Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / He Believed and All His Household (John 4:46-54)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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He Believed and All His Household (John 4:46-54)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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I invite you to turn once again to the gospel
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according to John. John chapter 4 verses 46 through
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54. We are continuing in our new sermon series
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on the miracles of Jesus. We started this last
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Sunday looking at John chapter 2, seeing the
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water turned to wine. As we look at this text,
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again, John 4, 46 -54, note, I hope you will
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note some of the similarities there. The biggest
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similarity is what we said last week, that when
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Jesus performs signs or miracles, they are called
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signs in the book of John, and all of these signs
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are significant. they all point to something
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beyond themselves matter of fact the book of
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John gives us a bit of a purpose statement for
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the miracles the signs that Jesus performs before
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I read our text for today that we're going to
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elaborate upon I want to read to you John 20
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verses 30 through 31 so keep your finger in John
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4 But listen to John 20 33 31 for a purpose statement
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For the miracles and a purpose statement really
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for the entire book of John It says now Jesus
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Did many other signs in the presence of the disciples
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which are not written in this book? But these
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are written So that you may believe that Jesus
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is the Christ the Son of God and that by believing
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You may have life in his name. So once again
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you see this is the purpose for the miracles
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this is the purpose for the book of John and
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So, let's see this sign that Jesus performs reading
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now from John 4 46 through 54 So he came again
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to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water
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wine. And at Capernaum, there was an official
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whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus
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had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him
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and asked him to come down and heal his son,
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for he was at the point of death. And so Jesus
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said to him, unless you see signs and wonders,
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you will not believe. The official said to him,
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sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus said
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to him, go, your son will live. The man believed
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the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on
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his way. And as he was going down, his servants
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met him and told him that his son was recovering.
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And so he asked them the hour when he began to
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get better. And they said to him, yesterday at
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the seventh hour the fever left him. The father
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knew this was the hour when Jesus had said to
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him, your son will live. And he himself believed
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in all his household. This was now the second
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sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea
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to Galilee. This is God's holy word. Let's pray.
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Father in heaven we bless you and we thank you
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and we praise you for this word and Ask that
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as we study this text as we look at this incredible
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sign this wonder that Jesus does That you would
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help us to know that Jesus He is the miracle
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worker the Jesus he is the Christ That Jesus
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is at work now as Jesus is at your right hand.
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Oh father interceding for us We ask Lord that
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you'll grant us understanding this we do ask
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in Christ's name amen When is the last time that
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you walked through our cemetery When's the last
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time Some of you know our cemetery next door
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all too well. For your closest loved ones are
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buried there. You walk within those stone walls
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and you experience pain. And you experience comfort.
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But prayerfully, you also experience just incredible
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hope. When you're in the cemetery, do you ever
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stop? at the smallest of tombstones. Do you ever
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look at those? Maybe you know those too. Maybe
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you knew what happened with that child. Is there
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anything worse than the loss of a child? I cannot
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imagine. Today's sermon, this text, teeters on
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the edge of such a loss. You see within this
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story, the Father is desperate, and He goes to
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the only one who can truly help Him. This text
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here illustrates how we need Jesus, but sometimes
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we don't even realize the extent to which we
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need Him. Two statements that are true of every
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person within this sanctuary one Trouble is coming
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and two We need to be saved from our sin These
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truths are illustrated in this text. We need
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Jesus because we live in a fallen world And because
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we have a fallen nature we live in a fallen world
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And we have a fallen nature. Let's focus on fallen
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world first. If you were reading all of John,
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you would see this, even as we're skipping around
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a little bit. And by the way, we are studying
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John in the fellowship Sunday school class. You
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should come to that. But if you were reading
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all through John, you would see that Jesus is
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for everybody. You would see in the beginning
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towards the beginning of John and end of chapter
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1 into chapter 2 Jesus comes and he selects Disciples
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for himself and these disciples are not people
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that you and I would probably have selected They
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weren't making the a team on the sports team.
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They're mostly riding the bench But Jesus selects
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them anyway But Jesus also meets with people
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of incredible influence and authority, like when
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Jesus met with Nicodemus, right? A religious
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ruler. Again, a man of authority. And then Jesus
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meets with a Samaritan woman at a well. And we
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know the Jews and the Samaritans didn't get along,
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and that doesn't stop Jesus. And then we get
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to this text, and we see Jesus meeting with this
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nobleman. some sort of a like a royal official
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inherits court. This nobleman would have had
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influence. He would have been similar to Nicodemus
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in that way. He would have had authority. He
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probably had plenty of money. But his influence,
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his wealth can't save his son. And so the official
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goes looking for a miracle working carpenter
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named Jesus. and you see by this point the news
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of Jesus is spreading and so the man hears of
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Jesus he hears that Jesus who has just turned
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the water into wine he hears of this Jesus and
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he goes to him the man within our text goes from
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Capernaum to Cana which is probably something
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like 20 miles and we don't know how the man got
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to Jesus but that's not the point the man would
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have gone much, much further than 20 miles for
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the sake of his son. Why? Because look at verse
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47. The son of this man was at the point of death.
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This is the sad fact of our fallen world, that
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there is death. It's a product of the fall. Perhaps
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you remember Romans 6 23 for the wages of sin
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is death because of sin we have sickness Because
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of sin we have death And so this man goes looking
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for Jesus the great physician he goes to Cana
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now we don't know All that was going on in the
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man's mind. We don't know what he thought of
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Jesus, but he gets to Jesus and he has this request
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for him. Come to my house. The way this is written
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makes it sound as though the man is persistent,
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that he's begging Jesus, come to my house and
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heal my son. But Jesus has an interesting reply,
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doesn't he? Look in verse 48. Jesus says, unless
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you see signs and wonders, You will not believe.
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What a thing to say to a man whose son is desperately
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ill on his perhaps death bed. Why does Jesus
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talk in this way to this man who is so sad and
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desperate? Why would Jesus say this? Jesus is
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addressing a heart issue with this man. but not
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only this man. Jesus is addressing a heart issue
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with all kinds of people in Cana. If you look
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carefully in verse 48, the ESV says, unless you.
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If you're using an ESV, English Standard Version,
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you might see a footnote there. If you're using
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the NASB, the NIV, or the New King James, you
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might see something that's I think a little more
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helpful it says you people within the English
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language we don't have a second -person plural
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form of you maybe we do now maybe it's in the
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dictionary haven't looked at the dictionary in
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a long time but in the south we would just say
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y 'all right so don't be mistaken here Jesus
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is talking not just to this man Jesus is talking
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to this crowd. And he's calling people to believe,
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not to be entranced with yet another sign. It
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is true, obviously, as we will see, Jesus performs
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these signs, but Jesus, there's always purpose
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behind these signs. One commentator says, his
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complaint, Jesus' complaint was the people did
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not worship him as Savior and Lord, but merely
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sought to employ him as a useful wonder worker.
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They were consumers, not worshipers. They were
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admirers, not followers. But friends, this rebuke
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is not just for this man, and it's not just for
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the crowd. This rebuke is for us, too. Because
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people come to church for a whole variety of
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reasons. Some of them are good, some of them
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are not so good, and some of them are not the
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greatest good. People come to church because
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I hear you guys have really good food during
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your fellowship meals. I hear you've got a really
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great choir. I hear you've got a great youth
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group. I hear you've got a beautiful sanctuary.
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I love what you guys do with outreach or VBS.
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People might say these things and they all sound
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very, very good. But what is our chief reason
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for being here? It's Jesus. It's Jesus. You remember
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the shorter catechism number one? What is man's
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chief end? It's to glorify God and to enjoy him
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forever. All those other things are good. But
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they all point. They should all point. To our
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Savior Jesus. Our primary goal, the primary thing
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that we do. Is worship. It's worship. I saw someone
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this week. We all love fireworks, don't we? We
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love them. They go off. They're really bright.
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They're really loud. They're really fun. But
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think about it. When people shoot off fireworks,
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there's usually a very good reason for that.
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We celebrate holidays with fireworks. We celebrate
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the victory of the home team at the baseball
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game with fireworks. There's usually... a purpose
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behind the firework, except for where I live.
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Some people shoot them off on random Tuesdays.
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But we need to look beyond the firework. Not
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be so caught up in all the lights and the sounds,
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but be caught up in the one behind it all. Perhaps
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think of it like Thanksgiving. Many of you, if
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not all of you, will have Thanksgiving this week.
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And there will be a table. And on it, you might
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have some good turkey to eat. You might have
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stuffing. You might have, I hope you have macaroni
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and cheese and mashed potatoes and warm buttery
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rolls. And cap it all off with pumpkin pie. But
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let's say that you've got all that before you
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on the table. But before the meal is ever served.
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Before you ever get your plate. Before you have
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to wait in that long line behind everybody else.
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you fill up on cheese and crackers. Sometimes
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that's the way we treat Jesus. We get caught
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up with all this stuff on the periphery. We don't
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focus on the very fact that Jesus is the meal,
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that Jesus is the firework, that Jesus is the
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reason for everything that we do. And so what
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does Jesus say? He says, don't get caught up
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in the signs, get caught up in me. He calls the
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man here to believe. Look in verse 50. Sometimes
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we see Jesus touching the sick, which others
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wouldn't do. Sometimes we see Jesus touching
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the dead, which others definitely would not do.
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Think of Jesus touching and healing Jairus's
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daughter. Think of the woman with the issue of
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the blood flow who actually touches him, but
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sometimes Jesus heals from afar. The nobleman
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here is called to believe without sight to see
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it happen. And isn't that, isn't that what faith
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is? You might remember Hebrews chapter 11 verse
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1. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,
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the conviction of things not seen. Right now
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in this life we need faith because we do go through
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those times of trouble. We need to trust in Jesus
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that one day our faith shall be turned to sight,
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but that tells us something else. that there
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is substance to our faith, right? That there
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is something to see. We do not have blind faith.
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Scripture gives us historical testimony and other
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evidence of the unseen. He gives us miracles,
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but we are called to exercise our faith as we
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look at these miracles. We are called to believe.
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This man here this nobleman did not have the
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benefit the luxury if you will of seeing his
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son get better in his presence He had to really
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trust Jesus here If he had not trusted Jesus
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he probably would have clung to Jesus and said
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I'm not letting you go until you come to my house
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But you see what he does in verse 50 The man
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believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and
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went on his way. The man believed. In a lot of
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ways, this scripture is very similar to another
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miracle that Jesus performs. They're similar,
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but they're different. You might remember the
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Centurion's sick servant from Matthew chapter
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eight. Let me read Matthew eight, five through
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eight. It says, When he had entered Capernaum,
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a centurion came forward to him, appealing to
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him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home,
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suffering terribly. And he said to him, I will
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come and heal him. And this is amazing. The centurion
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replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come
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under my roof. But only say the word and my servant
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will be healed Just say the word That highlights
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a bit of difference between that story and this
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one from John 4 the centurion when he came to
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Jesus He already had faith in Jesus but the nobleman
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He comes to Jesus and perhaps he has faith that
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Jesus can do something But I think we can definitely
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say when the nobleman comes to Jesus, he doesn't
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quite know who Jesus is. But he comes to faith
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quickly because the Holy Spirit moves in his
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heart to believe. And so he comes to Jesus and
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he doesn't quite know what he's in for. He needed
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more than to be healed. He needed more than for
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his son to be healed. He needed to believe. and
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his household needed to believe. And this takes
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us to our second point, our fallen nature. This
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man comes to Jesus needing help, but when he
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leaves, he goes in faith in Jesus Christ. Friends,
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the condition for salvation for people who are
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dead and are trespasses, the condition is faith,
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right? We are made alive in Christ remember the
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purpose For the signs within the book of John
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that you may believe in Jesus and in him have
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eternal life We have that fallen nature. We had
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that sinful nature, but in Christ We are made
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a new creation But you might say well if all
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that is so Why does verse 53 say that he himself
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believed? Because verse 51 has already said it.
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So why does 53 have to repeat this if he's already
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been so -called converted or something? You know
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this about yourselves is that belief is not a
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one -time thing. Belief is not just something
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that happens in one moment. No, we grow in our
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faith. We are sanctified in our faith. We trust
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Jesus more and more. And so the man believed,
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but when he meets his servants on the road, his
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heart swells with belief. Especially when they
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figure out the timing of it all. They figure
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out the time that the son started to get better
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was the time at which Jesus said, go, your son
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will live. And so you see, Jesus did not have
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to be in the man's house to heal. He didn't need
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to see him or to touch him. Jesus simply said
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it, and there it was. This is very similar to
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another sign, and I won't spend too much time
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on this because we'll cover it in a future sermon,
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Lord willing. But perhaps you remember the story
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of Lazarus. You remember Jesus' friend, Lazarus,
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right? Jesus is not near Lazarus when he dies.
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And Jesus, if I can say it this way, takes his
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time getting to Lazarus after his death. So Jesus
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gets to Lazarus on the fourth day to show us
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that Lazarus was really dead, but then Jesus
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does something remarkable. He doesn't go into
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the tomb and touch Lazarus who has died. He simply
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says, Lazarus, come out. This should show us
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two things Again, the miracles are designed to
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show that Jesus is divine and so there is a link
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between what Jesus does his healing and How God
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created the heavens and the earth? For you remember
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this that God spoke it all into existence And
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that's what Jesus does here He speaks healing,
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if you will, into existence. Jesus is at least
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20 miles away from this dying son, but he's able
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to promise that the son will live. And it was
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so. But secondly, this miracle right here, along
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with Lazarus and along with this centurion servant,
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it foreshadows something amazing for us. All
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of this, these healing miracles foreshadow Jesus'
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death and resurrection. It shouldn't surprise
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us that the one capable of raising the dead is
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also the one who was raised, right? Jesus' death,
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though, goes far beyond these. Because here's
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something very, very special about Jesus' death
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and resurrection. Every person that Jesus healed
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and every person that Jesus raised they would
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all die again but not so with Jesus because Jesus
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is victorious over sin and death and the grave
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Jesus doesn't die again and in that what Jesus
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does is he takes away the sting of death because
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death does not have the final say, Jesus does.
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And so today, if you are listening, do you believe
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that Jesus died on the cross for you? That's
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really the greatest point of all of these healing
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and resurrection miracles. This shows us our
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greatest need is to trust that Jesus conquered
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sin and death on the cross, that he said it was
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finished and then he was raised on the third
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day. But this also all tells us what to do with
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these things and what to make of a God who performs
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such incredible miracles. We get to my favorite
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part as I begin to land the plane. Look at verse
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52, 53, 54. All of this began with the nobleman
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requesting help, right? But God had a greater
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plan than just healing this one person. This
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actually reminds me of our previous sermon series
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through Jonah. You remember how Jonah ran away
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from the call upon his life. He ran away from
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the call to go to Nineveh to go to Tarshish and
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he's on the boat and there's the great storm
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and Jonah tells the sailors about his God, right,
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and they believe. Here we see something very
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similar. We see through this miracle not just
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the dad believing and not just the son living
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we see the whole household believing Jesus what
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he does within this passage is he's saving souls
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and Yet what we do with this is to see that the
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nobleman did something really good this man acts
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on his faith This man lives out his faith, exercising
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his faith before others. If we look back on the
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whole story, we see this man and his faith growing
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throughout. Spurgeon points out that the spark
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of faith for this man is the hearing of the reports
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of other people about Jesus, the fire of faith.
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is him standing before Jesus and begging for
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help. The flame of faith is him believing Jesus
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and departing. And then the inferno of faith
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is the whole household believing. And so I quote
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from Spurgeon who said, from that day forth he
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became a disciple of Jesus. He followed him not
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as a hearer only or as a prophet. or as a savior
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only, but as his Lord and as his God. And so
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friends, final points of application. Like the
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nobleman and his family and his servants, you
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believe. But how are you living out your belief?
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How are you living out your faith? No doubt this
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man had an incredible story to tell. Are you
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telling your story? Are you telling your testimony
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of how you came to Christ? Let us be quick with
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our testimonies. It's like someone once said,
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I'm just one beggar trying to tell other beggars
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where to find bread. Secondly and lastly, friends,
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trouble is coming. Trouble is coming. We live
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in a fallen world. Everybody is either coming
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out of trouble, in trouble, or going into it,
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what will you do when trouble comes? Friends,
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if I could say it like this, don't waste the
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trouble. Do not waste what God brings you through.
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Because the way to strengthen your faith is just
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like exercising. It's by exercising your muscles.
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We must exercise our faith. Exercise your faith
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in times of trouble. Run to Jesus. Because he's
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the only one who will get you through it and
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along the way He will strengthen your faith.
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Let's pray