lord. Father we pray you'd help us to appreciate these things to understand them more clearly and fully.
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Our Lord we pray you'd help our faith to be a good and true and informed faith as to who you are.
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Help us to believe on you our Lord even if we never hear another answer to our prayer or have any need filled because you are our
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God and you are worthy to be praised. And yet we thank you our God that you too are a prayer answering
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God and so help us our Lord to believe the promises in your word particularly those that touch upon the gospel.
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Bless those Lord who have fled unto you for the salvation of their souls and give them a fresh assurance of their salvation and their joy in believing.
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We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Well let's turn in our hymnals please and sing this last hymn 482.
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And this is a video that comes from Mark. And each of us put our faith afresh in the
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Lord Jesus. He said come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.