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		<title>word | Hope Fellowship of Hillsboro - word</title>
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		<description>Beholding Christ, The Hope of Glory</description>
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					<title>The Great I Am</title>
					<link>https://hopefellowship.life/sermons/the-great-i-am</link>
											<comments>https://hopefellowship.life/sermons/the-great-i-am#respond</comments>
					
					<pubDate>Sun, 08 Sep 2019 16:54:44 +0000</pubDate>
					<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bobby Gaither]]></dc:creator>
					
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					<description><![CDATA[Christian, have you paused for a moment realized how far-fetched our faith would appear to the world? We believe a man, whom lived 2000 years ago, came from heaven as the Son of God, lived a perfectly righteous life, was crucified, died, and buried, and then raised to life after 3 days. We believe the witnessed and written accounts of his life, death, and resurrection and ascension are preserved in this collection of writings we call the Bible, and we believe the Spirit of God lives in us, abides in us, as His children. We believe the Lord Jesus will return, descending from the clouds, and will judge the earth according to His righteousness. We believe the only righteousness we have is trusting in His word — the gospel of our salvation, that Jesus was and is God— the Son of God, and that we trust in His atoning death for our sins, which has justified us before the Father. Our hope of heaven has nothing to do with our own merit, but His mercy.

To the unbelieving world, to those who don’t see with the eyes of faith and find Jesus to be Lord, this is nonsense. They would say we are naive at best, or manipulative and malicious at our worst. They would say the world doesn’t operate according to the mercy of One, but according to what you merit. You get what you work for, you keep what you earn. Th gospel of grace through the man, Jesus Christ, is offensive to the non-religious world. 

However, it is also offensive to the religious and devout. Religion can be a tool of the proud. Just as the world would say, I get what I earn, one can believe God exists, and yet not honor him as such. A modern day Pharisee is one who believes  God exists, and that they deserve, or have earned God’s favor. They believe they’ve switched roles with God, and now, they are the philanthropist of good works, the benefactor, and God is the recipient. It is like a man, whom would attempt to dig their own well, when fresh springs are bubbling from the ground, and are offered to him. Do you honor the Lord by digging your own well? Or do you honor the Lord by drinking from His spring, and enjoying His refreshment?

We are plodding on in John! Here is a brief summary of the context. Jesus was in the temple after the Feast of Booths, and now was in a heated exchange with the Pharisees and religious leaders. Jesus was making it clear whom were his disciples and whom were pretenders. Disciples abide in His word, are set free by His truth, and do the work of Abraham: they believe Jesus! Jesus delineated between a false disciple and a true disciple, who was born of God. 

He overtly told the Pharisees that they were not born of the spiritual lineage of Abraham. Just as He had told Nicodemus in chapter 3, in order to see the Kingdom, one must be born again. 

This is where we left off last week. Would you stand in honor of God’s word, and let’s read John 8:48–59

[48] The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” [49] Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. [50] Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. [51] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” [52] The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ [53] Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” [54] Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ [55] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. [56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” [57] So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” [58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” [59] So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (ESV)

[pray]

We are going to look at the passage under the following headings today:

Of Demons or Divine? (48-50)

Words That Give Life (51-53)

What Did Abraham See? (56)

The Great ‘I Am’ (58)

&nbsp;

Of Demons or Divine? (48- 50, 51-55)

Last week, the conversation between Jesus and the Jews had to do with spiritual paternity. They claimed to be sons of Abraham, and as physical descendants, they were. But Jesus stated they were not sons of Abraham, as spiritual descendants. They countered, and said they weren’t just sons of Abraham, but sons of God. Jesus countered and said they were not sons of God, but sons of the devil. And the reason the could not hear, or accept His words, was that they were not of God. Here is their response: [48] The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 

First, they call him a Samaritan. You should know, Christian, that racism has no place in the kingdom of God. God’s people, under Jesus, are of every tribe, tongue, and language. But this isn’t your everyday racism. To the Jews, being a Samaritan was the lowest of all possible ethnicities, and religious heritics. They were once Jews, but separated from the majority during the Babylonian captivity. Their religious system developed in isolation from the people of Israel, and they believed Mt Gerizim was the place of worship. Jesus told the Samaritan woman (Jn 4) the Jews worship what they know; the Samaritans what they don’t know. Thus, the Jews were name-calling, associating him to a lineage of heretics. 

We need to examine Jesus’ response, for it is telling. [49]… “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. One would expect him to disassociate as quickly as possible: “I am NOT a Samaritan!” Wouldn’t that be our response? If we were lumped into a people that were despised, whom had beliefs and behavior that were wrong, wouldn’t we say, “I am NOT with them!”

This is not what Jesus did. Jesus seemed at home, at peace, in being associated with the people of Samaria. Remember, in John 4, Jesus had shared the gospel with the people of Samaria at Sychar, and many believed in His name. Jesus was not a friend who was close with you in private, and disassociated in public, where your reputation would bring his own into question. Have you had a friend like that— who would deny or belittle you in public in order to look good in front of others? Or, have you, in your own pride, been that friend? 

Jesus didn’t seem to care about his reputation among men. Instead, he was concerned with revealing his own loving character. Do you see the beauty of Jesus, and his character? Such love, such grace, such mercy from our Savior, that he would be a friend, steadfast in love, even to the lowly outcasts.

The Jews accused him of being a Samaritan, and having a demon. This is not the only time the Jews had accused Jesus of such. We read in Matthew 12 that Jesus had healed a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute. They people saw and were amazed, and began asking if Jesus could be the Messiah. But [24]…when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” How did they explain the miracles Jesus was able to perform? They couldn’t deny the results! 

Jesus refuted their accusation: [25]… “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? … But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (ESV)

Was Jesus demon possessed? Examine the evidence: did one who worked miracles, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, do so as a work of Satan, whose mission was to kill and destroy? Or as a work of God, whose mission was and is to redeem and restore? Does one who graciously associated with the lowly, the outcast— was this the character of a demon, or the Divine? 

My answer: Divine. Further evidence is found in asking why? Why  did he come?

His answer: to honor the Father. Jesus answered: I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. [50] Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.

The work of evil is self-glorification. The work of the Divine is to honor God. This might appear in contrast to the words of Jesus. Look at his claims: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jhn 7:37-38). Or “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life” (Jhn 8:12). Or “If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!” (Jhn 836). Is Jesus glorifying himself? Is he seeking his own glory? Is this demonic or divine? We have been examining these gargantuan claims — that no one else could make and be thought of as a sane human being! But Jesus was not like anyone else… and the glory he pursued was not the glory he would receive from man, but the glory he would receive from His Father, who is God and judge. Jesus revealed to us the intent of the Father with these words: the glory of the cross belongs to the One who died upon it. And the Father seeks this glory for His beloved Son. Jesus made yet another claim that we must examine… that he alone had the...

Words That Give Life (51)

[51] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Briefly, I want to examine this claim and then move on with the narrative. Jesus was claiming, emphatically, and that is what is meant by the repetition of the word truly, that his words were above the words of Moses, of Abraham, of the prophets, and on par with— even above Hebrew Scripture. The Jews believed that in the Scripture they would find life. We saw this in chapter 5:39-40. Jesus exclaimed: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

Jesus made plain that His word had power above that of their own written word, for their written word was pointing to the power of life that would come through the Son! This is another grandiose claim we must examine to understand the meaning and power of His word.

Was Jesus claiming there would no longer be death? Recall that Jesus’ conversation in the previous section of scripture was not of physical but of spiritual origin. Born of God, or born of the devil? The same is true here. Lazarus believed, and died. Twice. The apostles believed, and their bodies were crucified, beheaded, burned, boiled, exiled. The salvation Jesus offered was bigger than physical world we see, but His salvation is for the true reality, a spiritual reality that exists with God for eternity. The promise of life— the words that give life, and keep one from seeing death, is the gospel of Jesus, as the Son of God who came to save the world from their own sin and its consequence. 

Friends, this is why death has lost its victory, why death has lost its sting… because the curse of sin has been broken. And we live in an age where the kingdom is here, but not yet. Death, as we celebrated yesterday for Chris Losli, is merely a speed bump on the way to true life, a gateway to the eternal reward of His presence.

Do you see the power of the words of Jesus? He was the Word, whom in the beginning, created the cosmos. The word became flesh, and dwelt among us (Jhn 1:1-5), and he upholds the universe by the word of His power (Heb 1:3). Only God has power over life and death.

Let’s continue with the narrative, and then we will ask the question:

What Did Abraham See? (56)

[53] Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” [54] Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ [55] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. [56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” [57] So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

Abraham is the greatest patriarch of the faith of Israel. He is the one to whom the first promise of people, land, and blessing had come. He died. All the prophets of old, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and so forth. They all died. In order to promise life, that one would not see death, you must possess life in and of your own self.

Did Jesus claim to posses this life? Yes. John wrote in chapter 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Jesus claimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and I am the resurrection and the life.” (Jhn 14:6, 11:25). They reasoned correctly, that in order to give life, one must have it. Yet, no other patriarch or prophet could claim such power. So their question, “Who do you make yourself out to be?” is the right question! But they don’t see. He had been telling them all along, and they couldn’t see with the eyes of Abraham, for Abraham saw the day of Jesus. He did, and rejoiced!

First, we need to understand what he meant. If we read without context, we would think Jesus’ statement was linear, and Abraham was looking down from heaven, watching things unfold. What Biblical scholars and critical scholarship tells us is that text doesn’t allow for that interpretation. I can’t explain it as I don’t know enough about how greek is constructed to tell you why. But I can share their conclusions. 

The Jews would have heard and even accepted that to Abraham God would have imparted knowledge of the Messianic Age. Abraham, as we read in Genesis, walked with God, was visited by The Angel of the Lord, whom we understand to be the pre-incarnate Son of God. Theologians call these accounts of the Son of God before his arrival as Jesus in 3 BC, a Christophany. What they couldn’t, and refused to believe was that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah.

So, what did Abraham see?

In Genesis 22, we read the account of God asking Abraham to kill his son, Isaac. This made no sense to Abraham, for if you recall, Isaac was the son of the promise, the child given to Sarah when she was past the age of childbearing. It was a miracle that Isaac had been born, scientifically, and medically impossible.

Thus, we read from Hebrews, that Abraham acted in faith, believing God, and considered that He was able to raise Isaac from the dead. He took Isaac up the mountain, and Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice to be burnt. Isaac willingly was bound, and laid on the alter. We see a picture of trust and obedience of the son to the Father. Scripture records that at the last second, an angel halted Abraham from sacrificing his son. And in the thicket was caught a ram, which God had provided. 

Genesis 22:14

[14] So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” (ESV)

Abraham saw that in the physical, his son Isaac would receiving blessing, and there would be a people who would arise. But he saw, according to God, a picture of the Messiah, the Son of God who would one day cary the wood up the mountain, to the place he would be slain. And God would not withhold his hand, but His son would make atonement for all nations, Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Barbarians, Sycthians, slaves and free. And just as Abraham considered that God was able to raise his son Isaac from the dead, God was able to raise His Son, the Messiah, from the dead, and vindicate His righteousness to the world. Abraham’s son, Isaac, was a type of Christ, pointing to the greater Son, The Offspring, by whom- as we read in Isaiah 53, the many would be counted righteous.

Abraham saw a picture in Genesis 22 of what the Lord would do to redeem and restore all nations to Himself.

How? One must ask, how would the death of one man redeem and give life to a world of sinners? 

Keep this in mind as we read on in the narrative.

Our last heading: The Great I Am

The Great ‘I Am’ (58)

[58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” [59] So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (ESV)

Notice first, the Hebrew idiom, Truly, truly… for emphasis. Jesus was making a statement that what he was about to say he would stake his life on. Then, in this statement, Jesus claimed to be before Abraham. That alone wouldn’t get him killed, it would make him laughed at. He would be known as the town clown, a lunatic. As they said, Jesus was not yet 50 years old.

It was at the self-disclosure of his name that the Jews picked up stones. Jesus stated, before Abraham was, I am. He had eluded to this statement earlier in the same conversation, with “Unless you believe that I am…” (8:24). Jesus often spoke cryptically, in parables, so it is understandable that they didn’t perceive it the first time. But now, Jesus clearly stated, in terms they could not miss, that He was God.

This is easily missed without context. Moses, when in Yahweh’s presence at the burning bush, asked God who he should declare sent him to set the people of Israel free. God, through the fire of a bush that was not consumed, told him to say, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them I AM sent you.” Names possessed meaning. In this name, I AM, God was revealing that He alone is self-existent. There was and is nothing before Him.

Jesus, when responding to the Jews disbelief that he had seen or known Abraham, whom they claimed as their father, replied in a way that established priority over Abraham, and equality with God. Look back on this passage with me: I AM set the people of Israel free from slavery to Egypt, and I AM has come to set his people free from sin and death. He has come as the Son of God to give life, and those who keep his word will never taste death. He has come with the power and authority as the Son of God, yet willingly walked the hill, carrying his cross, obedient to His Father, to save and set free a lost people from their greatest enemy, sin death. He was Chrystal clear about who he was, and he left no grey area. 

The Jews heard it, and picked up stones. They determine he was demonic, a heretic. Stoning was the right response of someone claiming to be God who was not. They didn’t leave him as the town clown, a lunatic. Jesus didn’t leave room for that. 

So, the question from the Jews was relevant: Who do you make yourself out to be? Are these the words of a liar, lunatic, or Lord? You must decide what you believe. Are these the words of a demon possessed man? Or is he the town clown? Or is He the Great I Am?

CS Lewis - from Mere Christianity

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

My prayer for you is that you see with the eyes of Abraham. That you see the wonder, the majesty, the glory, the beauty and power of Christ and you trust him. That you recognize your need of him, and are confident in the life he gives.]]></description>
					<content:encoded><![CDATA[Christian, have you paused for a moment realized how far-fetched our faith would appear to the world? We believe a man, whom lived 2000 years ago, came from heaven as the Son of God, lived a perfectly righteous life, was crucified, died, and buried, and then raised to life after 3 days. We believe the witnessed and written accounts of his life, death, and resurrection and ascension are preserved in this collection of writings we call the Bible, and we believe the Spirit of God lives in us, abides in us, as His children. We believe the Lord Jesus will return, descending from the clouds, and will judge the earth according to His righteousness. We believe the only righteousness we have is trusting in His word — the gospel of our salvation, that Jesus was and is God— the Son of God, and that we trust in His atoning death for our sins, which has justified us before the Father. Our hope of heaven has nothing to do with our own merit, but His mercy.

To the unbelieving world, to those who don’t see with the eyes of faith and find Jesus to be Lord, this is nonsense. They would say we are naive at best, or manipulative and malicious at our worst. They would say the world doesn’t operate according to the mercy of One, but according to what you merit. You get what you work for, you keep what you earn. Th gospel of grace through the man, Jesus Christ, is offensive to the non-religious world. 

However, it is also offensive to the religious and devout. Religion can be a tool of the proud. Just as the world would say, I get what I earn, one can believe God exists, and yet not honor him as such. A modern day Pharisee is one who believes  God exists, and that they deserve, or have earned God’s favor. They believe they’ve switched roles with God, and now, they are the philanthropist of good works, the benefactor, and God is the recipient. It is like a man, whom would attempt to dig their own well, when fresh springs are bubbling from the ground, and are offered to him. Do you honor the Lord by digging your own well? Or do you honor the Lord by drinking from His spring, and enjoying His refreshment?

We are plodding on in John! Here is a brief summary of the context. Jesus was in the temple after the Feast of Booths, and now was in a heated exchange with the Pharisees and religious leaders. Jesus was making it clear whom were his disciples and whom were pretenders. Disciples abide in His word, are set free by His truth, and do the work of Abraham: they believe Jesus! Jesus delineated between a false disciple and a true disciple, who was born of God. 

He overtly told the Pharisees that they were not born of the spiritual lineage of Abraham. Just as He had told Nicodemus in chapter 3, in order to see the Kingdom, one must be born again. 

This is where we left off last week. Would you stand in honor of God’s word, and let’s read John 8:48–59

[48] The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” [49] Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. [50] Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. [51] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” [52] The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ [53] Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” [54] Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ [55] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. [56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” [57] So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” [58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” [59] So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (ESV)

[pray]

We are going to look at the passage under the following headings today:

Of Demons or Divine? (48-50)

Words That Give Life (51-53)

What Did Abraham See? (56)

The Great ‘I Am’ (58)

&nbsp;

Of Demons or Divine? (48- 50, 51-55)

Last week, the conversation between Jesus and the Jews had to do with spiritual paternity. They claimed to be sons of Abraham, and as physical descendants, they were. But Jesus stated they were not sons of Abraham, as spiritual descendants. They countered, and said they weren’t just sons of Abraham, but sons of God. Jesus countered and said they were not sons of God, but sons of the devil. And the reason the could not hear, or accept His words, was that they were not of God. Here is their response: [48] The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 

First, they call him a Samaritan. You should know, Christian, that racism has no place in the kingdom of God. God’s people, under Jesus, are of every tribe, tongue, and language. But this isn’t your everyday racism. To the Jews, being a Samaritan was the lowest of all possible ethnicities, and religious heritics. They were once Jews, but separated from the majority during the Babylonian captivity. Their religious system developed in isolation from the people of Israel, and they believed Mt Gerizim was the place of worship. Jesus told the Samaritan woman (Jn 4) the Jews worship what they know; the Samaritans what they don’t know. Thus, the Jews were name-calling, associating him to a lineage of heretics. 

We need to examine Jesus’ response, for it is telling. [49]… “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. One would expect him to disassociate as quickly as possible: “I am NOT a Samaritan!” Wouldn’t that be our response? If we were lumped into a people that were despised, whom had beliefs and behavior that were wrong, wouldn’t we say, “I am NOT with them!”

This is not what Jesus did. Jesus seemed at home, at peace, in being associated with the people of Samaria. Remember, in John 4, Jesus had shared the gospel with the people of Samaria at Sychar, and many believed in His name. Jesus was not a friend who was close with you in private, and disassociated in public, where your reputation would bring his own into question. Have you had a friend like that— who would deny or belittle you in public in order to look good in front of others? Or, have you, in your own pride, been that friend? 

Jesus didn’t seem to care about his reputation among men. Instead, he was concerned with revealing his own loving character. Do you see the beauty of Jesus, and his character? Such love, such grace, such mercy from our Savior, that he would be a friend, steadfast in love, even to the lowly outcasts.

The Jews accused him of being a Samaritan, and having a demon. This is not the only time the Jews had accused Jesus of such. We read in Matthew 12 that Jesus had healed a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute. They people saw and were amazed, and began asking if Jesus could be the Messiah. But [24]…when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” How did they explain the miracles Jesus was able to perform? They couldn’t deny the results! 

Jesus refuted their accusation: [25]… “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? … But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (ESV)

Was Jesus demon possessed? Examine the evidence: did one who worked miracles, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, do so as a work of Satan, whose mission was to kill and destroy? Or as a work of God, whose mission was and is to redeem and restore? Does one who graciously associated with the lowly, the outcast— was this the character of a demon, or the Divine? 

My answer: Divine. Further evidence is found in asking why? Why  did he come?

His answer: to honor the Father. Jesus answered: I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. [50] Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.

The work of evil is self-glorification. The work of the Divine is to honor God. This might appear in contrast to the words of Jesus. Look at his claims: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jhn 7:37-38). Or “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life” (Jhn 8:12). Or “If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!” (Jhn 836). Is Jesus glorifying himself? Is he seeking his own glory? Is this demonic or divine? We have been examining these gargantuan claims — that no one else could make and be thought of as a sane human being! But Jesus was not like anyone else… and the glory he pursued was not the glory he would receive from man, but the glory he would receive from His Father, who is God and judge. Jesus revealed to us the intent of the Father with these words: the glory of the cross belongs to the One who died upon it. And the Father seeks this glory for His beloved Son. Jesus made yet another claim that we must examine… that he alone had the...

Words That Give Life (51)

[51] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Briefly, I want to examine this claim and then move on with the narrative. Jesus was claiming, emphatically, and that is what is meant by the repetition of the word truly, that his words were above the words of Moses, of Abraham, of the prophets, and on par with— even above Hebrew Scripture. The Jews believed that in the Scripture they would find life. We saw this in chapter 5:39-40. Jesus exclaimed: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

Jesus made plain that His word had power above that of their own written word, for their written word was pointing to the power of life that would come through the Son! This is another grandiose claim we must examine to understand the meaning and power of His word.

Was Jesus claiming there would no longer be death? Recall that Jesus’ conversation in the previous section of scripture was not of physical but of spiritual origin. Born of God, or born of the devil? The same is true here. Lazarus believed, and died. Twice. The apostles believed, and their bodies were crucified, beheaded, burned, boiled, exiled. The salvation Jesus offered was bigger than physical world we see, but His salvation is for the true reality, a spiritual reality that exists with God for eternity. The promise of life— the words that give life, and keep one from seeing death, is the gospel of Jesus, as the Son of God who came to save the world from their own sin and its consequence. 

Friends, this is why death has lost its victory, why death has lost its sting… because the curse of sin has been broken. And we live in an age where the kingdom is here, but not yet. Death, as we celebrated yesterday for Chris Losli, is merely a speed bump on the way to true life, a gateway to the eternal reward of His presence.

Do you see the power of the words of Jesus? He was the Word, whom in the beginning, created the cosmos. The word became flesh, and dwelt among us (Jhn 1:1-5), and he upholds the universe by the word of His power (Heb 1:3). Only God has power over life and death.

Let’s continue with the narrative, and then we will ask the question:

What Did Abraham See? (56)

[53] Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” [54] Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ [55] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. [56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” [57] So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

Abraham is the greatest patriarch of the faith of Israel. He is the one to whom the first promise of people, land, and blessing had come. He died. All the prophets of old, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and so forth. They all died. In order to promise life, that one would not see death, you must possess life in and of your own self.

Did Jesus claim to posses this life? Yes. John wrote in chapter 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Jesus claimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and I am the resurrection and the life.” (Jhn 14:6, 11:25). They reasoned correctly, that in order to give life, one must have it. Yet, no other patriarch or prophet could claim such power. So their question, “Who do you make yourself out to be?” is the right question! But they don’t see. He had been telling them all along, and they couldn’t see with the eyes of Abraham, for Abraham saw the day of Jesus. He did, and rejoiced!

First, we need to understand what he meant. If we read without context, we would think Jesus’ statement was linear, and Abraham was looking down from heaven, watching things unfold. What Biblical scholars and critical scholarship tells us is that text doesn’t allow for that interpretation. I can’t explain it as I don’t know enough about how greek is constructed to tell you why. But I can share their conclusions. 

The Jews would have heard and even accepted that to Abraham God would have imparted knowledge of the Messianic Age. Abraham, as we read in Genesis, walked with God, was visited by The Angel of the Lord, whom we understand to be the pre-incarnate Son of God. Theologians call these accounts of the Son of God before his arrival as Jesus in 3 BC, a Christophany. What they couldn’t, and refused to believe was that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah.

So, what did Abraham see?

In Genesis 22, we read the account of God asking Abraham to kill his son, Isaac. This made no sense to Abraham, for if you recall, Isaac was the son of the promise, the child given to Sarah when she was past the age of childbearing. It was a miracle that Isaac had been born, scientifically, and medically impossible.

Thus, we read from Hebrews, that Abraham acted in faith, believing God, and considered that He was able to raise Isaac from the dead. He took Isaac up the mountain, and Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice to be burnt. Isaac willingly was bound, and laid on the alter. We see a picture of trust and obedience of the son to the Father. Scripture records that at the last second, an angel halted Abraham from sacrificing his son. And in the thicket was caught a ram, which God had provided. 

Genesis 22:14

[14] So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” (ESV)

Abraham saw that in the physical, his son Isaac would receiving blessing, and there would be a people who would arise. But he saw, according to God, a picture of the Messiah, the Son of God who would one day cary the wood up the mountain, to the place he would be slain. And God would not withhold his hand, but His son would make atonement for all nations, Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Barbarians, Sycthians, slaves and free. And just as Abraham considered that God was able to raise his son Isaac from the dead, God was able to raise His Son, the Messiah, from the dead, and vindicate His righteousness to the world. Abraham’s son, Isaac, was a type of Christ, pointing to the greater Son, The Offspring, by whom- as we read in Isaiah 53, the many would be counted righteous.

Abraham saw a picture in Genesis 22 of what the Lord would do to redeem and restore all nations to Himself.

How? One must ask, how would the death of one man redeem and give life to a world of sinners? 

Keep this in mind as we read on in the narrative.

Our last heading: The Great I Am

The Great ‘I Am’ (58)

[58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” [59] So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (ESV)

Notice first, the Hebrew idiom, Truly, truly… for emphasis. Jesus was making a statement that what he was about to say he would stake his life on. Then, in this statement, Jesus claimed to be before Abraham. That alone wouldn’t get him killed, it would make him laughed at. He would be known as the town clown, a lunatic. As they said, Jesus was not yet 50 years old.

It was at the self-disclosure of his name that the Jews picked up stones. Jesus stated, before Abraham was, I am. He had eluded to this statement earlier in the same conversation, with “Unless you believe that I am…” (8:24). Jesus often spoke cryptically, in parables, so it is understandable that they didn’t perceive it the first time. But now, Jesus clearly stated, in terms they could not miss, that He was God.

This is easily missed without context. Moses, when in Yahweh’s presence at the burning bush, asked God who he should declare sent him to set the people of Israel free. God, through the fire of a bush that was not consumed, told him to say, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them I AM sent you.” Names possessed meaning. In this name, I AM, God was revealing that He alone is self-existent. There was and is nothing before Him.

Jesus, when responding to the Jews disbelief that he had seen or known Abraham, whom they claimed as their father, replied in a way that established priority over Abraham, and equality with God. Look back on this passage with me: I AM set the people of Israel free from slavery to Egypt, and I AM has come to set his people free from sin and death. He has come as the Son of God to give life, and those who keep his word will never taste death. He has come with the power and authority as the Son of God, yet willingly walked the hill, carrying his cross, obedient to His Father, to save and set free a lost people from their greatest enemy, sin death. He was Chrystal clear about who he was, and he left no grey area. 

The Jews heard it, and picked up stones. They determine he was demonic, a heretic. Stoning was the right response of someone claiming to be God who was not. They didn’t leave him as the town clown, a lunatic. Jesus didn’t leave room for that. 

So, the question from the Jews was relevant: Who do you make yourself out to be? Are these the words of a liar, lunatic, or Lord? You must decide what you believe. Are these the words of a demon possessed man? Or is he the town clown? Or is He the Great I Am?

CS Lewis - from Mere Christianity

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

My prayer for you is that you see with the eyes of Abraham. That you see the wonder, the majesty, the glory, the beauty and power of Christ and you trust him. That you recognize your need of him, and are confident in the life he gives.]]></content:encoded>
					<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Christian, have you paused for a moment realized how far-fetched our faith would appear to the world? We believe a man, whom lived 2000 years ago, came from heaven as the Son of God, lived a perfectly righteous life, was crucified, died, and buried, and then raised to life after 3 days. We believe the witnessed and written accounts of his life, death, and resurrection and ascension are preserved in this collection of writings we call the Bible, and we believe the Spirit of God lives in us, abides in us, as His children. We believe the Lord Jesus will return, descending from the clouds, and will judge the earth according to His righteousness. We believe the only righteousness we have is trusting in His word — the gospel of our salvation, that Jesus was and is God— the Son of God, and that we trust in His atoning death for our sins, which has justified us before the Father. Our hope of heaven has nothing to do with our own merit, but His mercy.

To the unbelieving world, to those who don’t see with the eyes of faith and find Jesus to be Lord, this is nonsense. They would say we are naive at best, or manipulative and malicious at our worst. They would say the world doesn’t operate according to the mercy of One, but according to what you merit. You get what you work for, you keep what you earn. Th gospel of grace through the man, Jesus Christ, is offensive to the non-religious world. 

However, it is also offensive to the religious and devout. Religion can be a tool of the proud. Just as the world would say, I get what I earn, one can believe God exists, and yet not honor him as such. A modern day Pharisee is one who believes  God exists, and that they deserve, or have earned God’s favor. They believe they’ve switched roles with God, and now, they are the philanthropist of good works, the benefactor, and God is the recipient. It is like a man, whom would attempt to dig their own well, when fresh springs are bubbling from the ground, and are offered to him. Do you honor the Lord by digging your own well? Or do you honor the Lord by drinking from His spring, and enjoying His refreshment?

We are plodding on in John! Here is a brief summary of the context. Jesus was in the temple after the Feast of Booths, and now was in a heated exchange with the Pharisees and religious leaders. Jesus was making it clear whom were his disciples and whom were pretenders. Disciples abide in His word, are set free by His truth, and do the work of Abraham: they believe Jesus! Jesus delineated between a false disciple and a true disciple, who was born of God. 

He overtly told the Pharisees that they were not born of the spiritual lineage of Abraham. Just as He had told Nicodemus in chapter 3, in order to see the Kingdom, one must be born again. 

This is where we left off last week. Would you stand in honor of God’s word, and let’s read John 8:48–59

[48] The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” [49] Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. [50] Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. [51] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” [52] The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ [53] Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” [54] Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ [55] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. [56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” [57] So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” [58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” [59] So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (ESV)

[pray]

We are going to look at the passage under the following headings today:

Of Demons or Divine? (48-50)

Words That Give Life (51-53)

What Did Abraham See? (56)

The Great ‘I Am’ (58)

&nbsp;

Of Demons or Divine? (48- 50, 51-55)

Last week, the conversation between Jesus and the Jews had to do with spiritual paternity. They claimed to be sons of Abraham, and as physical descendants, they were. But Jesus stated they were not sons of Abraham, as spiritual descendants. They countered, and said they weren’t just sons of Abraham, but sons of God. Jesus countered and said they were not sons of God, but sons of the devil. And the reason the could not hear, or accept His words, was that they were not of God. Here is their response: [48] The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 

First, they call him a Samaritan. You should know, Christian, that racism has no place in the kingdom of God. God’s people, under Jesus, are of every tribe, tongue, and language. But this isn’t your everyday racism. To the Jews, being a Samaritan was the lowest of all possible ethnicities, and religious heritics. They were once Jews, but separated from the majority during the Babylonian captivity. Their religious system developed in isolation from the people of Israel, and they believed Mt Gerizim was the place of worship. Jesus told the Samaritan woman (Jn 4) the Jews worship what they know; the Samaritans what they don’t know. Thus, the Jews were name-calling, associating him to a lineage of heretics. 

We need to examine Jesus’ response, for it is telling. [49]… “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. One would expect him to disassociate as quickly as possible: “I am NOT a Samaritan!” Wouldn’t that be our response? If we were lumped into a people that were despised, whom had beliefs and behavior that were wrong, wouldn’t we say, “I am NOT with them!”

This is not what Jesus did. Jesus seemed at home, at peace, in being associated with the people of Samaria. Remember, in John 4, Jesus had shared the gospel with the people of Samaria at Sychar, and many believed in His name. Jesus was not a friend who was close with you in private, and disassociated in public, where your reputation would bring his own into question. Have you had a friend like that— who would deny or belittle you in public in order to look good in front of others? Or, have you, in your own pride, been that friend? 

Jesus didn’t seem to care about his reputation among men. Instead, he was concerned with revealing his own loving character. Do you see the beauty of Jesus, and his character? Such love, such grace, such mercy from our Savior, that he would be a friend, steadfast in love, even to the lowly outcasts.

The Jews accused him of being a Samaritan, and having a demon. This is not the only time the Jews had accused Jesus of such. We read in Matthew 12 that Jesus had healed a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute. They people saw and were amazed, and began asking if Jesus could be the Messiah. But [24]…when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” How did they explain the miracles Jesus was able to perform? They couldn’t deny the results! 

Jesus refuted their accusation: [25]… “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? … But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (ESV)

Was Jesus demon possessed? Examine the evidence: did one who worked miracles, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, do so as a work of Satan, whose mission was to kill and destroy? Or as a work of God, whose mission was and is to redeem and restore? Does one who graciously associated with the lowly, the outcast— was this the character of a demon, or the Divine? 

My answer: Divine. Further evidence is found in asking why? Why  did he come?

His answer: to honor the Father. Jesus answered: I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. [50] Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.

The work of evil is self-glorification. The work of the Divine is to honor God. This might appear in contrast to the words of Jesus. Look at his claims: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jhn 7:37-38). Or “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but have the light of life” (Jhn 8:12). Or “If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed!” (Jhn 836). Is Jesus glorifying himself? Is he seeking his own glory? Is this demonic or divine? We have been examining these gargantuan claims — that no one else could make and be thought of as a sane human being! But Jesus was not like anyone else… and the glory he pursued was not the glory he would receive from man, but the glory he would receive from His Father, who is God and judge. Jesus revealed to us the intent of the Father with these words: the glory of the cross belongs to the One who died upon it. And the Father seeks this glory for His beloved Son. Jesus made yet another claim that we must examine… that he alone had the...

Words That Give Life (51)

[51] Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

Briefly, I want to examine this claim and then move on with the narrative. Jesus was claiming, emphatically, and that is what is meant by the repetition of the word truly, that his words were above the words of Moses, of Abraham, of the prophets, and on par with— even above Hebrew Scripture. The Jews believed that in the Scripture they would find life. We saw this in chapter 5:39-40. Jesus exclaimed: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

Jesus made plain that His word had power above that of their own written word, for their written word was pointing to the power of life that would come through the Son! This is another grandiose claim we must examine to understand the meaning and power of His word.

Was Jesus claiming there would no longer be death? Recall that Jesus’ conversation in the previous section of scripture was not of physical but of spiritual origin. Born of God, or born of the devil? The same is true here. Lazarus believed, and died. Twice. The apostles believed, and their bodies were crucified, beheaded, burned, boiled, exiled. The salvation Jesus offered was bigger than physical world we see, but His salvation is for the true reality, a spiritual reality that exists with God for eternity. The promise of life— the words that give life, and keep one from seeing death, is the gospel of Jesus, as the Son of God who came to save the world from their own sin and its consequence. 

Friends, this is why death has lost its victory, why death has lost its sting… because the curse of sin has been broken. And we live in an age where the kingdom is here, but not yet. Death, as we celebrated yesterday for Chris Losli, is merely a speed bump on the way to true life, a gateway to the eternal reward of His presence.

Do you see the power of the words of Jesus? He was the Word, whom in the beginning, created the cosmos. The word became flesh, and dwelt among us (Jhn 1:1-5), and he upholds the universe by the word of His power (Heb 1:3). Only God has power over life and death.

Let’s continue with the narrative, and then we will ask the question:

What Did Abraham See? (56)

[53] Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” [54] Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ [55] But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. [56] Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” [57] So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

Abraham is the greatest patriarch of the faith of Israel. He is the one to whom the first promise of people, land, and blessing had come. He died. All the prophets of old, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and so forth. They all died. In order to promise life, that one would not see death, you must possess life in and of your own self.

Did Jesus claim to posses this life? Yes. John wrote in chapter 1:4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. Jesus claimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and I am the resurrection and the life.” (Jhn 14:6, 11:25). They reasoned correctly, that in order to give life, one must have it. Yet, no other patriarch or prophet could claim such power. So their question, “Who do you make yourself out to be?” is the right question! But they don’t see. He had been telling them all along, and they couldn’t see with the eyes of Abraham, for Abraham saw the day of Jesus. He did, and rejoiced!

First, we need to understand what he meant. If we read without context, we would think Jesus’ statement was linear, and Abraham was looking down from heaven, watching things unfold. What Biblical scholars and critical scholarship tells us is that text doesn’t allow for that interpretation. I can’t explain it as I don’t know enough about how greek is constructed to tell you why. But I can share their conclusions. 

The Jews would have heard and even accepted that to Abraham God would have imparted knowledge of the Messianic Age. Abraham, as we read in Genesis, walked with God, was visited by The Angel of the Lord, whom we understand to be the pre-incarnate Son of God. Theologians call these accounts of the Son of God before his arrival as Jesus in 3 BC, a Christophany. What they couldn’t, and refused to believe was that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah.

So, what did Abraham see?

In Genesis 22, we read the account of God asking Abraham to kill his son, Isaac. This made no sense to Abraham, for if you recall, Isaac was the son of the promise, the child given to Sarah when she was past the age of childbearing. It was a miracle that Isaac had been born, scientifically, and medically impossible.

Thus, we read from Hebrews, that Abraham acted in faith, believing God, and considered that He was able to raise Isaac from the dead. He took Isaac up the mountain, and Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice to be burnt. Isaac willingly was bound, and laid on the alter. We see a picture of trust and obedience of the son to the Father. Scripture records that at the last second, an angel halted Abraham from sacrificing his son. And in the thicket was caught a ram, which God had provided. 

Genesis 22:14

[14] So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” (ESV)

Abraham saw that in the physical, his son Isaac would receiving blessing, and there would be a people who would arise. But he saw, according to God, a picture of the Messiah, the Son of God who would one day cary the wood up the mountain, to the place he would be slain. And God would not withhold his hand, but His son would make atonement for all nations, Jews, Samaritans, Greeks, Barbarians, Sycthians, slaves and free. And just as Abraham considered that God was able to raise his son Isaac from the dead, God was able to raise His Son, the Messiah, from the dead, and vindicate His righteousness to the world. Abraham’s son, Isaac, was a type of Christ, pointing to the greater Son, The Offspring, by whom- as we read in Isaiah 53, the many would be counted righteous.

Abraham saw a picture in Genesis 22 of what the Lord would do to redeem and restore all nations to Himself.

How? One must ask, how would the death of one man redeem and give life to a world of sinners? 

Keep this in mind as we read on in the narrative.

Our last heading: The Great I Am

The Great ‘I Am’ (58)

[58] Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” [59] So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. (ESV)

Notice first, the Hebrew idiom, Truly, truly… for emphasis. Jesus was making a statement that what he was about to say he would stake his life on. Then, in this statement, Jesus claimed to be before Abraham. That alone wouldn’t get him killed, it would make him laughed at. He would be known as the town clown, a lunatic. As they said, Jesus was not yet 50 years old.

It was at the self-disclosure of his name that the Jews picked up stones. Jesus stated, before Abraham was, I am. He had eluded to this statement earlier in the same conversation, with “Unless you believe that I am…” (8:24). Jesus often spoke cryptically, in parables, so it is understandable that they didn’t perceive it the first time. But now, Jesus clearly stated, in terms they could not miss, that He was God.

This is easily missed without context. Moses, when in Yahweh’s presence at the burning bush, asked God who he should declare sent him to set the people of Israel free. God, through the fire of a bush that was not consumed, told him to say, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell them I AM sent you.” Names possessed meaning. In this name, I AM, God was revealing that He alone is self-existent. There was and is nothing before Him.

Jesus, when responding to the Jews disbelief that he had seen or known Abraham, whom they claimed as their father, replied in a way that established priority over Abraham, and equality with God. Look back on this passage with me: I AM set the people of Israel free from slavery to Egypt, and I AM has come to set his people free from sin and death. He has come as the Son of God to give life, and those who keep his word will never taste death. He has come with the power and authority as the Son of God, yet willingly walked the hill, carrying his cross, obedient to His Father, to save and set free a lost people from their greatest enemy, sin death. He was Chrystal clear about who he was, and he left no grey area. 

The Jews heard it, and picked up stones. They determine he was demonic, a heretic. Stoning was the right response of someone claiming to be God who was not. They didn’t leave him as the town clown, a lunatic. Jesus didn’t leave room for that. 

So, the question from the Jews was relevant: Who do you make yourself out to be? Are these the words of a liar, lunatic, or Lord? You must decide what you believe. Are these the words of a demon possessed man? Or is he the town clown? Or is He the Great I Am?

CS Lewis - from Mere Christianity

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

My prayer for you is that you see with the eyes of Abraham. That you see the wonder, the majesty, the glory, the beauty and power of Christ and you trust him. That you recognize your need of him, and are confident in the life he gives.]]></itunes:summary>

					<itunes:author>Bobby Gaither</itunes:author>
					<itunes:subtitle>Christian, have you paused for a moment realized how far-fetched our faith would appear to the world? We believe a man, whom lived 2000 years ago, came from heaven as the Son of God, lived a perfectly righteous life, was crucified, died, and buried, and t...</itunes:subtitle>
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					<itunes:duration>00:45:52</itunes:duration>
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					<title>Clinging To Life</title>
					<link>https://hopefellowship.life/sermons/clinging-to-life</link>
											<comments>https://hopefellowship.life/sermons/clinging-to-life#respond</comments>
					
					<pubDate>Sun, 16 Jun 2019 17:13:22 +0000</pubDate>
					<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bobby Gaither]]></dc:creator>
					
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hopefellowship.life/?post_type=wpfc_sermon&#038;p=795</guid>
					<description><![CDATA[Bible Text: Psalm 119:25-32 | Speaker: Bobby Gaither | Series: Psalm 119 | Have you had that moment when you’ve realized the manner of the life you’ve  lived will ultimately bring you death? 

The threat to life isn’t necessarily a physical ailment, or a lack of resources, but instead something more important than your physical body— your soul is in danger of perishing. If you’ve had this experience, you’ve likely already recalled it to memory. It’s an inner sense that something is off, and has been off for sometime. It could be that no one would know, according to the outward appearance of your life, but your inner-self, your soul, is parched. All your pursuits, even of good things, have left you empty. 

These are watershed moments, a crossroad where you know if you continue to do what you’ve been doing, ultimately, your soul will dry out.

I’ve had that moment. My body was well and alive, and some would think I was even thriving. I was living in sunny San Diego, California, the dream of every Oregon boy who grew up under grey skies. Three months in the sun and sand, one would think I’d be happy as a clam! But my soul was clinging to death. Something was off, and I knew it.

Our passage today speaks to this reality. We are in Psalm 119, and reading from verse 25-32. Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in Psalter, and it is built on an acrostic with the Hebrew Alphabet. Each line of this 8 stanza poem begins with the letter daleth. The Psalm, as you will read, is centered around praising the written word of God. It reads like a prayer of repentance, praise and petition to God.

Would you stand with me in honor of God’s word. Let’s read.Psalm 119:25-32

My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word.
When I told of my ways you answered me,
Teach me your commandments
Make me understand the way of your precepts
And I will meditate on your wondrous work
My soul melts away for sorrow
Strengthen me according to your word
Put false ways far from me
And graciously teach me your law
I have chosen the way of faithfulness
I set your rules before me
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord
Let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
When you enlarge my heart

[Pray]

25 My soul clings to the dust;

give me life according to your word.

The Psalmist used a form of poetry that would either contrast two statements, or continue the thought from the first statement to the next. This first statement is one of contrast. The main object of the stanza was the soul.

My soul… the Hebrew word used there is nepesh. In this context, it means heart, or inner self. It is the inner life of the person. And here, the psalmist gives us a window into his heart. He said it…

Clings to the dust. The biblical illusion to dust is a picture of death. In Gen 3:19, when God pronounced the curse upon Adam and Eve, he said, “..for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Eccl 3:20 echoed: All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

The picture the Psalmist painted of his soul was one that was dry, hungry, and parched, starving for nourishment, and dying. Life was fleeing him. He had been brought low to the ground. His soul was clinging to the dust— to death. Have you been there? Does this describe what it is like when our inner self is dying?

But this is a stanza of contrast. And his response was to plea for life. He wasn’t asking for physical life. He didn’t ask for food, shelter, water, or even community— instead he asked for life according to your word.

He pled with God for life. But not any kind of life. He asked for life that will revive the soul, the heart, the inner-self, which was according to the [your] word. The word for word is dabar. It’s a noun. A thing. It has substance. We see in scripture that the word of God itself is likened to food, which gives life. 

Jesus cited Duet 8:3 when he responded to Satan’s temptation in Matt 4:4:

“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

So, the psalmist finds himself low, his soul clinging to death. He’s speaking of his soul, his inner person, the spiritual nature. How does one receive spiritual food when dying? How is the soul revived? 

Look at verse 2626 When I told of my ways you answered me,

Teach me your commandments

How is the soul revived? Repentance. When you realize you’ve followed your own way, your own path, and that is what has brought you death, the path to life is repentance. It’s acknowledging before your Creator that you’ve veered from His path, His design for you. 

The Psalmist knows that God is faithful to answer us when we repent. This is a result of His character, His nature, for he announced himself as “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…" (Ex 34:6-7a)

In repentance, we recognize a contrast between our ways and God’s ways.

The Psalmist contrasted “my ways” with “your commandments.” And he pled with God to teach him. His petition was that God would teach him the commandments. Friends, the things that bring our soul to the dust, that which bring us death is following our own way. When we do things in accordance to what we think would be right, what we think would work, what we want and we don’t follow God’s way, we are walking towards spiritual death. 

Spiritual death is to be feared above physical death. Jesus declared to his disciples: “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [29] Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. [30] But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. [31] Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matt 10:28–31

We make decisions based on what we perceive we need— based on our physical circumstances. When those decisions lead us to sin, we are bringing our soul to death. We are not trusting God for His provision. Jesus spoke to that as a lack of faith!

So what is the Psalmist’s plea? 

Teach me your commandments. We become the student. He is the teacher. The psalmist has humbled himself under God’s law. He’s recognized his way leads to death, and God’s way leads to life. He wants life.

27 Make me understand the way of your precepts

And I will meditate on your wondrous work

I was an interesting math student. In Pre-Calculous, I would get B’s and C’s on my assignments up to the test, and then I’d typically ace my test. One of my college professors thought that was odd, and he had me take the test over again because he thought I had cheated. I didn’t grasp it the week before. Something clicked over the weekend. And then I understood. The truth of the matter was this: I could learn all the formulas, but if I didn’t grasp the why, I wouldn’t understand how to apply the formulas. I had to understand why in order to get it!

Can you see what the psalmist was asking? Make me understand… Help me understand why?

But notice the psalmist pleas with God to make him understand! These things are spiritually discerned, not in his own understanding. We know from Scripture that  “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14 ESV)

The ways of God are folly to those who haven’t been born again by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God illumines the mind to understand. In order to follow the ways of God, the psalmist realized he must understand the ways of God. This understanding is given by the Spirit of God. 

And in understanding the ways of God, the Psalmist will meditate on His wondrous work.

Theology always leads to doxology. The study of God ought to always lead to the worship of God. If we rightly understand God, we will marvel, and meditate on the wonder of who He is and what he has done. We will proclaim his wondrous works!

Psalm 145:5

[5] On the glorious splendor of your majesty,and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. (ESV)

28 My soul melts away for sorrow

Strengthen me according to your word

Do you see how he is speaking of his inner-person? V 25: his soul clings to the dust. V 28: his soul melts away for sorrow. Sorrow is a result of sin. 

This is why we said verse 26 was him repenting, for… in Psalm 32:3–4, we read

[3] For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

[4] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah (ESV)

When we acknowledge our way, when we repent, we can look to God and ask for Him to strengthen us. He doesn’t leave us in our sorrow. He gives us His word as sustenance, which strengthens us.

But the Psalmist doesn’t want to stay on the rollercoaster of spiritual ups and downs. He wants life! Consistent life! Look at his plea in v 29.

29 Put false ways far from me

And graciously teach me your law

Do you pray that way? That God would remove false ways from you? Do you see that He pleas with God to act upon him? Do you realize how helpless you are to remove false ways on your own? In his plea for life, his petition is for God to move upon him. 

And he asks God to graciously teach… it’s a plea that recognized sin. The psalmist recognized he didn’t deserve God to teach, but asked him to respond graciously…

Next, the Psalmist turns from petition and plea to stating his position. He has drawn a line in the sand, and this is his stance:

30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness

I set your rules before me

31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord

Let me not be put to shame!

32 I will run in the way of your commandments

When you enlarge my heart

I have chosen the way of faithfulness…

When we repent of our way, we chose to turn away from our own way and follow Him. It is the way of faithfulness. It’s the way of faith. We now know and believe that our way leads to death, and God’s way leads to life. 

Thus, he states: I have set your rules before me.

How do we follow the way of faithfulness? We behold the way of God. We set our eyes on his commands, for in them is life! That’s where we set our gaze.

I cling to your testimonies! — this is the contrast: when we follow our own way, we are brought down to the dust, to death, but when we cling to the way of God, We cling to life! Our soul has life…

But there is a heart change that must occur. Hebrew understanding of the heart: drivers seat of the will. Encompasses mind, will, emotions, desires… 

The psalmist recognizes that they cannot keep the commandments of God without the supernatural help of God. Their heart must grow. It must grow for the word, it must grow to love God, his ways. And when his heart has grown to love the right things, instead of crawling along the ground, parched of sustenance, we are able to run in his ways. We are full of life! 

This is the contrast the psalmist makes: Our soul clings to death when we follow our own ways. Our soul clings to life when we cling to His testimonies. 

Church, will we choose to cling to the dust, to our sinful ways, or to life, to the testimony, the word of God?]]></description>
					<content:encoded><![CDATA[Bible Text: Psalm 119:25-32 | Speaker: Bobby Gaither | Series: Psalm 119 | Have you had that moment when you’ve realized the manner of the life you’ve  lived will ultimately bring you death? 

The threat to life isn’t necessarily a physical ailment, or a lack of resources, but instead something more important than your physical body— your soul is in danger of perishing. If you’ve had this experience, you’ve likely already recalled it to memory. It’s an inner sense that something is off, and has been off for sometime. It could be that no one would know, according to the outward appearance of your life, but your inner-self, your soul, is parched. All your pursuits, even of good things, have left you empty. 

These are watershed moments, a crossroad where you know if you continue to do what you’ve been doing, ultimately, your soul will dry out.

I’ve had that moment. My body was well and alive, and some would think I was even thriving. I was living in sunny San Diego, California, the dream of every Oregon boy who grew up under grey skies. Three months in the sun and sand, one would think I’d be happy as a clam! But my soul was clinging to death. Something was off, and I knew it.

Our passage today speaks to this reality. We are in Psalm 119, and reading from verse 25-32. Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in Psalter, and it is built on an acrostic with the Hebrew Alphabet. Each line of this 8 stanza poem begins with the letter daleth. The Psalm, as you will read, is centered around praising the written word of God. It reads like a prayer of repentance, praise and petition to God.

Would you stand with me in honor of God’s word. Let’s read.Psalm 119:25-32

My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word.
When I told of my ways you answered me,
Teach me your commandments
Make me understand the way of your precepts
And I will meditate on your wondrous work
My soul melts away for sorrow
Strengthen me according to your word
Put false ways far from me
And graciously teach me your law
I have chosen the way of faithfulness
I set your rules before me
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord
Let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
When you enlarge my heart

[Pray]

25 My soul clings to the dust;

give me life according to your word.

The Psalmist used a form of poetry that would either contrast two statements, or continue the thought from the first statement to the next. This first statement is one of contrast. The main object of the stanza was the soul.

My soul… the Hebrew word used there is nepesh. In this context, it means heart, or inner self. It is the inner life of the person. And here, the psalmist gives us a window into his heart. He said it…

Clings to the dust. The biblical illusion to dust is a picture of death. In Gen 3:19, when God pronounced the curse upon Adam and Eve, he said, “..for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Eccl 3:20 echoed: All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

The picture the Psalmist painted of his soul was one that was dry, hungry, and parched, starving for nourishment, and dying. Life was fleeing him. He had been brought low to the ground. His soul was clinging to the dust— to death. Have you been there? Does this describe what it is like when our inner self is dying?

But this is a stanza of contrast. And his response was to plea for life. He wasn’t asking for physical life. He didn’t ask for food, shelter, water, or even community— instead he asked for life according to your word.

He pled with God for life. But not any kind of life. He asked for life that will revive the soul, the heart, the inner-self, which was according to the [your] word. The word for word is dabar. It’s a noun. A thing. It has substance. We see in scripture that the word of God itself is likened to food, which gives life. 

Jesus cited Duet 8:3 when he responded to Satan’s temptation in Matt 4:4:

“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

So, the psalmist finds himself low, his soul clinging to death. He’s speaking of his soul, his inner person, the spiritual nature. How does one receive spiritual food when dying? How is the soul revived? 

Look at verse 2626 When I told of my ways you answered me,

Teach me your commandments

How is the soul revived? Repentance. When you realize you’ve followed your own way, your own path, and that is what has brought you death, the path to life is repentance. It’s acknowledging before your Creator that you’ve veered from His path, His design for you. 

The Psalmist knows that God is faithful to answer us when we repent. This is a result of His character, His nature, for he announced himself as “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…" (Ex 34:6-7a)

In repentance, we recognize a contrast between our ways and God’s ways.

The Psalmist contrasted “my ways” with “your commandments.” And he pled with God to teach him. His petition was that God would teach him the commandments. Friends, the things that bring our soul to the dust, that which bring us death is following our own way. When we do things in accordance to what we think would be right, what we think would work, what we want and we don’t follow God’s way, we are walking towards spiritual death. 

Spiritual death is to be feared above physical death. Jesus declared to his disciples: “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [29] Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. [30] But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. [31] Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matt 10:28–31

We make decisions based on what we perceive we need— based on our physical circumstances. When those decisions lead us to sin, we are bringing our soul to death. We are not trusting God for His provision. Jesus spoke to that as a lack of faith!

So what is the Psalmist’s plea? 

Teach me your commandments. We become the student. He is the teacher. The psalmist has humbled himself under God’s law. He’s recognized his way leads to death, and God’s way leads to life. He wants life.

27 Make me understand the way of your precepts

And I will meditate on your wondrous work

I was an interesting math student. In Pre-Calculous, I would get B’s and C’s on my assignments up to the test, and then I’d typically ace my test. One of my college professors thought that was odd, and he had me take the test over again because he thought I had cheated. I didn’t grasp it the week before. Something clicked over the weekend. And then I understood. The truth of the matter was this: I could learn all the formulas, but if I didn’t grasp the why, I wouldn’t understand how to apply the formulas. I had to understand why in order to get it!

Can you see what the psalmist was asking? Make me understand… Help me understand why?

But notice the psalmist pleas with God to make him understand! These things are spiritually discerned, not in his own understanding. We know from Scripture that  “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14 ESV)

The ways of God are folly to those who haven’t been born again by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God illumines the mind to understand. In order to follow the ways of God, the psalmist realized he must understand the ways of God. This understanding is given by the Spirit of God. 

And in understanding the ways of God, the Psalmist will meditate on His wondrous work.

Theology always leads to doxology. The study of God ought to always lead to the worship of God. If we rightly understand God, we will marvel, and meditate on the wonder of who He is and what he has done. We will proclaim his wondrous works!

Psalm 145:5

[5] On the glorious splendor of your majesty,and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. (ESV)

28 My soul melts away for sorrow

Strengthen me according to your word

Do you see how he is speaking of his inner-person? V 25: his soul clings to the dust. V 28: his soul melts away for sorrow. Sorrow is a result of sin. 

This is why we said verse 26 was him repenting, for… in Psalm 32:3–4, we read

[3] For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

[4] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah (ESV)

When we acknowledge our way, when we repent, we can look to God and ask for Him to strengthen us. He doesn’t leave us in our sorrow. He gives us His word as sustenance, which strengthens us.

But the Psalmist doesn’t want to stay on the rollercoaster of spiritual ups and downs. He wants life! Consistent life! Look at his plea in v 29.

29 Put false ways far from me

And graciously teach me your law

Do you pray that way? That God would remove false ways from you? Do you see that He pleas with God to act upon him? Do you realize how helpless you are to remove false ways on your own? In his plea for life, his petition is for God to move upon him. 

And he asks God to graciously teach… it’s a plea that recognized sin. The psalmist recognized he didn’t deserve God to teach, but asked him to respond graciously…

Next, the Psalmist turns from petition and plea to stating his position. He has drawn a line in the sand, and this is his stance:

30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness

I set your rules before me

31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord

Let me not be put to shame!

32 I will run in the way of your commandments

When you enlarge my heart

I have chosen the way of faithfulness…

When we repent of our way, we chose to turn away from our own way and follow Him. It is the way of faithfulness. It’s the way of faith. We now know and believe that our way leads to death, and God’s way leads to life. 

Thus, he states: I have set your rules before me.

How do we follow the way of faithfulness? We behold the way of God. We set our eyes on his commands, for in them is life! That’s where we set our gaze.

I cling to your testimonies! — this is the contrast: when we follow our own way, we are brought down to the dust, to death, but when we cling to the way of God, We cling to life! Our soul has life…

But there is a heart change that must occur. Hebrew understanding of the heart: drivers seat of the will. Encompasses mind, will, emotions, desires… 

The psalmist recognizes that they cannot keep the commandments of God without the supernatural help of God. Their heart must grow. It must grow for the word, it must grow to love God, his ways. And when his heart has grown to love the right things, instead of crawling along the ground, parched of sustenance, we are able to run in his ways. We are full of life! 

This is the contrast the psalmist makes: Our soul clings to death when we follow our own ways. Our soul clings to life when we cling to His testimonies. 

Church, will we choose to cling to the dust, to our sinful ways, or to life, to the testimony, the word of God?]]></content:encoded>
					<itunes:summary><![CDATA[Bible Text: Psalm 119:25-32 | Speaker: Bobby Gaither | Series: Psalm 119 | Have you had that moment when you’ve realized the manner of the life you’ve  lived will ultimately bring you death? 

The threat to life isn’t necessarily a physical ailment, or a lack of resources, but instead something more important than your physical body— your soul is in danger of perishing. If you’ve had this experience, you’ve likely already recalled it to memory. It’s an inner sense that something is off, and has been off for sometime. It could be that no one would know, according to the outward appearance of your life, but your inner-self, your soul, is parched. All your pursuits, even of good things, have left you empty. 

These are watershed moments, a crossroad where you know if you continue to do what you’ve been doing, ultimately, your soul will dry out.

I’ve had that moment. My body was well and alive, and some would think I was even thriving. I was living in sunny San Diego, California, the dream of every Oregon boy who grew up under grey skies. Three months in the sun and sand, one would think I’d be happy as a clam! But my soul was clinging to death. Something was off, and I knew it.

Our passage today speaks to this reality. We are in Psalm 119, and reading from verse 25-32. Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm in Psalter, and it is built on an acrostic with the Hebrew Alphabet. Each line of this 8 stanza poem begins with the letter daleth. The Psalm, as you will read, is centered around praising the written word of God. It reads like a prayer of repentance, praise and petition to God.

Would you stand with me in honor of God’s word. Let’s read.Psalm 119:25-32

My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word.
When I told of my ways you answered me,
Teach me your commandments
Make me understand the way of your precepts
And I will meditate on your wondrous work
My soul melts away for sorrow
Strengthen me according to your word
Put false ways far from me
And graciously teach me your law
I have chosen the way of faithfulness
I set your rules before me
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord
Let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
When you enlarge my heart

[Pray]

25 My soul clings to the dust;

give me life according to your word.

The Psalmist used a form of poetry that would either contrast two statements, or continue the thought from the first statement to the next. This first statement is one of contrast. The main object of the stanza was the soul.

My soul… the Hebrew word used there is nepesh. In this context, it means heart, or inner self. It is the inner life of the person. And here, the psalmist gives us a window into his heart. He said it…

Clings to the dust. The biblical illusion to dust is a picture of death. In Gen 3:19, when God pronounced the curse upon Adam and Eve, he said, “..for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Eccl 3:20 echoed: All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.

The picture the Psalmist painted of his soul was one that was dry, hungry, and parched, starving for nourishment, and dying. Life was fleeing him. He had been brought low to the ground. His soul was clinging to the dust— to death. Have you been there? Does this describe what it is like when our inner self is dying?

But this is a stanza of contrast. And his response was to plea for life. He wasn’t asking for physical life. He didn’t ask for food, shelter, water, or even community— instead he asked for life according to your word.

He pled with God for life. But not any kind of life. He asked for life that will revive the soul, the heart, the inner-self, which was according to the [your] word. The word for word is dabar. It’s a noun. A thing. It has substance. We see in scripture that the word of God itself is likened to food, which gives life. 

Jesus cited Duet 8:3 when he responded to Satan’s temptation in Matt 4:4:

“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

So, the psalmist finds himself low, his soul clinging to death. He’s speaking of his soul, his inner person, the spiritual nature. How does one receive spiritual food when dying? How is the soul revived? 

Look at verse 2626 When I told of my ways you answered me,

Teach me your commandments

How is the soul revived? Repentance. When you realize you’ve followed your own way, your own path, and that is what has brought you death, the path to life is repentance. It’s acknowledging before your Creator that you’ve veered from His path, His design for you. 

The Psalmist knows that God is faithful to answer us when we repent. This is a result of His character, His nature, for he announced himself as “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…" (Ex 34:6-7a)

In repentance, we recognize a contrast between our ways and God’s ways.

The Psalmist contrasted “my ways” with “your commandments.” And he pled with God to teach him. His petition was that God would teach him the commandments. Friends, the things that bring our soul to the dust, that which bring us death is following our own way. When we do things in accordance to what we think would be right, what we think would work, what we want and we don’t follow God’s way, we are walking towards spiritual death. 

Spiritual death is to be feared above physical death. Jesus declared to his disciples: “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [29] Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. [30] But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. [31] Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matt 10:28–31

We make decisions based on what we perceive we need— based on our physical circumstances. When those decisions lead us to sin, we are bringing our soul to death. We are not trusting God for His provision. Jesus spoke to that as a lack of faith!

So what is the Psalmist’s plea? 

Teach me your commandments. We become the student. He is the teacher. The psalmist has humbled himself under God’s law. He’s recognized his way leads to death, and God’s way leads to life. He wants life.

27 Make me understand the way of your precepts

And I will meditate on your wondrous work

I was an interesting math student. In Pre-Calculous, I would get B’s and C’s on my assignments up to the test, and then I’d typically ace my test. One of my college professors thought that was odd, and he had me take the test over again because he thought I had cheated. I didn’t grasp it the week before. Something clicked over the weekend. And then I understood. The truth of the matter was this: I could learn all the formulas, but if I didn’t grasp the why, I wouldn’t understand how to apply the formulas. I had to understand why in order to get it!

Can you see what the psalmist was asking? Make me understand… Help me understand why?

But notice the psalmist pleas with God to make him understand! These things are spiritually discerned, not in his own understanding. We know from Scripture that  “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor 2:14 ESV)

The ways of God are folly to those who haven’t been born again by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God illumines the mind to understand. In order to follow the ways of God, the psalmist realized he must understand the ways of God. This understanding is given by the Spirit of God. 

And in understanding the ways of God, the Psalmist will meditate on His wondrous work.

Theology always leads to doxology. The study of God ought to always lead to the worship of God. If we rightly understand God, we will marvel, and meditate on the wonder of who He is and what he has done. We will proclaim his wondrous works!

Psalm 145:5

[5] On the glorious splendor of your majesty,and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. (ESV)

28 My soul melts away for sorrow

Strengthen me according to your word

Do you see how he is speaking of his inner-person? V 25: his soul clings to the dust. V 28: his soul melts away for sorrow. Sorrow is a result of sin. 

This is why we said verse 26 was him repenting, for… in Psalm 32:3–4, we read

[3] For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

[4] For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah (ESV)

When we acknowledge our way, when we repent, we can look to God and ask for Him to strengthen us. He doesn’t leave us in our sorrow. He gives us His word as sustenance, which strengthens us.

But the Psalmist doesn’t want to stay on the rollercoaster of spiritual ups and downs. He wants life! Consistent life! Look at his plea in v 29.

29 Put false ways far from me

And graciously teach me your law

Do you pray that way? That God would remove false ways from you? Do you see that He pleas with God to act upon him? Do you realize how helpless you are to remove false ways on your own? In his plea for life, his petition is for God to move upon him. 

And he asks God to graciously teach… it’s a plea that recognized sin. The psalmist recognized he didn’t deserve God to teach, but asked him to respond graciously…

Next, the Psalmist turns from petition and plea to stating his position. He has drawn a line in the sand, and this is his stance:

30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness

I set your rules before me

31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord

Let me not be put to shame!

32 I will run in the way of your commandments

When you enlarge my heart

I have chosen the way of faithfulness…

When we repent of our way, we chose to turn away from our own way and follow Him. It is the way of faithfulness. It’s the way of faith. We now know and believe that our way leads to death, and God’s way leads to life. 

Thus, he states: I have set your rules before me.

How do we follow the way of faithfulness? We behold the way of God. We set our eyes on his commands, for in them is life! That’s where we set our gaze.

I cling to your testimonies! — this is the contrast: when we follow our own way, we are brought down to the dust, to death, but when we cling to the way of God, We cling to life! Our soul has life…

But there is a heart change that must occur. Hebrew understanding of the heart: drivers seat of the will. Encompasses mind, will, emotions, desires… 

The psalmist recognizes that they cannot keep the commandments of God without the supernatural help of God. Their heart must grow. It must grow for the word, it must grow to love God, his ways. And when his heart has grown to love the right things, instead of crawling along the ground, parched of sustenance, we are able to run in his ways. We are full of life! 

This is the contrast the psalmist makes: Our soul clings to death when we follow our own ways. Our soul clings to life when we cling to His testimonies. 

Church, will we choose to cling to the dust, to our sinful ways, or to life, to the testimony, the word of God?]]></itunes:summary>

					<itunes:author>Bobby Gaither</itunes:author>
					<itunes:subtitle>Bible Text: Psalm 119:25-32 | Speaker: Bobby Gaither | Series: Psalm 119 | Have you had that moment when you’ve realized the manner of the life you’ve  lived will ultimately bring you death?  The threat to life isn’t necessarily a physical ailment...</itunes:subtitle>
					
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					<itunes:duration>00:29:18</itunes:duration>
											<itunes:keywords>Life, word</itunes:keywords>
					
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					<title>Belief In The Word</title>
					<link>https://hopefellowship.life/sermons/belief-in-the-word</link>
											<comments>https://hopefellowship.life/sermons/belief-in-the-word#respond</comments>
					
					<pubDate>Sun, 13 Jan 2019 21:35:00 +0000</pubDate>
					<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bobby Gaither]]></dc:creator>
					
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hopefellowship.life/?post_type=wpfc_sermon&#038;p=626</guid>
					<description><![CDATA[ Intro video: Symbols and Signs by Beautiful Eulogy

Good morning and welcome! If you’re visiting with us and you’re slightly uncomfortable because of the video you just viewed, you are likely in good company. Hopefully, your level of discomfort is related to the means, not the message, of the last video. The message speaks to us as the introduction to our passage; it is not merely this pastor’s attempt to be cool, and attractive to the Portland hipster or millennials. If spoken word is different for you, I implore you to hear the message of these men and be encouraged that their pursuit is life and godliness through the word of God.

Have you seen this? Or is this you? Do you search for answers from God in signs and symbols? Is this the basis of your faith in him? Is supernatural phenomena your evidence for faith, or the ouija board for your decisions? It is this way with the world. I’ve observed carefully over the past year and 1/2 the palm reader’s property on TV highway. I’ve watched as their sign has improved, their property has been developed, the purchase of a jet boat, and a number of nice cars has filled the lot. It reminds me of some of the health-wealth pastors mentioned in the video. The world seeks after the supernatural, but they seek it for their own selfish reasons, not in adherence to God. 

Is your preference, when making hard decisions, a neon sign in the sky, or do you go to the word of God? Have you ever asked the question: Which would God prefer I seek? Would he prefer I wait for a sign, or would he prefer I look to His word, and act according to faith and godly principle?

Let me state up front, I am not stating that God can’t, won’t, or even that He doesn’t do miracles in the here and now. His Spirit is active and among us. He can do anything He desires, and I am not limiting that. Nor am I discouraging you from seeking God’s hand to move in miraculous ways, for I also believe He desires to show Himself, and reveal His glory to His people. Pray for healing! Pray for His Kingdom to come! But what I am stating, and what I believe we see from Scripture, is that faith is birthed, and sustained, by the living and active Word of God. It is in His written word that we can bank our faith. We return to our series in the Book of John: Bearing Witness. Our passage is John 4:43–54. We are going to look at the passage under the following headings:

A Prophet Without Honor

A Desperate Plea

Symbols and Signs

Belief in the Word

Faith Affirmed

The Sign of Deity

Would you stand and read with me.

[43] After the two days he departed for Galilee. [44] (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) [45] So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. [48] So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” [49] The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” [50] Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. [51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” [53] 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. [54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (ESV)

A Prophet Without Honor

Read again with me verse 43-45:

[43] After the two days he departed for Galilee. [44] (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) [45] So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

Let me remind you of the context from which John was writing. We’ve subtitled the series: Bearing Witness. That was John’s aim: to bear witness that Jesus was and is the eternal Son of God. John, in his gospel account, sets up a contrast between the people of Samaria and the people, the Jews, of Galilee! Recall with me the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Samaritans are despised by the people of Israel, and their ethnicity is literally a curse word to the Jews. Jesus made a pit stop at Jacob’s well just outside the town of Sychar, a Samaritan community. He met a woman who was at the well in the middle of the day. Jesus encountered her and asked for water. The encounter goes back and forth over social and religious boundaries, and Jesus offered her living water. Jesus called to attention that she was not married and had 5 husbands. She changed the subject and argued about her people’s religious justification. Jesus reveled to her that salvation is from the Jews, and that he was the Messiah. It was at this revelation that she ran into town and called the people of the town to come see the Messiah who “told me everything I had ever done.” The picture we get from scripture is that they came out in droves to the well. They invited Jesus to stay, and he did for 2 days. This is the conclusion of his stay: 4:41 And many more believed because of His word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

So our passage today, where a prophet has no honor, comes on the heals of Jesus being honored by the Samaritans, who believe because of his word. John is making known to us in verse 44 that the clamoring over Jesus in Galilee was not honor according to Jesus. Why did the Galileans welcome him? Because they had seen all he did in Jerusalem at the feast. 

Though John records this as his second sign in Galilee, this was not Jesus’ second sign, nor is the book of John a complete record of Jesus’ signs. John tells us in 2:25 that Jesus went to Jerusalem and many believed after seeing all he had done. Also, he told us in chapter 21:25: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

So, let us understand that the honor Jesus received from his miracles was not the honor he desired as a prophet. Why?

What does a prophet do?

A prophet speaks forth the word of God. This is consistent in scripture, that a prophet would come to a people, sometimes to the leaders and other times to individuals, and speak to the nation on behalf of God. Much of the time, the word would come as warning and rebuke. God would come and point out the unfaithfulness of the people of God, where they had broken covenant with Yahweh. The prophet would foretell of God’s discipline upon His people, for He treats the people of Israel like a father would a son. Then, the prophet would speak of God’s promised mercy, His faithfulness to His people. This was to draw them to repentance, to soften their heart, and return them to their first love— Yahweh, their God. This pattern is consistent in the prophets.

Why is a prophet without honor? Because they tell the people of their sin! They tell the people of their need! They warn them of the discipline that is to come. Even God’s chosen race are filled with rebellious people who chafe at the thought of being rebuked. This is a natural response of every human soul.

I believe I’ve learned that sending one sibling to correct and warn another only serves to heighten the consequence, not mitigate the situation. When I deputize and send one child to tell the others to straighten up, is that child heard by the others? NO! They have no honor… they are not heard. My children want to continue playing video games, even though the timer went off 20 minutes ago!

The honor Jesus received in Galilee was for the signs he performed at the feast in Jerusalem, not for the word he spoke.

On a side note, be careful who you identify with here. There is a temptation to identify with Jesus, and not see yourself as a Galilean. We have a hero-complex, especially as Americans. If you see yourself a prophet, notice that Jesus did not run away from Galilee, but continued to speak the word there. Though he had no honor, he loved his people, his hometown, and continued to proclaim the word, regardless of how it was received. We also have to reflect on he possibility that our words are not received because our character has not been sufficiently formed. This is a grace God gives us sometime… for it gives us an open eye to our frailties, as we believe the promise that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it (Phil 1:6).

A prophet without honor… next, A Desperate Plea

[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

Desperate people will go to desperate measures. Somehow, word had made it to Capernaum that Jesus was in Cana. This official, whom I believe to be Jewish, though an official of king Herod, traveled 16.5 miles from Capernuam to Cana to plead with Jesus to come heal his son. That is about a half day’s travel on horseback. 

We must observe that an official would have access to physicians, like Luke, and medicine of the day. His son was at the point of death. Truly, this was a fox-hole prayer on the part of the official, one that I can understand. My wife shared with me yesterday that I get especially anxious when my children are sick, even irrational. I admit to this, especially when I don’t know what it is, or how to fix it. The feeling of desperation can drive one to great lengths for an answer, for healing. Sometimes, that desperation can drive us to overlook rationality, even morality.

Have you experienced this? Have you been in a desperate situation, like the official in our passage? Can you relate to him?

In his desperation, he had come to Jesus. He had come to the right person. I don’t believe, from our passage, that he knew that. I believe he was trying whatever might work. 

Why do I say that? Does that sound insensitive? It might seem that way, but the truth is too important to put buffers on. It’s like putting a surgical instrument in a sheath for a physician to use: if he used the instrument in the sheath, it will not cut straight to remove the cancer. In fact, it will only serve to infect the wound even more.

He came with a desperate plea, but he was seeking symbols and signs…

Look at verse 48 with me

Symbols and Signs

[48] So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

First, we must recognize that Jesus’ response was to the official, but also to the crowds. The word you was plural. Jesus perceived the mind and heart of men, as John shared with us in John 2:23-25. He was speaking to those gathered around who wanted to see a sign, something fantastic, something that makes the little bumps on their arms and hair stand. While the official was desperate for healing, the crowds were clamoring for phenomena. They were clamoring because they wanted their senses filled, not because they wanted to hear the words of a prophet who could speak life into their dead souls. 

His response: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe…” They wanted signs and wonders to verify the answer to the question they were asking: is this the messiah? The Samaritans came to faith because of the word he had spoken. The Jews wanted a Messiah who would feed an army, heal their wounded, and lead an army against the Roman government so they could have their land back. The desire of the people of Israel was not a cleansed heart, it was not to be a forgiven people under the rule of God, but to be a self-ruled people. The Messiah was not their teacher, but their instrument; not the Word of God, but their sword to vanquish their agony, to remove them from their circumstance. He, to them, was the savior from political rule, not the Savior of the World.

They couldn’t believe in the Messiah that he was, for they were looking for a different messiah. Signs and wonders would confirm their messiah to them, but those signs and wonders would not produce saving faith.

This is what Jesus came to call the world to: Belief in the Word.

Belief in the Word

[49] The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” [50] Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

We must admire the persistence of the official. He petitioned Jesus to come with him before the child dies. This is what the crowds wanted too! They wanted proof that Jesus could do these miracles and heal. Can you imagine what it would have looked like, had Jesus traveled to Capernaum? The crowds would have followed. The sign-seekers would have their opportunity to witness first-hand the miracle worker, Jesus. Wouldn’t that be what Jesus would want? A crowd of believers because of his signs and wonders?

Apparently not. Jesus, instead, commands faith. Do you see it? Jesus’ response to the official is this: “Go; your son will live.” The word go is an imperative. Literally, go away.  Now, Jesus wasn’t saying go away in a pejorative sense, but the command implies belief that it will be done. 

And John gives narrative to what happened: The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. The man believed in the word Jesus spoke. 

Just as the Word  spoke and the galaxies came into existence, saving faith was born in seed form, as it was commanded by the Word of God. The response of the man was to believe what the Word of God, Jesus,  had spoken. He came first only looking for a miracle, for his son to be healed. He left believing his son would live. 

A prophet is honored when his word is believed. And this was no ordinary prophet, this was the Word incarnate, God himself, speaking and healing. The man didn’t honor him when he came looking for a sign. The man honored Jesus when he believed, and went on his way.

God honors our faith as evidenced in our obedience. When we believe His word and act accordingly, God is pleased to affirm the faith we’ve placed in Him. And what we see next is faith affirmed…

Faith affirmed

[51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” [53] 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.

God loves to show himself glorious, to reveal His character, to His people. His people are a people marked by faith. There is no other way to be one of God’s children than to believe in Him as Father. And He is so good to us to affirm our faith, however small, so that it grows from a mustard seed into a blossoming tree, rooted in His word. 

How did God affirm his faith? He asked his servant the hour he began to get better. It was at the 7th hour, which was 1 PM. If you do the math, and he left at 1 PM, he would arrive the next day, having traveled 16 miles, around 5 AM if he had traveled through the night. Later if he had stopped. 

What did the man do? He testified to his house. He believed the word spoken to him, his faith was affirmed, and then believed the word of God was given from the Messiah. Like samaritan woman, he must believe the message of the gospel, for that was the message Jesus preached. That is what we read in John 3, and in the other gospel accounts. John is not simply affirming that he believed Jesus could work miracles, but that Jesus was the Messiah, and his whole house believed.

So, what do we make of the sign? What are the signs and wonders for? Jesus still healed the boy! He still preformed a sign! What do we make of that? What do we learn from it?

I would implore you to consider the miraculous from Jesus The Sign of [his] Deity.

The Sign of Deity

[54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (ESV)

In all God’s creative and restorative acts we see evidence of His character. All of God’s acts are a pouring forth of His character. His miracles revealed the character and nature of God, and so does his justice and judgement upon sin and unbelief, as well his mercy through the death of the Messiah on the cross. 

What does the healing say to us? That God is a god of mercy, compassion, who cares for His children, weeps with the hurting, and desires that none should perish. His healing of this boy was not an apathetic attempt to dismiss the official, but a sign of His deity, that He is the One in whom you can place your faith. He has the power over life and death, whether 16 miles or 16 lightyears away.

We must also learn something of Christ, his power and knowledge. This is called Christology. Did you notice there was no exchange of address? I don’t believe John omitted it from his story for litigious reasons! Did you notice that Jesus didn’t need to go? He simply commanded man to “go; your son will live.” He is  sovereign over sickness and death, omnipotent and omniscient over all things.

But in all of this, we must see that faith does not come through signs and wonders, but we know that faith comes by the hearing, and hearing by the word God. In fact, with all the signs recorded in the gospels, the Jews, in large part, still rejected Jesus as their Messiah!

Jesus gave one last sign, which pointed to His ultimate aim: the Sign of Jonah

The Son of man would be in the belly of the earth for 3 days, and then would rise from the dead. The pharisees saw the evidence of this, an open tomb, a distraught Roman guard, and still refused to believe. Signs are not the genesis of faith, the preaching of the word is. Understand that there is something wrong with us, we who were made in the image of God, do not project the perfect beauty, grace, patience, love, joy, kindness of God the way we ought. Instead, we’ve rebelled against our creator, we’ve attempted to overthrow the Master of the house, and ignored His perfect rules. As a result, we live in a world of chaos, of murder, strife, and various evils which we both are afflicted by, and inflict upon others. The consequence for this rebellion is death! We can’t repay, nor can we escape this consequence on our own. The Son of God, the heir to the house, has come to proclaim peace. He has come to announce our pardon. 

He has come to bear our consequence and bring us peace! This is His word from God! This is God’s final prophet come to speak to man! Will we listen to His word? Will we believe, then proclaim to our household, the forgiveness we’ve received because of His goodness, beauty, love, grace; his glory!?

And we who call Him Savior are we who believe His word. We believe that we, like sheep, had gone astray. That we were born sinful, condemnable by God, deserving of eternal punishment for the God we sinned against was himself, eternal! But God, because of His great love for us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sin, made us alive together with Christ. We believe in His atoning death on the cross, and that just as he laid his life down for the forgiveness of sin, he had the power to take it up again. He rose victoriously, having destroyed the work of the devil—which led mankind into rebellion. And now, the Messiah, the Christ, our King reigns gloriously at the right hand of the Father until all His enemies are made His footstool.

And we believe His word, that He will return to gather His kingdom people, and set His reign and rule on the earth. 

Would you pray with me.]]></description>
					<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Intro video: Symbols and Signs by Beautiful Eulogy

Good morning and welcome! If you’re visiting with us and you’re slightly uncomfortable because of the video you just viewed, you are likely in good company. Hopefully, your level of discomfort is related to the means, not the message, of the last video. The message speaks to us as the introduction to our passage; it is not merely this pastor’s attempt to be cool, and attractive to the Portland hipster or millennials. If spoken word is different for you, I implore you to hear the message of these men and be encouraged that their pursuit is life and godliness through the word of God.

Have you seen this? Or is this you? Do you search for answers from God in signs and symbols? Is this the basis of your faith in him? Is supernatural phenomena your evidence for faith, or the ouija board for your decisions? It is this way with the world. I’ve observed carefully over the past year and 1/2 the palm reader’s property on TV highway. I’ve watched as their sign has improved, their property has been developed, the purchase of a jet boat, and a number of nice cars has filled the lot. It reminds me of some of the health-wealth pastors mentioned in the video. The world seeks after the supernatural, but they seek it for their own selfish reasons, not in adherence to God. 

Is your preference, when making hard decisions, a neon sign in the sky, or do you go to the word of God? Have you ever asked the question: Which would God prefer I seek? Would he prefer I wait for a sign, or would he prefer I look to His word, and act according to faith and godly principle?

Let me state up front, I am not stating that God can’t, won’t, or even that He doesn’t do miracles in the here and now. His Spirit is active and among us. He can do anything He desires, and I am not limiting that. Nor am I discouraging you from seeking God’s hand to move in miraculous ways, for I also believe He desires to show Himself, and reveal His glory to His people. Pray for healing! Pray for His Kingdom to come! But what I am stating, and what I believe we see from Scripture, is that faith is birthed, and sustained, by the living and active Word of God. It is in His written word that we can bank our faith. We return to our series in the Book of John: Bearing Witness. Our passage is John 4:43–54. We are going to look at the passage under the following headings:

A Prophet Without Honor

A Desperate Plea

Symbols and Signs

Belief in the Word

Faith Affirmed

The Sign of Deity

Would you stand and read with me.

[43] After the two days he departed for Galilee. [44] (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) [45] So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. [48] So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” [49] The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” [50] Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. [51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” [53] 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. [54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (ESV)

A Prophet Without Honor

Read again with me verse 43-45:

[43] After the two days he departed for Galilee. [44] (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) [45] So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

Let me remind you of the context from which John was writing. We’ve subtitled the series: Bearing Witness. That was John’s aim: to bear witness that Jesus was and is the eternal Son of God. John, in his gospel account, sets up a contrast between the people of Samaria and the people, the Jews, of Galilee! Recall with me the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Samaritans are despised by the people of Israel, and their ethnicity is literally a curse word to the Jews. Jesus made a pit stop at Jacob’s well just outside the town of Sychar, a Samaritan community. He met a woman who was at the well in the middle of the day. Jesus encountered her and asked for water. The encounter goes back and forth over social and religious boundaries, and Jesus offered her living water. Jesus called to attention that she was not married and had 5 husbands. She changed the subject and argued about her people’s religious justification. Jesus reveled to her that salvation is from the Jews, and that he was the Messiah. It was at this revelation that she ran into town and called the people of the town to come see the Messiah who “told me everything I had ever done.” The picture we get from scripture is that they came out in droves to the well. They invited Jesus to stay, and he did for 2 days. This is the conclusion of his stay: 4:41 And many more believed because of His word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

So our passage today, where a prophet has no honor, comes on the heals of Jesus being honored by the Samaritans, who believe because of his word. John is making known to us in verse 44 that the clamoring over Jesus in Galilee was not honor according to Jesus. Why did the Galileans welcome him? Because they had seen all he did in Jerusalem at the feast. 

Though John records this as his second sign in Galilee, this was not Jesus’ second sign, nor is the book of John a complete record of Jesus’ signs. John tells us in 2:25 that Jesus went to Jerusalem and many believed after seeing all he had done. Also, he told us in chapter 21:25: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

So, let us understand that the honor Jesus received from his miracles was not the honor he desired as a prophet. Why?

What does a prophet do?

A prophet speaks forth the word of God. This is consistent in scripture, that a prophet would come to a people, sometimes to the leaders and other times to individuals, and speak to the nation on behalf of God. Much of the time, the word would come as warning and rebuke. God would come and point out the unfaithfulness of the people of God, where they had broken covenant with Yahweh. The prophet would foretell of God’s discipline upon His people, for He treats the people of Israel like a father would a son. Then, the prophet would speak of God’s promised mercy, His faithfulness to His people. This was to draw them to repentance, to soften their heart, and return them to their first love— Yahweh, their God. This pattern is consistent in the prophets.

Why is a prophet without honor? Because they tell the people of their sin! They tell the people of their need! They warn them of the discipline that is to come. Even God’s chosen race are filled with rebellious people who chafe at the thought of being rebuked. This is a natural response of every human soul.

I believe I’ve learned that sending one sibling to correct and warn another only serves to heighten the consequence, not mitigate the situation. When I deputize and send one child to tell the others to straighten up, is that child heard by the others? NO! They have no honor… they are not heard. My children want to continue playing video games, even though the timer went off 20 minutes ago!

The honor Jesus received in Galilee was for the signs he performed at the feast in Jerusalem, not for the word he spoke.

On a side note, be careful who you identify with here. There is a temptation to identify with Jesus, and not see yourself as a Galilean. We have a hero-complex, especially as Americans. If you see yourself a prophet, notice that Jesus did not run away from Galilee, but continued to speak the word there. Though he had no honor, he loved his people, his hometown, and continued to proclaim the word, regardless of how it was received. We also have to reflect on he possibility that our words are not received because our character has not been sufficiently formed. This is a grace God gives us sometime… for it gives us an open eye to our frailties, as we believe the promise that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it (Phil 1:6).

A prophet without honor… next, A Desperate Plea

[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

Desperate people will go to desperate measures. Somehow, word had made it to Capernaum that Jesus was in Cana. This official, whom I believe to be Jewish, though an official of king Herod, traveled 16.5 miles from Capernuam to Cana to plead with Jesus to come heal his son. That is about a half day’s travel on horseback. 

We must observe that an official would have access to physicians, like Luke, and medicine of the day. His son was at the point of death. Truly, this was a fox-hole prayer on the part of the official, one that I can understand. My wife shared with me yesterday that I get especially anxious when my children are sick, even irrational. I admit to this, especially when I don’t know what it is, or how to fix it. The feeling of desperation can drive one to great lengths for an answer, for healing. Sometimes, that desperation can drive us to overlook rationality, even morality.

Have you experienced this? Have you been in a desperate situation, like the official in our passage? Can you relate to him?

In his desperation, he had come to Jesus. He had come to the right person. I don’t believe, from our passage, that he knew that. I believe he was trying whatever might work. 

Why do I say that? Does that sound insensitive? It might seem that way, but the truth is too important to put buffers on. It’s like putting a surgical instrument in a sheath for a physician to use: if he used the instrument in the sheath, it will not cut straight to remove the cancer. In fact, it will only serve to infect the wound even more.

He came with a desperate plea, but he was seeking symbols and signs…

Look at verse 48 with me

Symbols and Signs

[48] So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

First, we must recognize that Jesus’ response was to the official, but also to the crowds. The word you was plural. Jesus perceived the mind and heart of men, as John shared with us in John 2:23-25. He was speaking to those gathered around who wanted to see a sign, something fantastic, something that makes the little bumps on their arms and hair stand. While the official was desperate for healing, the crowds were clamoring for phenomena. They were clamoring because they wanted their senses filled, not because they wanted to hear the words of a prophet who could speak life into their dead souls. 

His response: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe…” They wanted signs and wonders to verify the answer to the question they were asking: is this the messiah? The Samaritans came to faith because of the word he had spoken. The Jews wanted a Messiah who would feed an army, heal their wounded, and lead an army against the Roman government so they could have their land back. The desire of the people of Israel was not a cleansed heart, it was not to be a forgiven people under the rule of God, but to be a self-ruled people. The Messiah was not their teacher, but their instrument; not the Word of God, but their sword to vanquish their agony, to remove them from their circumstance. He, to them, was the savior from political rule, not the Savior of the World.

They couldn’t believe in the Messiah that he was, for they were looking for a different messiah. Signs and wonders would confirm their messiah to them, but those signs and wonders would not produce saving faith.

This is what Jesus came to call the world to: Belief in the Word.

Belief in the Word

[49] The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” [50] Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

We must admire the persistence of the official. He petitioned Jesus to come with him before the child dies. This is what the crowds wanted too! They wanted proof that Jesus could do these miracles and heal. Can you imagine what it would have looked like, had Jesus traveled to Capernaum? The crowds would have followed. The sign-seekers would have their opportunity to witness first-hand the miracle worker, Jesus. Wouldn’t that be what Jesus would want? A crowd of believers because of his signs and wonders?

Apparently not. Jesus, instead, commands faith. Do you see it? Jesus’ response to the official is this: “Go; your son will live.” The word go is an imperative. Literally, go away.  Now, Jesus wasn’t saying go away in a pejorative sense, but the command implies belief that it will be done. 

And John gives narrative to what happened: The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. The man believed in the word Jesus spoke. 

Just as the Word  spoke and the galaxies came into existence, saving faith was born in seed form, as it was commanded by the Word of God. The response of the man was to believe what the Word of God, Jesus,  had spoken. He came first only looking for a miracle, for his son to be healed. He left believing his son would live. 

A prophet is honored when his word is believed. And this was no ordinary prophet, this was the Word incarnate, God himself, speaking and healing. The man didn’t honor him when he came looking for a sign. The man honored Jesus when he believed, and went on his way.

God honors our faith as evidenced in our obedience. When we believe His word and act accordingly, God is pleased to affirm the faith we’ve placed in Him. And what we see next is faith affirmed…

Faith affirmed

[51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” [53] 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.

God loves to show himself glorious, to reveal His character, to His people. His people are a people marked by faith. There is no other way to be one of God’s children than to believe in Him as Father. And He is so good to us to affirm our faith, however small, so that it grows from a mustard seed into a blossoming tree, rooted in His word. 

How did God affirm his faith? He asked his servant the hour he began to get better. It was at the 7th hour, which was 1 PM. If you do the math, and he left at 1 PM, he would arrive the next day, having traveled 16 miles, around 5 AM if he had traveled through the night. Later if he had stopped. 

What did the man do? He testified to his house. He believed the word spoken to him, his faith was affirmed, and then believed the word of God was given from the Messiah. Like samaritan woman, he must believe the message of the gospel, for that was the message Jesus preached. That is what we read in John 3, and in the other gospel accounts. John is not simply affirming that he believed Jesus could work miracles, but that Jesus was the Messiah, and his whole house believed.

So, what do we make of the sign? What are the signs and wonders for? Jesus still healed the boy! He still preformed a sign! What do we make of that? What do we learn from it?

I would implore you to consider the miraculous from Jesus The Sign of [his] Deity.

The Sign of Deity

[54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (ESV)

In all God’s creative and restorative acts we see evidence of His character. All of God’s acts are a pouring forth of His character. His miracles revealed the character and nature of God, and so does his justice and judgement upon sin and unbelief, as well his mercy through the death of the Messiah on the cross. 

What does the healing say to us? That God is a god of mercy, compassion, who cares for His children, weeps with the hurting, and desires that none should perish. His healing of this boy was not an apathetic attempt to dismiss the official, but a sign of His deity, that He is the One in whom you can place your faith. He has the power over life and death, whether 16 miles or 16 lightyears away.

We must also learn something of Christ, his power and knowledge. This is called Christology. Did you notice there was no exchange of address? I don’t believe John omitted it from his story for litigious reasons! Did you notice that Jesus didn’t need to go? He simply commanded man to “go; your son will live.” He is  sovereign over sickness and death, omnipotent and omniscient over all things.

But in all of this, we must see that faith does not come through signs and wonders, but we know that faith comes by the hearing, and hearing by the word God. In fact, with all the signs recorded in the gospels, the Jews, in large part, still rejected Jesus as their Messiah!

Jesus gave one last sign, which pointed to His ultimate aim: the Sign of Jonah

The Son of man would be in the belly of the earth for 3 days, and then would rise from the dead. The pharisees saw the evidence of this, an open tomb, a distraught Roman guard, and still refused to believe. Signs are not the genesis of faith, the preaching of the word is. Understand that there is something wrong with us, we who were made in the image of God, do not project the perfect beauty, grace, patience, love, joy, kindness of God the way we ought. Instead, we’ve rebelled against our creator, we’ve attempted to overthrow the Master of the house, and ignored His perfect rules. As a result, we live in a world of chaos, of murder, strife, and various evils which we both are afflicted by, and inflict upon others. The consequence for this rebellion is death! We can’t repay, nor can we escape this consequence on our own. The Son of God, the heir to the house, has come to proclaim peace. He has come to announce our pardon. 

He has come to bear our consequence and bring us peace! This is His word from God! This is God’s final prophet come to speak to man! Will we listen to His word? Will we believe, then proclaim to our household, the forgiveness we’ve received because of His goodness, beauty, love, grace; his glory!?

And we who call Him Savior are we who believe His word. We believe that we, like sheep, had gone astray. That we were born sinful, condemnable by God, deserving of eternal punishment for the God we sinned against was himself, eternal! But God, because of His great love for us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sin, made us alive together with Christ. We believe in His atoning death on the cross, and that just as he laid his life down for the forgiveness of sin, he had the power to take it up again. He rose victoriously, having destroyed the work of the devil—which led mankind into rebellion. And now, the Messiah, the Christ, our King reigns gloriously at the right hand of the Father until all His enemies are made His footstool.

And we believe His word, that He will return to gather His kingdom people, and set His reign and rule on the earth. 

Would you pray with me.]]></content:encoded>
					<itunes:summary><![CDATA[ Intro video: Symbols and Signs by Beautiful Eulogy

Good morning and welcome! If you’re visiting with us and you’re slightly uncomfortable because of the video you just viewed, you are likely in good company. Hopefully, your level of discomfort is related to the means, not the message, of the last video. The message speaks to us as the introduction to our passage; it is not merely this pastor’s attempt to be cool, and attractive to the Portland hipster or millennials. If spoken word is different for you, I implore you to hear the message of these men and be encouraged that their pursuit is life and godliness through the word of God.

Have you seen this? Or is this you? Do you search for answers from God in signs and symbols? Is this the basis of your faith in him? Is supernatural phenomena your evidence for faith, or the ouija board for your decisions? It is this way with the world. I’ve observed carefully over the past year and 1/2 the palm reader’s property on TV highway. I’ve watched as their sign has improved, their property has been developed, the purchase of a jet boat, and a number of nice cars has filled the lot. It reminds me of some of the health-wealth pastors mentioned in the video. The world seeks after the supernatural, but they seek it for their own selfish reasons, not in adherence to God. 

Is your preference, when making hard decisions, a neon sign in the sky, or do you go to the word of God? Have you ever asked the question: Which would God prefer I seek? Would he prefer I wait for a sign, or would he prefer I look to His word, and act according to faith and godly principle?

Let me state up front, I am not stating that God can’t, won’t, or even that He doesn’t do miracles in the here and now. His Spirit is active and among us. He can do anything He desires, and I am not limiting that. Nor am I discouraging you from seeking God’s hand to move in miraculous ways, for I also believe He desires to show Himself, and reveal His glory to His people. Pray for healing! Pray for His Kingdom to come! But what I am stating, and what I believe we see from Scripture, is that faith is birthed, and sustained, by the living and active Word of God. It is in His written word that we can bank our faith. We return to our series in the Book of John: Bearing Witness. Our passage is John 4:43–54. We are going to look at the passage under the following headings:

A Prophet Without Honor

A Desperate Plea

Symbols and Signs

Belief in the Word

Faith Affirmed

The Sign of Deity

Would you stand and read with me.

[43] After the two days he departed for Galilee. [44] (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) [45] So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. [48] So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” [49] The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” [50] Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. [51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” [53] 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. [54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (ESV)

A Prophet Without Honor

Read again with me verse 43-45:

[43] After the two days he departed for Galilee. [44] (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) [45] So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

Let me remind you of the context from which John was writing. We’ve subtitled the series: Bearing Witness. That was John’s aim: to bear witness that Jesus was and is the eternal Son of God. John, in his gospel account, sets up a contrast between the people of Samaria and the people, the Jews, of Galilee! Recall with me the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. Samaritans are despised by the people of Israel, and their ethnicity is literally a curse word to the Jews. Jesus made a pit stop at Jacob’s well just outside the town of Sychar, a Samaritan community. He met a woman who was at the well in the middle of the day. Jesus encountered her and asked for water. The encounter goes back and forth over social and religious boundaries, and Jesus offered her living water. Jesus called to attention that she was not married and had 5 husbands. She changed the subject and argued about her people’s religious justification. Jesus reveled to her that salvation is from the Jews, and that he was the Messiah. It was at this revelation that she ran into town and called the people of the town to come see the Messiah who “told me everything I had ever done.” The picture we get from scripture is that they came out in droves to the well. They invited Jesus to stay, and he did for 2 days. This is the conclusion of his stay: 4:41 And many more believed because of His word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

So our passage today, where a prophet has no honor, comes on the heals of Jesus being honored by the Samaritans, who believe because of his word. John is making known to us in verse 44 that the clamoring over Jesus in Galilee was not honor according to Jesus. Why did the Galileans welcome him? Because they had seen all he did in Jerusalem at the feast. 

Though John records this as his second sign in Galilee, this was not Jesus’ second sign, nor is the book of John a complete record of Jesus’ signs. John tells us in 2:25 that Jesus went to Jerusalem and many believed after seeing all he had done. Also, he told us in chapter 21:25: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

So, let us understand that the honor Jesus received from his miracles was not the honor he desired as a prophet. Why?

What does a prophet do?

A prophet speaks forth the word of God. This is consistent in scripture, that a prophet would come to a people, sometimes to the leaders and other times to individuals, and speak to the nation on behalf of God. Much of the time, the word would come as warning and rebuke. God would come and point out the unfaithfulness of the people of God, where they had broken covenant with Yahweh. The prophet would foretell of God’s discipline upon His people, for He treats the people of Israel like a father would a son. Then, the prophet would speak of God’s promised mercy, His faithfulness to His people. This was to draw them to repentance, to soften their heart, and return them to their first love— Yahweh, their God. This pattern is consistent in the prophets.

Why is a prophet without honor? Because they tell the people of their sin! They tell the people of their need! They warn them of the discipline that is to come. Even God’s chosen race are filled with rebellious people who chafe at the thought of being rebuked. This is a natural response of every human soul.

I believe I’ve learned that sending one sibling to correct and warn another only serves to heighten the consequence, not mitigate the situation. When I deputize and send one child to tell the others to straighten up, is that child heard by the others? NO! They have no honor… they are not heard. My children want to continue playing video games, even though the timer went off 20 minutes ago!

The honor Jesus received in Galilee was for the signs he performed at the feast in Jerusalem, not for the word he spoke.

On a side note, be careful who you identify with here. There is a temptation to identify with Jesus, and not see yourself as a Galilean. We have a hero-complex, especially as Americans. If you see yourself a prophet, notice that Jesus did not run away from Galilee, but continued to speak the word there. Though he had no honor, he loved his people, his hometown, and continued to proclaim the word, regardless of how it was received. We also have to reflect on he possibility that our words are not received because our character has not been sufficiently formed. This is a grace God gives us sometime… for it gives us an open eye to our frailties, as we believe the promise that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it (Phil 1:6).

A prophet without honor… next, A Desperate Plea

[46] So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

Desperate people will go to desperate measures. Somehow, word had made it to Capernaum that Jesus was in Cana. This official, whom I believe to be Jewish, though an official of king Herod, traveled 16.5 miles from Capernuam to Cana to plead with Jesus to come heal his son. That is about a half day’s travel on horseback. 

We must observe that an official would have access to physicians, like Luke, and medicine of the day. His son was at the point of death. Truly, this was a fox-hole prayer on the part of the official, one that I can understand. My wife shared with me yesterday that I get especially anxious when my children are sick, even irrational. I admit to this, especially when I don’t know what it is, or how to fix it. The feeling of desperation can drive one to great lengths for an answer, for healing. Sometimes, that desperation can drive us to overlook rationality, even morality.

Have you experienced this? Have you been in a desperate situation, like the official in our passage? Can you relate to him?

In his desperation, he had come to Jesus. He had come to the right person. I don’t believe, from our passage, that he knew that. I believe he was trying whatever might work. 

Why do I say that? Does that sound insensitive? It might seem that way, but the truth is too important to put buffers on. It’s like putting a surgical instrument in a sheath for a physician to use: if he used the instrument in the sheath, it will not cut straight to remove the cancer. In fact, it will only serve to infect the wound even more.

He came with a desperate plea, but he was seeking symbols and signs…

Look at verse 48 with me

Symbols and Signs

[48] So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

First, we must recognize that Jesus’ response was to the official, but also to the crowds. The word you was plural. Jesus perceived the mind and heart of men, as John shared with us in John 2:23-25. He was speaking to those gathered around who wanted to see a sign, something fantastic, something that makes the little bumps on their arms and hair stand. While the official was desperate for healing, the crowds were clamoring for phenomena. They were clamoring because they wanted their senses filled, not because they wanted to hear the words of a prophet who could speak life into their dead souls. 

His response: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe…” They wanted signs and wonders to verify the answer to the question they were asking: is this the messiah? The Samaritans came to faith because of the word he had spoken. The Jews wanted a Messiah who would feed an army, heal their wounded, and lead an army against the Roman government so they could have their land back. The desire of the people of Israel was not a cleansed heart, it was not to be a forgiven people under the rule of God, but to be a self-ruled people. The Messiah was not their teacher, but their instrument; not the Word of God, but their sword to vanquish their agony, to remove them from their circumstance. He, to them, was the savior from political rule, not the Savior of the World.

They couldn’t believe in the Messiah that he was, for they were looking for a different messiah. Signs and wonders would confirm their messiah to them, but those signs and wonders would not produce saving faith.

This is what Jesus came to call the world to: Belief in the Word.

Belief in the Word

[49] The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” [50] Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

We must admire the persistence of the official. He petitioned Jesus to come with him before the child dies. This is what the crowds wanted too! They wanted proof that Jesus could do these miracles and heal. Can you imagine what it would have looked like, had Jesus traveled to Capernaum? The crowds would have followed. The sign-seekers would have their opportunity to witness first-hand the miracle worker, Jesus. Wouldn’t that be what Jesus would want? A crowd of believers because of his signs and wonders?

Apparently not. Jesus, instead, commands faith. Do you see it? Jesus’ response to the official is this: “Go; your son will live.” The word go is an imperative. Literally, go away.  Now, Jesus wasn’t saying go away in a pejorative sense, but the command implies belief that it will be done. 

And John gives narrative to what happened: The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. The man believed in the word Jesus spoke. 

Just as the Word  spoke and the galaxies came into existence, saving faith was born in seed form, as it was commanded by the Word of God. The response of the man was to believe what the Word of God, Jesus,  had spoken. He came first only looking for a miracle, for his son to be healed. He left believing his son would live. 

A prophet is honored when his word is believed. And this was no ordinary prophet, this was the Word incarnate, God himself, speaking and healing. The man didn’t honor him when he came looking for a sign. The man honored Jesus when he believed, and went on his way.

God honors our faith as evidenced in our obedience. When we believe His word and act accordingly, God is pleased to affirm the faith we’ve placed in Him. And what we see next is faith affirmed…

Faith affirmed

[51] As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. [52] So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” [53] 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.

God loves to show himself glorious, to reveal His character, to His people. His people are a people marked by faith. There is no other way to be one of God’s children than to believe in Him as Father. And He is so good to us to affirm our faith, however small, so that it grows from a mustard seed into a blossoming tree, rooted in His word. 

How did God affirm his faith? He asked his servant the hour he began to get better. It was at the 7th hour, which was 1 PM. If you do the math, and he left at 1 PM, he would arrive the next day, having traveled 16 miles, around 5 AM if he had traveled through the night. Later if he had stopped. 

What did the man do? He testified to his house. He believed the word spoken to him, his faith was affirmed, and then believed the word of God was given from the Messiah. Like samaritan woman, he must believe the message of the gospel, for that was the message Jesus preached. That is what we read in John 3, and in the other gospel accounts. John is not simply affirming that he believed Jesus could work miracles, but that Jesus was the Messiah, and his whole house believed.

So, what do we make of the sign? What are the signs and wonders for? Jesus still healed the boy! He still preformed a sign! What do we make of that? What do we learn from it?

I would implore you to consider the miraculous from Jesus The Sign of [his] Deity.

The Sign of Deity

[54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee. (ESV)

In all God’s creative and restorative acts we see evidence of His character. All of God’s acts are a pouring forth of His character. His miracles revealed the character and nature of God, and so does his justice and judgement upon sin and unbelief, as well his mercy through the death of the Messiah on the cross. 

What does the healing say to us? That God is a god of mercy, compassion, who cares for His children, weeps with the hurting, and desires that none should perish. His healing of this boy was not an apathetic attempt to dismiss the official, but a sign of His deity, that He is the One in whom you can place your faith. He has the power over life and death, whether 16 miles or 16 lightyears away.

We must also learn something of Christ, his power and knowledge. This is called Christology. Did you notice there was no exchange of address? I don’t believe John omitted it from his story for litigious reasons! Did you notice that Jesus didn’t need to go? He simply commanded man to “go; your son will live.” He is  sovereign over sickness and death, omnipotent and omniscient over all things.

But in all of this, we must see that faith does not come through signs and wonders, but we know that faith comes by the hearing, and hearing by the word God. In fact, with all the signs recorded in the gospels, the Jews, in large part, still rejected Jesus as their Messiah!

Jesus gave one last sign, which pointed to His ultimate aim: the Sign of Jonah

The Son of man would be in the belly of the earth for 3 days, and then would rise from the dead. The pharisees saw the evidence of this, an open tomb, a distraught Roman guard, and still refused to believe. Signs are not the genesis of faith, the preaching of the word is. Understand that there is something wrong with us, we who were made in the image of God, do not project the perfect beauty, grace, patience, love, joy, kindness of God the way we ought. Instead, we’ve rebelled against our creator, we’ve attempted to overthrow the Master of the house, and ignored His perfect rules. As a result, we live in a world of chaos, of murder, strife, and various evils which we both are afflicted by, and inflict upon others. The consequence for this rebellion is death! We can’t repay, nor can we escape this consequence on our own. The Son of God, the heir to the house, has come to proclaim peace. He has come to announce our pardon. 

He has come to bear our consequence and bring us peace! This is His word from God! This is God’s final prophet come to speak to man! Will we listen to His word? Will we believe, then proclaim to our household, the forgiveness we’ve received because of His goodness, beauty, love, grace; his glory!?

And we who call Him Savior are we who believe His word. We believe that we, like sheep, had gone astray. That we were born sinful, condemnable by God, deserving of eternal punishment for the God we sinned against was himself, eternal! But God, because of His great love for us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sin, made us alive together with Christ. We believe in His atoning death on the cross, and that just as he laid his life down for the forgiveness of sin, he had the power to take it up again. He rose victoriously, having destroyed the work of the devil—which led mankind into rebellion. And now, the Messiah, the Christ, our King reigns gloriously at the right hand of the Father until all His enemies are made His footstool.

And we believe His word, that He will return to gather His kingdom people, and set His reign and rule on the earth. 

Would you pray with me.]]></itunes:summary>

					<itunes:author>Bobby Gaither</itunes:author>
					<itunes:subtitle> Intro video: Symbols and Signs by Beautiful Eulogy Good morning and welcome! If you’re visiting with us and you’re slightly uncomfortable because of the video you just viewed, you are likely in good company. Hopefully, your level of discomfort is re...</itunes:subtitle>
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