Click here to download the sermon as we continue in John with the verses of chapter 5:12-30.
Recap of the February 26, 2012 sermon (John 5:12-15):
(The source for the following material is the book Come Before Winter by Charles Swindoll)
The Five Suffering Laws (“These ‘laws’ will do more to help the hurting and erase their confusion than perhaps anything else they could read.”)
Law One: There are two classifications of sin. (We are sinners by nature and by practice)
1. Original sin (the inherited sin nature) (Romans 5:12)
2. Personal sins (individual acts of wrong) (Romans 3:23)
Law Two: Original sin introduced suffering, illness, and death to the human race (Romans 5:12) “In the broadest sense of the word, all sickness and suffering today are the result of original sin.”
Law Three: Sometimes there is a direct relationship between personal sins and sickness. (Psalm 32:3-5; 38:3-5; 1 Corinthians 11:27-30)
Law Four: Sometimes there is no relationship between personal sins and sickness. “Some are born with afflictions—suffering before they ever reach the age of committing sins (John 9:1-3; Acts 3:1-2). Others, like Job (1:1-5), are living upright lives when suffering occurs.”
Law Five: It is not God’s will that everyone be healed in this life. Some mistakenly claim that there is healing in the atonement based upon a misinterpretation of passages like Isaiah 53:5b (“by His wounds we are healed”). But this passage is talking about spiritual healing not physical healing. It speaks of healing from transgressions and iniquities.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
13,879 Days
Click here to download the sermon as we continue in John 5:7-15.
Recap of February 19, 2012 (John 5:7-11):
1. The characteristics of Jesus’ healing ministry (source: Charismatic Chaos by Dr. John MacArthur):
-Jesus healed with a word or a touch
“There were no theatrics, no special environment.”
-Jesus healed instantaneously
“Jesus never did ‘progressive’ healing. If Jesus had not healed instantly, there would have been no miraculous element sufficient to demonstrate His deity. His critics could easily have said the healing was just a natural process.”
-Jesus healed totally – no recuperation period was necessary
-Jesus healed everybody
“Unlike healers today, Jesus did not leave long lines of disappointed people who had to return home in their wheelchairs. He did not have healing services or programs that ended at a certain time because of airline or television schedules. Luke 4:40 tells us, ‘And while the sun was setting, all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on every one of them, He was healing them’ [emphasis added]. Luke 9:11 records a similar example.”
-Jesus healed organic disease
“Jesus did not go up and down Palestine healing lower back pain, heart palpitations, headaches, and other invisible ailments. He healed the most obvious kinds of organic disease—crippled legs, withered hands, blind eyes, palsy—all healing that were undeniably miraculous.”
-Jesus raised the dead
Recap of February 19, 2012 (John 5:7-11):
1. The characteristics of Jesus’ healing ministry (source: Charismatic Chaos by Dr. John MacArthur):
-Jesus healed with a word or a touch
“There were no theatrics, no special environment.”
-Jesus healed instantaneously
“Jesus never did ‘progressive’ healing. If Jesus had not healed instantly, there would have been no miraculous element sufficient to demonstrate His deity. His critics could easily have said the healing was just a natural process.”
-Jesus healed totally – no recuperation period was necessary
-Jesus healed everybody
“Unlike healers today, Jesus did not leave long lines of disappointed people who had to return home in their wheelchairs. He did not have healing services or programs that ended at a certain time because of airline or television schedules. Luke 4:40 tells us, ‘And while the sun was setting, all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on every one of them, He was healing them’ [emphasis added]. Luke 9:11 records a similar example.”
-Jesus healed organic disease
“Jesus did not go up and down Palestine healing lower back pain, heart palpitations, headaches, and other invisible ailments. He healed the most obvious kinds of organic disease—crippled legs, withered hands, blind eyes, palsy—all healing that were undeniably miraculous.”
-Jesus raised the dead
Monday, February 13, 2012
One Who Heals Hopelessness
Click here to download the sermon as we continue in the study of the Gospel of John.
Recap of the sermon from February 12 (John 5:1-6):
1. Jesus encountered a world ravaged by disease, decay, despair and death all brought about by the entrance of sin into the world, a world which He created (in conjunction with the Father and the Holy Spirit) and which was deemed “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden (a sin we somehow participated in according to Romans 5:12) brought about the fall which through God’s promised judgment ruined man, woman, the serpent, and even the Creation (Romans 8:19-22) and brought about the promise of a Redeemer.
2. Why would God allow Adam and Eve to fall ushering sin into the world, why did God allow the possibility of evil? Consider the following thoughts:
- “A universe in which no evil were possible would have required a creation in which no one except God had the power of choice. But God desired the companionship of a creature with the power of choice (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:6-13). This involved the possibility of such a creature making a wrong choice. Otherwise, men would have been like robots. An automobile will obey every desire of its owner, but most men prefer the companionship of a wife even though she does not always respond to her husband’s wishes.” (Robert J. Little)
-“Love inevitably involves choice, and choice without results (consequences) would be of no significance. Evil is the result of man’s wrong choice. For God to wipe out the results of choice would be to rob choice of any meaning. Thus, love, choice, and result are integrally bound up with the presence of evil in the world. God in love gave man the choice to obey or disobey Him with the result that man’s disobedience brought evil into what was, according to God, a “very good” creation.” (David A. DeWitt)
Recap of the sermon from February 12 (John 5:1-6):
1. Jesus encountered a world ravaged by disease, decay, despair and death all brought about by the entrance of sin into the world, a world which He created (in conjunction with the Father and the Holy Spirit) and which was deemed “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden (a sin we somehow participated in according to Romans 5:12) brought about the fall which through God’s promised judgment ruined man, woman, the serpent, and even the Creation (Romans 8:19-22) and brought about the promise of a Redeemer.
2. Why would God allow Adam and Eve to fall ushering sin into the world, why did God allow the possibility of evil? Consider the following thoughts:
- “A universe in which no evil were possible would have required a creation in which no one except God had the power of choice. But God desired the companionship of a creature with the power of choice (Genesis 1:26-27; 3:6-13). This involved the possibility of such a creature making a wrong choice. Otherwise, men would have been like robots. An automobile will obey every desire of its owner, but most men prefer the companionship of a wife even though she does not always respond to her husband’s wishes.” (Robert J. Little)
-“Love inevitably involves choice, and choice without results (consequences) would be of no significance. Evil is the result of man’s wrong choice. For God to wipe out the results of choice would be to rob choice of any meaning. Thus, love, choice, and result are integrally bound up with the presence of evil in the world. God in love gave man the choice to obey or disobey Him with the result that man’s disobedience brought evil into what was, according to God, a “very good” creation.” (David A. DeWitt)
Monday, February 06, 2012
The Word That Never Fails
Click here to download the sermon as we continue in the study of the Gospel of John.
Recap of the sermon from February 5, 2012 (John 4:43-54):
1. John calls the healing of the royal official’s son a “miraculous sign” (vs. 54). John records seven such signs in his gospel account. A sign, as John uses it, is “a mighty work or miracle which symbolizes spiritual truth” (Merrill F. Unger). The miraculous signs show that Jesus has power over matter, nature, sickness, and death. The world is in desperate need, because He is the God-man, Jesus can answer that need. The signs were designed to bring unbelievers to faith and to strengthen and grow the faith of believers.
2. The official’s son was on his deathbed and no one had been able to help him, so the official traveled to Cana to seek Jesus’ help. He apparently was aware of Jesus’ power displayed in Jerusalem. Sometimes God allows illnesses, afflictions, burdens, difficulties, suffering to bring people to Himself. He may use these things in the lives of the unsaved friends and family for whom we are praying to cause them to seek Him.
3. By challenging the man’s motives Jesus seeks to drive him deeper to faith. The man’s greater need was commitment to Jesus. “[Jesus] desired belief characterized by dedication rather than amazement…His aim was to inculcate a genuine commitment rather than merely to perform a cure.” (Merrill C. Tenney)
4. The boy is healed by the word of Christ from long distance (20-25 miles away). John establishes Jesus power over disease and the power of His word.
5. A good prayer for us to consider is: “God, Your commanding voice in Jesus stilled storms in Galilee and quieted hurricane fears in disciple’s hearts. Now train me in trust so that I may put aside my timidity and embrace Your mighty Word with robust faith. Amen. (Eugene Peterson)
Recap of the sermon from February 5, 2012 (John 4:43-54):
1. John calls the healing of the royal official’s son a “miraculous sign” (vs. 54). John records seven such signs in his gospel account. A sign, as John uses it, is “a mighty work or miracle which symbolizes spiritual truth” (Merrill F. Unger). The miraculous signs show that Jesus has power over matter, nature, sickness, and death. The world is in desperate need, because He is the God-man, Jesus can answer that need. The signs were designed to bring unbelievers to faith and to strengthen and grow the faith of believers.
2. The official’s son was on his deathbed and no one had been able to help him, so the official traveled to Cana to seek Jesus’ help. He apparently was aware of Jesus’ power displayed in Jerusalem. Sometimes God allows illnesses, afflictions, burdens, difficulties, suffering to bring people to Himself. He may use these things in the lives of the unsaved friends and family for whom we are praying to cause them to seek Him.
3. By challenging the man’s motives Jesus seeks to drive him deeper to faith. The man’s greater need was commitment to Jesus. “[Jesus] desired belief characterized by dedication rather than amazement…His aim was to inculcate a genuine commitment rather than merely to perform a cure.” (Merrill C. Tenney)
4. The boy is healed by the word of Christ from long distance (20-25 miles away). John establishes Jesus power over disease and the power of His word.
5. A good prayer for us to consider is: “God, Your commanding voice in Jesus stilled storms in Galilee and quieted hurricane fears in disciple’s hearts. Now train me in trust so that I may put aside my timidity and embrace Your mighty Word with robust faith. Amen. (Eugene Peterson)
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