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Subject 16 : The Gospel According to JOHN
[Chapter 4-11] His True Faith Saved His Son (John 4:46-54)
(John 4:46-54)
“So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he 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. Then Jesus said to him, ‘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!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your son lives.’ So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, ‘Your son lives!’ Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.’ So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, ‘Your son lives.’ And he himself believed, and his whole household. This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.”
What among God’s Word should we believe in our spiritual walk? We should live out our faith by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We must lead our spiritual life for our souls to receive salvation from all sins by believing in the righteousness of God, not for our fleshly benefit. We must lead our life of faith for the expansion of the Kingdom of God. We must also live out our faith for the salvation of the other people, not only for our souls.
Today’s Scripture passage begins, “So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine” (John 4:46). Cana is the town where Jesus performed His first miracle that turned water into wine. There was a certain nobleman there and his son was sick in Capernaum. He heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, so he went to Him and asked Him, “Come down and heal my son,” because the son of this nobleman of the king was about to die of sickness.
The one who asked Jesus for help seemed to have been a nobleman of high position. This nobleman heard the rumor that Jesus came to the region of Galilee and came to Jesus to ask Him to heal his son from sickness. The nobleman went to Him and asked Him to come down and heal his son. Then Jesus declined his earnest request, saying, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” And the nobleman begged Him again, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” To this, Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives” (John 4:48-50). The nobleman believed in the Word of Jesus and when he was on the way to his home, he met his servants and heard the good news that the child revived. He heard from the servants that his son began to get better yesterday at 7th hour. That he and all members of his household believed in Jesus because of this work is the point of today’s passage we’ve read.
Today’s Scripture passage tells us what it is for us to believe in God’s Word and to lead a life of faith. When the king’s nobleman asked Jesus to heal his son, Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” Jesus knows very well the unbelieving hearts of the people at the time. They believed only when they saw something miraculous appear before their own eyes. The Lord disliked that very much.
It is easy for us to believe God’s Word and follow when there is some evidence of change in our circumstance, but God’s Word tells us that it is wrong to lead such a life of faith. The Lord is saying that a proper life of faith is to believe in God’s Word and to walk by it. In other words, even though we cannot find any evidence in our lives, if God’s Word says something, we must believe that the Word will be fulfilled as it is.
For example, the Scriptures say this about the matter of prayer, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). This passage tells us that it is God who helps us in every prayer and in everyday life as well. It is saying that our God does the work together with us and protects us; the Lord answers our prayers, takes care of our problems, protects our thoughts and minds, and leads us to upright path in our every step. Having faith in these is to live by faith.
It’s our greed if we just believe in and follow God just because He did something for us. People who truly live by faith in God’s Word do not live just for their own flesh. They believe in the Word and follow the Word with the faith of believing in God. People who follow the righteousness of the Lord seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first. People who have the center of their hearts set on God believe in God’s Word and depend on the Word and live by faith.
Seek First the Righteousness of God
The Lord said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). It is saying that our purpose of life after receiving the remission of sins is to seek first the righteousness of God. Let’s put the purpose of our life in the will of God and give all our life to that purpose. I am saying that we must give all our efforts to follow the will of God after we have received the remission of sins through the faith of believing in Jesus and believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
But if we just want to prosper only in fleshly things, then it is the fleshly life of faith and it is definitely not the proper spiritual life. Strictly speaking, it is all wrong to say, “You will become materially wealthy if you believe in Jesus and go to church and live a life of faith. You will be happy if you go to church. Married couples will be happier. You will receive blessing when you attend church.”
In our spiritual life, we want other people to receive the same remission of sins by sharing the gospel of the water and the Spirit because we have received the remission of sins. We should help them to also attain peace in their hearts and go to Heaven by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Taking the responsibility for the work of sharing the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the true spiritual life. We will experience that God makes us prosper also in everything of our flesh when we do God’s work first. Serving the gospel should be the top priority for us in all things. Then our faith will grow and we will be prosperous in everything and in body and spirit. To have our hearts focused on God’s work is what God wants.
But if we do not believe in God’s Word in our spiritual life, then we are not leading a true spiritual life. If we must always see the signs and wonders to sustain our faith, then it’s not the true faith and it’s only a superstition. God approves us when we believe in and follow God’s Word exactly as it is written. And we must live with the correct understanding of what we should do first and what we should do later.
We cannot lead a proper life of faith if we just look unto our physical environment and rely on it. In today’s Scripture passage, the king’s nobleman expected Jesus to perform a miracle when he came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his son from the sickness. He said, “Jesus, Please come down and lay Your hands on my son’s head so that he may be healed completely from the sickness.
People really just seek the miracles that are apparent to their eyes. But people are just worshipping Jesus physically if they believe in Him only when they see some sort of miracles right now, and therefore all the Words Jesus has said do not matter to them. How can they believe something they have not seen with their own eyes? If they adhere strictly to their emotional faith, it then would be impossible for such people to reach a proper spiritual life no matter how fervently they believe in Jesus for their whole lives. That’s why Jesus wanted the person to believe what the Lord said and follow Him. Jesus wanted him to receive the remission of sins by believing in God’s Word.
Even now, God wants you to do God’s work and experience His wonders by believing the God’s Word. God made the people who believe in God’s Word receive the grace of receiving the remission of sins. Besides that, God has also allowed the grace of answered prayers and all the grace to the people who believe in His Word. God still works for the people who believe in His Word even now.
De we live out our faith because God has answered our requests right away, or are we following the Lord by believing the Word because God’s Word said so? I have already told you that we should have faith in His Word. He wanted us to believe what the Lord said in the Scriptures. This is what God is well pleased with. Jesus said to the person who believed Him, “Go your way; your son lives.” This nobleman believed in Jesus’ Word and went back to his house. Then his son was healed completely from the sickness according to his faith that believed in God’s Word. God has spoken to us about everything in His Word. Believing in God’s Word as it is written is a proper life of faith.
How should we lead our spiritual life? Do we have to speak out with the microphone and stir up people’s emotion in church like saying, “Receive fire, fire, fire”? Or, should we say, “I believe God will heal you from all your sicknesses. Satan, depart from us,” and show you miracles and wonders of people being healed from sickness and short legs becoming longer right at the moment? The Lord is saying that it’s not the true faith if you did such things in the church and people believed in God because they saw such signs. The Lord is saying that such faith is not the faith of believing in God’s Word.
It is saying that the correct faith is to believe and follow God’s Word as He has spoken. The true faith is seeking “What did God say about this” even though there is no sign or miracle before our eyes right now and placing our hearts on “What He has spoken” although no evidence has appeared before our eyes yet. You must understand that such is the true faith and have true faith also. That is the faith pleasing to God. That is the true spiritual faith. All of us must live out our faith spiritually.
In order to follow God and live the spiritual life of faith well, we must serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit and desire to share the gospel even more effectively instead of trying to be more prosperous physically. People who have such faith serve God. We must live out our faith to save the souls of sinners. And we must believe in this Word firmly and follow the Lord with the faith that everything will be done according to His Word when we follow God because He said this, not because God has performed some sort of wonders and miracles. You and I are living out our faith spiritually if we believe in God’s Word and follow it with faith. But it is not a spiritual life of faith if we are wavering due to the things we see right now and if we do not follow the Lord with faith. And God says that people who have been born again through the water and the Spirit must lead the spiritual life of faith.
And God says to us that we must serve and follow God with the faith of believing His Word. Do you understand this? People of the world follow the Lord only when they see any evidence with their eyes. But the born-again follow the Lord even though they cannot see any evidence with their eyes. That’s why Christian sinners sometimes misunderstand the born-again. But we the born-again must definitely lead our life of faith in the Holy Spirit no matter what people say. If God says something to us, then we must absolutely believe it as it is spoken.
If God’s Word in Matthew chapter 3 verses 13 to 17 says that Jesus took all our sins upon Him at the time He was baptized from John the Baptist and fulfilled all the righteousness of God, then all of us must believe it exactly as it is written. Jesus Himself said that He fulfilled all righteousness through His baptism given by John the Baptist. All of us must know and believe that all our sins have been transferred over to Jesus Christ by believing in God’s Word. This is the spiritual life of faith.
The Bible says, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) God spoke this to us. God’s Word tells us that Jesus took the sins of the world at once by receiving the baptism. Therefore, we believe that our sins have been transferred to Jesus. We must recognize and believe that Jesus took all our sins by receiving the baptism. We must realize and believe that our sins have been transferred over to Jesus even if we didn’t see the account with our own eyes or have any feelings. We must understand the righteousness of God with our head and believe it with our heart. This is the proper spiritual life of faith, receiving the remission of sins by believing in God’s Word, and also the faith of believing and following God whom we cannot see with our eyes by believing in His Word.
We must now have such faith that leads us to a spiritual life of faith. We must now outgrow the spiritual life like that of a child. We were happy when God did such things for us when we were spiritually young. But after being grown up a little, we must grasp the Word of God recognizing that all the blessings written in the Bible are ours if God’s Word tells us so even though we cannot see any evidence of the blessings right now. Do you understand this? We must lead our lives of faith spiritually if we want to live out our faith until we go before the presence of the Lord and until the day of the Lord’s coming, that is, until the end of the world. We must absolutely lead our spiritual life with the faith of believing in the Word. We must live out our faith by having faith in the Word no matter what people say to us, and then, we experience abundant blessings of God for sure.
If we are young in faith, we are prone to be at a loss by the circumstances unfolding before our eyes. We become happy when some little thing goes well and become depressed when something goes wrong because our faith is young and we do not have the firm faith in God’s Word. But the Scriptures state, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). This passage means that we follow after God’s Word because we believe it and we also hope for it because we believe in the Word.
We cannot see God. But, today’s Scripture passage say, “So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!” Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household. This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee” (John 4:50-54).
Do you understand this? It says that the nobleman believed what the Lord said and went down and it happened exactly as He said. Our hope also will be fulfilled according to God’s Word if we believe in His Word and live according to the Word. Believing in God’s Word and living by the Word is the spiritual life of faith. There is nothing more upright than this. We must live the life of faith spiritually.
You and I must reexamine our faith and see whether it is correct or not. And if you follow the Church because you like the things the Church does outwardly, because you like the other saints even though you do not believe in God’s Word, and because you have had no other choice beside this kind of life, then you must escape from such faith. We must believe and follow God’s Word because it tells us only truth. We are wise people if we believe and follow God’s Word with the understanding, “God said such and such about this.”
God promises to us with numerous Words through 66 Books of the New and Old Testament. And He tells us to just believe in it. And it says that all His promises are fulfilled in us the believers. We must serve God, follow Him, preach the gospel, and live the rest of our lives by believing in God’s Word. We live with the belief in the Word that says it is right to live our life of faith spiritually.
We must understand that following God’s Word by faith is the spiritual life of faith. You have no choice but to fall in due time if you live a carnally minded life of faith. All of us must live the spiritual life of faith and seek God by believing in His Word. And we must live the spiritual life of faith to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Let’s reexamine ourselves and see whether we live out our faith spiritually or not and let all of us who have been born again of water and the Spirit live the spiritual life of faith.
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