November 19, 2023; Sunday Morning Worship

Order of Service

• Hymn — Come, Christians, Join to Sing
• Call to Worship — Psalm 95:1-7
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin — based on Psalm 38
• Assurance of Pardon
• Scripture Reading — Jonah 3
• Hymn — O Thou That Hearest When Sinners Cry
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — My Faith Looks Up to Thee
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer
• Hymn — Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners
• Benediction — Hebrews 13:20-21

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Sermon Title: The Path to Saving Faith

Scripture: John 4:43-54

I. The Path to Saving Faith Involves a Jealous Provocation

A. The contrast between the Galileans and the Samaritans establishes the theme

1. In John 1:11-12, John's prologue states that Jesus came to his own and his own did not receive him — this is played out in chapter 4
2. The Samaritans, without any miracles, spend two days with Jesus and conclude in John 4:42 that he is "the Savior of the world"
3. The Galileans, by contrast, only welcome Jesus as a miracle worker, not as Messiah

B. John's purpose mirrors Paul's apostolic strategy in Romans 11:13-14

1. Paul magnifies his ministry to the Gentiles in order to make his fellow Jews jealous and thus save some
2. John similarly presents the blessings of Messiah poured out on the hated Samaritans to provoke the Jewish remnant to embrace Jesus as Christ

C. Godly jealousy stirs believers toward repentance and renewed faith

1. A good jealousy causes us to turn from complacency and return to our first love, as Jesus urges the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2
2. A bad jealousy seeks to tear down the godly rather than emulate them — this is the jealousy of the scribes and Pharisees
3. Living in community with other believers is a key means by which God stirs cold or lukewarm faith back to life

II. The Path to Saving Faith Involves a Condescending Love

A. The official approaches Jesus as a miracle worker, not yet as Messiah and Savior

1. Jesus cuts to the heart of the man's faith in John 4:48: "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe"
2. Yet the man persists in desperation, and Jesus does not turn him away

B. Christ condescends to the weak even when he cannot commend their faith as strong

1. In Matthew 8, Jesus commends the strong faith of the Centurion who says "just say the word"
2. In Matthew 9, Jesus goes with the weak ruler without commending his faith, yet still heals his daughter
3. Westminster divine William Bridge: "Christ forestalls the strong and he follows the weak... strong faith shall be more commended, but weak faith shall be much encouraged by the condescending love of Christ"

C. Faith is not bolstered by contemplating our own faith but by contemplating Christ's condescending love

1. The Incarnation is itself the supreme act of condescension — Christ coming down from the top of the hill to walk at our pace
2. It is Christ who lifts us by his strength, not ours

III. The Path to Saving Faith Involves a Personal Fulfillment

A. The official's second belief is a deeper, personal faith

1. His servants report the boy's recovery; he asks the hour — it was the seventh hour (1 p.m.), the precise moment Jesus said "your son will live"
2. John's use of "he himself believed" contrasts this with his earlier, more surface-level belief, and he and all his household believed

B. This mirrors the two-stage belief of the Samaritans in John 4:39-42

1. The Samaritans first believed the woman's testimony
2. After a personal encounter with Christ they say, "We have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Savior of the world"

C. What produces saving faith is a personal encounter with Christ's supernatural fulfillment of his promises

1. The official encounters not secondary means (medicine) but the immediate, miraculous, ex nihilo power of Christ restoring his son by the word alone
2. As Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ has not been raised, he is a liar — the supernatural is non-negotiable to saving faith
3. C.S. Lewis: Jesus is either Lord, lunatic, or liar — he has not left open the option of being merely a great moral teacher
4. Saving faith is not merely acknowledging the supernatural in general but personally owning Christ — falling down as Thomas did and saying "My Lord and my God," and as Paul did in calling it "my gospel"

D. Summary: the path to mature saving faith involves

1. Living the Christian life in community with the saints (jealous provocation)
2. Contemplating and receiving the condescending love of Christ who meets us in our weakness
3. Personally encountering the promises of Christ fulfilled for you and for me