Sunday's Manuscript

A Father’s Plea
John 4:46-54

The very nature of Christ is astounding. Here in the pages of the Bible we find time and time again, how Christ heals the sick, the lame, the blind. To see Christ act in the compassion that only God can demonstrate is indeed something to take note of. In today’s passage, Christ is asked of an important official from the town of Capernaum to heal his son. We can assume from scripture that since the first sign in Cana of turning water into wine and also from the signs that were done while Christ was in Jerusalem, many people have heard about the great things that Christ has and was doing.

Much is made about sight by Christ. Even though many of us see, we do not see. Jesus points this out many times. In Matthew 11 Christ tells the disciples of John the Baptist to “Go and tell what you hear and see” to John. Even though John himself saw heaven opened and the Spirit descend like a dove on Christ, he did not see. Later here in Chapter 10:37-38 of John, Christ tells the Pharisees that “You do not believe me, so believe the works”. They saw the works of Christ, but did not believe his testimony. John also later explains this as he quotes Isaiah 6 and 53 in John 12:38 and 40.

Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”


“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
lest they see with their eyes,
and understand with their heart, and turn,
and I would heal them.”
How is it that they can see but remain blind? They do not believe. What did they not believe? Did they not believe the lame man walked or the possessed made well? Of course they did. What did they not believe? “I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. I who speak to you am he.” Jesus is Christ! Jesus is Messiah! Jesus is Lord! Jesus is Savior! Jesus is God!

After the wedding feast in Cana, other than Nicodemus, I wonder how many people truly came to Christ about spiritual things. Even those that seem to be spiritual have an undercurrent of personal gain in their requests. Even here today, an important official come to ask of Christ to heal his son. Christ’s response is that “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe”.

Now this official, being a father, is also compassionate. Some will consider this to be a very Christian act on behalf of the father. He cares deeply for his sick and dying son. He cares so much for his that he does not send the servants to inquire of Christ, but rather he himself goes to Cana to beg and plead of Christ to come to Capernaum and heal his son. He demonstrates a love that we might tend to applaud as if it is out of the ordinary for a father to do. But friends, do not mistake this as spirituality. Is this what any father would do for their child? Of course we would seek their welfare and benefit if it was in our power to do so. But as Christ explains in Luke 11:9-13

What father among you, if his son asks for£ a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”


How many of us would consider this man as “noble” or of “good Christian” example? One that we should imitate in order to demonstrate our love for our children? Perhaps this is why Jesus would say “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe”. Let me ask you at what point has this Official demonstrated faith? At what point is this father calling upon the Name of the Lord? At what point is he seeking the kingdom of God? No to this man, Jesus is simply a doctor who can heal a physical sickness and is probably the last resort taken to heal the young boy. Is there any wonder why Jesus would say “Unless you see signs and wonders” to this man?

Believing in Christ was not even a thought as the man traveled to Cana from Capernaum. He simply wanted his son to recover from his illness. Jesus tells him “Go home. Your son will live”. Notice the difference between the belief found in verse 50 and the belief in verse 53. The official goes back to Capernaum “believing the word that Jesus spoke to him”. No more. No less. He, at this point, only believes that his son will live. He will be healed.

Do not neglect the infinite wisdom of God in this action. Christ sends the father away with out performing a visible sign for him. This, points us to a truth that many of us fail to realize; That the Word of God is sufficient for faith! Far too many “Christians” can not and do not stand or live as if the Word of God is sufficient in their lives. It is merely a supporting crutch that they may carry from time to time but not the building block of faith that it truly is. Too many rely on a “Christian experience”; that mountain top high; emotion that comes and goes and is mistaken for the moving of the Spirit and not on the solid meat found in sound doctrine and holy living. They do not live as part of the promises of God. They do not live as people grafted into the covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They do not even live as people of the New Covenant of Christ who purchased their redemption by His blood!

Not only is the Word of God sufficient for faith it is necessary for faith. Before Isaac was ever born, God promised Abraham that he would have a son and that the nations would be blessed through him and his offspring. Before this took place, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4:3). Abraham also believed simply the Word of God. Romans 4:21-22 says that Abraham was fully convinced that God was not only able but would do as he promised. This faith was counted as righteousness. In order to have faith we must have the promises of God to believe in. And now we have the promises of forgiveness and salvation through faith in Christ. Being justified, we now have peace and access into the grace in which the believer stands. What a demonstration of the grace and mercy of God!

Now we know that God accompanies his message with signs and miracles (Hebrews 2:3-4). However, faith comes through belief in the word first. Take note our official. He did not come looking for faith. He did, however, believe the spoken word of Christ. The next day as he approached his hometown, he was greeted by one of his servants and given the news that the day before the fever left his son at the same hour the father was speaking with Jesus. Much the same as Abraham there was a promise followed by belief in the word. Then there was fulfillment of the promise followed by belief in the One who made the promise. The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. The Word, belief in it, fulfillment, belief.

This leaves us with two questions that must be settled today. The first being “What if God did not give the signs”? The second being “Do you see the responsibility God gives in this passage”? Unfortunately, far too many of us deny the Word of God and instead seek signs only. Many of us are just like the Pharisees that are spoken of in John 10. We do not believe either the Word or the signs, yet we demand the signs time and time again. No wonder Christ says it is a wicked generation that demands signs. What if there were no signs? What if, when you prayed for healing for that family member, God’s answer was a resounding “No”? What if you were Paul and prayed three times for the thorn to be taken away (2 Corinthians 12)? Would God’s grace be sufficient for you? What if there was no emotional, life shattering experience from which you could point back to and say “That’s when Christ saved me”? What if you just knew the calm assurance that God was God and Christ is Lord and you have surrendered to him and live according to the promises found in scripture? Which is more Biblical, to jump from mountain top to mountain top? Or to run the race set before us? Enduring to the end? Persevering and having our faith proved by testing?

The second question was “Do you see the responsibility”? The father believed the promise of Christ and as a result, the entire household believed in Christ. How was it that the household came to believe in Christ? Because the father told the household about the promise of Christ! What a responsibility to lead your family to Christ! Fathers, do not neglect the spiritual well-being of your children. It is your duty to tell your children the promises of God even before the church does. The church is just to reinforce or supplement what you are supposed to be doing already. A more appropriate question would be “Do you take care of your spiritual responsibility to your children”?

I have heard many in church health circles say this; “This first generation loves the Gospel. The second assumes the Gospel. The third generation hates the Gospel.” The break down in Christian families takes place when that unfortunate generation assumes that their children will grow up “Christian”. They do not teach or follow Deuteronomy 6 on how a family is to have the Word of God central to family life. They leave much to the church in the way of teaching and hope for the best. I grew up as a part of the church that hated the Gospel. Praise God! He still speaks and works miracles and does signs that lead people to faith! The good news also found in the Gospel is that it is not too late to tell your children about the promises of God and all that he has done for you! The only question that remains is “Will you?”

Sunday Notes

The Food of Jesus
John 4:25-45

Jesus is not simply another character in the Bible. He is not like David or Sampson. He is not like Abraham or Joseph. He is not even like Paul or Peter. Jesus is God and far too often I sometimes think that we slip into a mindset of reading the viewing the stories of Jesus very much the same as the other people in the Bible. You might be wondering, isn’t that what the Bible stories are? How do you read one story different than another? Let me answer that by saying you already do read different passages different than others. We do not read Old Testament historical the same as we do the Poetry; which we do not read the same as the Prophetic or the Epistles. But why should we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus different than the rest of the people we read about in the Bible? Simple, he is God! Stop and think about this for a moment. In many of our Bibles, the words of Jesus are in red. Those are the very words of God! They should impact our life more than the rest! God is speaking.

What are the dangers of reading the stories of Jesus the same as say someone like David? First, we diminish the importance of the teachings of Jesus. We put them on par with the other people and teachers in Scripture. You might say that since all scripture is God-breathed how can this be? Aren’t all the words of scripture God’s? Yes, but do you treat them as such? Do you treat what Abraham says the same as Paul the same as Gideon the same as Jesus? What about passages where say Habakkuk is conversing with God? Do you treat the words of Habakkuk the same as God? I believe most people do because we do not study the Bible as God’s revelation of Himself to man. We gloss over it in order to check the box of reading our Bible if we actually read our Bible.

Second, if we read them the same, we diminish the deity of Christ. Is Jesus fully man? Yes. But he is also fully God! This actually should be the first danger because it is the greatest danger that leads to all the others. If Jesus is not read or viewed as God, his words carry the same weight as everyone else’s. Then they weigh the same as any man’s. The same as any theologian. The same weight as any pastor. The same weight as any believer. This is why we hear so many say Jesus was a good person, good teacher, prophet, but not God. Friends, we have established that Jesus is God at so many points through out this study already. Let us never move away from the fact the Jesus is Christ, the Son of God Most High. He and the Father are One. Let us read scripture the same. Jesus is God.

Third and last this morning, if we diminish Jesus and his teachings, we elevate our selves. Here’s how this one works. Since we don’t consider Jesus as God, his teachings aren’t authoritative. Since his words aren’t authoritative, they are not relevant in my life. They don’t apply to me. Sure they are nice sayings or even if you do put some weight to them, they are words to live by but I can pick and choose the ones I want to live by. The passages where Jesus points out sin don’t apply to me. I do enough to warrant a little slack. I’m good enough. He is talking to those sinners across the room here today. We put ourselves into the position of judge and jury which is actually putting ourselves in the position of God which is sin. Let’s keep these in mind this morning and every time we open up the Bible. Jesus is the word. Give him proper honor and glory as such. I really only want to focus on two parts of this passage this morning, Verses 25 and 26 and then verses 34-38.

I who speak to you am he.

1. If Jesus is God what should that mean to your life?

2. If Jesus is God how do you serve him?

a. The disciples wanted to feed him. How often do we try to serve with only the obvious?
b. Jesus tells how to serve.

My food is to do the will of him who sent me

1. John 17 – accomplish the work of him who sent me

2. Food? We are here to be fed? Is this true? How should we feed ourselves?

3. The fields are white. They are already planted and are ready for the harvest.

Sunday's notes

Inconsistency of Man
and the Consistent Mercy of God
John 4:1-26


This past week I finished a book entitled “Knowledge of the Holy” by A.W. Tozer. This wonderful book dealt with how unchangeable God is in all his characteristics and actions. God is God. To be less or different in any one area would mean that He would cease to be God. Maybe it is because I have spent much time meditating on the consistent being of God that I have also become aware of the horrible inconsistency of men, and therefore have become almost over burdened by the inconsistency of myself in spiritual things. I think that for most people our inconsistency come from a rather innocent place. We pay attention to details. In fact, we pay such close attention to the details that we often times become trapped or enslaved by them. We come to depend upon such trivial things that it often time clouds our judgment, our thought processes and our belief systems. We accept a+b=c, but can’t deal with the possibility of e-d=c.

Now step into the world of religion. Not only are we, by our very nature as sinful beings, inconsistent but we are prideful in it. Not only do we try to force a+b but we shun anything other than a+b. We pay such close attention to so many of the wrong details we become the very people we once swore we would never become. Details enslave us and create such a mess of red tape for so many churches and people is there any wonder that we don’t know or understand what it means to “walk in the Spirit”? Details become rules. Rules become idols. Idols move us away from God. But of course, these rules only apply to others, not ourselves.

Details also have a tendency to blind us form what is really going on, especially in Scripture. Our passage today is a passage that many of us probably know or have heard preached. While it is important, the message is not about how Samaritans were viewed by Jews. The message is not about how many husbands the woman at the well had. Here’s what the details do to us when we focus too much on them; “Thank you for not making me like that sinner over there”! What the message is about is how consistently merciful God is towards sinful people, regardless of the details.

Now to prove how inconsistently human I am, there are some details we must discuss that will show us the “Inconsistency of man and the consistent mercy of God”.

1. The Pharisees
a. Jesus left when they heard he was baptizing more than John.

2. The Disciples
a. Went to buy food in Sychar. v.8
b. Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. v.9
c. They want to question both Jesus and the woman. v.27

3. The Samaritan Woman
a. Can’t be pleased. v.9
i. The number one complaint Samaritans had was how Jews treated them. Now here is one who is treating her well and she seems upset by it.
b. Disbelief v.11
c. Nationalistic not spiritual. v.12
d. Her response to both the Word and sign is in religious pride. v.19-20

It is at this point we must acknowledge how inconsistent we truly are. How many of us will admit what scripture says is true, but we find all sorts of reasons not to do it, or why we can’t do it, or reasons someone else should do it? Perfect example, “Do not forsake the gathering of saints”. In other words, “DON’T SKIP CHURCH!!!!” Oh the excuses we come up for this simple, simple command in the Bible. To remove a coal from the fire is to guarantee that it will be extinguished. It will no longer be useful for anything. But not us, we will be the exception. Friends, I bring this up because it may more clearly illustrate the path that the three groups of people are on. The core of all three is what we brought up last with the Samaritan woman, religious pride. No matter what level of spirituality we may be on, it is there.

This pride leads to a cheap/false belief or religion. Notice that her request is not to know, receive, or to follow the One who gives this water, but rather it is to benefit herself in an earthly materialistic manner because she knows. She’s smart enough to have figured this out. Friends if you do not move past this elementary way of thinking it leads to quiet judgmentalism like the disciples displayed, which leads to loud legalistic religion like the Pharisees. All while missing the consistent merciful heart of God.

Consistency of God

1. The Gift
a. Do you know Jesus? If you ask, he will give. v.10, 14

2. God points out sin.
a. We really like a God who forgives but doesn’t hold us accountable don’t we. v.16-18

3. God seeks true worshippers not vain worship that is dependant on time and place and ceremony. v.23,24

4. Jesus reveals himself to someone who needs Jesus.
a. The first person Jesus says he is the Christ to, is not even a Jew. v.26