Journeying with John - It’s a Blast (Jwj-18)
Fetching Your Miracle
John 4:43-54
This morning I want to invite you to open your Bibles with me to one of the most profound expressions of faith in all of Scripture. I think you’ll agree with me on that by the time we are done.
It has been two days since Jesus deeply touched the life a broken woman at a dusty well in Samaria, two days since He turned a village upside down with the declaration of truth. Jesus is about to step out of Samaria and into John, the fourth chapter and the 43rd verse - John 4:43.
While you are turning there - let me grab your attention with what God has laid on my heart for us this morning. I believe that God has the miracle you are waiting for. Church - let me say that again - I believe God has the miracle you are waiting for. Come on now. The hold up with your miracle is not on God’s side. How many of you know that God can do the miracle you are waiting for right now?
God is not trying to summons enough faith to do your miracle!
God does not need to wait until He can pull enough coin together to release finances into your life.
God is not waiting for the waters to stir so He can jump in the pool to get you your healing.
You see my friend, the hold up is not on God’s side. He does not lack the power, the resources or the will to do your miracle. Let me say that again - . He does not lack the power, the resources or the will to do your miracle. Now that does not mean that the issue is your faith - I want you to understand that. The hold up is not on God’s side - but that does not mean it is necessarily on your side. It could be the fact that the level of faith in the community is low, or the teaching you have been exposed to is wrong, or the things others have prayed over you are interfering, or there are other things in your life that God is dealing with first. It may be you - but it is not necessarily you - I want you to understand that.
I have seen godly people wait for miracles that have not come despite the fact that they believe as well as anybody I know.
The hold up is not God - and the hold up may not be you. So what I want to talk with you about this morning from the Word of God is ‘Fetching for Your Miracle.’ Amen! How many of you this morning could do with a miracle?
I believe one of the most destructive lies that the devil has sold many in the church is not that God does not or cannot do miracles, but that your miracle is still a long way off. ‘Yes, God may be powerful, and yes, God may heal you - but your miracle is still a long way off.’ How many of you know that’s a lie?
When God made you He wired you for the supernatural, and when God put faith in you, He equipped you for miracles. There is something in you that naturally reaches for the supernatural. Every time you pray a payer, hear a testimony, read of a miracle - your faith rises up and reaches out. Come on now - how many of your know what I am talking about? Every time you find yourself in a desperate situation, or a crushing need, or a deep concern - your faith reaches for the miraculous - for divine intervention - and that is all a miracle is - divine intervention to meet a need.
Now watch this - I believe God has done everything you need Him to do for your miracle, and that your miracle is now not a matter of chance, or somebody sprinkling some miracle pixie-dust on you, or you being the lucky one to hit the miracle jackpot - but of you taking the biblical steps to go and fetch your miracle.
For too long I believe many have been hamster-caged in some wrong theology that never sees the supernatural, never bursts through the limitations of human ability and simply runs the treadmill of human endeavor. Ever got stuck on the sweating it out for Jesus treadmill?
Gideon was. Do you remember what he said in Judges 6:13, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles which our fathers told us of?” That was Gideon before the power of God set upon him - and that is many a Christian in the church today.
In the account we are about to read this royal official had a desperate need, he is in another town a number of hours journey from Jesus, but he went and fetched the miracle he needed - and Jesus uses that to teach and illustrate what honors Him.
Now I know that this morning when we speak of miracles - there is not a single one sitting here who does not have to deal with doubt. But that is alright - faith is not the absence of doubt but the choice to believe despite doubt. But what I want you to do this morning is choose to not empower your doubt but your faith.
The Bible has much to say about the miracle power of God. The Bible is very clear on this:-
Matthew 19:26 “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Luke 1:37 “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
Mark 9:23 “All things are possible to him that believeth.”
This morning . . .
• I dare you to believe what the Bible says about the power of God is true!
• I dare you to believe God wants to do a miracle for you this morning!
• I dare you to step out of the comfort zone of the natural into the miraculous zone of the supernatural
• I dare you to stop dumbing your theology down to the place where what you believe is the very thing that stops the miracle you need from happening, where your past limiting belief is the thief that steals the miracle you are waiting on God for.
Say this with me - say . . .
‘I choose to believe my faith . . . and not my doubt.’
‘I believe my God . . . is a miracle working God.’
‘My God loves me . . . and is working my miracle right now my behalf.’
‘It honors Him . . . when I believe Him for the miracles I need.’
John 4:43-54 - Read - Pray
There are three things that I believe stop people from walking in the miraculous:-
Unbiblical Theology - Produces Confusion and Doubt
Gal. 3:5 “So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
Gal. 3:5 “Then does He Who supplies you with His marvelous [Holy] Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on [the grounds of your doing] what the Law demands, or because of your believing in and adhering to and trusting in and relying on the message that you heard?”
Ungodly Relationships - Produce Compromise and Corruption
The people you spend most of your time with will impact the level of your faith.
If you spend your time with people who are always looking for reasons why the do not have to be . .
• Christlike in character,
• faithful in ministry
• godly in conversation,
• encouraging in speech - . . .
guess what? That’s right - you will be tempted to become just like them.
Unbalanced Motivation - Produces Pride and Selfishness
The majority of people in our world today choose to live by their own limited resources and go their own way rather than depend upon God and go His way.
OK - now that is not us - that is others. So what do I need to do to fetch my miracle?
1. Believe God Wants to Reward, Not Punish
Heb. 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
1 Thessalonians 1:5 “our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power.”
1 Corinthians 4:20 “The kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.”
1 Corinthians 2:4 “and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”
Acts 1:8 “And you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the utter most parts of the earth.”
I would suggest to you that thousands of pulpits around this country and around the world and filled with PH.D.’s and Th.D.’s but not power.
Did you not our passage started with the words expressed by Jesus that a prophet is without honor in his hometown. Immediately after that we go to the account of the nobleman who honored Jesus by believing He could and would do a miracle for him.
And he believed it enough to go and fetch it 20 - 25 miles away.
If you want to fetch your miracle . . .
Believe God Wants to Reward, Not Punish
2. Position Yourself For Victory, Not Failure
I love this about this nobleman - he not only went to where Jesus was, but the Bible says that he ‘implored him’ to heal his son. Another translation says that he ‘kept beseeching Him.’
Here is what I have discovered - if you want to see the miraculous, position yourself with those who are seeing it, who are believing for it, who are testifying about it.
You have got to position yourself for victory. Sometimes I counsel people and their greatest problem is the people they hang with. This man decided to act on his faith - and go to be where Jesus was. How many of you know that it took faith to leave his son and go to Christ - it took faith to leave Christ and return to his son?
Here is the principle - more important than the boy’s health was the father’s faith. Now watch this - more important than your circumstances is your faith.
Let me say that again - I want us all to get it - more important than your circumstances is your faith.
There was a woman with an issue of blood - she tried every doctor she knew, every alternative she could think of - but she was locked into her circumstances. One day she reached out and touched the hem of Jesus garment - and she discovered this - more important than your circumstances is your faith.
If you want to fetch your miracle . . .
Believe God Wants to Reward, Not Punish
Position Yourself For Victory, Not Failure
3. Speak Your Faith, Not Your Doubt
I know you have doubts - we all do - that is natural. But the way you silence your doubts is by refusing to give them brain time - and speaking your faith.
When you cry out in faith you will stop Jesus in His tracks and He will give His attention to you - because the cry of faith always gets Jesus’ attention.
The Bible says there was a blind man named Bartimaeus - and the people told him (Luke 16:37) that Jesus was passing by. And he began to cry out - and the cry of faith stopped Jesus because the cry of faith will always stop Jesus.
If he had not cried out in faith Jesus would have passed right on by and he would have lost his miracle - but instead he went and fetched his miracle.
The disciples were alone on the boat and Jesus was about to pass them by. Jesus came to a village and because of their lack of faith He passed them by.
Here is what will stop Jesus - the cry of faith. If there is no faith He keeps right on passing by.
That is why - did you notice that Jesus never responds, ‘Let me see what I can do for you.’ It is always, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
Why - because He will meet you at your point of need according to your cry of faith. It is the cry of faith that gets Jesus attention - and once you have His attention He always says, “What is it that you want Me to do for you.” Well just go ahead and ask - ask believing.
When Chester has my attention - he can ask mt pretty much anything and he has it - but if he does not ask he will not get anything.
When you cry out in faith, not doubt, you have Jesus attention - and then just go ahead and ask! The nobleman said, “Lord, come down and heal my son.”
It is important that you speak your faith and not your doubt.
The word ‘confess’ (Greek homologeo) has the connotation of ‘a binding public declaration by which a legal relation is contractually established.’ (Kittel).
‘Yadah,’ the Hebrew word for ‘confess,’ contains and supports this idea. Derived from ‘yad,’ meaning ‘an open or extended hand,’ the focus is on reaching to take hold of.
The cry of faith reaches out and gets Jesus attention - if Bartimaeus had not cried out he would have in all likelihood died a blind man.
I wonder how many miracles I passed up because I did not cry out?
Believe God Wants to Reward, Not Punish
Position Yourself For Victory, Not Failure
Speak Your Faith, Not Your Doubt
4. Respond With Conviction, Not Confusion
This is great - after traveling 25 miles to get to Jesus, and imploring Him, beseeching Him again and again, crying out in faith and then telling Jesus what he wants, Jesus says four words, “Go, your son lives” and for the man, it is now settled. As a matter of fact, the text leads us to believe that he accepted what Jesus said, and then spend the night relaxing instead of rushing off home. Satisfied that he had received his miracle, his speech and his behavior now walked out his conviction that Jesus had healed his son.
And what is profound about this is that this was Jesus first healing from a distance - yet there was not a shadow of doubt or suggestion of a question.
Mark 9:23 “All things are possible to him who believes.”
This man believed and it was a settled matter!
Some people think that God responds to good feelings, that it is satisfaction that pleases God. It is not - it is the expression of your faith.
Do you want to fetch your miracle this morning?
Believe God Wants to Reward, Not Punish
Position Yourself For Victory, Not Failure
Speak Your Faith, Not Your Doubt
Respond With Conviction, Not Confusion
Amen
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