April 3, 2016
Scripture:
Ministry:
Hymn 10 - Faith is a very simple thing
Prayer
Today we are going back to John 4 to read a story about a nobleman.
John 4:43 - 50
Deuteronomy 7:9
This happened after the story of the woman at the well. The Lord had spent two days a Samaria. After those two day He went on to Galilee.
Several of the people in Galilee had been at the feast and had seen Jesus speak to the people. Jesus had now come to Cana of Galilee. This is where He did His first miracle (turning the water into wine).
It is while Jesus was here that a nobleman, who lived in Capernaum, came to Him to ask Him to come and heal his son, who was at the point of dying. How far had he come to ask Jesus to do this? Well, from Capernaum to Cana was about 30 miles (50 km). That’s a really long distance to walk, but he could have ridden a horse since he was a nobleman. My father-in-law said that a good horse could go about 20 miles a day. So, he had come a distance of more then a good day’s work for a horse.
So, this nobleman had come to Cana and looked up Jesus because he had heard He was there. His son was really sick, and was going to die, but he doesn’t go to a doctor. He goes to Someone better. He went to Jesus.
It says he besought Jesus to come down. Besought means to beg. He didn’t offer Him money; he just said, “My son is sick to the point of death.” He was a desperate man.
I don’t think Jesus’ reply was quite what he expected. It would have been a wonder if Jesus had gone down and healed the boy; it would have been marvellous. But this nobleman continues to beg Him, “Come down, come down. Come before my child passes away. Don’t delay.”
In the story of Lazarus, he had already died before Jesus showed up. Martha said to Jesus, “If You had only been a little earlier.” They both thought there was no hope once their loved ones were dead. But they were wrong. Jesus did raise Lazarus from the dead.
This man is begging Jesus, “Come, come heal my son,” and Jesus is saying, “Go, go he’s alive.”
I don’t think it would have surprised the man if Jesus had pulled out His notebook and said, “What’s his name? What is his address? I’ll have to look him up some time.” But no, although the boy was 50 kilometres away, Jesus healed him. The man believed Jesus.
We’ve learned a couple things about Jesus here. Jesus is all powerful. He didn’t have to be by the boy’s bed to heal him. He is also all knowing; meaning He knows everything. But what about the man? The man had faith. He went to Someone who was all knowing and all powerful to find healing for his son. Our brother Steve LaBelle has an acrostic of faith that goes like this:
That is what faith is. But this man had faith in One who was faithful. In Deuteronomy we read this name of God: El HaNe’eman; it means “the faithful God.” God is faithful and worthy of our trust.
Philippians 2:25-30, 3:1-3
The four men presented in this chapter made self sacrifices in their lives, and sought not their own things, but the Lord’s. The last one we looked at was Epaphroditus. He was a Philippian who delivered the assembly’s gift to Paul, got sick while he was with Paul, and nearly died.
Epapharoditus did the work of Christ. Paul called him a brother, a companion in labor, and a fellow soldier. In fighting the enemy, we can engage in defensive or offensive battle. Usually it’s better to be defensive than offensive, though offensive is sometimes necessary. Either way, we always need to put on our armour and fight. We are soldiers, and we need to protect the truth and walk in it. We need to take the land the enemy holds, just like Israel took the land of Canaan.
In the book of Numbers we get three categories of people: the priests (who offered sacrifices), the Levites (who did the service of the tabernacle) and the soldiers (who defended Israel by taking the land the enemy was trying to attack). The men we’ve been looking at were soldiers of the cross. Think of the commitment Epaphroditus must have had to make this journey! He undertook to bring the Philippians’ gift all the way to Paul, then waited for a thank-you letter before heading all the way back.
While with Paul, Epaphroditus got very sick, and was sorry that his fellow Philippians were worried about him. Paul was thankful that he didn’t die, because Epaphroditus meant a lot to him and the Philippians. The Lord had mercy on Epaphroditus and Paul, lest Paul would have sorrow upon sorrow (his imprisonment and Epaphroditus’ death). Paul was sending him back carefully – maybe he was still delicate—so that the Philippians could rejoice and Paul would have less sorrow. He wasn’t happy to see Epaphroditus go; just less sorrowful because he was returning safely. He told the Philippines to hold Epaphroditus in honour for what had done.
Moving on, chapter three brings us “Christ our object.” He is what we should aim to be like.
Paul told the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord. What do we find our joy in? Home, work, family, hobbies; all can distract us from rejoicing in Christ. We can rejoice in God’s blessings, but they should always point us back to Him. We shouldn’t worship the creature more than the Creator (Romans 1). We should rejoice in Jesus, for our Saviour is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. He’s wonderful!
We get the command to rejoice several times in this book. There are certain things you just can’t say too often. Why do some of us read the Bible every day? Because you can’t read it too much! Some of us even take verses and hang them on ours walls. We need the word of God!
Paul then goes on with some warning: beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. Gentiles were sometimes called dogs (in Psalm 22 it was dogs that compassed Jesus). Dogs were unclean creatures, and we need to beware of things that can bring us down and tarnish us spiritually. Then we have workers of evil. Epaphroditus did the work of the Lord, but these people do the work of the enemy. May the Lord preserve us! The enemy tries to sidetrack us, slow us down, and destroy our potential, so we must beware of his tricks. Paul then warned about Judaizers and what they could do. They wanted to make the Philippians trust in works for eternal life. Works don’t count toward salvation! Rather, it is grace that meets us in our need.
We and the Philippians are part of the real circumcision. We’re dead to the flesh, and seek to hold it in that position. We worship God in the spirit, and have no confidence in the flesh. That’s the true circumcision, and this sets the stage for the rest of the chapter.
Hymn 237, Little Flock — Rejoice ye saints, rejoice and praise
Prayer