1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,560 I want to talk to us again about the absolute power of Jesus. 2 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:24,840 The absolute power of Jesus. 3 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:39,640 Since all its failings, the unfailing perseverance of a person is most successfully evidenced in 4 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:49,320 their inability to distrust themselves to the lack of their own better judgment. 5 00:00:49,320 --> 00:01:02,280 The world in which we live is shaped and therefore limited by our context, our opinions, our 6 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:12,960 imaginations, and most dangerously, our world is shaped by our needs. 7 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:22,240 The last Roman emperor of the Pax Romana and stoic philosopher named Marcus Aurelius said, 8 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:29,040 everything we hear is an opinion and not a fact. 9 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:35,560 Everything we see is a perspective and not the truth. 10 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:44,680 The main idea of the message today is true belief in God occurs when the things the 11 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:55,200 person sought for themselves gets eclipsed by the God who alone can provide them. 12 00:01:55,200 --> 00:02:04,080 The appropriate response to Jesus is one that learns to find meaning and life not merely 13 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:10,640 in what he gives but in who he is. 14 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:20,440 Michael Card in his last volume of the biblical imagination series Commentaries on All Four 15 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:28,920 of the Gospels, Michael Card says, the miracle in this text is that the nobleman took Jesus 16 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:34,880 at his word without seeing any proof. 17 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:40,160 He believed before he saw. 18 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:47,800 The famous dictum of modernity is seeing is believing. 19 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:53,360 But this gets overturned in this pericarpate this morning when we learn from this father 20 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:59,360 in the text that believing is seeing. 21 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,960 The world says seeing is believing. 22 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:13,280 But when you trust Jesus word, believing is seeing. 23 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:20,680 Jesus was again in Cana of Galilee where he had given the first sign in John's Gospel 24 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,720 that he is the Lord over nature. 25 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:35,040 News of his presence reached Capernaum some 25 miles away whereupon he will give the second 26 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:45,760 sign of his ministry that not only is he the Lord of nature but he is Lord of life. 27 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,480 Walk with me around the text. 28 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:53,480 When we read John chapter four commencing at verse number 43 and starting particularly 29 00:03:53,480 --> 00:04:00,200 in verse number 46, we see this nobleman's plight. 30 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,720 He is on the horns of a dilemma. 31 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:09,000 Let's look a moment at his plight. 32 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:20,520 From Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee comes an unnamed official, an officer 33 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:29,800 in the court of Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee whose son was at the point of 34 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:40,880 death which caused him to hurry to Cana to secure help from Jesus. 35 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:52,480 Although he is a royal official with servants at his command, the situation is so dire that 36 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:54,920 he goes in person. 37 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,880 He does not send a servant. 38 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:03,320 He goes in person to ask Jesus for help. 39 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:13,240 Brothers and sisters, God's providence often uses our need to drive us to find even more 40 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,720 than we thought we needed in the first place. 41 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:27,040 The fact that the Father comes himself with the plight shows the humility of his faith. 42 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:35,480 Yet he thinks and clings to the thought that Jesus must come to his son's bedside to heal 43 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:43,960 him and that if Jesus does not hurry, death will win and may make any help from Jesus 44 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,320 impossible. 45 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:54,600 This reveals the imperfection and the limitation of the Father's faith. 46 00:05:54,600 --> 00:06:03,520 He heard about the first sign in Cana of Galilee and he suspended, he is now suspended between 47 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:13,480 fear and hope and he mixes what he heard with the shallowness of what he believed and made 48 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,480 known his plight to Jesus. 49 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:25,160 He said, Sir, would you come to my house that you would come down and heal my son for he 50 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,200 is at the point of death? 51 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:37,840 Jesus said, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. 52 00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:48,800 The reply of Jesus to the official's request appears at first reading to be rude and abrupt. 53 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:55,120 Unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. 54 00:06:55,120 --> 00:07:02,440 The words of Jesus in verse 48, brothers and sisters, should serve to remind us that Jesus' 55 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:12,320 greatest gifts to us today are not in the restoring of physical health, but in bestowing 56 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:20,840 upon us a strong faith in the one who heals even if he chooses not to. 57 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:26,400 Let me run that by you one more time. 58 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:37,520 Jesus' greatest gifts is not physical healing, but strong faith in the one who can heal even 59 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:41,160 if he chooses not to. 60 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:42,800 I want you to hear me. 61 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:52,640 When we require miracles before we believe, we are like swimmers who are brave as long 62 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:59,920 as the water is two feet deep. 63 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:00,920 Anybody can talk about it. 64 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:11,920 I can swim in two feet of water, but out there in the ocean, it takes a whole lot of faith. 65 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:19,120 When you need a miracle a day to keep the devil away, you are like a soldier who is 66 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:28,560 brave at parade rest, but you're nervous in Afghanistan. 67 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:33,400 You're not much of a soldier in a dress uniform standing at parade rest. 68 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:40,360 Your sign of being a real soldier is on the battlefield. 69 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:47,160 The point Jesus is making this morning, the point of Jesus' complaint is not the fact 70 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:53,840 that he is asked to come to Capernaum and perform the miracle where the man can see 71 00:08:53,840 --> 00:09:02,080 it done, but the fact that the kind of faith represented can only be made alive by more 72 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,520 miracles in the first place. 73 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:16,600 Jesus' intention is not to reject completely the man and the people he represents in Galilee. 74 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,480 Only the kind of belief that the man initially displays. 75 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:27,080 If you got to have something fresh and new to happen for you every day, you don't have 76 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,760 much faith. 77 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:36,200 If the show got to get bigger every Sunday, you come into church with an entertainment 78 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:44,600 philosophy and a nightclub mentality, you can go to Las Vegas to get that. 79 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:50,960 You can go to the casino to get that, but people who have real faith don't need God 80 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:56,880 to do anything else but wake you up in the morning. 81 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:02,400 Because if God doesn't do anything else for us, he's already done more than we will ever 82 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:10,840 deserve, and so our thankfulness ought to be tied into what God has already done. 83 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:24,320 My boy is at the point of death, and my plight is, I need you to come to his bedside and 84 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:27,160 lay your hands on him. 85 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:28,920 That's the father's plight. 86 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,000 That's the situation he's in. 87 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:36,440 But I need you to look with me now, secondly, at the father's plea. 88 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,000 Stay with me. 89 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:48,760 The man speaks now, not as a royal official, but as a father. 90 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:53,920 He does not call him in the next verse, my son. 91 00:10:53,920 --> 00:11:01,200 He says to Jesus, I need you to come see about my child. 92 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:07,920 Not my son, but my child. 93 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:11,520 That's a term of affection. 94 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:21,160 We can almost see the tone of his voice shift even on the page and with pleading reverence, 95 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:25,120 the man lays his plea upon Jesus' heart. 96 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,560 Not my son. 97 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:33,080 I need you to come see about my baby. 98 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:41,440 Not my son, I need you to come because my child is in trouble. 99 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:47,040 Only a parent can help me shout right here. 100 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:53,320 Because as long as they're making A's and B's, that's my son, that's my daughter. 101 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:58,160 But when they get in trouble, Lord, I need you to help my baby. 102 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,040 I need you to help my child. 103 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,720 I'm praying, but look like they won't turn around. 104 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,720 I'm begging, but look like they won't go to church. 105 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:14,120 God put your hand not on my child, not on my little son, but I need you to grab my baby 106 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:18,840 by his mind. 107 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:24,240 And any parent here who's ever had a child to go astray, any parent here who's ever had 108 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:30,160 a child who has been sick, anybody here who's ever had a child that's been in trouble, you 109 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:36,200 know how to get on your knees and say, Father, I'm giving back to you. 110 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:50,040 You gave him to me, and just like you gave him to me, I'm giving him back to you. 111 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,320 Put your hands on him. 112 00:12:54,320 --> 00:13:02,440 I can still hear my daddy right now on his knees at the True Light Baptist Church, calling 113 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:12,080 every one of our names and telling God where we lived, as if God didn't know our address. 114 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:17,320 My daddy would call every one of our names and say, God, if you see my child walking 115 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:19,640 in the way, I didn't raise him. 116 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:27,400 I wish I had somebody to help me, catch him by the reins of his mind and turn him around 117 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:29,720 before he's everlasting too late. 118 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,240 I'm in church this morning. 119 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:39,440 I'm a Christian today because somebody prayed for me. 120 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:46,520 And my mother, my mother, when she got too old to get on her knees, would sit on the 121 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:52,640 side of the bed and rub her knees and say, God, if I'm not around, let somebody's heart 122 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,160 be tender towards my children. 123 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:59,840 And every time somebody goes out of the way to be nice to me, I hear my mother say, if 124 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:04,720 I'm not around, let somebody's heart be tender towards my children. 125 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:10,120 You are in here not because you went to prayer review, not because you went to grambling 126 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,720 or Southern, not because you graduated from law school. 127 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:20,240 You are blessed this morning because some mama, some grandmama, some uncle, some aunt, 128 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:28,280 somebody prayed for you. 129 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,240 Thank you for praying, mother. 130 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:33,960 Thank you for praying, grandmother. 131 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:41,280 Thank you that somebody said, Lord, come see about my child. 132 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:53,200 This man's voice changes. 133 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:57,160 His tone changes. 134 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:03,760 Jesus said, unless you see signs and wonders, you won't believe. 135 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,080 He's not talking primarily to the man. 136 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,560 He's talking about everybody gathered around him. 137 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:16,840 But the man is not rebuffed by Jesus' rebuke. 138 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,320 He's not offended by Jesus' words. 139 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:25,960 He does not turn away and walk away in sad disappointment. 140 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:32,840 He did what that Canaanite woman did in Matthew at chapter number 15. 141 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,040 I need a Bible reader to help me talk it. 142 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,600 In Matthew chapter 15, Jesus was in a certain place healing. 143 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:46,880 And this Canaanite woman came and said, my daughter is possessed with the devil. 144 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,720 I wish I had one or two more Bible readers. 145 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:58,000 Jesus said, it's not meat for me to give the children's bread to the dogs. 146 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:03,240 That woman said, yes, Lord, you're right. 147 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:09,800 But even the dogs get the crumbs from their master's table. 148 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,160 I'm not asking you for the children's bread. 149 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:21,360 I'm asking you to give me some crumbs because crumbs from your hand. 150 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,840 Anybody here ever needed the Lord to come to your rescue? 151 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,040 You didn't need a whole lot. 152 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,440 You didn't need God to do a whole lot for you. 153 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:33,320 You just needed God to let you know that you were not in this thing by yourself. 154 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:38,680 Yes, Lord, I know it's my right to take the children's bread. 155 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:46,480 Just give me some crumbs. 156 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:53,000 Just let some drops. 157 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:58,960 You know what I mean? 158 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:06,320 I learned how to drink coffee hanging around my grandmother. 159 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,360 I would be with my grandmother so much she'd say, you're going to start smelling like an 160 00:17:09,360 --> 00:17:12,480 old woman. 161 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:16,680 You need to get out of here and go find some friends your own age. 162 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:18,040 But I loved her so much. 163 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:19,040 I love her in her grave. 164 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:24,640 She's been dead now 50 years and I still feel like she died yesterday. 165 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:25,840 I learned how to drink coffee. 166 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,360 I learned how to speak Creole hanging around my grandmother. 167 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,160 I just know a few cuss words in Creole. 168 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,680 I don't know no real Creole. 169 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,960 I learned those words from my grandmother. 170 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,440 And I would sit down with her and thread her needle. 171 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:40,440 She was a seamstress. 172 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:46,520 I learned how to drink coffee hanging around with Mama because she would fill her coffee 173 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:54,160 cup and put a saucer under it. 174 00:17:54,160 --> 00:18:01,840 And she would fill it up to the brim and the coffee would spill over in the saucer. 175 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:10,360 And she would drink from the cup and give me the saucer. 176 00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:13,560 That's all I need the Lord to do. 177 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:17,160 I don't need the cup. 178 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:22,160 Just give me the cup. 179 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:23,640 Touch me Lord Jesus. 180 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:25,880 Let some drop. 181 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:26,880 Just give me the cup. 182 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:36,440 Even if I don't have the cup I want the saucer. 183 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,200 You don't have to do much to make me shout. 184 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,800 I say you don't have to do much to make me happy. 185 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:48,400 I don't need no choir director talking about giving God a hand to praise. 186 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,680 And I don't need no preacher talking about let's give God a hand. 187 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:58,120 When I think about the sins I committed that God has forgiven. 188 00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:01,280 Have I got to witness here? 189 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:09,840 When I think about the doors that were closed in my face but God opened them for me. 190 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:16,960 I think about the goodness of Jesus and all he's done for me. 191 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:25,040 I don't need the choir to get me on juicetub. 192 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:31,640 I need somebody here who is just riding along in your car and you start thinking about when 193 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:33,960 you didn't have a car. 194 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:38,360 You just start shouting right there on the steering wheel. 195 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:43,760 I need you here somebody who's been just washing dishes and thinking about how God put food 196 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:48,520 on your table and how God made your enemy your foot student. 197 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,280 How God made a way out of nowhere. 198 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,760 They tried to fire you but God gave you a raise. 199 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:56,760 You're here this morning testifying. 200 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,760 Can't know about it. 201 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:18,600 You said my child is at the point of death. 202 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:30,440 All for a faith that will not shrink though pressed by every fall that will not tremble 203 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:36,600 on the brink of any earthly war. 204 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:45,120 That will not murmur or complain beneath the chastening rod but in the hours of grief and 205 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:50,320 pain will lean upon its God. 206 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:56,160 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 207 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:11,720 Lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall 208 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:13,920 direct your path. 209 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:22,960 The steps of a good man which I had a Bible reader are ordered but I've been young. 210 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:31,960 I need somebody over 60 to help me shout here but now I'm old yet have I not seen the righteous 211 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:37,880 forsaken nor his seed begging for bread. 212 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:47,040 The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear the Lord is the strength of my 213 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:53,880 life from whom shall I be a friend with the wicked. 214 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,440 Even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh. 215 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:08,440 They stumbled and they fell. 216 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:15,880 We sing it all the time but now I'd ought to have new meaning for you. 217 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,080 Pass me not. 218 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,280 O gentle Savior. 219 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:27,160 Here my own will cry. 220 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:32,040 I will call him. 221 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:36,040 Do not pass me by. 222 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:42,680 I don't mind you blessing him just don't pass me by. 223 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,720 Let me at your throne of mercy. 224 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,240 I wish I had somebody to help me. 225 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:53,400 Find a sweet relief kneeling there in deep contrition. 226 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:59,920 Lord I need you to help my unbelief. 227 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:01,920 Savior. 228 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:03,920 Savior. 229 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:06,320 Here. 230 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:14,280 My humble cry and if you've ever cried in your midnight hour and God came to your rescue 231 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,000 help me testify this morning. 232 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:26,280 God is a keeper. 233 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:38,480 I will keep him in perfect peace if you keep your mind. 234 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,040 Stayed on me. 235 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,480 Has thou not known? 236 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,160 Has thou not heard? 237 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:53,360 That the everlasting God the father the creator of the ends of the earth there's no searching 238 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:54,360 of his understanding. 239 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:57,040 I wish I had a Bible reader. 240 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:04,600 He gives power to the faint and to them that have no might he increases their strength. 241 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:12,040 Even the youth shall faint and grow weary and the young men shall rather live for. 242 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:22,040 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. 243 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,720 They shall mount up with wings like eagles. 244 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:27,960 They shall run and not get weary. 245 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:37,840 They shall walk and nothing. 246 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:46,360 He said my child is at the point of death. 247 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:59,840 Sir would you come but not here it's what Jesus does. 248 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:00,840 Verse number 50. 249 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,440 Look at verse number 50. 250 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:11,320 Verse number 50 Jesus said go. 251 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,640 Your boy will live. 252 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:22,680 The man believed what Jesus said. 253 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:29,440 With this one pregnant word. 254 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:36,200 Jesus changes death into life. 255 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:43,080 One word go. 256 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:49,320 In the Greek which I don't understand I had to call Dr. Ralph West because he has a master's 257 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:56,080 degree in biblical languages and so when I want to sound smart I call Ralph. 258 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:04,680 And ask him what that meant in the Greek and in the Greek it's the mild present imperative 259 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:11,520 which literally means just be going. 260 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:17,280 What you standing around here for? 261 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:19,880 Just be going. 262 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:20,880 You asked me. 263 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:21,880 I heard you. 264 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:22,880 I said go. 265 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:30,400 Just be going. 266 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:37,920 It is followed Ralph says by the intensive present tense. 267 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:48,160 Your son will go on living indefinitely. 268 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:57,280 Not just the fever broke but he's going to keep on not having a fever. 269 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,640 I wish I had somebody to help me. 270 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:09,360 The words Jesus spoke bore all the power of his will. 271 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:21,840 They were a divine pledge and unconditional assurance and an absolute promise that struck 272 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:28,720 at the heart of this father with the faith of kindling power. 273 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,920 Now hear me brothers and sisters. 274 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:38,880 Jesus just simply said keep going. 275 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:46,800 And when you get where you're going your boy going to live indefinitely. 276 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:50,720 There were no angels. 277 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,080 No burning bush. 278 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:58,000 No pillar of cloud by day. 279 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,080 No pillar of fire by night. 280 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,680 No star in the east. 281 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:16,000 There was only a word from the word. 282 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:23,000 That was only a word from the word. 283 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:28,320 And with the word of Jesus as collateral. 284 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:38,280 The man believed that Jesus need not be physically present to act on his behalf because distance 285 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:43,600 does not matter to him. 286 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,040 Can I make that make sense? 287 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:59,160 If you need God in Pleasantville he doesn't have to leave Sugarland. 288 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:06,840 If you need God in Missouri city he don't have to stop seeing by somebody in Pearland. 289 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:13,240 If you need God in Fifth Ward he can come down here to South Union because when he was 290 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:19,520 here physically he was spatially limited by time and space. 291 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:25,000 But now that he's on the right hand of God with power all we've got to do is call him 292 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:34,680 and he can be everywhere at the same time. 293 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,240 I'm through. 294 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,320 That's the path the man took. 295 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:46,680 But now I want you to see the proof that the man had and I'm through. 296 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,760 Jesus said just go on. 297 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,520 Just keep on going where you were going. 298 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:58,000 And when you get there your boy will live. 299 00:29:58,000 --> 00:29:59,400 I want you to get this. 300 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,880 Here is the shout in the text. 301 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:15,800 The father ran 25 miles when his child was at the point of death. 302 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:25,080 But when he got the word from the word he walked home. 303 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:37,760 Y'all ain't praying with me. 304 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:42,520 When he was in trouble he ran. 305 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:51,080 But when he got his answer he strode. 306 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:57,560 Because when you believe what Jesus said you don't have to get in a hurry. 307 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,520 You don't have to worry about what no neighbor says. 308 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,640 You don't have to worry about what your friends are talking about. 309 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:11,200 If God said it I believe it. 310 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,400 I wish I had somebody to help me close it. 311 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:21,560 When the man got home he was on his way. 312 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:23,440 Let me back up. 313 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:28,000 I'm getting ahead of myself. 314 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:39,960 Before he walked home after getting the word from the word he spent the night in Cana. 315 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,800 He slept in Cana. 316 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:54,840 Now his boy was at the point of death and he had no notion if that boy would recover. 317 00:31:54,840 --> 00:32:05,360 But because Jesus said he would he got a room at the post door. 318 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,440 Ordered room service. 319 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,200 Got a massage. 320 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,760 Got a massage in the Galleria. 321 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,280 Then he went home. 322 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,240 Because when Jesus gives you the word. 323 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:29,920 When you get a word from the word you stop trying to figure it out. 324 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:34,320 You stop worrying about who likes you and who does not like you. 325 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:43,360 You stop being concerned about what's going on behind you and around if God said it. 326 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:48,560 It's going to come to pass. 327 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:55,360 He got up paid his bill at the post door. 328 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,840 Started towards home. 329 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:08,400 And close to his house the servants ran out and said to him, your boy is not only feeling 330 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:14,040 better the fever broke. 331 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:19,760 And the father said what time did he get the feeling better? 332 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:27,360 And the servants said I think it was about one o'clock yesterday afternoon. 333 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:37,080 And the father remembered that that was the exact time Jesus spoke the word. 334 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:43,280 Because there's power in the word. 335 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:48,480 There's healing in the word. 336 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:54,040 That's deliverance in the word. 337 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:59,040 And no matter where you get your word from maybe you got your word on your phone. 338 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:03,320 Maybe you carry your word with you at church on Sunday morning. 339 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:08,960 Maybe the word is on the dashboard in your car or it's on the dresser in your bedroom. 340 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,600 But you ought to pick up that word. 341 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,680 Because although it's small in size. 342 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:20,840 There's dynamite in the word. 343 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,400 Although it's small in size. 344 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,800 There's healing in the word. 345 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:31,120 Although it's small in size. 346 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:34,560 There's salvation in the word. 347 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:41,600 If you're saved this morning you're saved because you heard the word. 348 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:48,040 If you've ever been in trouble and you open the word of God. 349 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,680 You got some consolation this morning. 350 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:53,680 Because there is a sale. 351 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,880 There is healing in the word. 352 00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:02,520 The word says there is a bomb in Gilead. 353 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,760 There is a physician there. 354 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:10,040 I need somebody whose back has been up against the wall. 355 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,520 And you open the word of God. 356 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:18,000 And even though things didn't happen for you right away. 357 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:21,960 You just kept on trusting in the word. 358 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:25,040 The Lord in my shepherd. 359 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,440 That's a word for somebody this morning. 360 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:30,000 I shall not want. 361 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,200 He makes me to lie down in green pastures. 362 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:38,000 He leads me beside the still waters. 363 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,200 He restores my soul. 364 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:44,560 He leads me in paths of righteousness. 365 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:46,880 For his name's sake. 366 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:48,880 Yeah. 367 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:55,720 For I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 368 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,400 I will fear no evil. 369 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:00,960 For the Lord is with me. 370 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:05,600 Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. 371 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,680 Thou preparest a table before me. 372 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,600 In the presence of my enemies. 373 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,600 Thou anointest my head with oil. 374 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:19,000 So that my cup is just running over. 375 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:28,600 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days 376 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:30,320 of my life. 377 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:39,560 And I will, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 378 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,480 You ever been despondent in the day. 379 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,400 And you just opened the word of God. 380 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:50,600 And it said, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. 381 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:56,800 All ye land, serve the Lord with gladness. 382 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:00,880 Come before his presence with singing. 383 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:06,640 Know ye that the Lord, he is God. 384 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:11,600 It is he that has made us and not we ourselves. 385 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:16,080 We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 386 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:20,320 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. 387 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,480 Enter into his courts with praise. 388 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:28,880 Be thankful unto him and bless his name. 389 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,360 For the Lord is good. 390 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:33,920 I said, the Lord is good. 391 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:36,640 His mercy is everlasting. 392 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:43,120 His truth endures the all generation. 393 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,960 He ever felt bad during the day. 394 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:48,600 And you open the word of God. 395 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:54,160 And it says, I will bless the Lord at all times. 396 00:37:54,160 --> 00:38:00,760 His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 397 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:05,640 My soul shall be composed in the Lord. 398 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:10,480 The humble shall hear the hour of and be glad. 399 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:14,640 Oh, that's a church word. 400 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:20,680 Oh, magnify the Lord with me. 401 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:25,320 Let us exalt his name together. 402 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,080 Is there anybody here? 403 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,800 Know the Lord is good. 404 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:36,640 Is there anybody here? 405 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:38,880 Anybody here? 406 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,040 Ever had God open the door? 407 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:44,280 Anybody here? 408 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:47,360 Ever had God pay a bill? 409 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:49,520 Anybody here? 410 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,840 Ever had God put down an enemy? 411 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:55,560 Why don't you help me right now? 412 00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:58,080 Why don't you help me right here? 413 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,840 Tell God, thank you. 414 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,320 Thank you. 415 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,800 You didn't have to do it. 416 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:06,800 But I thank you. 417 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,520 You didn't have to make a way. 418 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,560 But I thank you. 419 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:14,600 Is there anybody saved this morning? 420 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:19,040 If you're saved, you know what happened, don't you? 421 00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:26,480 It was one Friday on a hill called Calvary. 422 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:30,480 He died, didn't he die? 423 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:39,200 But a sunny morning, he got up from the grave 424 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:43,360 with all power in his hand. 425 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:45,880 Is there anybody here? 426 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:48,600 Know God's been good to you. 427 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,280 Why don't you grab somebody? 428 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,640 Shake somebody's hand? 429 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:56,360 Tell them you don't know. 430 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,000 Like I know. 431 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,520 You can't tell it. 432 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:04,000 Like I can tell it. 433 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,000 What the Lord? 434 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:34,000 I know He's all right. 435 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:47,000 I know He's all right. 436 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,480 He walks with me. 437 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:51,800 He talks with me. 438 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,000 How you tried? 439 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,000 Won't He make a way? 440 00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:58,400 Won't He open a door? 441 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:00,560 Won't He be a friend? 442 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:02,720 Say yeah. 443 00:41:02,720 --> 00:41:04,320 Yeah. 444 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:06,320 Yeah. 445 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:07,920 Yeah. 446 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:10,600 Now unto Him. 447 00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:12,920 I wish I had somebody to help me. 448 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:22,440 Now unto Him, who is able to do exceeding abundantly 449 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:28,880 above all, you can ask a freak. 450 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:31,000 Won't He do it? 451 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:54,000 I know He's all right. 452 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:59,600 Jesus. 453 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:12,400 Jesus stayed right in Canaan and healed in Galilee. 454 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:19,560 He stayed right where He was and healed where He was called. 455 00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:23,080 Because He's Lord over nature. 456 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,240 He's Lord over distance. 457 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:29,560 When you come to Jesus, you're looking at Him. 458 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:33,600 You're looking at what you're looking for. 459 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:38,720 You're talking to what you're talking about. 460 00:42:38,720 --> 00:42:41,120 Go your way. 461 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:45,000 Your son lives. 462 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:52,600 And listen, He does not always change the situation. 463 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:59,960 What changes you so you can handle the situation. 464 00:42:59,960 --> 00:43:06,800 Lord, you don't have to move the mountain. 465 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:23,840 Just give me the strength to climb.