Notes:

Faith – Artificial or Authentic?    See Session Slides Here

The wine of God’s grace is received by faith, Rom.5:2. Faith is our response to God’s grace. Faith does not save us; Jesus does. But faith enables us to lay hold on Him.

In this miracle we see the danger of artificial faith and the character of authentic faith.

1) Artificial faith

• Jn. 4:48. Artificial faith is like an artificial life support system, ‘Unless we see miracles we won’t believe.’
• Jn. 4:44. Jesus was like a prophet without honour. He was only welcome if He performed miracles.
• We should honor the Son as the Father did, John 5:23. The Father all bore witness to the Son.
• These did not believe the Father’s witness, thus making Him a liar,  1 John 5:10.
• Like an artificial life support they needed to keep switched on to miracles. They did not honor Him and eventually left Him Jn.6:66.
• If your Christianity is based on miracles it will need to b e sustained by miracles.
• If you were saved by faith you will be sustained by faith and grow by faith. ‘From faith to faith.

• God is a God of miracles. He has revealed Himself to us resulting in faith in Him.
• But for some their faith does not uphold them in day to day life. They need miracles to stay ‘alive’.
• They are ‘miracle addicts’ who are vulnerable to ‘miracle pushers’ who feed their addiction.
• Jesus didn’t stop performing miracles but He refused to do miracles on demand, Mt.12:39.

2) Authentic Faith

• Jn. 4:48. In contrast this man came because he did believe. He had authentic faith. Note:

 1) His faith began by bringing his need to Jesus. Many come to God in the midst of their need. Our needs remind us that we were not meant to live independent lives, Jn. 11:5, Matt.5:3; Isa.61:1-2.

• He did not appeal to Jesus on the basis of his nobility or the loveliness of the child, but on the basis of his need. Not because he was rich or righteous but because he was needy.
• The doctor is for the sick, not for those who say they are well.

• 2) His faith grew as He trusted in the words of Jesus.  Jn. 4:49-50. Jesus told him, ‘Go home; your son will live.’ He wanted Jesus to go with him and when Jesus refused his faith was tested.
• He had no evidence that his son was healed other than Jesus’ word. True faith needs no evidence. It rests in the word of God. He ‘believed the word that Jesus spoke to him’. NIV: ‘the man took Jesus at His word’. He had no conditions for believing; he just trusted in the bare Word of God, Rom.10:17; Heb.11:1.
• He was so sure that his son was healed that he did not hurry home as if he needed to find another doctor. Unlike the Galileans who did not honour Jesus by believing in Him for His own sake, this man honoured him.

• 3) His faith reaches maturity when he believed who Jesus is.  Jn. 4:51-53. He probably thought that his son would begin to gradually recover. But then he discovered that the fever left him the same time Jesus proclaimed his healing.
• Jn. 4:53. This miracle created faith of the true kind…he and all his household believed. They didn’t just believe; they became believers.

# Answers to this quiz are found in the notes above. Click on quiz to commence. Only correct spelling is recognised. A minimum 70%  correct is required to advance to the next session.