Jesus Is God's Answer to Man's Doubt

Pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers has introduced people all over the world to the love of Jesus Christ and has impacted untold numbers of lives by presenting profound truth simply stated. Thanks for joining us for this message.

Here's Adrian Rogers. We're talking miracles with a message. They're signs with a significance. Now, Jesus did not come to perform miracles. He came to save souls. And what we need to do is to go beyond miracles and on to Jesus.

I believe in miracles, but I don't trust in miracles. I trust in Jesus. Jesus turned the water into wine. That's found in John chapter 2. And that tells us that Jesus is God's answer to man's disappointments because the wines of this world run out.

But the joy that he gives is always fresh, full, and free. And now we're going to find Jesus healing a nobleman's son, but that man has difficulty believing in Jesus. So not only is Jesus God's answer to man's disappointments, Jesus is God's answer to man's doubt.

Do you have that? Let that echo in your mind now. Jesus is God's answer to man's doubt. Now, we all have difficulty with doubt, but what we need is a strong faith. Doubt sees the obstacles. Faith sees the way. Doubt sees the darkest night. Faith sees the day.

Doubt dreads to take a step. Faith soars on high. Doubt questions who believes. Faith answers I. Now, I know that you want faith, and you need faith.

You need to possess a faith, but more than that, you need a faith that possesses you. With that in mind, we're in John chapter 4, begin in verse 46. 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. And when he had 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, for he, the son, was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

The nobleman saith unto him, 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, 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, that is, when he began to get better. 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 again is the second miracle that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. Now, here was a man who had a problem. And what was his problem? He was a nobleman. That is, he had prestige. He had power, doubtless. He had wealth. He had all of the accoutrements that go with that wealth. But he had a son that was sick.

He had a problem that he could not handle. Now, he'd heard about Jesus turning water into wine at Cana of Galilee. And now Jesus is back in Cana of Galilee.

And this man thinks, well, if Jesus could turn water into wine, maybe he could heal my son. And so he makes the journey from Capernaum to Cana of Galilee. I've made that journey myself many times. It's about 17 to 25 miles.

It all depends on where you start and where you stop. But here's this nobleman. He makes this journey over to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle. And he desperately pleads with Jesus to heal his son. But rather than healing his son, the Lord seems to remonstrate with him, almost to scold him. Jesus looks at him and he says, except ye see signs and wonders, you will not believe. This man, however, is in desperation.

He doesn't want to talk theology. He says, Lord, come down before my son dies. And the Lord Jesus says, go your way. Your son is all right.

Your son lives. And this man's problem was the dark soil in which the flowers of faith would bloom and blossom. As we talk about strong faith and going beyond miracles and on to Jesus. First of all, I want you to see the obstacles to strong faith. Now, this man had some obstacles in his life. And what were they? Obstacle number one to strong faith, second-handed faith.

Now, listen. All this man had was hearsay about the Lord Jesus. He had heard how Jesus had done miracles. You can see that very clearly in verse 46. 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. He just heard about Jesus.

And that's wonderful. Everybody ought to hear about Jesus. But all he had was hearsay. All he did was to listen to other people talk about miracles that Jesus had done. Second-handed faith is not strong faith. You can't go to heaven on your mother's faith. You can't go to heaven on your pastor's faith, your neighbor's faith or anybody else's faith.

You can hear about Jesus and what Jesus has done for others. But that is not strong faith. That is second-handed faith. Jesus asked those disciples, who do men say that I am? They said, who men said that he was? But then Jesus asked the pertinent question, but whom say ye that I am? Do you know about Jesus?

Or do you know him? Is your faith first-handed faith or second-handed faith? Now, here's another obstacle to strong faith, not only second-handed faith, but I want you to notice he had a sign demanding faith, a sign demanding faith. Then said Jesus unto him, except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. Now, Jesus was not approving the man when he said this. Jesus was rebuking the man when he said this. Jesus said on another place, an evil and an adulterous generation seeketh a sign. Here were these people saying, give us a sign from heaven and we'll believe. Even when Jesus Christ was on the cross, they said, come down from the cross and we'll believe.

Are you in that category? Are you a person who said, well, if God would work a miracle for me, a miracle that I could see, an industrial strength, bona fide miracle, then I would believe because seeing is believing. No, it is not. Seeing is seeing and believing is believing. And so many people have the idea that if God would perform a sign, then it would be all right. But friend, listen very carefully as we're talking about miracles. Miracles are not very good tools for evangelism. Jesus had performed a miracle in John chapter 2. He turned the water into wine. You're in John chapter 4, just go back to John chapter 2 and look, if you will, in verse 23.

This is incredibly instructive. Now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. Here they came. Here was the entourage. They're following Jesus.

Why? They saw the miracles which he did. But now notice verse 24 and I hope it's underscored in your Bible. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them.

The word commit in verse 24 and the word believe in verse 23 is the same word in the Greek language. They believed in him, he did not believe in them. Now, why didn't he? Because he knew men and needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in man. He knew that these people were following him, not because he was Messiah, but because of the miracles. It was not God they were hungry for. It was a sign, a miracle. And when Jesus fed 5,000, the crowds followed him. They said, isn't this wonderful? Look, he's a walking cafeteria. But when Jesus began to talk to them about eternal truths, eating his flesh and drinking his blood, that is receiving him into their lives.

Are you listening? They left him. They deserted him.

They had seen him feed 5,000. He had to turn to his disciples and say, will you also go away? Jesus knew man and he knew that these miracle mongers, these people who demand signs and miracles don't have strong faith. What was wrong with this man's faith?

Well, it was a second handed faith. Number two, it was a sign demanding faith. What is wrong with asking for signs and miracles? Now there's nothing wrong with signs and wonders. Jesus did them. But what is wrong with demanding signs and wonders?

Number one, it dishonors God. It says, God, I can't take you at your word. You've got to prove yourself to me. Suppose you were to say to your son, son, I'm going to put $100 in a bank account for you. I have done that, son, to begin a bank account so when you get to be 16, you can have a car of your own.

And so this is the first installment. I'm putting $100 in the bank for you. Now suppose your son were to say to you, Dad, that is wonderful. But Dad, how can I be sure that you put $100 in the bank for me? Well, I just said so, son. Well, Dad, thank you very much.

Dad, would it be all right if I see the deposit slip? I mean, Dad, could you give me some proof? Do you see what that is? Do you see the insult? Your word is not enough.

I need some sign. I need some proof that you are a God that keeps your word. Thomas, we call him Thomas the doubting disciple. The other disciples believed in Jesus and the resurrection. Thomas said, except I see the prince in his hand, the wound in his side I'll not believe. Then when Thomas did see and Jesus said, all right, Thomas, there they are.

Thomas fell down on his knees and rightly he should have. He said, Lord, I believe my Lord and my God. But here's what Jesus said to him. John chapter 20 verses 29 through 31, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, yet have believed.

Now, it's very important that you understand this. This man's faith was a weak faith. Number one, it was a second-handed faith. Number two, it was a sign demanding faith. Not only when you demand signs, not only is it dishonoring to God, but it's dangerous to man.

Signs and wonders can be very deceiving. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 9 is a description of the Antichrist who I believe is standing in the wings of world history. There is coming a man who will be a super deceiver. He is the devil's Messiah. He is Satan incarnate.

He is coming. He will be the last world ruler before the kingdom of heaven is set up. We believe that this man of sin, this beast, this Antichrist may be alive and well on planet earth today.

But let me tell you how the apostle Paul describes him. Listen to this in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 9, even him who's coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. The Antichrist will be a master magician. The Antichrist will have power to do incredible miracles. And by those new age miracles, millions will be doomed and damned to hell because they were deceived by signs and wonders of the Antichrist. Revelation chapter 13 verses 13 and 14, listen to them. It speaks of the Antichrist. He doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire to come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men and deceiveth them which dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had the power to do. Deceives those that dwell on the earth by the means of the miracles that he had power to do.

Makes fire to come down out of heaven. Suppose rather than taking the Word of God for the assurance of your salvation, you went out in an open field one day and you said, God, I've just got to know, are you real? Can I go to heaven?

Am I right with you? Do you exist? Give me a sign. Give me a wonder.

Show me. And then suppose from pole to pole, the heavens were to glow with fire. And you would say, oh, oh, oh, that is glorious, oh God. Thank you for speaking to me.

Thank you. And then you die. And stand at the judgment. And the Lord says, depart from me ye that work iniquity.

I never knew you. But you said, Lord, what about the sign? The devil could point his finger at you and say, you fool. You fool. That was me.

That was me. I deceived you with fire from heaven. When you demand signs and wonders and miracles, it is dishonoring to God.

It is dangerous to man. And that's why Jesus remonstrated with this man. And Jesus said, except ye see signs and wonders, you'll not believe. But not only was his faith a second-handed faith, not only was it a sign-demanding faith, it was a self-centered faith. Look again, if you will, in verse 49. We're back to chapter 4.

The nobleman saith unto him, sir, come down here, my child, die. Now, what's he interested in? The welfare of his child. Is anything wrong with that?

No. Just like there's nothing wrong with miracles. And I will promise you, if I have a child that's sick, I'm going to be bombarding heaven in prayer. Nothing wrong with that. But this man is yet to bow at the feet of Jesus Christ and worship him.

So many of us are so concerned about our health, our welfare, our children, our families, our future, all of these things. That's not strong faith. There's nothing wrong with asking God to bless us. But strong faith is interested primarily in the glory of God and the heart and its right relationship to him. This man was interested in the physical, not the spiritual. In the temporal, not in the eternal. Now, here's a fourth thing that was wrong with his faith.

Remember we said what? It was a second-handed faith. Number two, it was a sign-seeking faith. Number three, it is a self-centered faith.

Number four, it is a strong-willed faith. Now, notice what he says in verse 49. Lord, come down, ere my child die. He's telling God what to do. He is instructing the Lord. But notice verse 50. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way.

Now, don't miss that. This man says to Jesus, Come. Jesus says, Go. He's trying to dictate to the Lord. He's trying to tell the Lord how he's going to do what he's going to do when he does it.

Have you ever been guilty of that? Have you ever been guilty rather than saying, Speak, Lord, thy servant hears? You're saying, Listen, Lord, I'm talking to you.

Now, Lord, here's what you must do. That, friend, is weak faith. Strong faith waits upon God and listens to God and gets a message from God.

Weak faith is strong will. Let me tell you what faith is. Faith is not so much receiving from God the things that you want as it is accepting from God the things that he gives.

Let me say that again. Faith is not so much receiving from God the things you want as it is accepting from God the things that he gives. Faith is not dictating to God.

Faith is hearing God, believing God, and acting on what God says. This man is a nobleman. He's been used to telling people what to do. He has servants here, there. Lord, come down and heal my son. The Lord just says, No, you go.

You go. That's weak faith. It is second-handed faith. It is sign-seeking faith. It is self-centered faith. It is strong-willed faith. Maybe better than no faith at all, but it's certainly not strong faith. Now, this man is going to go through a metamorphosis. Something is going to happen to this man, and he's going to have now strong faith. And he's going to go beyond miracles and on to Jesus. Now, what is strong faith?

I want you to see the radical, dramatic change that takes place. Begin now in verse 49. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down, hear my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the Word. I'm going to tell you, friend, what strong faith is.

Strong faith, number one, is this. You must hear the Word. Look in verse 50. Jesus saith unto him.

You must hear the Word. The Bible says in Romans 10, verse 14, How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear without a preacher? And then in Romans 10, verse 17, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Now, in order for you to have faith, you must know what God has said and is saying, because faith is a response to the Word of God. Jesus said something to him, and he heard the Word. Romans 10, verse 17, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. That's why we preach so people can hear the Word of God.

Do you understand that? If you want people to believe, you've got to give them something to believe, and you must give them the Word of God. So what's the first step in faith? Number one, you hear the Word of God. Number two, you must believe the Word of God.

Look in verse 50 again, and the Bible says, And the man believe the Word. Now, hearing is not enough. There are some who will hear, but you have not yet believed. You must hear.

That's important. How shall they hear without a preacher? That's fine, but you must hear, and then number two, you must believe the Word.

You say, well, pastor, that is my problem. I just have trouble believing. I can't help it if I can't believe.

Oh, yes, you can. Let me tell you something. You don't have intellectual problems if you don't believe. You have moral problems. Your problem is not in your head.

Your problem is in your heart. The Bible says beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God. It is not that you cannot believe. It may be that you will not believe because Christ gives faith to every man, and what you must do is accept it, receive it, and believe it.

Christ is that light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. You can believe if you will believe. Unbelief is not weakness. It is wickedness.

It is rebellion. If you want to believe today, God will enable you to believe. The man heard the Word. Secondly, the man believed the Word. What is faith?

Faith is a response to God Himself, not to what God has done, not to miracles. Now, remember, this man believed before he saw a thing now. He doesn't see any sign. He doesn't see any wonder.

What does he have? Here is the man. Here is Jesus Christ. This man is looking into the face of Jesus. Jesus says to him, Go thy way, your son lives. This man now is captivated by the person, the character of Jesus Christ Himself. No sign, no wonder, but Jesus.

Now, listen to me. What is faith? Faith is the heart response of the soul to the character, the nature of God. It does not demand signs.

It does not demand wonders. It's so very important that you understand this. You see, God created you, the God who made you. He created you this way. God created my eye that my eye would respond to light. God created my ears that my ears would respond to sound, and God created my spirit that it would respond to the character and the nature of God, not because of signs and wonders, but because of God Himself. Here the Lord Jesus is speaking to this man, and the man believed the Word.

Now, watch it. You must hear the Word of God. Number two, you must believe the Word of God, and you can if you want to.

Number three, you must obey the Word of God. Now look, if you will, in verses 50 and following, Jesus saith 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. He is doing exactly what Jesus told him to do. Jesus said, Go.

And now he goes. Now, had he not believed, he would have stayed there, still demanding a sign, still posturing, still asking Jesus to do it, but now it's settled. Now faith is shown by obedience. You must hear the Word. You must believe the Word. You must obey the Word. You see, faith is always, true faith is always linked to obedience. Romans chapter 16 in verse 26 speaks of the obedience of faith, and James said this in James 2 verse 26, As the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Faith without works is dead.

Sitting in a church, nodding your head, taking notes is not faith. You must hear the Word. You must believe the Word. You must obey the Word. Well, you say, Pastor, are you telling me that I'm saved by faith and works?

Oh, no. I'm telling you that you're saved by faith that works. Faith that works. If it doesn't work, it is not faith. Just simply saying that you believe, but not obeying is not faith. There's no substitute for obedience.

Faith that does not lead to obedience is not faith at all. So here's the man who hears the Word. He believes the Word. He obeys the Word, but now wait a minute.

Here's the sweet part. Notice in verse 51, 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, that is, to get better. And they said unto him, now understand this, be careful now. Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him, and the man knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus saith unto him, Thy son liveth, and himself believed, and his whole house.

Now, here's something that's always been sweet to me. Do you know how much time has taken place between when Jesus said to this man, Your son is okay, and this episode when he meets these servants, this entourage coming out to meet him? Twenty-four long hours. Now, this man lived where? In Capernaum. Where did Jesus have the encounter with this man?

In Cana. How far was it? Twenty miles. He could have made that on foot seven or eight hours, but he was a nobleman, a nobleman that wouldn't walk this far. He would go by chariot or by camel or by some conveyance.

But 24 long hours have passed. If you left home and you had a son that was at the point of death, desperation, and somebody said to you, He's all right, go home, what would you do? You would go as fast as you could back home to see, wouldn't you?

I would. I mean, I'd get back there as quickly as I could to see, yes, he said it's okay, but I've got to go check. This man takes 24 hours.

He could have been there in two or three hours. What is this? Folks, this is one of the most incredible demonstrations of faith I believe in the Bible. That brings me to the fourth thing of what real faith is. You must hear the Word of God. You must believe the Word of God. You must obey the Word of God, and then you rest in the Word of God. You just rest in the Word of God.

Do you know what the Bible says? He that believeth will not make haste. You can wait on the Lord. Rest in the Lord.

Commit your way to the Lord. Now, why did the Lord do it this way? Why did not Jesus go with that man and heal his son? Why did Jesus just say, you go, your son is healed? Now, remember, what did the man have? He had the Word of God.

He had the Word of Jesus. Now, when I need a blessing, when I need an answer to prayer, do I have to have Jesus here with me physically to get it? No, sir.

No, sir. That boy was 20 miles away, and Jesus healed him long distance, didn't he? Sure did. Now, you know there's a verse in the Bible that says this. He sent his Word and healed him. He sent his Word. Jesus is not here in a body today, but we've got this, don't we?

We've got this. This is not just a book. This is the Word of God. What he is saying is, it doesn't matter whether you're here or there, wherever you are, just take my Word.

He sent his Word and healed him. When I have this Bible in my study, it's like having Jesus in my study. When I have this Bible in my home, it's like having Jesus in my home. When you say, oh, you're worshiping the Bible, I don't mean it that way. I am saying, though, when I pick up the Word of God and read it, God speaks out of his Word and faith is finding a promise in the Word of God brought home by the Spirit of God and standing on it.

Now, let me talk to you about the objective of strong faith. Now, the Bible says, So the Father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said unto him, Thy Son liveth, and himself believed, and his whole house. Now, wait a minute.

Wait a minute, Adrian. I thought you said he already believed. Look, if you will, in verse 50, the Bible says, and the man believed. But now you go down to verse 53 and it says, and himself believed. Well, when did he believe?

What is the last verse talking about or verse 53? Now the man is not believing for physical healing. He's believing for salvation. Now he's believing not in a miracle, but in a Messiah. Now he has gone beyond the miracle and he has gone on to Jesus. That's why the miracles were there, that he might go on and believe in the Lord Jesus. I can see him as he goes back home and he gets out the Old Testament Scriptures and he says, wife, son, family, household, I've met the Messiah. Believe on him.

Trust him. We'll be saved. Now what good would it have done if this boy had been healed and then later died and went to hell? Jesus didn't heal everybody, but he'll save anybody who will call upon him. He did not come as a teacher, as a healer. He came as a savior. The Bible says the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.

John said Jesus did many miracles, but these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing that you might have life through his name. I was visiting in the hospital and I was praying with a woman and all the way across the hallway, I heard somebody say, come see me too. I said, are you talking to me? She said, yes, come see me too. So I went all the way across the hallway and there in that hospital bed was a precious lady.

Her white hair, I can see her now, spread out on that pillow. Pain was on her face. Despair was in her heart. You could tell by the look on her face that she had very little time to live. There was that color of death, that ashen gray.

The smell of death was in that room. She said, I'm not ready to meet God. Mister, can you help me? I said, yes, ma'am, I can. And I told her about the Jesus that I'm preaching about this morning and I said, lady, if you'll trust him, he'll save you. She said, would you help me?

I said, yes, I will. And I said, pray this prayer after me, dear God. She said, dear God, I know that you love me. I know that you love me. I know that you want to save me.

I know that you want to save me. Jesus, thank you for paying for my sin with your blood. Jesus, thank you for paying for my sin with your blood. Jesus, I believe God raised you from the dead. Jesus, I believe God raised you from the dead. I open my heart.

I open my heart. I receive you now as my Lord and Savior. I receive you now as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for saving me. Amen. Amen. I opened my eyes.

I expected to see peace on her face, but I saw a tortured look on her face. And she said to me, but I don't see how just saying that can do any good. And I said, lady, you're right. You're right.

Just saying that can't do any good at all. It is believing that, trusting that. That's what saves you. Now let's pray it again, and this time, put your faith in Jesus. We prayed it again, and she said, Lord, I really trust you. And I saw the peace of God come over that precious woman's face. I expect to meet her in heaven.

I really do. Friend, that's what these miracles are about. Believe in miracles, but trust in Jesus.

Trust in Jesus. These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing that you'll have life through his name. And if you've never trusted Jesus, you may believe about him.

You may have heard about him. You may have a second-handed faith. You may have a self-centered faith. But what you need is a saving faith, a strong faith. If you want to be saved, would you pray the prayer like I led that lady to pray, Dear God, I know that you love me.

Just pray it now. I know that you want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me. You promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you, Lord Jesus.

I really do. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin. Save me today, Lord Jesus. Save me, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah. Amen. If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus or deepen your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you.