STRONG FAITH-Part 1

Jn 4:46-54

2 weeks ago in class we looked at an overall view of the book of John—what the purpose was for writing, and a little about what was going on there in the latter part of the first century which would influence John to record this message.

We are going to attempt to build on this lesson as we progress today with a lesson on Strong Faith.

Prayer--

We said 2 weeks ago that it is vitally important for us to have an understanding of the context of a book—to have an understanding of what that message meant to the people to whom it was written-- before we can rightly make an application of that scripture in our own lives today--

--because the message of God as recorded in the scriptures can not mean anything else for us today, other than what it meant to the people to whom it was written—regardless of when that might have been.

We said 2 weeks ago, that the book of John has primarily 2 verses which give a short summary of the purpose of the book.

What were those 2 verses??

Jn 20:30,31

And what did we say was the 2 primary points that were brought out in these verses—especially vs. 31??

1.      That ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

2.      That ye might have life as a result of this belief.

We also mentioned that there was a specific use of the word belief or faith in the book of John, and that it is used in what way in the book of John??

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--as a verb.  Which tells us what??

That it is a word of action—that it denotes not just a philosophy, or what we claim, or what we say—but rather, what we do—a life we live—8 days a week.

A faith or belief that is made evident through our very lives.

We also saw how the message of God which was delivered to John, had been in existence since before the creation of the world, and that that message was described as Christ himself.

Christ was that message, because He was that fulfillment of God's unfolding plan to restore man to his intended purpose, as created in the beginning, before he was influenced by Satan to sin.

So, we saw that John was written to do what??

To encourage christians to entrust their lives to God, and as a result, enjoy the good life available in this life as well as the life to come.

Q/C??

O K, let's take a look at Jn 4:46-54

A couple of questions that I would like you to think about as we progress thru this lesson are the following:

1.  Why should people have trust in us?

2.  Why would we want people to trust us?

BOARD--What is necessary to have someone trust in us??

1.      We must show that we are concerned about them.

2.      We must show that we have the power to help them.

3.      We must show that we will use that power to help them.

I have a phrase that I like to use here—SPECIAL TREATMENTS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS.

Sometime maybe we can do a lesson on this, but for right now—we'll just say that any need that an individual has, is to him or her—a special need.  Would everybody agree with that?

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And anything we can do to help fill that need is A SPECIAL TREATMENT.

So, we have the phrase—SPECIAL TREATMENTS FOR SPECIAL NEEDS.

And that is going to be the basis for our lesson today.

Ac 3:1-7

Just as a side note here—what did the lame man want??

A handout—he wanted money to sustain him—to take care of his physical needs.

What did he get??

He was healed—which did what??  It enabled him to go forth and take care of his own physical needs.

The same principle is put forth in the Fishers of Men program which trains christians how to go forth and teach others about the message of God.

"Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day—teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime."

What can we learn from this??

2 things to remember here:

1.      We should not always expect to get what we want.

2.      We should not always give what the other person wants.

i.e., giving should be assessed by need and not necessarily by want.

Q/C??

So, we see that Peter showed his concern for the man—he told the man to rise up and walk.

Now, why was this so eventful?

SEE BOARD-—because Peter showed he had the power and used it.

Very shortly, we are going to have an opportunity to SHOW WE REALLY CARE—through our actions---

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We will be making plans for our gospel meeting, and this is an opportunity for us to really show that we really do care.

We can talk all day long about evangelizing.

We can talk all day long about others realizing what is necessary to be saved.

We can talk all day long about taking final authority for all we do from the scriptures,

We can talk all day long about how we pattern our lives after the church of the 1^st century, as directed by the apostles teaching.

All that and a $1.00 will buy you a cup of coffee.

It doesn't mean anything unless?? We do it.

BOARD—Concern + Having power + Action = ??

WE REALLY CARE.

Concern is necessary.

Power to help is necessary.

But—using that power(actually helping)—shows we really care.

I don't know if you remember it or not, but 15-20 years ago, there was a very popular slogan which we saw on bumper stickers and signs.  It was kind of humorous, although the very concept was in itself, very sad.

The slogan was  WHO CARES.

And it became a popular retort to anyone who criticized you or made some comment about your actions, or your feelings.

Well, I had one of those bumper stickers, but to me it meant something a little different.

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I used to have a general contracting business, with 2 crews going- doing home repair and remodeling and some new construction.

On the truck that I drove, I had the side tool boxes, and on the front of the box on the drivers side,(right behind the cab), I placed this bumper sticker—WHO CARES.

Under normal circumstances, the only one who would see that sticker would be me, when I got out of the truck, and would see that sticker there on the end of that tool box.

And the reason I put that sticker there, was to remind me(every time I got out of the truck) that customer satisfaction was my priority.   I could only do what I could do, and I couldn't do any more.  But I had to do all that I could do.

So for me- when I looked at that bumper sticker that said WHO CARES,---I could say to myself—I DO.

Back to Board----repeat---

Keep this miracle in Jn4 :46-54 in mind, and then let's go back to ch.1 and compare people's opinion on faith in Jesus to that in ch. 4.

Jn 1:43-46

What do you see here??

Nathaniel had no faith in Jesus—HE'S JUST A MAN, A CARPENTER, SON OF JOSEPH, AND NOTHING GOOD COMES OUT OF NAZARETH.

Being from Nazareth, carried a stigma of prejudice.

That was the "other side of the tracks'—the projects—because of that prejudice, they were considered wicked, and were shunned.

But what was Phillip's answer??

"Come and see."

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As time progresses, we see that people began to realize that:

Jesus does care --see board—1,2,3,

Jn 6:1,2

Now we see that Jesus is more than just a carpenter.

Remember Nicodemus in 3:2—WE KNOW.

Why?—because we saw.

 Q/C??

OK, looking at Jn 4:46-54—

The nobleman traveled some 20-25 miles to enlist the help of Jesus in making his son well.

Vs. 47

We all know what this man was going thru, but at the same time, we don't really understand, unless we've lost a child or close family member, or had someone close at the point of death w/ little or no prospect of living.

The nobleman was about a day's journey from Cana, where Jesus was.

He believed that Jesus could heal his son, because of what he had heard of the miracles performed.

He believed thru action—he went to Jesus.

Vs. 48  Jesus realized that the nobleman thought Jesus would have to be present w/ his son in order to heal him.

Yet the nobleman stays right on Jesus, pleading his cause,--vs. 49.

Vs. 50  This then convinced the nobleman of the power of Jesus—he accepted it, and headed for home.

Vs. 51-53  First of all, why didn't Jesus go to the nobleman's home?

Was he to busy?  Why?

We see that Jesus would show that His power was not limited by distance.

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We also need to realize that no matter how far we get from Jesus, He has the power to help.

But someone might say "Jesus should have gone w/ the nobleman.  After all, he was of the royal family, with a strong tie to Herod Antipas.

Going to his house to heal his son, would have been good P R, and would have helped smooth over some of the negative feelings Jesus was having on the Jews.

But Jesus was not affected by prestige or by influential people.

But what about us?

Do we tend to be closer to someone who is well-off, or has an influential job, or a leader in the church, or the preacher?

Or, on the other hand, are we closer to someone who is a laborer, rather than those who are well-off?

Are we prejudiced against those who are different from ourselves?

Jesus was not concerned with the man's wealth, or his influence, or the lack or wealth, but what??

His faith in Jesus—his belief that :

1.     Jesus was concerned

2.     Jesus had the power to heal his son

3.     Jesus would use that power and that power would be made manifest thru the healing of his son.

Several points need to be examined here:

1.  When the man came specifically to ask Jesus to heal his son, why did Jesus say—48b?

The people knew that Jesus was healing people—isn't that faith?

Matt 16:1-4

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Did you ever hear the phrase:

Red sky at night, sailors delight;

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. ?

Straight out of the Bible—amazing isn't it?

Anyway, back to the subject at hand—vs. 1.

Mk 8:11,12

Their questioning Jesus; was not for the purpose of looking for proof of their faith or their conviction—but what??

--their desire to find proof of something which they could use to find fault with him.

When the Jews already had all the proof they needed; now they were looking for more.

So, why did Jesus say to this man—Jn 8:48b?

He was as well talking for the benefit of all those present.

Jesus was looking for active obedience to God—not just by word, but faith—active obedience to God.

2.  Before faith, must come knowledge.  The nobleman had to be made aware of the power of Jesus.  He had heard of the power of Jesus; but what was a prerequisite of this?  What was necessary for him to be made aware of the healing power of Jesus?

Someone had to tell him.

Rom 10:14

So, preachers are the ones to tell the world about Jesus-right?

But not the only ones.

It is every christian's responsibility to spread the gospel to others.

By words and by actions. 

Q/C??

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It is a very popular philosophy today, that there are 2 gospels—1 necessary for an individual to be saved, and 1 necessary to grow and mature, and perform service to God.

But there is only 1 gospel.

We expand our knowledge of that one gospel step by step, and as a result, expand our responsibilities and our service to the church.

Knowledge about God is not just a minimum amt. of information necessary to become a christian.

Increasing our knowledge about God, should be an ever increasing part of our lives—always being challenged to study more—to have a greater understanding of God's Word—an understanding which will spur us on to greater service.

Eph 1:8

Thru study and prayer, we attain the understanding and make application—continued growth.

3.      Faith involves total dependence on God's power, and God's love.

Note that the nobleman did not say—"Jesus, I'm a nobleman, influential, rich—I can help you out with those who are persecuting you—but first, I need a favor."

No.  Instead, he came and "besought" or begged him to heal his son.

He brought nothing but humility, a need, and faith in Jesus.

It should be the same with us. It's not the car we drive, the job we have, the responsibility we have in the church—it's just as I am—"Lord, I'm depending on you."

Knowing that Jesus will supply SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR SPECIAL NEEDS.