As I stated, the title of this
message is what is faith? And I wonder, have you ever asked
yourself the question, what does it mean to believe? What does it mean to believe? I've asked myself that question.
I have heard the preacher say, believe, and I have thought I
would, if I knew what that meant. What does it mean to believe? In Ephesians chapter two, verses
eight and nine, Paul makes this statement, by grace are you saved
through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works. Lest any man should boast now
through faith. Faith is the saving grace by
grace. He is saved through faith. Let's forget everything else
right now. Faith is the saving grace. And if you don't believe, if
I don't believe, we will not be saved. You young people, it
could be that your parents believe. That's not going to help you
any. You must believe you yourself. You must believe by grace. Are you saved through
faith without faith? it is impossible to please God. Now, do you hear that? Without
faith, it is impossible to please God. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. If you and I don't have some
understanding that faith is the gift of God, if we believe it's
the product of our free will, of our decision. If it's a decision
we made to believe, we believe in salvation by works, according
to the Apostle Paul. We haven't understood faith yet.
Have you understood that faith is the gift of God? You can't
even believe unless God gives you the grace to believe, unless
he gives you this gift. And you say, Lord, give me this
gift. I want to believe. What is Now, I suppose you could
say this about every other doctrine in the Bible, but there is no
subject that has more wrong conceptions and misunderstandings than this
thing of faith. It's my prayer that God will
take this portion of His Word and teach us what faith is. and
cause us to believe as this man believed. Now, let me tell you
a story. The Lord entered Capernaum, I
mean Cana, where he had made water into wine. This is a town
in Galilee and he comes back to Cana and there's a town about
15 miles away from there. That would be a good five or
six hour walk. And in this town, there was a
certain nobleman, an official in Herod's court, a Gentile,
probably wealthy and influential, but his son was sick, nigh unto
death. Put yourself in this man's place.
As far as he knows, his son may die that very day. and he feels
very desperate. He has a great need. Now, this man heard that Jesus
was in Cana, a town about 15 miles away. Now, the Lord had
performed many miracles of healing, and I have no doubt that this
man had heard of these healings that the Lord had performed.
I mean, if somebody, if somebody went into the UK hospital, say
two days ago or yesterday and started healing, went into the
Markey Cancer Center and started healing people that had cancer,
you reckon he'd make the paper? Everybody here would know about
it. You would have heard. Would this man heard too? He
heard that Jesus of Nazareth had healed people who were sick.
Now, what did he think about this? Was he skeptical? Perhaps you might have been skeptical
if you heard somebody came into Markey Cancer Center and did
that. Did he believe? He may have. He thought, well,
maybe that did happen. He probably had some thoughts
about it, but all of a sudden now, he's hearing from a different
perspective. He has a need. He has a need. His son is sick
at the point of death and he has a need. Now this is all the difference
in the world in the way you and I hear. Hearing from a place
of need. His son was sick. He hears that
the Lord is in the town of Cana And he gets up that morning,
perhaps six o'clock in the morning, and he walks, runs. I don't know. Maybe he was on
a horse. I don't know. But he gets to
the town of Cana where the Lord was. He now has a great need
and he's thinking, would he, could he heal my son? Well, I'm
going to Canaan where he is and I'm going to beseech him that
he heals my son. I love my son. He's at the point
of death. I've got no other options. So
he goes to Canaan. Verse 47. When he had heard that Jesus
was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him and he besought him. He begged him that he would come
down and heal his son. He implored him, come down and
heal my son. Now, one thing that I would notice
about this man is if he did have faith, it was not great faith. Let me say this about weak faith. It saves just as surely as great
faith, because it's not your faith that saves, it's the object
of the faith that saves. But this man did not have great
faith. You say, well, why, how, why would you say that? Because
he sought the Lord to come down into this geographical place.
You take this 15 mile journey with me and come down to where
my son is and heal it. Now, do you remember the man
whom the Lord said had the greatest faith in Israel? He sent somebody to the Lord.
And he didn't tell the Lord what to do, he just said, my servant
is grievously tormented. He didn't tell him whether to
heal, put it, it's in your hands. And when the Lord said, I'll
come down and heal him, he said, through that servant, he said,
I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof. I'm not asking
you to come down. I didn't think myself worthy
to come to you. I sent a servant. And what did he say? Speak the
word only and my servant shall be healed. Now that's great faith
because the Lord said, I say unto you, I've not found so great
a faith. No, not in Israel. Now this man
had had such a high view of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, all
you have to do is will it. And it takes place. Now that's
when you know who Christ is, when you know everything is according
to his will. Creation is an act of his will.
Providence, everything that takes place is an act of his will. Salvation is an act of his will. And he said, if you will it,
my servant shall be healed. But this man wasn't there yet.
I trust he will be, but he wasn't there yet. You know, faith grows.
Faith increases. He begins with a little faith.
Come down. and heal my child. And he begged
him to do so. Come down and heal my son, for
he's at the point of death. If we don't hurry and get down
there, he's gonna die. He did not yet realize that all Jesus
Christ had to do is will it. And he would be healed. Verse 48, John chapter four,
verse 48. Now, like I said, when I read
this passage of scripture, this almost seems cruel, doesn't it?
He comes to the Lord. My son's dying. He's at the point
of death. Will you please come down and
heal him? And the Lord says, except you
see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Now, like I said,
that sounds almost harsh. This man comes in his desperation. And he is rebuked. I'm going
to come back to that in a moment, why this rebuke was, but he said,
except you see signs and wonders, you have to see me do something
before you'll believe. Verse 49. You see, this didn't stop the nobleman.
He was rebuked. Does he get frustrated and say,
well, what's the point in seeking? I mean, I've come sincerely and
here he rebukes me. My son has this need and he's
not doing anything for me. What's the point? Need cannot be silenced. The nobleman saith unto him,
sir, come down, ere my child die. Need cannot be silenced. Bartimaeus is crying for mercy.
They say, hold your peace. He cries the more a great deal. The Syrophoenician woman comes
with this great need. Jesus, our son of David, have
mercy on my daughter. She's grievously vexed with the
devil, a great need. He answered her, not a word.
He ignored her. You know, that's rough to be
ignored. You're thinking, don't I count? He ignored her. He answered her, not a word.
Did she give up and say, well, what's the point? He's treating
me in a rude, no. She came saying, Lord, help me.
Help me, the disciples said, send her away. You know, the
disciples can be so hard-hearted. Send her away, she crieth after
us. And then he answers, I'm not
sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And let
me tell you what the Lord is saying when he makes that statement.
I've only come for the elect. That's exactly what that means.
I have only come for the elect. Now, did she say, That's not
fair. No, scripture says, then came she
and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. And then he said, it's
not me to take the children's bread and to throw it to dogs. Now, if there was a time for
her to get mad and leave, this would be it. I mean, good grief,
he talks to me like this, and I'm coming with this great need.
But you know what she said? Truth, Lord. If I ever heard
the truth, that's it. But the dogs eat of the crumbs
that fall from their master's table. I may be a dog, but I'm
your dog, and I'm dependent upon the crumbs you send my way. You see, need cannot be turned
away. This man had a great need. Sir, come down ere my child die. Verse 50, Jesus saith unto him, if you
have enough faith, your son will live. He didn't say that at all,
did he? Now, I suppose that's what the
average Charleston healer says. If you've
got enough faith, you'll be healed. If you weren't healed, not my
fault, you just didn't have enough faith. The Lord didn't say anything
like that, did he? Go thy way, thy son liveth. Now, this is
a declaration of what had taken place. Go that way. Y'all want people to do what
they want to do. Don't you go that way? I don't want to manipulate
people. Go that way. Here's the announcement
of the gospel. Thy son liveth. And what does the scripture say?
Verse 50, and the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken
unto him. That is faith. The man believed the word that
Jesus had spoken unto him. And he went his way. Now did
he have any physical evidence that his son lived? No. All he had was the word that
Jesus had spoken. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. When the Lord said to him, go
thy way, thy son liveth. You know what? He believed what
the Lord said. And let me show you how much
he believed. It was one o'clock in the afternoon. We know that
the Lord said this, Thy son liveth. It was at one o'clock in the
afternoon. Maybe he'd walked four or five miles, 15 miles,
four or five hours to get there. Maybe he left at six that morning.
Here it is 1 p.m. Thy son liveth. Now he has plenty of time to
get back home. Now he might have been tired, but I put myself
in that man's place. I'd want to get home no matter
how tired I was. I'd go ahead and walk that 15
miles. It might take me four or five hours. I'd walk there
to find out if he really did live. But this man didn't do
that. You know why? He believed what the Lord said.
He didn't feel the need to get back to see if it took place.
He found him a hotel room that night and went to sleep. He knew
his son lived. Why? Because the Lord said he
did. And he believed what the Lord
said. Now here's the point. When you
know who he is, When he said, sir, come down here, my child
die. That word, sir, is the same word
generally translated, Lord. Lord. Now at this time, at any
rate, he believed that Jesus Christ was Lord. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is Lord? Do you believe that His will
must be done, that He cannot lie, and that if He tells you
your child lives, He lives. He believed. He didn't have to
get back that night. He gets him a hotel room, gets
up in the morning, and takes off back to Capernaum. He leaves Cana the next morning
and goes back to Capernaum. Now he's walking and all of a
sudden his servants come. That lets you know that the man
was a man of wealth. His servants come up to him and
say, thy son liveth. Well, he knew that. He knew that. The Lord lived. That's what faith
is. It's believing what he has said. Don't confuse that. Don't overcomplicate
it. Faith is believing what He said. Your son lives. The man believed
the word which Jesus had spoken, and he went his way. Now he's,
it's the next day, he's on his way back home. His servants come
and say, thy son liveth. Well, he already knew that, but
then just for his own, I guess, pleasure, I don't know what you
call it, he said, What time did it take place? 1 p.m. The fever left it. Left is gone. Boom. And the man knew it was the precise
time that Jesus said, thy son liveth. And I think it's interesting. Verse 51. And as he was now going
down, the 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. So the father knew that it was
at the same hour in which Jesus said unto him, thy son liveth
and himself now had full assurance. Doesn't say that. Doesn't say that. It says he
believed and his whole house. Everybody in his family believed.
Well, does that mean if I believe everybody in my family believe?
Well, might, might not. I mean, I hope everybody in your
family does believe. Somebody thinks, well, if I believe it
means all my family should believe. Well, I hope they do, but it
doesn't mean that. It may be. There are families
where everybody in the family is a believer. And there are
families where maybe nobody is or one is, but I hope everybody
in your family believes and everybody in my family believes. And we
can say, Lord, you saved all their house, save them too. You're
gonna save my house too. That's good. You ought to be
praying that. But here's the point. He believed. He believed what the Lord said,
himself believed. Now, I had no doubt that this
man had heard of the healings that Christ had performed. And
he probably had some kind of opinion about it, but it wasn't everything to him
because he didn't have a need. But when his son is at the point
of death, he now has a need. He healed them that had need
of healing. The whole need, not a physician,
but they that are sick. Now he, with what information
he has, he's got another attitude about it. He has a great need. And here's where faith begins,
verse 47, when he heard. When he heard, faith cometh by
Hearing. What we're doing right now. Faith
cometh by hearing. And hearing by the word of God. When he heard, verse 47, that
Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him. Now this I know. If I have a
need, By His grace, I'm going to get to Him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Not to the preacher, not to the
church, not down an aisle, come to me. And him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise cast out. If you come to Christ, you'll
be received. Everybody who comes will be received.
Don't say, well, what if I'm not elect? What if you are? You'll
be received if you come. I'm sure of that. He came to
Christ and look what it says, he besought him. He didn't have
any sense of entitlement. He didn't think, now you're healed.
You need to heal my son. No, he begged him. He begged
him. The point is, he didn't have
a sense of entitlement. He didn't think the Lord owed
him this. He besought him that he would come and heal his son. For he was at the point of death. And then the Lord gives him this
rebuke Then said Jesus unto him, when he came with his great need,
very sincere, except you see signs and wonders, you will not
believe. Now, what is the point behind
that rebuke? Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. If I need to see signs and wonders,
it's because I don't believe. If you know who he is, you will
believe. And if you don't know who he
is, you need signs and wonders. Well, I could believe if, if
what? If Jesus Christ accomplished
salvation. No, I believe that. I already believe that. But I could believe if I saw
more victory in my life. I could believe if I saw more,
uh, grace in my life and more victory and more, uh, doing a
better job against sin. And I could believe if I experienced
more, uh, fill in the blank, I could believe then. And he
believing in Christ, that's believing in yourself. Faith is believing
him. It's not what you believe about
yourself. It's not thinking, well, I must make it some, I'm
doing something right. No, faith is believing him. Him. That's it. Except you see signs and wonders,
you will not believe. Now, if you ever see who he is,
guess what? You'll believe. If you knew the gift of God and
who I am, you'd ask, And he'd give, here's the point. Do you
know who he is? I'm not even asking you about
your experience. I'm asking you, do you know who
he is? That's the thief. He knew who
he is, who he was. He's the Lord. He can't fail when you come back
in your kingdom after you accomplish whatever it is you're doing here
and you come back as a mighty reigning king. Remember me, He
knew who He was. Now that's the point. Except
you see signs and wonders. If you need to see signs and
wonders, it's because you don't know who He is. If you know who
He is, you don't need proof. He's the Son of God. Verse 49. The nobleman said unto him, sir,
come down ere my child died. Now we see, even at this time,
he had too low a view of Christ, didn't he? Would anybody else
in this room fit that description? Wouldn't you understand and believe
that you have too low a view of Christ? You see, you can't
see him too highly. Amen? You can't see him too highly. You can see him too lowly, like
this man did. He thought he didn't understand that the Lord could
just will his salvation. He remote will it. He said, you need to come down.
If we don't hurry and get down there, my son will die. And then the Lord says in verse
15, this is a declaration of the gospel. Go thy way, thy son
liveth. The gospel is not a declaration
of what will be if I go your way. Your son lives. Salvation has been accomplished.
There's nothing you need to do. Your son lives. Go on. And with no evidence, but the
word of Christ, the man believed with the word that Jesus had
spoken into him. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him and went his way." Faith is believing
what God has said. Abraham believed God. God said, see the stars. So shall thy seed be. Abraham
didn't have any kids. He had no evidence that it would
be that way. All he had was what God said. That's faith. Believing what he said. Somebody says, do you got to
believe it all? Yep. What's a man got to believe to be saved? Everything
God says. Everything God says. Abraham believed God, this man
believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went
his way. Verse 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. So the father knew that it was at the same hour
in which Jesus had said unto him, thy son liveth. Now the father knew that it took
place when Christ said, your son lives. He knew the time. Now listen
to me. I know when I was saved. Are you talking about a date
like April 30th, 2024? No, I'm not talking about that.
I'm not talking about a date. I'm not talking about a, uh,
415 a time. I remember hearing a
preacher say this once. He said, if you don't know exactly
when you were saved, I don't believe you're saved. Because
can you break your leg and not know it? Well, that's probably
happened before. But the point here is, I don't
remember when I was born. Do you? Can you remember that first hour
you cried? You can't remember that. That
doesn't mean you weren't born though, does it? You were born. Now I can tell
you when I was saved. Listen real carefully. And you won't
really, this is what faith is. You know when you were saved.
I was saved before the foundation of the world. Is that scriptural? He saved
us, 2 Timothy 1.9, He saved us and He called us, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. I was saved before time began. I was saved when he said, it
is finished. But you weren't born yet. I know,
still saved him. I was saved when he said, it
is finished. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. I was saved when he accomplished
my salvation. I was saved when I believed the
gospel and not a second before then. When did you believe the
gospel? Well, whenever I believed it
was there. Romans chapter 10. Brethren, verse one. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now there are two things that
are evident from reading that verse of scripture. The people
he's praying for were not saved. Is that clear? And he wanted
them to be saved. He says, I bear them record these
people that are not saved, but I want them to be saved. I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God. They're religious, but
not according to knowledge. You know, there's some knowledge
in salvation. Always. It's coming to the knowledge
of the truth. You know, people worry, well,
I'm afraid I just got a head knowledge and not heart faith.
Just quit thinking that way for a moment. Just stop it. There is saving knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness. have not submitted themselves
under the righteousness of God, for Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." When you believe, you believe
that the only righteousness you have is Jesus Christ. He He is the end. He is the goal. He is the consummation
of the law for righteousness. Now that is when you believe,
when you believe on Christ as your personal righteousness before
God. Is it that simple? Yes. It's believing what He said. Well, when did you do that? Right
now. You know, faith, I am thankful
that I don't have a date that I know when I believe. You know
why I'm thankful for that? If I did, whenever I, struggle
with assurance, I'd go back to that experience. I remember when
I believed I must be saved because that's no good. That's trying
to live off yesterday's manna. Faith is always in the present.
Understand that. Are you looking to Christ right
now? Believing what he said. What is faith? He believed the
word that Jesus had spoken. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we are so thankful for
the simplicity of your gospel. We're so thankful for the gift
of faith to simply believe your word. Lord, thou has magnified thy
word above all thy name. Deliver us from confounding and overanalyzing. Enable us simply to believe the
word that you have spoken. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.