I might please God to bless his
word to us this evening as we consider it together. Let's turn
to the Gospel of John, chapter 4, and we'll read verse 49. The Gospel of John, chapter 4,
and verse 49. The nobleman saith unto him,
Sir, come down ere my child die. We observe here how everything
works together for good. We observe how the Lord Jesus
travelled and came once again into Cana of Galilee. He could have gone in different
directions, but there was a purpose, a divine purpose. Why? he should
come into this place. Because it was at this place
that he was to meet a certain nobleman. A certain nobleman. And that nobleman had a sick
son. He lived at Capernaum, he didn't
live at Cana. He lived at Capernaum and yet
this nobleman heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee
and he went unto him. He desired that the Lord Jesus
would do that for his son which he could not do for him. He needed
to be healed. He was indeed at the point of
death. It wasn't just something trivial. It was something very serious. And so, this man, he travelled
to Cana to meet the Lord Jesus. And he spoke to the Lord Jesus. And we read, And he bestowed
him that he would come down and hear his son for he was at the
point of death. We might think on the face of
it that was a very reasonable request. We might not think there
was anything wrong with it. But if we look at it carefully
we'll see really what was occurring that this nobleman was really
demanding that Jesus should come down into Capernaum, where he
lived, so that his son might be healed. And therefore, his
request was just this, come down and heal my son, for he is at
the point of death. The truth was, of course, that
Jesus did not need to go down. And so this man, this nobleman,
was going to be taught and was going to learn a great and glorious
truth and also to be given that faith to believe that what the
Lord Jesus Christ spoke was adequate. There are those times in our
lives perhaps when we think that the Lord must come down He must
come down and, as it were, physically do a great work. We need to be reminded that the
Lord Jesus Christ spoke the world into being, in all creation.
And in truth, of course, we know the Lord is in every place, beholding
in the evil and the good. And we tend to think that things
have to be very physical, and they have to be something very
tangible. And so we see here how true it
was in this man's case, that he said, come down and heal my
son. Well, Jesus kindly and graciously
rebuked him. He said, except ye see signs
and wonders, ye will not believe." He was pointing to him and saying,
look, it's quite clearly, unless you see signs and wonders, you
won't believe. And that's often the case today,
isn't it? People want wonderful signs and
wonders to believe. And they really want the Lord
to come down to them where they are, and to do something very
special, as it were, for them. In a physical way, as it were.
And yet the Lord tells this nobleman, in a very kind way, and how wonderful
it is that we have a great God who deals with us so graciously,
so kindly, so lovingly. as it were, draws us aside and
shows us the error of our ways. So he came to this man and he
said, except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Well, we may have been like that.
We may have said, well, unless I actually see this, I won't
believe. The truth is we are dictating
to God. We are saying to God, no, this
must happen. This must happen. And God here,
you see, was speaking to this man in this way. And this man
had a very real need. We shouldn't underestimate the
situation. He was very concerned about his
son. His son was about to die. And he thought the only way was
for Lord Jesus to come down and to perhaps touch him and do something
physical to him. That's why he came in this way
and spoke these words. So Jesus graciously spoke to
him and said, except you see signs and wonders you will not
believe. I wonder whether that's true
in our life. whether we are demanding signs
and wonders. If we don't receive those, we're
not going to believe. Not going to believe. We are therefore really planning
what's got to happen. The reality is that our faith
is not being tested. When you and I see something
physically happening, then it's easy or easier to believe. When we don't actually see things
happening, and we're called upon to trust in the Lord, then rather than having something
revealed, the Lord gives us faith to believe. We all need faith to believe.
We all need faith to believe. This occasion, we read off here,
was in the same place where the Lord Jesus turned that water
into wine. And we might just think of that
case. They had no wine. They'd run
out of wine. And the Lord's mother told the
people to fill up the water pots with water. Well, they needed
faith to believe, didn't they? It didn't seem possible, really.
How was this going to happen? Sure, they would have expected
perhaps the Lord to come over. But no, they had to just do those
things. They had to fill those water
pots with water. The Lord didn't touch them. He
didn't say anything. the water was turned into wine. So the Lord spoke this to this
nobleman and then he responds and we see really a change in
his attitude. We have to read the Word of God
very carefully to understand a change in his attitude. Here he doesn't demand it, He
says, sir, he speaks bowing down to this God, sir, come down ere
my child die. It's a very different emphasis
than that which was spoken previously when he just said, come down.
Now you see, he's taken this rebuke on board and he realises
the situation. And he says in a very different
way, Sir, come down, ere my child die. It was still a request,
but it was a much more gracious statement. Sir, come down, ere
my child die. What was the response of the
Lord Jesus? He said simply, go thy way. thy son liveth." We might think,
well that wasn't what he was requesting, that wasn't what
he expected, but I think we can appreciate here that the words
that the Lord had spoken was in response to a different attitude
of this nobleman. And so when Jesus said, go thy
way, thy son liveth, There wasn't any further questioning. There
wasn't any further deliberation. No more requests. We read, and
the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him and
he went his way. Now, the great important truth
here is that this man believed the word that Jesus had spoken
unto him. There are many words, aren't
there, in the word of God. Perhaps we're often reluctant
to believe the word that Jesus has spoken unto him. Now, he
spoke to him very clearly. The Lord does speak very clearly,
but doesn't always respond in a way that we might anticipate.
And he spoke in these terms, go thy way, thy son liveth. Surely that's what he wanted
to hear. He wanted to hear that his son was going to live. And
he was therefore told, just very simply, go thy way. The Lord
hadn't gone, what had he done? He just spoken a simple statement. Go thy way, thy son liveth. And he went his way. He went his way. What a good
thing it is if you and I are given living faith to believe
the words of Jesus and to hear those words and to understand
What those words mean is to act upon it. He went his way. Where did he go? He went back
to his home. He went back to his home. He'd gone away and now he was
told to go back to his home. He went back to his home. and
he went back there and he was relying upon the Word of God. The Lord Jesus didn't go with
him. He went by himself and it was a reasonable journey and
we're not told what his thoughts were. We're not told how quickly
he actually went on the journey but it was probably the next
day because When this occurred, it was probably late in the afternoon.
Probably the next day, he went back, back to his house, where
he had come from. And when he was going, when he
was going back to his house, there was some encouragement.
There was some encouragement in that returning journey. Well, what was the encouragement?
Encouragement from his servants. They came and met him. They brought
him some good news. And they said, Thy son liveth. Well, that was surely music in
his ears, wasn't it? So, what had he done? He'd been
there, asking the Lord to come down to go with him. No, the
Lord hadn't. would have spoken the word and
this man had then heard that word and had returned to his
home without Jesus physically there, but believing what Jesus
had said was true. There wasn't any doubting. He acted upon the word. And as
he was going down, his servants met him and told him, saying,
Thy son liveth. And then he enquired, he enquired
of the situation. He said, what hour, what hour
did he begin to amend? And they said, yesterday at the
seventh hour the fever left him. That was a very clear time that
he knew that was when the Lord Jesus said, Thy son liveth. What a wonderful confirmation
to this man. How strengthening it would have
been to his faith. He wanted to have it proved.
He wanted to be able to be thankful for it and enquired in this way,
when was it? He'd been told his son had been
healed. When was it? He wanted to know when it was.
Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him. So, now there
was no doubt about it. No doubt about it. The Father
knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said unto
him, Thy son liveth. Now, the outcome here was very
wonderful. The outcome was not just that
this son was healed. That was wonderful. But it was
far more reaching than that situation. Thy son liveth and himself believed
and his whole house. What a change. What a wonderful
thing. We see there, the Lord gave this
nobleman faith. A nobleman, yes, a wealthy person. We're thankful the Lord does
come and touch hearts in every area. And in this case, this
nobleman is a wealthy man. He came and he touched his heart
and he gave him that faith to believe. What did he believe? He believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it didn't stop there. All
his house, his whole house, everyone believed it would appear therefore
it was not just his family, it was his servants as well. They
all were given that living faith to believe that what Jesus had
said to that nobleman in Cana would come to pass, had come
to pass, and this work was indeed of the Lord. Well, we live of
course in a very different age today, but there are those situations
which develop in our lives when we need the Lord to come. We need the Lord to come to us.
We need the Lord to appear for us. And it may be, of course,
when we're very downcast. This man must have been very
downcast. Very downcast. His son was at
the point of death. It was no easy thing. And he
travelled all this way hoping the Lord would return with him
and perform a wonderful miracle. He'd heard of the miracles and
now he'd desire to come and seek the Lord Jesus Christ would come
down to him. Well, the truth was the Lord
did come down, but he didn't come down in a physical way.
He came down in a spiritual way. That would be a wonderful blessing
for us. The Lord comes to us in a spiritual way. We may perhaps
have demanded some amazing blessing. We may have put down certain
conditions to God. And it may be that God has graciously
rebuked us. He may have spoken the word.
The word may have come with power. who married them and given faith
to receive it. The 40th Psalm, the last verse,
the Psalm of David. David comes and he makes this
confession. He says, I am poor and needy. Now this nobleman
was poor and needy in so far that he wasn't able to cure his
son. No doubt he'd gone to all the
physicians He may have paid much money to try and have his son
cured, but without any success. In reality, noble as he was,
in this world, he was like this, poor and needy. He couldn't rely
on his wealth. That wouldn't do him any good.
His standing didn't do him any good. He was poor and needy. whether it would be good for
us today, if we are brought into that kind of situation. Doesn't
matter what standing we may have, doesn't matter what people might
think of us, and what esteem we may be held in. The time comes
that we find ourselves just like this, poor and needy. This man had come and cast himself
upon the Lord. He'd given up everything else.
His whole trust, his whole hope was in the Lord Jesus Christ,
that he would heal his son. So David says, but I am poor
and needy. Yet, The Lord thinketh upon me."
Now, no doubt, the Lord was thinking upon this nobleman. It's a wonderful
blessing if the Lord is thinking upon you and me. We may have
had a wrong attitude. We may have come in a wrong way.
We may have had our own plans. We may have been self-righteous.
then, to come down like this and to come and have this wonderful,
wonderful evidence of God's mercy toward us, yet the Lord thinketh
upon me. And he cries out, Thou art my
help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God. Now of course, David here is
referring to the spiritual situation in his life. And what a blessing
it is when the Lord causes us today to come into this condition. We may of course have natural
needs, like this man did, but the man also had a spiritual
need, and it's very clear that spiritual need was met by those
words, and himself believed, and his whole house. This man
who'd come down as it were to nothing, yes, hadn't got anything
in himself that could achieve any healing, and he became dependent
upon the mercy of the Lord. And the Lord didn't cast him
off. Although he may have come with a wrong attitude, the Lord
didn't cast him off. Sometimes we may have come with
a wrong attitude. I think the Lord doesn't cast us
off. It may be like it was with that
man. The Lord may gently rebuke us and direct us in a right way
and point out our error, so that we are blessed with a right attitude,
poor and needy, and yet to know that the Lord does indeed think
upon us and is not dealing with us as our sins deserve. We read in the prophecy of Isaiah,
Very beautiful words, and we should perhaps think of them
in a spiritual sense. In Isaiah 64, we read, O that
thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down,
that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. Isaiah prayed this prayer, that
thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down.
It's a figurative description, isn't it? Of the heavens being
rends and the Lord coming down. But in actual fact, the application
really is to a spiritual understanding. The Lord indeed would rend the
heavens and come down to us. in our spiritual life, he would
come down. And there may be mountains before
us. This man had a mountain. He had a great mountain. We may
have a great mountain in our spiritual life. And Isaiah says, I was that these
mountains might flow down. And how were they to flow down?
Of themselves? No. They were to flow down at
the presence of the Lord. The truth is that nothing can
withstand the presence of God. Nothing can withstand the presence
of God. You see, when the Lord speaks, the work is done. The Lord spoke
to this man. The work was done. The boy was
healed. There wasn't any delay. When
the Lord speaks, the work is done. What a favour it will be then
in our spiritual lives if perhaps we've been like this and we've
cried out O that thou wouldest rend the
heavens and come down. Not dissimilar was it really
to this prayer here. As he said, and before the Lord
he would come down and hear his Son. Well here was a similar prayer
wasn't it. O that thou wouldest come down
that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. That's the only presence that
would do us any good. You and I cannot make the mountains
flow down. The mountains will remain. The
mountains are a great obstacle and it can't be overcome naturally. You and I may have mountains
in our lives which can't be overcome naturally. But the Lord can make
them flow down. When the Lord makes them flow
down, they disappear. They disappear. They become a
plane at the presence of God. See, nothing can stand against
God. The hardest heart can't stand against God. The stoutest
rebel can't stand against God. The biggest enemy can't stand
against God. When the Lord speaks, it is done. We have so many glorious words,
do we not? In the word of God, the Lord
spoke and it was done. He spoke and he said, on that
stormy sea, peace be still. Peace be still and it was done. He said to those who were blind,
receive thy sight. Those who were deaf, to receive
their hearing. Those who were lame, to be healed. The Lord spoke and it was done. The Lord spoke here. Thy son
liveth. Thy son liveth. Oh, what words
they were. My friends, what blessed words
they were. And we may need similar words in our life today. The
Lord may speak. Perhaps we might come like this.
It's good if we do, like that young boy Samuel. Just a young
seven year old. He came and said, speak Lord,
for thy servant heareth. to hear the word of the Lord. Blessing it is if we come like
that. Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth,
thy son liveth. The Lord spoke and it was done. And the blessed outcome, wasn't
it a blessed outcome? Natural healing to this lad,
Spiritual healing to this lad. Spiritual healing to the whole
house. What a change that must have
been in that household. What a wonderful change. When
the Lord speaks, when the Word is accomplished, there is a change. Households are changed by the
Word of the Lord. I cannot resist the power of
God. My friends, no one today can
resist the power of God. The mountains have to flow down. The obstacles are removed. When the Lord speaks, it is done. Now, these people, they were
blessed because they knew it was Jesus. Jesus had done it. And may it
be so in our spiritual life, we realise that it is Jesus that
has healed us. That Jesus has saved us. And
how has it been done? We know that it was through His
death. It was through the Lord Jesus
Christ taking upon Him all our sins. all our hard hearts, all
our rebellion. So they flowed down to his presence and by the eye of faith we beheld
Jesus. Behold the man. Living faith. This man was blessed with living
faith as he beheld Jesus. The words that Jesus spoke believed
to be true and they came to pass. The Lord comes to us and reveals
himself to us in our time of need as the only saviour, the
only one who can deliver us spiritually, perhaps the only one who can
deliver us naturally. And as we think then, and as
our understanding is enlightened, to look to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we behold the Blessed Saviour suffering in our place, dying
that cursed death so that we might be delivered from the curse,
that we might be set free, that we might be healed, we might
no more be under the curse. What a blessing then to receive
that simple faith that this man was given. religion, blessed be God, is
not complicated. It is simple, but it is given
by the power of God. Because when Jesus speaks into
our hearts, the work is done. And we believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ on his finished work. It's not just an empty believing. We believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ meant something
to this man, this nobleman, didn't it? Oh, the Lord Jesus meant
something to him. He knew that it was Christ that
had spoken the word and by that word had done the deed. when the Lord speaks in your
heart and my heart, and directs us to the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall know it is the Lord. It is the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good. We'll bow down and worship. When the Lord speaks, my friends,
into our hearts, it's an effectual word. It has an effect Yes, and
it gives us that grace to believe. Barriers then fall away. We're given that living faith,
that simple faith, and we see the mountains flow down. They
become a plainer than they were before us. They were in the way. They were hindering us. The Lord
spoke and it was done. Now we just rend the heavens
and come down. that the mountains might flow
down at thy presence. I wonder tonight if that's our
great concern in our spiritual soul. When we come to the Lord,
not in any demanding way, we realise we have nothing to bring. Nothing in my hand I bring. What do we do? Simply to thy
cross I cling. There's our hope. It's in the
finished work of Christ, nothing in ourselves. Our hope is built
on nothing less but Jesus' blood and righteousness. Well, it would
be a good thing if we're brought to this condition to see the
teaching we have in this account of the Lord Jesus dealing graciously
with this nobleman in this town of Cana. What was done there
and then the healing which occurred at Capernaum, where this man
lived, and the effect, the gracious, glorious effect of the word of
the Lord. My friends, today, how we need
to observe the gracious and glorious word of the Lord, and to observe
the blessed effect of it, and to be thankful and praise and
bless our God for it. Amen. you.