Well, it's good to see everybody. It's only about three hours from
your place to our place. It's never that bad of a drive. It's always enjoyable. But this
congregation has meant a lot to my wife and I over the years. Your pastor, And you're a new
pastor. You've got quite a man in David. And we're just thankful that
the Lord's kept the work going. Because it's his work. It's up to him. But oh, we rejoiced
when I got word that David was going to be coming up here. So
we rejoice with you, and I thank you for the opportunity to come
before you once again. Turn with me, if you would, to
John's Gospel in the fourth chapter. John's Gospel in the fourth chapter. I don't think I'm quite over
this yet, this passage. It doesn't take much to get me
excited. And I got excited. John chapter
4, we're going to read verses 43 through the end of the chapter.
And we're going to look at, by God's enabling, just a couple
things, just a couple things. We'll just kind of walk through
it as we did in Bible class this morning. Verse 43, now after two days,
Christ departed thence and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself
testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
Then when Christ 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
unto Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And
there was a certain nobleman, somebody of some importance in
this world, had money, had possessions, had things, whose son was sick
in Capernaum. That's where he lived, in Capernaum.
came up to Galilee, Cana of Galilee, because he knew Christ was there.
When he had heard that Jesus was come out of Judea unto Galilee,
he went unto him, unto Christ, the nobleman, and besought Christ
that he would come down to where he lived, in Capernaum, and heal
his son. For he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said unto him, except
you see signs and wonders you will not believe. The noble men
said unto him, Sir, Sir, Sir, come down, ere my child die. Jesus said unto him, Go thy way,
thy son lives. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he
was now going down, his servants met him and told him saying,
thy son liveth. Then he inquired of them the
hour which 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 had said unto
him, thy son liveth. And he himself believed and his
whole house. This again, this is again the
second miracle that Jesus did when he was come out of Judah
into Galilee. Now we're just going to look
at this as a picture, and it is, a picture of God's salvation. That's the first thing. And then
we're going to look at something that I still can't put this mind,
wrap this mind around. We're going to look at salvation
belongs to God alone, to Christ alone. Now this boy, Like us, I'm sure he was in bed. He was dying. He had a fever. He wasn't going to get any better.
I don't know. Perhaps the nobleman, who obviously the margin reads
a ruler, some render it a little king. Anyway, he must have had
money. Perhaps he went and tried to
seek physicians. I don't know. But what we note
here in the healing of this boy, is as in all scriptures. The
scriptures, they seem to, to unbelievers, they counterdict,
this doesn't make sense, that doesn't make sense. That's because
the scriptures were written for believers only. But as in all
the scriptures, Jonah said it well. He said salvation is of
the Lord. Now that little word of, just
that little word of, we don't, we don't think much about words
today, but that little word of shows origin. Origin. Salvation originates
Alpha and Omega beginning in of the Lord. Salvation originates
from the Lord. This man came begging and he also went to the only
source and hope for dead and dying sinners. He had heard. He knew a little bit about Christ.
He had heard some things. He went not to someone who looked
like Christ. He didn't go. He went to Christ. He specifically, he heard verse
47, that Jesus was come out of Galilee or out of Judah unto
Galilee. He went to him. He went straight
to him. So that's a good thing. That's a good thing because how are you going to believe?
unless you hear. Hearing comes by the Word of
God. How are you going to believe on somebody that you've not heard? A gentleman back at the church
in Jackson, he words it this way. I think I've used this example
for years. Let's say I don't know Daniel. And I go to somebody here at
the church and I said, I'd like to meet Daniel Montgomery. And they said, Here's what he
looks like. I'm going to help you out. He's
about five foot six. He has no hair. And they start describing him
and they don't describe him accurately. You know who I'm going to be
looking for? Somebody who's short and bald. And that's what you
hear. Every day in religion, you hear
of a Jesus. How are you going to find him?
How are you going to, that's, it's like the old saying, you
can, you can't go, you can't come back from somewhere you've
never been. So he did, he did, he did. One thing, right. Is
he went to the only source of salvation. Salvation is completely
dependent upon the God-man solely and only. So if you go to some
guy and you confess your sins in a little booth, it's not going
to do you any good. If you go down the street and
you go to somebody that talks about how you've got free will
and how you're a free moral agent and brag on this and that and
all these different things, you're not really going to need them.
You're not really that sick because the sick need a physician. So
you're not going to find them. but where the gospel, which has
to do, is the gospel regarding the Son, the Son. It amazed me, back a long time
ago, my stepfather, when he was still living, he wouldn't talk
to me, but he'd get mad at me when I'd start trying to talk
about Christ. So the Lord took me out of the area. He took me to maybe run an errand,
and then my wife goes, she sits down, And he starts asking her
questions. I don't know if they were trying
to think maybe I tried to brainwash her or something. And so she
started answering for herself because she understood the gospel.
And she kept saying, the gospel, the gospel about the Christ.
And he caught on to this. He said, you keep saying the
like it's the only one. She says, now you're starting
to listen. Now you hear what I'm saying.
It's the only gospel. It's the only gospel that glorifies
God. It's the only gospel that speaks
of substitution. It's the only gospel that speaks
of dead and dying sinners who have no hope in and of themselves.
And the only hope can be found in the righteousness of another.
And that's the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He,
God, hath made Christ to be sin. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. And that verse in
itself, I believe we're going to spend eternity trying to figure
out all that that means, because it's deep. It's an ocean. And
we just kind of waiting. We can't quite figure it out.
But our Savior, he will accomplish salvation to whomsoever, however,
and wherever he desires. We are like this boy. We are
incapable of helping ourselves, and we certainly are lay dying,
lost and helpless from birth. The scripture says in Isaiah
53, you know it, all we like sheep have gone astray. And in
Genesis chapter six, it says every imagination of the heart
is evil continually. Now pastor, now preacher, it's
not that bad. Well, when God begins to reveal
the truth to you and what you are and what he is, you don't
argue. You know, basically, that's the problem with religion. That's
the problem with today's society. They want to argue. I've got
a voice. Listen to me. You know, when God begins to
do a work of grace in the heart, you just shut up. Like Job said, put my mouth to
the dust. And we say, behold, thy God liveth
and he rules and he reigns. If we are ever to be redeemed,
It lies in the hands of, verse 49, the nobleman said unto him,
Sir, if we're ever to be redeemed, it lies in the hands of Sir. Now that word Sir, the Greek
is Kyrie, K-Y-R-I-E. It means Lord, it means God,
it means master, but it also means one who is supreme. So
this man this man had evidently seen a few he'd heard about Christ,
but now as I I've heard of you, but now my sees you like Job
said Notice also brethren beloved of the Lord verse 50 Jesus said
unto him go thy way thy son living and the man believed the word
of that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went his way. God
honors his word spoken. That's why we're here. It's a
means of God's grace that he uses to call out and quicken
sinners. He uses the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. If you think God saves other
ways, all I can say is I'm not a scholar, but the burden of
proof is on you. It's not on me. Show me. I'm
not trying to put God in a box. I'm like Tim James. He's unsearchable. His ways are past finding out. So I'm not saying putting God
in a box. I'm just saying what the word
of God says. He honors his preaching of the gospel. That's why we're
here. Otherwise, we just shut the doors,
save ourselves time and money, and then just go out and maybe
we can meet God in nature or something. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
the Word of God. The Word of God that regards
who God is. The Word of God that regards
who Christ is. The Word of God that regards
Him as a substitute. The character and nature of God.
And the Spirit uses these truths to enlighten the soul. Look at
John chapter 5 and verse 24. John 5, 24. Just turn over a
page. Verily, verily, Christ said,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believe on Him that sent me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from
death to life." That means we're born in death spiritually. Sin. And passed upon all men. So we have to have life. We're
not created with a dormant type of faith and then something gets
active. No, it's a new creature in Christ.
It's a new creation. but he that heareth my word and
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. Let us
therefore be about the Lord's business, male or female, if
you understand the gospel, you're out shopping, you're in a picnic
or whatever, if somebody says something, well, I don't say
anything, you need to come to church. No, if you have responsibility,
if you understand the gospel, Let us be about his business
and speak his word to all and any who may give us a hearing. And like I said, he took me out
of the way. And my wife wakes up in the morning for breakfast
and she's sitting there and he's right across the table and ain't
nobody around. And he starts asking questions. Highly regard, and I know you
do. I know you do. I just told somebody this morning,
this is kind of like family away from family. We've been here
more than any other Sovereign Grace Church ever. We've been
to the Crossroads. We've been to a bunch of different
places. Cottageville, all these different pastors. I know these
preachers. We've been here, my wife and I, we've been here more
than anywhere else. Such fond memories. And I know
that you highly regard the preaching of his gospel, support it, sacrifice
for it and attend, attend unto as you're able to attend. Now,
Matthew Henry wrote some pretty interesting things about this
little section. One of these things he said, those who admire
miracles only and despise preaching rank themselves with unbelievers. Is that true? Those who come
for the loaves and the fishes only and don't really regard
the preaching, they rank themselves with unbelievers. So to summarize
what we've been looking at, what did Christ do? He did what he
always does. He healed a dead and dying boy. Do you have a need? I mean, is
there any sinners here? I remember Henry. I'm sure Sue,
I remember you've heard Henry say this. He was down there preaching
in 1982. We were meeting in a trailer.
And he hollers, are there any sinners out here? And then somebody
says, Christ died for you. He died for sinners. See, that's
what the beautiful thing about electing grace. When people,
they hear that, they get all upset. But I'm telling you this,
electing grace opens heaven's gate. If there's no election,
it's shut down. So the doctrine that they despise
the most is one which shows hope. The believer, we see hope in
his gospel. So what did he do? He did what
he always did. He healed. How does he do so? He does it by his death and his
burial and resurrection and through his truth. And therefore, the
Father is glorified. The Father in heaven is glorified.
The sinners are saved. Remember, I remember old Barnard.
You know, whatever happened to the three R's? I'm not talking
about reading, writing, arithmetic. No, that's not what I'm talking
about. The three R's used to be preached all the time. Ruined
by the fall, redemption by the blood, and regeneration by the
Spirit. You don't hear that. You don't hear that. The second thought. Now, again,
I hope and I believe we've heard the truth. How does this truth
affect you and I? It may be said that we have much
in common with this nobleman. For God first works upon us,
then he works for us. Is that what you say he did with
this man? The man, not the boy. God first works upon us, and
then he works for us. This man came asking basically
for help and for comfort, but he got patience. Now, let's just
go back to the beginning and let's just look at this. This
is just, this is the effect of grace upon those who truly believe. Now, after two days, Christ departed
thence and he went to Galilee, for Jesus himself testified that
a prophet hath no honor in his own country. Then when he was
come to Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all
things that he had done at Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went
unto the feast. So Jesus came again to Cana of
Galilee, where he made the water wine, and there was a certain
nobleman whose son was sick in Capernaum. Now, I don't know
about you, but I don't hardly ever use the maps in the book
of the Bible, the back. But I thought, well, let me look.
Let me see how far. Now, this isn't 2016 where they
can hop in a pickup truck and then go on over. from Cana of
Galilee to Capernaum is about 18 to 25 miles. Now, thanks to
Google, you can say how far would that be walking? Well, the average
person walks about three miles an hour. It's about eight hours
or more. This is all, this is important. About eight hours
or more, eight to 10 hours if he walked from where he was to
where Christ was. And I don't know, and we're just
talking flat surface. I have no idea of the terrain.
What if he's riding? Well, they didn't have horses,
but they had camels. According to Google again, a camel, it
can go pretty fast, but if you get them going, they'll burn
out. They won't make the trip. It takes them about a day in
a caravan. A day in a caravan. So just put that in the back
of your mind and we'll move on. Look at verse 47. When he heard
that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him
and he besought him that he would come down and heal his son for
he was at the point of death. Now he comes in to the right
person. Yet this is us. This is us all
over. Yet with it somewhat incorrect
approach, he comes telling the Lord what he needs to do. He besought him that he would
come down with him and heal his son. We know who to go to, yet often
we're guilty of telling our Lord what to do and not petitioning. You see that? You see, he's coming
and he obviously loves his son. He's coming and he's, you got
to come down. Now, who's he talking to? Who do we say we believe? Sovereign,
majestic God. And there's times I'm guilty.
I'll see somebody hurting. I'll be seeing somebody in pain.
Whatever. Lord, fix it. Now, I don't say
that, but that's what I'm saying. But the Lord's going to teach
him some things like He teaches us. come that my son's at the
point of death." I don't know if it was his only son, but I
know it's flesh and blood, and this man loves his son. What
did our Lord say? Verse 48, then Jesus said unto
him, he rebukes him, except you see signs and wonders you won't
believe. He rebukes him. He said, why
are you coming to me? Are you coming for mercy or for
show or for self gratification? What are you coming to me for?
He rebukes him. But this man is kind of like
that story about that woman, the importunity. She just keeps
knocking. Verse 49, now religion today,
they get all mad. Feelings on her fingertips, walk
away. Or it would be like David when
he sinned with Bathsheba and the prophet rebuked him. I said,
Lord, you know you're right. I'm the man. I'm the man. The
nobleman said, he said unto him, sir, one who is supreme, sir, come
down ere my child die. He is humbled by the rebuke.
Yet he is continuous in his desire for the Lord. And the Lord hears
the cry for mercy. For the Lord has placed that
mercy in seeking in the man's heart. And he always answers
to himself, which is the whole of scriptures, the whole work
of redemption. It's simply Christ doing for
us what we ask from a new heart. He's placed that there. I got
this little book at home, and I would, if everybody I knew
could, it's just a little book. It's by Charles H. Spurgeon.
It's called According to Promise. And in that book, I think it's
an area that most people miss. He says, when you're reading
this book, one of his quotes is, if you find a promise, And
you believe this promise is speaking to you. He said, you take that
promise and you save it. And then when you need it, you
pull it out and you spend these promises at leisure. Basically,
you're answering back to God. You're saying, this is what your
word says. You're not challenging God. You're coming as a humble.
You receive the rebuke. I've sinned. I confessing my
sin. But this is what your word says.
You came to seek and to save the lost. And I'm lost. And like
Henry and Tim and all these other men, there's three phases of
salvation. We're being saved, we are saved. It's three phases. We don't ever stop being saved.
The Scripture says to Peter, unto Him coming, unto whom coming?
We don't come to Christ one time, get baptized and go around showing
our baptismal certificate. We keep coming to Christ. We
keep coming to Christ because But Peter, to whom shall we go?
Whatever our situation, whatever our trials, tribulations, we
keep coming to Christ. Because He is all we need. He's
all we have. He's all we want. He says, you
take these promises and you tell them back to God. And that's
what He's doing. Sir, Lord, God, come down, ere
my child die. Therefore, in verse 50, Jesus
said unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth. The rebuke is received,
humility reigns, and so does grace in the answer and in the
application. Jesus said 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. This kind
of reminds me of in Hebrews, this man, he's like the faithful,
who against hope, what's the scripture say? Believed in hope,
And he staggered not through unbelief, but he was persuaded
that what Christ said, he was able to perform. Isn't that what
the scripture says? He against hope. And that's what,
that's faith. That's the fight of faith. This
is what I see, my eyes see. This is what the word says. He
against hope, believed in hope and staggered not at the promises
through unbelief. Giving glory to God. He simply
believed the word, and he believed Christ, and he believed that
Christ would heal his boy. That's grace. That's not anything
we do. That's nothing that he conjured
up. You know, it always cracked me up when somebody says, you
know, talk to an Armenian or somebody with free will and works.
Well, just believe. How do you do that? You know, the Romans wrote a
grace. How do you do that? No one has ever satisfied my
curiosity how you believe. You know why? Because it's not
a work, it's grace. Not only it's on the behalf of
Christ to give you to suffer in Philippians 1.29, but to believe
on his name, to believe, believe. You want to tell me how this
man from one minute and the next minute didn't go that way. He believed Christ, he believed
the word and he'd spoken, he turned and went his way. I can
read it. We don't know how the spirit
moves, convincing men of sin. This reminds me, this guy right
here reminds me, turn to 1 Samuel 1. There's always a parallel
passage somewhere to be found in the scripture. 1 Samuel 1. 1st Samuel chapter 1. You remember Hannah? Chapter
1 verse 12 of 1st Samuel. It came to pass as Hannah continued
to pray before the Lord that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah,
she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice
was not heard. Therefore, Eli thought she had
been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long
will thou be drunk and put away thy wine from thee? And Hannah
answered and said, no, my Lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured
out my soul up before the Lord. She was rebuked by the prophet
and he didn't even know really what he was saying. Like a lot
of times us preachers, we ramble on and you know, just Lord needs
to stop us. But she took that, she took that
rebuke. She took that rebuke, and she said, no, this is what's
going on. Count not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for
out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken. I poured
out my heart to the Lord. Eli answered her and said, go
in peace. And the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that
thou has spoken of him. Petition, petition. That's what
that man, that man kept, he kept on. My boy's dying, sir. My boy's
dying. Then he and I answered and he
told her to go in peace. And she said, let thine handmaid
find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and
look at here, this is the result of grace in the soul. She ate
and her countenance was no more sad. Old Donny Bell says, since he
heard the good news, he's never really heard any bad news. I
mean, really, that is true. We've got a lot of things on
our plate, a lot of complaints, a lot of different things, but
really, when we step back, It is well with the righteous. It's
always been well with the righteous. Always. Always. Now, I'll tell
you, I believe this man back in our text, this nobleman, the
man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went
his way. I don't think he was sad anymore.
Now, this is where it really gets interesting and I've never
seen this before. It scares me and it comforts me. Now look
at verse 51 to 53. And as he was now going back
home, his servants met him and told him saying, thy son liveth.
Then he inquired of them the hour, the very hour that that's
the sovereignty of God, the very hour moment. That the son began to amend and
he wasn't partially healed. He was completely healed. Salvation
is not a partial, it's complete. And they said unto him yesterday
at the seventh hour, the fever left him. And the father knew
that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus had said unto
him, thy son liveth and himself believed and his whole house.
Now we're going to read this again. Verse 52, then he inquired of
the hour that he began to amend, and they said unto him, yesterday.
Wait a second, wait a second. Yesterday? Yesterday? Yesterday? Now I see some parents in here
that got some cute little rugrats running around. And I'm asking
you this, because I got one daughter. If my daughter or if your child was dying and you
found a remedy like this, our God is so sovereign, He don't
even have to be there. He just speaks the word and He's healed.
I would be running back. I would have the money, it would
be no object. Spare no expense. I'd go camel
after camel and I'd whip him. I'd be going, they said, about
ten and a half miles an hour. I'd get back as soon as I could.
What does it say? Yesterday. What's he lingering for? What's
he waiting for? Why doesn't he rush home? Amazing grace. We know that all things work
together for good to them who love God and are called according
to His purpose. Is that not true? We quote it. We know it. This man knew it
too. He may have conducted business.
Whatever he did, he didn't rush back. He asked. And they said,
yesterday. Now, the DFS gets a hold of this. You're probably not going to
have that kid anymore. But faith believes what God has said based
on the naked Word of God. Period. How do I know that? I've had to experience this a
few times, just a few times. But I'll tell you, if you want
to look at Paul's writings in almost every epistle, Corinthians,
Ephesians, Galatians, Colossians, how does he begin? every one
of those, grace and peace be multiplied unto you. He's not
just talking. There's no air in this Word of
God. It's inspired. It's God breathed. There's no
air. Grace and peace. It's not the other way around.
You seek in peace, you don't have grace, you're not going
to find it. But if God has given you grace, Come what may, He gives you peace. He gives
you peace. I remember not too long ago this
place here. No pastor. No active pastor. What are we
going to do? Where are we going to go? What's
going to happen? You remain faithful. You remain
faithful to what He says. And you got a pastor, you got
a dandy, you got a good one. He evidently did not rush home,
but he waited until the next day. He had the assurance of
Christ. He had his word. And the man
believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him and he went
his way. He had what the Scripture says,
that peace that passes all understanding. And that's why I can't explain
it to you, because it's passed my understanding. But if you
have it, if you have grace, if you understand Christ, if you
understand His Gospel, if you've embraced Him, you understand. I'm not going to let go until
you bless me. I'm not going to let go. Well,
I'm going to make your thigh. That's all right. I'm not going
to let go. I can't explain it, but I know it's so. It's even
as his word has said over and over again to our poor, desponding
hearts. Grace and peace be multiplied." Corinthians. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied. Grace and peace. Grace and peace.
Oh, my. If you have grace, my friend,
you have peace. And no one, no government, no
person can take that from you. Romans 8.28. He inquired of them, in verse
52, the hour that He began. And they said, yesterday at the
seventh hour. They knew exactly when it was. And the Father also,
He wasn't there, but He knew it was the same hour. Coincidence? Luck? I don't like that word. My folks at home know they don't
like it. Don't say that word in front
of me. No, no, no, no, no. Chance? Our God is sovereign. And I wouldn't want it any other
way. Because with sovereignty comes safety and protection. We don't know what tomorrow is
going to bring, but we know who owns tomorrow. I mean, it's exact time appointed that our sovereign God decided
to be merciful. And it could be today. It could
be today. God decides He's going to be
merciful to some sinner. We're sinners. It could be that
He's decided He's going to do these in the grace and the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ, just a little bit more. Just to fall
back on His bosom and to embrace Him and to love Him. because
He desires to hear from His children. May we be given grace and faith
like this man and have peace. Oh, peace. I want peace, but
I don't want it outside of grace, because outside of grace, outside
of Christ, our God is a consuming fire. But oh, what a lesson,
what a joy to see our Redeemer doing what He came to do, to
seek and to save that which was lost. I appreciate all that you've
done for my wife and myself, and we enjoyed being here with
you, and I look forward to the next time our paths cross. If
they do, if they don't, then I know it will be well with you,
be well with us. The Lord bless you, and let's
close in prayer. Father, we ask that you would
be merciful to us, that you would show us the Lord Jesus Christ
bleeding and doing and dying all for us, all that the law
required, all that you decreed, that Christ has made sufficient. more than sufficient payment
for all of our needs, great as they are. We have many needs,
but you are a great and reigning God. Father, we ask that you
would be merciful to this group here in Madisonville, that you
would continue to bless the work, that you'd continue to bless
their pastor, and that you'd continue to bless the folks here
as well, and that you would do the same in Jackson. that your
name may be preached among the whole area and county. We see
sinners saved. But Father, if not, we bow to
your sovereign will. You can do with us as you will.
And Father, we bless you for your grace that you've given
us. We bless you for who you are, for what you've done. Father,
we pray that you would bring Dave and Teresa back home here
safely and that they would once again, the gospel would be heard
from this pulpit this Wednesday. Father, we pray that you'd bless
all the works of grace in this world. We pray that you'd bless
the missionaries and the difficult tasks that they have. Father,
we thank you and bless you for all these things that you've
given us. We cannot begin to mention the grace that you've
given us. And our sweet Redeemer has cradled
us in his arms and he will take us to the end. He has promised.
We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.