A Growing Faith!

                                              3^rd Sunday in Lent

Introduction:

A.   It is very interesting to watch young children grow.

 

B.   They are very eager to do new things and to grow.

1.   They want to be big!

2.   It seems they are afraid of nothing!

3.   If they have seen someone else do it, especially mom or dad, they are ready to try it!

4.   They may not get it right, but they will try!

 

Trans:

Today, we have the opportunity in the scriptures to watch the growth of a spiritual child in his faith.  Let's look for signs of a weak faith and signs of a strong faith as we watch this person develop in his spiritual life.

 

                            Prayer

                          John 4:46-53

 

I.   Signs of a Weak Faith.

 

A.   Demanding visible proof.

1.   This man wanted Jesus to come down so he could

     see Jesus perform this miracle!

2.   Jesus told him, "Unless you see signs and

wonders, you will not believe." (vs. 48)

3.   People with weak faith want to see proof!

a.   Thus the old saying, "Seeing is believing."

b.   But we are sometimes deceived by sight

                   because things are not always as they

appear!

c.   And sometimes when we say we have to see it

to believe, when discussing spiritual

things, we probably wouldn't believe even if

we could see.  Many in Jesus' day didn't

believe even though he was living before

their very eyes.

 

B.   Another sign of weak faith is when we are only driven to God in times of great need.

1.   This man had probably heard of Jesus before, but

he only came looking for him when he was in great

need!

2.   He had probably already tried everything else and Jesus was his last hope!

3.   This faith is better than no faith at all because it gives us a place from which to start in our spiritual life, but it is a sign of weak faith.

 

C.   Another sign of weak faith is when we pray demanding

     of God what to do; this shows a lack of our ability to trust God to do what God sees as best!

1.   This father begged Jesus to come down and heal

     his son, and when Jesus didn't immediately

     respond, he demands, "Sir, come down before my

     little boy dies!" (vs. 49)

 

2.   He didn't simply make his desires known to Jesus

     and trust that Jesus would do what was best, nor

     did he say, if it is your will, my son will live.

3.   When we grow to the place of realizing who we are in the presence of God, we realize, "Who are we to tell God what to do?"

a.   Yet we still find ourselves sometimes

                   praying, demanding, thinking we know better

what we need than God does!

b.   We need to resist this temptation!

 

D.   Finally, another sign of weak faith is impatience!

1.   Notice the impatience as he says, Sir, come down before my little boy dies."

2.   It's as if, if Jesus doesn't come down right now, it will be out of Jesus' control.

3.   His trust in Jesus was limited; thus is the trust factor behind impatience in prayer!

 

E.   Even though this man's faith was:

1.   seeking visible evidence.

2.   driven by great need.

3.   commanding.

4.   impatient.

5.   It was still within the Lord's will to heal the child!

6.   He didn't have to have a perfect faith for his request to be heard by God!

7.   As God honored his weak faith, his faith became stronger!

 

II.  Signs of a Strong Faith!

 

A.   Trust in the Word of God.

 

1.   When Christ said, "Go your son will live," the

man took Jesus at his word and departed. (vs. 50)

a.   He didn't say, "Are you sure?"

b.   Or, "Don't you need to come to my house?"

2.   We need to have this kind of faith in God's Word

given to us through the Bible!

a.   The answers to the world's problems are in the Bible.

b.   The answers to our problems are in the

     Bible.  We just need to look at how Jesus

lived    

c.   The way to God is found in the Bible. Jesus

shows us that!

d.   Guidance for our lives is found in the

     Bible. Again, look at how Jesus lived!

e.   It is precious and worthy to live by!

3.   During this Lenten journey, maybe we could make

daily Bible reading something that we add to our

practices in order to draw closer to God?

a.   Start with the gospels!

b.   I think the gospels are a good lens to read

the rest of the Bible through!

              c.   Because, after all, Jesus is our best

revelation of God!

 

B.   A readiness to receive confirmation!

1.   When the father heard of the healing of his son,  he was ready to give God the glory!

2.   He didn't say, "Well, if I'd known that, I wouldn't have had to go!"

3.   A strong faith gives credit where credit is due!

 

C.   Lastly, a sign of strong faith is willingness to  receive spiritual blessings.

1.   This man didn't just leave it at the physical; we are told that he and his household believed! (vs. 53)

2.   Too many times, when the crisis is over, we go on our way and don't give the spiritual a second  thought, but this man did not do that!

Conclusion:

A.   This man had a physical need.

 

B.   Through the process of going through this time of

need, he came to faith, and his faith grew.

 

C.   He came to trust in the Word of God; he was ready to  

     receive confirmation of what God had done; and he was willing to receive spiritual blessings.

 

D.   Can we say the same things for ourselves?

 

E.   Charles Finney, a Presbyterian minister and the father

of Modern Revivalism, once said:

 

"A State of mind that sees God in everything is   evidence of growth in grace and a thankful heart."

 

Not that God causes everything, but nevertheless, the person of growth can see God working "in everything."

 

F.   Do we need to grow in faith?

1.   Let's go to the Word of God!

2.   Let's receive the spiritual blessings of God!

3.   and Let's give God the credit!

 

                             Amen

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion