Alright, let's turn back to John
chapter 4. John chapter 4, the Lord has just met with the
woman at the well, that's where we are. Verse 28, the woman then
left her water pot and went her way into the city. and saith
to the men, Come see a man which told me all things that ever
I did. Is not this the Christ? Then
they went out of the city and came unto Him." Verse 39 says,
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for
the saying of the woman which testified, He told me all that
ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come
unto Him, They besought Him that He would tarry with them, and
He abode there two days. Now our text begins in verse
43. It says, Now after two days He
departed thence, and went into Galilee, For Jesus Himself testified
that a prophet hath no honor in his own country." That's amazing
to me. That statement has always been
amazing to me. I clearly understand why I would
have no honor in my country. I was there. I grew up with me. The things I did, the things
I said, the way I lived, I don't deserve honor. But our Lord, He was perfect. Perfect. He was wisdom. He was the greatest example of good
a person could ever see. He was worthy to be honored by
every person who met Him. Every person who met Him could
walk away saying, that's the finest man I have ever met in
my life. That's the most honest. That's
the kindest. That's the hardest working man
I have ever seen in my life. What a man. He was worthy. Turn over to Luke chapter four. Luke chapter four, verse 16 says,
and he came to Nazareth, Nazareth, where he had been brought up.
And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath
day and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto
him the book of the prophet Isaiah, And when he had opened the book,
he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book He gave
it again to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all
them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, this day is the scripture fulfilled
in your ears. And all bear him witness and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth."
Can you imagine what that sounded like? Can you imagine what that sounded
like? The gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And
they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, You will surely
say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever we have
heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said,
verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
But I tell you of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months, when great famine was throughout all the land. But
unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were
in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them
was cleansed, saving Nahum and the Syrian. And all they in the
synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath."
and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto
the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they
might cast him down headlong." They hated Him. And did you know that people
still do today? The bumper stickers say, oh,
how I love Jesus. But as soon as they find out
who the real Jesus is, they hate him. I hate that man. Why? Was it because of his gracious
words? Or was it because he was sent
to heal the brokenhearted and to preach deliverance to the
captives? Why? Why? I'll tell you why. Evil hates
good. Sin hates grace. And all have sinned. That's why. Turn with me over to Matthew
13. Matthew 13 verse 53 says, And
it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables,
He departed thence. And when He was come into His
own country, He taught them in their synagogue insomuch that
they were astonished and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom
and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son?
Is not his mother called Mary and his brethren, James and Josie
and Simon and Judas and his sisters? Are they not all with us? Whence
then hath this man all these things? And they were offended
in him. But Jesus said unto them, a prophet
is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own
house. And he did not many mighty works
there because of their unbelief. He came unto his own and his
own received him not, right? You know, if we were his own,
if we are his own, Then it means by nature we received him not. That's what it means. And it's amazing that he had
mercy on any of us. It really is. It's amazing. It's almost like we expect God
to have mercy. It's amazing that he had mercy
on anybody. We'll go back to our text in
John chapter four, John chapter four, verse 43 says, now, after two
days, he departed thence and went into Galilee for Jesus himself
testified that a prophet hath no honor in his own country.
Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having
seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast, for
they also went unto the feast. So Jesus came again into Cana
of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain
nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. A certain nobleman. Now how many noblemen do you
think were there at this great city at that time? Our Lord wrote this scripture
about a certain nobleman. Everything our God does is certain. That means it's on purpose. Every
person he chooses to save He's on purpose. The fact that this man was a
nobleman means he was a royal officer. Verse 51 says he had
servants. He was now going down. His servants
met him. I don't care what this man's
rank was. I don't care how rich he was. This shows us that no
man is exempt from the effects and the burdens and the sorrows
of sin. Nobody, no man or woman. Death is a result of sin. That's
the reason people die. It's a result of sin. Where there
is no sin, there is no death. That's why life in Christ is
eternal. There's no sin there. That's
why there is no sin. There is forever. Well, a certain nobleman whose
son was sick at Capernaum verse 47 says when he heard that Jesus
was come out of Judea into Galilee, He went unto him and besought
him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the
point of death. This man had a great need. We all know he knew that every
day that we finish, I went to bed last night, I finished today. That was one less day that I
have in this life, right? I'm sure he was living life.
He was a nobleman, right? Living life, not too worried
about it. He knew death was coming someday,
not too worried about it. Not too worried about himself,
not too worried about his family. But all of a sudden, he became
faced with it. It became real. You know why
we have all driven our cars over here today? We have to face death. That's why. It became real. The truth came. Sin is present. So he goes searching
for the cure. Now think about this. Had his
son not gotten sick, would he have ever needed the
Lord? Has his son not gotten sick?
Would this man have ever needed the Lord? Let's think about that as we
go through these things in life that we see as horrible trials,
horrible trials. Let's remember that this is actually
going to turn out to be great mercy. Hard while you're in the middle
of it, but it's going to turn out to be great mercy. Listen
to what one man said. This is good. God uses many different agents
in predisposing men to receive and believe His Word. No doubt these lines will be
read by more than one who dates his first awakening to the time
when some loved one lay at death's door. Now I want to tell you this.
I want to confess this about myself. I grew up under the sound
of the gospel. I never sat under a false message. I was taught by my parents and
I trusted them. I believed what they told me.
Therefore, I believed the truth. But I can honestly tell you that
when my mother got cancer in the year 2000 and she had it for 11 months, That
was a point in my life when the Lord caused me to get a hold
of how serious all this really is. I really did. Death became real
to me. And he writes, no doubt these
lines will be read by more than one who dates his first awakening
to the time when some loved one lay at death's door. It was then
he was made to think seriously and saw the need for preparing
to meet God. I'm going to meet God. It could
be today on our way up highway 23. I got to go meet God. Now listen to what he writes.
It is well when trouble leads a man to God instead of away
from God. Affliction is one of God's medicines. Then let us beware of murmuring
in time of trouble. Oh, may I learn that? Let us beware of murmuring in
time of trouble. That's good. Well, verse 47 here
in John 4 says, When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea
into Galilee, he went unto him and besought him that he would
come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee,
this man heard. He heard about a great physician. who can heal the greatest disease. And verse 47 says, when he heard
that Jesus was come out of Judea and to Galilee, he went unto
him. He heard and he came. He doesn't have anything to glory
in because no man can come except the father draw him, right? But
it appears that the father was drawing him because verse 47
says, when he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee,
he went unto him and besought him. He begged him. He cried unto him. Now watch
this. May the spirit quicken us right
now. He besought him. It says right
here. that He would come down. That He would come down. Lord,
thou art high and I'm low. Would you condescend down to
this poor, needy, begging sinner? There's a song in our hymnal
and we don't sing it. Because I don't care for the
verses, but the chorus says heaven came down and glory filled my
soul. When at the cross, the savior
made me whole. My sins were washed away and
my night was turned today because heaven came down and glory filled
my soul. Verse 47 says, "...He besought
him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the
point of death." He begged the Lord on behalf of another. Now let's take some hope in this.
Let's take some hope in this. This is who our Lord is. We just
said in the Bible study, without His Word, how would we know who
He is and what He's like? Well, take some hope in this.
This is who our Lord is and He changes not. He's about to answer this man's
prayer. This man loved his son, but this was not a selfish request. Lord, would you do something
wonderful for somebody else? Would you do something for somebody
else? Do you have somebody who needs
the Lord's healing touch? We all do, don't we? James 5.16 says, The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Take comfort
in that. Lord, would you come down and
do something for my loved one? Verse 47 says, when he heard
that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him
and besought him that he would come down and heal his son for
he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, except
you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. What the Lord is telling him
is by nature, you're a sinner just like everybody else. Except
you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. The Lord is
telling this man, you have nothing and you're not worthy. Do you think I should heal your
son because you're a nobleman? Do you think your status gives
you any favor with me? We cannot tell our Lord how to
act and what to do. And that's usually what we're
doing when we pray. We must take our burdens to the
Lord and leave them with him. Did you know that? I feel like I'm in the front
row. I'm preaching to myself more
than anybody this morning. We must take our burdens to the
Lord and leave them with him and then walk away. Leave all things in his hands. Lord, you know what's best. Thy
will be done. This is what we all need to cry
unto the Lord. Listen, don't turn. Mark 9 24
says, Lord, I believe help thou my unbelief. Verse 48 says, then said Jesus
unto him, except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.
The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down, ere my child
die. What this man is saying is, Lord,
you're my only hope. If you don't come down, my child
will die. You're my only hope. I thought
about that woman who came to the Lord on behalf of her daughter.
You can turn or just listen. Matthew chapter 15. It says this, Matthew 15 verses
21 to 28 say, Then Jesus went thence and departed into the
coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. But He answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshiped Him, saying, Lord, help me. But He answered and said, It
is not meat to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs.
And she said, truth, Lord, you're right. I'm a dog. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from the master's table. Then Jesus answered and
said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee,
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. The Lord is going to show His
people who they are and where their place is first. Well, in our text, John 4, verse
49, the nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy
way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went his way. Now notice
two things. Here's the first one. No begging sinner who comes to
the Lord will be turned away empty handed. Never, never. The other thing is our Lord didn't
fulfill his request. Now he gave him what he needed.
We're about to see that this man's son lived, but he didn't
fulfill his request. The man kept saying, come down
with me, come down to my house, come down to where my child is.
And the Lord didn't go. The Lord's ways were not His
ways. We think we have our answer figured
out, don't we? Lord, I know what I put a lot
of thought into this and I know what I need. And here's my prayer. I've run all the scenarios and
I've got the best one figured out. This is what I pray you
would do. We make our partitions known,
but we would be wise to say nevertheless, Not our will, but thine be done.
Verse 50, Jesus saith unto him, go thy way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went his way. He didn't
get what he wanted, but he believed the word that Jesus had spoken
unto him and he went his way. It takes God-given faith to believe
that all things work together for good. It really does. We can say it, and we can say
it, we can say it, but to live it is something else. It takes God-given faith to trust
that His will will be done. Verse 50 says, Jesus saith unto him, go thy
way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the word. Do you know what we believe? What
do y'all believe over at Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church? You know
what we believe? The word. Christ himself, the
word, every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That's
what we believe. Look at one chapter over, John
5 verse 24 says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. Romans 10 says, Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. He heard the word
of God from the mouth of God and true saving faith was given
to this man. He didn't have any statements.
He didn't have any questions. He heard, he believed, and it
says he went his way. When God gives faith, no signs
are needed. He told him you need a sign.
But when God gives faith, no signs are needed. We believe
his word. He believed that his word was powerful. He believed
this man is able. This man will accomplish his
word. If he said it, he'll do it. Turn with me over to Matthew
chapter eight. Matthew chapter 8 verse 5 says,
when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion
beseeching him and saying, Lord, my servant, life at home, sick
of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. I'll go to your house. The centurion
answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant
shall be healed. For I am a man under authority,
having soldiers under me. And I say to this man, go, and
he goeth, and to another come, and he cometh, and to my servant
do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, He marveled
and said to them that followed, verily I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith. No, not in Israel. Just speak
the word. Just speak the word. Our text, John 4 verse 51 says,
the end of verse 50 says, He went His way, 51, and as he was
now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying,
Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the
hour when he began to amend, and they said unto him, Yesterday
at the seventh hour the fever left him. Now listen to this.
I always like to tell you when my favorite part comes, my favorite
part. Verse 52 says yesterday, right? The man was going home the day
after the Lord did this. Cana to Capernaum was a four
hour walk. Their day started at six o'clock
in the morning. So the seventh hour was one o'clock
in the afternoon, the middle of the day, right? He could have made it home by
five. He was so confident in the word
of his savior. He didn't even go home that day. I can picture this man just taking
his time. resting, strolling home, smelling the
flowers, happy, joyful. Somebody asking him, what's the
happy occasion? My son, he was so sick. He almost died yesterday. And
the Lord Jesus Christ made him whole. Where do you do this? Capernaum. Well, how do you know? They didn't have cell phones. They didn't have Morse code.
How do you know? The master said so. He said so. We can have the same joy and
peace and assurance if we will rest on the sure Word of God. The Master said so. Just listen to Romans 15 verse
13. It says, Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy. and peace in believing that you
may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Verse
52 says, Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to
amend, and they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour
the fever left him. So the father knew that it was
at the same hour in the which Jesus said unto him, thy son
liveth. Now he didn't ask his servants
about the details because of unbelief. You know what he was
doing? He wanted to dwell on the amazing
work of his God. And that's what we do. Isn't
it amazing? What time did you say it was?
One o'clock? Yep, one o'clock. That's when he said it. One o'clock. It says the father knew that
it was at the same hour in the which Jesus said unto him, thy
son liveth and himself believed. And I pray the Lord would do
this next phrase for all of us. Isabella's up in Rocky Mount.
I got Sophie sitting right here. I pray the Lord would do this
next phrase. May God be merciful to us. Look at it. It says the end of verse 53 and
his whole house. I know he can. I know that he can. Himself believed in his whole
house. Lord, save this house. Save this
house. This again. This is again the
second miracle that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea
into Galilee. That was a miracle unto salvation. He believed in his whole house. Now, boys and girls, little girls, big girls, we're all here because this is
important. Okay? Little girls, we're all here
because this is important. And we need for our Lord Jesus
Christ to save our souls. So I want you to remember, this
is where you need to come to hear about him and learn about
him. And we come here to worship him.
And this is very holy. And it's very serious. And I
pray that God would save our souls. Do you all understand
that? We need God to save our souls. May God save this whole house. Every time we come here, this
is serious. Very serious. A miracle unto salvation. The
more we study his word, the more we rest on his word, the more
we're going to believe that all things work together for good.
You know that? That boy being sick. Almost to the point of death.
I would never want my child to be so sick. I thought today's
the other dime today. Never. But that was the greatest thing
that ever happened to that whole house. That was the greatest
thing. I wonder what the Lord is working
for us right now in our trials. We all have them, don't we? I
promise you it's for good to them that love God, to them that
are called according to his purpose. I promise you. I wonder what
he's doing right now. I pray the Lord would save us,
save our house. All right, let's stand together.