Dougal, Neil: Signs And Miracles Of Jesus-02 ~ John 4

We shall read this evening in chapter... John four. I'm reading from verse, chapter forty three. Now after two days he departed thence and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has 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 in Jerusalem at the sea. For they also went unto the sea. 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. 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, but he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman said unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. 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. 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 the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth, and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. Now, a supportive verse, please, in the book of the Psalms. Psalm one o three. And verse Three, or verse two, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases. Again, the Lord will bless these lovely sections of his precious word. We will continue to, eh, look at the study of the signs in John's gospel. On the Bible out on Lord's Day, we saw that there was a selection of signs. In the last two verses of John twenty, the writer John says, and many other signs did Jesus in the presence of his disciples. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and believing you might have life through his name. So there was a specific selection, and there are only eight miracles or signs recorded in the gospel by John. We use the basic scripture in Acts two twenty two. Peter says, ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you by, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the presence of you all. Again, the Holy Spirit doesn't use words just for the sake of variety. And so the miracle is the supernatural power of Christ in display. The wonder is that superlative awe, the effect that the miracle had on those that saw the miracle, and the sign is the spiritual significance. And the revised version changes the word miracle to the word sign. So there was a selection, eight in number, and they, we also observed this evening that they are running in sequence, because this is the second miracle which Jesus did. So they're running in chronological order. We want to draw alongside each sign one of the Lord's divine titles. So that's the purpose of John's gospel, is to bring the godhood, the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ before us. Again, these things are written that you might believe, accumulate the facts, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and believing, the double verb, ye might have life through his name. So the purpose is to reveal to us the deity, the godhood of the Lord Jesus. Now we looked at the first sign on Lord's Day, which is the turning of the water into wine. And the key word that we could use in relation to that sign is the word obedience. Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. Obedience. And after all, we can see that disobedience is eating like a cancer throughout the ranks of humanity. We have the, the origin of it in Adam. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, for death has passed upon all men, for all have sinned. And through the disobedience of one man, we became sinners. But through the obedience of the Lord Jesus, many are constituted righteous. The cancer of disobedience had its origin in Adam and came upon his posterity. The calamity of disobedience. Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. But thank God for the call to obedience. Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. And we saw that so displayed in the life of Saul of Tarsus. Three times he says in chapter nine that God the Lord spake unto him. Whatsoever he says unto you, do it. And we read those words, and he said unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Recognition. And he said, arise. Regeneration, that was his conversion. And he said unto me, go. Resignation. So the key word was obedience. Now, in this chapter this evening, I suggest to you that the key word in this chapter would be the word faith. The word faith. In Hebrews chapter twelve we read, without faith it is impossible to please him. But he that cometh to God must believe that he is and the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. That was the experience of this nobleman from Capernaum. He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Now we use the first title in connection with the turning of the water into wine, Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there. The last chapter of the book of Ezekiel, in the margin, you'll find Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there. And how gratifying to that young couple that invited the Lord to that marriage that day. The divine title that we will use this evening is Jehovah Rothika. I am the God that healeth thee. Now we have, first of all, to subdivide this section, we have the prophet defines, and then the prophet demonstrates. Now, after two days, again, it's amazing that John presents the deity of Christ, the eternal God, and he seems to be being controlled by a clock of time. The day, and the next day, and the third day, and after two days he departed thence and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Now you remember Moses had predicted that God would raise up from among them, like unto him, a prophet, and they would hearken unto him. And that great prophet is the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet he himself said that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So this is a tragic indictment, but this is what the Lord says about himself, and so, eh, the Lord's servants can take courage. The prophet is not without honor, save in his own country. And then the prophet defines. First of all, just for a few thoughts about the Prince of Faith, or the Prophet of Faith. And then we will look at the place of faith, and then thirdly, the path of faith, and fourthly, the price of faith, fifthly, the peace of faith, and finally, the progress of faith. And I promise to be finishing on time. The Prince of Faith. The writer to the Hebrews says, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking forth unto Jesus. That is the prophet of faith, the author and finisher of faith. This man was a leader in Israel. He did not come to the poli- the political, eh, system. He didn't seek out help from politicians. He was also a member of the Sanhedrin. He didn't seek help from the priestly family. But he knew if one man on the planet Earth could heal his son, it was the Lord Jesus Christ. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. And you and I must employ faith in every aspect or avenue of our lives. If it's the work of creation, then we must come to God and accept what he has recorded regarding the work of creation. I remember years ago preaching with the great T. N. S. Wilson, minister to Angola, still marvelously used of God, eighty six years of age, and preaching like an archangel. And in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, one day at a conference, he said, when I read in Genesis one, in the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth, I just bow my head and say, thanks, Lord. We accept it on the principle of faith. Many years ago in South Africa, Dr. Darwin, who was the nephew of Charles Darwin of evolution fame, closed his presidential address to the Royal Society, and this is what he said. As yet, the riddle of the universe remains unsolved. Why then do men of renown not turn to the only book which solves the problem in these words? By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, and the things which are seen are not made of things which do appear. This solution has held the field for ages, and it holds it today, and when Darwin, that was his uncle, and his discredited theory are remembered no more, it will still be maintained. God speak worlds where. We accept it by faith. If it's the work of the incarnation, then we must accept that on the principle of faith. I was traveling one day back from New York City, back to Massachusetts, and I sat down beside a lady in a bus, and she was a school teacher. She said, of course I am not practicing my religion. She says, because I do not believe it is possible. It's a biological impossibility, a virgin birth. A biological impossibility. I said, you're absolutely right. But this was something that only God could do. It took a miracle to bring a woman out of a man to begin the old creation, Eve out of Adam. It took a miracle to bring a man out of a woman to begin the new creation, and it takes a miracle to bring you and I out of the womb of death and bring us into the marvelous light and liberty of the gospel. It's a miracle. This was something only God can do. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, the power of the high shall overshadow thee, and that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And it, and it, not only do we employ faith regarding creation and the incarnation, but surely faith is the essential ingredient in our salvation. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. And faith makes future things a present reality, unseen things actual. We thank God for faith. And that only comes about because of the function and action of the sovereign spirit. So much for the Prince of Faith, or the Prophet of Faith. Now notice the place of faith. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine, and there was a certain nobleman there whose son was sick at Capernaum. The place of faith was the same location as the first sign or the first miracle. It was a wedding. And we associate with a wedding, it was a place of felicity. Joy permeated the gathering after the Lord turned the water into wine. The place of felicity. And it's a place, the wedding is a place of purity. It should be the undefiled for the undefiled. And it is a place of unity, where two become one. For such cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh. That was the place of faith, Cana of Galilee. But oh, beloved friends, surely the place of faith today is not Cana of Galilee, but Calvary. That's the place of faith, and that certainly is the place of felicity. While he was the man of sorrows, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross and despised the shame. It's the place of felicity, the place of joy for you and for me. The place of faith is Calvary. Not only the place of felicity, but it is the place of purity. He the just died for us, the unjust, that he might bring us to God. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemns sin in the flesh. And because of that death, we are made the righteousness of God in him. And so the record is clean, and we stand accepted in the beloved. Nearer to God, nearer we cannot be. In the person of his son, we are as near as he. Place of felicity, the place of the song of gladness. Yet we have new song in our mouth, even praise to our God. The place of purity. Thank God it's also the place of unity. We are members of the body, and he is the risen head. The place called Calvary. Calvary, O Calvary, mercies vast and far from sea. Love eternal, love to me, Savior, we adore thee. When people go to London, England, they get overwhelmed with Buckingham Palace, and justly so, Westminster Abbey, and so on. But to me, the most sacred place in London, England, is a place called the Bunhill Field. Very few people get to the Bunhill Field, but it was a small cemetery, a part of a cemetery that was left for the so-called dissenter. And after the plague of sixteen sixty six, I think the right date, uh, the Great Fire and then the Great Plague. People were buried, but in this particular corner, they left it for the dissenters called the Bunhill Fields. I went through that place with a colleague, and we were choking with emotion. First grave we came across was Susanna Wesley. And then we passed along a little further, and there was the tomb of John Bunyan. And we went further along, and there were others of the great so-called dissenters, but oh, how they are enriched in God's place of renown. There was William Cowper, who wrote, God works in a mysterious way his wonders to perform. And we were just choking with emotion, and there we stood finally at the tomb of Isaac Watts. And I said to my colleague, you remember Abraham bought that piece of territory called Machpelah to bury his wife Sarah. He paid the money because Machpelah means a turning back. Soon there will be a great turning back from that little cemetery. And you remember Isaac Watts wrote those many, many tremendous hymns. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my riches gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. Where the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small, love so amazing, so divine, demands my heart, my life, my all. The most significant place in the universe is not Washington, or London, or Moscow, or Nassau. The most significant place in the universe is the place called Calvary, the place of faith. And we go there, some of us have visited those places many times, but we all go there through the avenue of faith, to the cross of the Lord Jesus. Oh, how thrilling and worthy it was for us to sing, O cross of Christ, O glorious tree, what place can be compared with thee, where God's own son a ransom died and for our sin was crucified. The place of faith. Not only the prophet of faith and the place of faith, but verse forty seven, we have the path of faith. He that cometh to God must believe that he is. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him. Again, he didn't seek a ruler among the politicians. He didn't seek any member of the Sanhedrin because they could not help. But all these are thrilling words, unto him. Jacob, you remember, in Genesis forty nine says of Judah, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. And as we assemble tonight and on other occasions, I trust it is unto him. With Jesus in the midst, we gather round the board. Though many, we are one in Christ, one body in the Lord unto him. The prophet Zechariah in chapter ten, his mind was saturated with him. He said, out of him the cornerstone, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, and out of him the absolute ruler, him. The poet says, in Christ there's love abounding, in him redeeming grace, in him a full salvation, in him an end of strife, unto him the path of faith. In verse forty eight we have the price of faith. Then said Jesus unto him, except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. It cost him something to make that journey from Capernaum to Cana, and now the law would seek to test him as to the reality of his faith in what he could do. The price of faith. He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. This man from Capernaum, this nobleman, he sought him out. The price of faith. I have little time for this wishy-washy approach to salvation. Just have a little talk with Jesus and everything will be all right, all right, all right. To become a Christian, undoubtedly, it is a costly experience. And as one has said, the Christian life is not an easy life, it's an impossible life. Apart from the Holy Spirit guiding and controlling us day by day. It costs something to be a real Christian. During World War II, it was my privilege to be based in Haifa, in the land of Israel, and we used to go up the Mediterranean, but that was our home base. Up on Mount Carmel lived a gentleman, he was a Russian Jew. In fact, there were two men. One was a man called Inglehart. He was a German Jew. And the, one of the other elders was a Russian Jew, and his name was Martin Kofsky. We became very close friends, and Martin Kofsky was once the Minister of Education for the Soviet Union in nineteen thirty four. And he, of course, was with the Politburo in Moscow at a great convention. The opening speaker was Joseph Stalin, and he con- he a- absolutely ridiculed Christianity and the Bible, and he despised the Christ of God. Martin Kofsky was a Christian, and being Minister of Education, he was also, eh, responsible for delivering an address that day. And when he got behind the podium, he defended Christ, he defended the Bible, and he defended the saints of God. That night, he was arrested by the secret police, the OGPU, now the KGB, put in prison. And also in the same cell were four political prisoners about to be executed the next morning. And so Martin Kofsky, being the Christian that he was, he began to talk to these men about the Lord Jesus. How they could be assured of heaven if they'd only confess their sin and accept him as a personal savior. These were married men with children, and obviously they were very distressed, but here was good news. And that night, these four men accepted Christ as their personal savior. And so he decided he would teach them a little chorus throughout the night, awaiting the execution in the morning. So what do you think he taught them? Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Six o'clock in the morning, the KGB came, took these four men out. They shook hands with Martinkowski. Tears began to flow. Out to the firing squad, and there they sang as they were going out, Jesus loves me, this I know. Lined against the wall. They refused to be blindfolded. And Martin Kofsky said they were at the verse, and if I love him in the crack of the bullets, and if I love him when I die, he will take me home on high. Fortunately for Martin Kofsky, they sent him into exile, and he came to the British Isles in nineteen thirty seven, the year I got saved. And what an honor to meet him again in nineteen forty three in the land of Israel. He could speak twelve languages fluently. The price of faith. And time is gone, but very quickly. Oh, thank you. What luxury. Thank you. The price of faith. It costs something to be a real Christian. Now the piece of faith. He appealed to the Lord, 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. The peace of faith. My beloved colleague Boyd Nicholson, Senior, and I were working in Washington last May, this last year. A young lady who was from the land of Brazil, now a nurse in the US, attended those meetings. And one night she capitulated. She said, I have to talk to you gentlemen tonight. So we open up the word of God. Her name is Sheila. Good name, Sheila. Very simply that night, she accepted the Lord as her personal savior. And then as she was leaving the little room after we'd prayed, she said, I tried to commit suicide three times. I called her back in again. I said, that substantiates the word of God. Concerning the angels, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation? And every night after, as she would go out the door, all she could say was, oh, the peace, oh, the peace, oh, the peace, the peace of faith. Since I saw you last, a couple of years ago, I passed through the greatest crisis in my life. You know, there was one miracle that, eh, was not instantaneous, and that was the healing of the blind man. It was in two phases. You remember the Lord touched him, and then he saw men as trees walking, so the Lord had to touch him again. And I believe that was the experience the Lord gave me. I took that massive heart attack in nineteen seventy eight in Manawwar. Took me fifteen hours to get to the hospital, into the, into the golf cart, and then down the ladder with a massive heart attack into the boat, and Captain Lambert and Harcourt brought me over to Marsh Harbour, pushed me up the ladder into a pickup truck, and then finally into a plane. Fifteen hours to get to the hospital at the Good Samaritan in West Palm Beach, and the Lord gave me a tremendous recovery. But then he had to touch me again. Two years ago, I had three attacks, heart attacks, one after the other. Landed in the hospital, and I was a source of, well, curiosity as well as despair to the cardiologists. They thought physically I was in tremendous shape. I'd been jogging, but then there was this thing that was causing them a problem. So finally, after three weeks, they sent me to another hospital for catheterization. And that evening, and of course the catheterization cost four thousand dollars, enough to give a Scotsman another heart attack right there. Four thousand dollars for one night. So the cardiologist came up and my dear wife said, well, doctor, what's the result? Well, he said, I'm afraid his case is hopeless. And I'm lying there. So finally, they took some scans, and they discovered that there was a large aneurysm over my heart, and they decided that the next step would be to go to Boston, to the Mass General Hospital in Boston. And it's just like Jehovah Ropheka to have the finest person available for his servant. His name is Dr. Dagis, and I have a close friend who is a doctor working with the National, eh, insurance, eh, health department in Washington. And he maintains, they maintain that Dr. Daggett is the finest heart specialist surgeon in the whole of the United States. So the Lord took me to the best available. He said, I hear you're a minister. I said, yes, I'm a minister of God's word. He said, what thing? Well, that opened up quite a conversation. And my wife and I were out one and a half hours with Doctor Daggett, and he only charged me fifty dollars, and that suited a Scotsman. Fifty dollars. He said, I see you took your first attack in the Bahamas. Where about? I said, Manawwar Key. He dropped the envelope, my records. He said, I can't believe this. He said, I've been there, and I know these wonderful people. And whatever the exposure he was down there in the abacos, I became the beneficiary. He suggested surgery. Well, this was an enigma because the man up in, in, in Worcester said I was beyond surgery, but the doctor Dagit says that I could have surgery. Well, he did John Wayne, a film star, so what? And then he did Sir Anthony Eden from England, and he did Henry Kissinger, and finally he did the son of a king. So the date was set for surgery. And you know, when you're in the valley of the shadow, there is anxious moments. Along came a gentleman, a brother in Christ. He was very abrasive. He didn't read the scripture and he didn't pray, and I was discouraged. One of Job's comforters. But God has a way, Jehovah Ropheka, of picking you up. That day there came in three letters of the many. One from a little girl, twelve years of age, Jenny Shevery, from Flint, Michigan, Dearborn, Michigan. Uncle Neil, I'm praying for you. She had open heart surgery the year before, and the doctor was explaining to her afterwards what he had done, and she finally says, can I ask you a question, doctor? Yes. She said, when you opened up my heart, did you see Jesus there, little girl? The second letter came from a Mongoloid child, and the third letter from a retarded boy down in Pennsylvania, Tommy Davidson, and it looked like Egyptian hieroglyphics. I'm praying for you. The peace of faith. And then the day before surgery, a Roman Catholic priest came in to see me. And he said, tomorrow you're facing surgery, and if you come out of it, and you see all these tubes, he says, just think that's the Holy Ghost blowing down on the top of you. I said, sir, I'm not depending on tombs. I'm depending on the man that was approached by the centurion. I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. Ah, yes, he said. So exit the RC priest. Five minutes later came in the royal priest, J. Boyd Nicholson, Senior. That's what I needed. We've worked together for twenty five years. And he stayed with us for five critical days. But he prayed with such power and with such authority. The peace of faith. And then another comforter, just my wife who had kissed him goodbye, my colleague and his wife, and I just got into the room, and the phone rang. It was a gentleman, and he says, Brother Neil, if you don't make it, we'll meet up there. Well, that's great theology, and it's absolutely true. But when you're leaving your wife and your kids and your grandchildren and the work that you love, it's a different story. I've been there. God builds, builds in instinctively that for survival. And so I said, Lord, give me a verse. I open up my Bible, Psalm um one eighteen. I've read it hundreds, thousands upon thousands of times, but it never appealed to me as it did that night. Verses sixteen and seventeen, thou shalt not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord that was chasing me so, but this is not unto death. I say thanks, Lord. The peace of faith. Now the Lord has done his part. Now it's up to me to do my part and declare the works of the Lord. And there are many here today, Brother Bill just gone through eye surgery. There's many here today have had that experience. Our Lord is still Jehovah Rapha. He's still the healing God. We don't believe in faith healers. You ever seen these men that talk about faith healing and they're wearing glasses? They're building hospitals instead of clearing the wars, if they had the ability. But thank God we believe in faith healing. God is able. Finally, as the time has gone, not only the peace of faith, but notice the progress of faith. He inquired at what hour? Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him. This man was so confident that the Lord would heal his son, he had a little vacation on the way home. He took an extra day to go home. The next day, seventh hour. And so the father knew that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth, and himself believed, and his whole house. So you see, it was a double miracle, a physical healing as well as a spiritual healing. Jehovah Rapha. I am the God that healeth thee. Shall we pray? Gracious Father, we thank thee for these signs in the gospel by John, and we thank thee for this amazing display of the power of the Lord Jesus over that one who was sick away down there in Capernaum while he was at Cana of Galilee. We thank thee, Father, geography doesn't mean anything to our beloved Lord. We thank thee he is everywhere in his omnipresence. We thank thee for his omniscience, as we heard tonight, and we thank thee for his omnipotence. Remember again those of our friends who are sick. We pray, Lord, thou shall apply thy healing hand to them. Now do part us with thy blessing, we pray, as we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. And time is fully gone, so we won't sing anymore.