Hey, let me say this. If you are here today and you are looking for a miracle, if you are looking for life, you have come to the right place. Amen. If you're looking for a miracle, if you're looking for life, you've come to the right place.

We're in a series called The Miracles of Jesus. And we're looking at the seven miracles, or signs, that Jesus performed throughout the book of John that let us know who Jesus is and what His kingdom is all about — and answer many of our questions. Like, not only who is Jesus, but also, is He God? And if He's God, does He have all power? And if He's powerful, does He really know what's going on in my situation? And if He really does, then does He care?

Anyone ever wondered that before? Where you're walking through something and you're like, "God, I think You have all power. I know You have all power. The Bible says You have all power. I'm not questioning Your power. I'm questioning whether or not You know that I'm going through this. And if You do, do You care? God, can You even see what it is that I'm walking through in my life?"

When you're desperate for a miracle

I think we've all had moments in our lives that can bring us to a place where we have to deal with some of those hard questions. Like, I remember when my son Saint was one year old, he had this moment where we picked him up from school and it looked like he was struggling to breathe. So we rushed him to the urgent care, and we were like, "I think something's wrong with my son." And they looked at him and they were like, "No, this is okay. This is normal. Don't worry about it."

And for two nights, I remember my wife and I staying up, tag-teaming, watching him sleep on our chest while he was fighting for air. And eventually we got to a place where we're like, "Man, I know they told us this is good. I don't think this is good." And we rushed to the ER, and they were like, "Oh my gosh, no. He needs oxygen." And they put him on high flow. And the next thing I knew, my baby boy, my one-year-old, has oxygen and he has IVs and all of these different things. And my wife and I are at this place where we were like, "Okay, is he going to make it?" And just praying.

And I remember in that place being so desperate and saying, "God, I will do anything." Like, "God, I will even suffer if it means that he doesn't suffer." I think the only thing more painful than suffering yourself is watching your child suffer. And if you've ever been to a hospital wing, especially a kids' wing — man, it's devastating. You have kids on oxygen. You have these little kids with IVs in them. You have parents sleeping on the floor, spending all this cash, just wondering, "God, can you do something through this?"

And I think there might be some people here today, and maybe the thing that you're struggling with today is you're trusting God for healing physically. Some of you, it might not even be something physical. It might be something internal. You're like, "God, I need You to heal my heart. God, I need You to heal the thing that is going on in my life." For some of you, it's you. And for some of you, it's not even you. You're trusting for a friend or a coworker or your mom, your dad, your grandma, your grandpa.

I don't know what it is that you're trusting God for. I don't know the space that you need Him to do a miracle. I don't know the space that you need Him to do healing. I do know this, though: we serve a miracle-working God. Come on, we serve a miracle-working God. And I believe you've come to the right place.

You know, stats say that 70% of Americans are on prescription medication. 50% are on two or more. There's something that isn't working. And our prayer today is that no matter what it is that you're going through, that you'll come and that you will bring it to Jesus. And who I want to introduce you to today is Jesus as healer. As healer.

So Jesus, I pray that You will come, Jesus, that You'll speak to every single person that is here. We're thankful for what You're doing. We're thankful that You're just getting started. Lord Jesus, we love You. We praise You, in Jesus' name. And everybody said, "Amen." Amen and amen.

Setting the scene: from Samaria to Galilee

If you have your Bibles, I wonder if you can turn to John chapter 4. John chapter 4, verse 43. And what we're going to be doing is we're going to be talking about the second miracle that Jesus performs in the book of John. John calls it the second sign. And what we're going to do is we're going to meet a boy who is sick on his deathbed. But not only that, we're going to meet a dad who is desperate. A dad who will do anything to see his son healed. And like I said, if you're here today and you're feeling sick or burdened or brokenhearted or labored or downcast today, I want to introduce you to Jesus, and I pray that this encourages you.

It says this in verse 43 — if you don't have your Bibles, I have it on the screen: "After the two days, he left for Galilee." And you might be like, "Okay, Brad, what two days is this talking about?"

Well, Jesus performed the miracle of water into wine. He went to Capernaum. He went to Jerusalem, where He celebrated Passover and flipped some tables. Some of you all know the story. He just goes wild, wilding out, just flipping tables. It's awesome. And the next thing, He starts making disciples in Judea, and then He goes back to Galilee. But while He goes back to Galilee, He passes through Samaria, and He meets a story that so many of us know — the woman at the well. And in that place, He has a word of knowledge, and He tells her everything that's happened in her life. And she goes back to her town. And she says, "Come meet a man who told me everything about my life. He shouldn't have known, but he did."

And the town comes, and they meet Jesus. Get this. He performs no miracles, but in the beginning of John 4, it says that they believed. No miracles. Just based on what He said, they believed.

And man, I wonder how many times are we in that place where we're like, "Jesus, I need You to do some miracles before I believe. I know that You said a whole bunch of stuff, but Jesus, I'm going to need some action. I'm going to need You to do something in order for me to believe." No, no, no. I wonder if we can be the kind of church that just takes Jesus at His word. That if He says it, we're the kind — like the Samaritans — that were like, "No, if He said it, we're going to believe it."

So, they begged Him. They're like, "Hey, can you please stay?" And He says, "Great." He stays two days. And you see that John is busy setting something up. He's setting up this tension between Samaria and Galilee, because Jesus is coming from a place that received Him openly to a place that rejects Him publicly. And the Scripture tells us, because the next verse says this: "Now Jesus himself pointed out that a prophet has no honor." In the Greek, that is timē. What it means is there is no true honor. There is no true respect. There is no true belief. He says that a prophet is not welcome in his own hometown.

And you read that, and then the next verse kind of sounds confusing, because it feels like a contradiction to that Scripture. It says this in verse 45: "When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him." You're like, "Wait, I thought he just said that he has no honor. And now he's walking into a place and they're welcoming him. They're welcoming him. That sounds like he has honor."

Wanting the miracle without wanting Jesus

No, no, no. Get this. They weren't receiving Jesus as Messiah. They were receiving Him as miracle worker. You see, because what they didn't want is — they didn't actually want Jesus. They just wanted the things that Jesus could do for them.

And I wonder how many times in my life am I at that place? I'm like, "No, no, no, Jesus. I know some stuff is going on in my life, but Jesus, I just want You to fix this." And we'll run to Jesus and we're like, "Jesus, can You fix my marriage? Jesus, can You fix my finances? There's some funny business in my finances. Can You help me? Jesus, can You fix my relationships?" And the second He does, we're like, "Peace. I'm out. Thank you." We want Him for what He can do, but we don't actually want Him for Him.

That's where they were at. They were welcoming Him — no, no, no, no. They were welcoming His miracles. They were not welcoming Him. He has no honor in His own hometown. It says they welcomed Him because they had seen all that He had done. They had seen all the miracles in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, because they had also been there.

And it says, "Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned water into wine." Kind of tuck that away. John is referencing that for a reason. We'll see that at the end.

A desperate dad with a high position

And it says this: there was a certain royal official. In the Greek, that's basilikos. What that is, it's an official of the king. This was a dude with money. This was a dude with moola. This was a dude that had resources. This was a dude who had everything. He had means. He had resources. He had clout. He had influence. He had access to the best doctors in the world. He is an official of the king. And yet, it says his son lay sick in Capernaum.

I think it's important to point out that sometimes there's certain situations in life that will make your position irrelevant. Sometimes there's situations in life that will make your position irrelevant, because you could be in a situation where it doesn't matter if they call you boss, or if they call you CEO, or if they call you doctor — because if there is no peace in your home, then you have no peace. There are some things that are more important than the position that we carry. If our marriage is falling apart, it doesn't matter what kind of finances we have if there is no joy. And it shows us that it is possible to be in a low place while having a high position. It's possible to be in a low place while still having a high position.

He has a God-sized problem. Because he has wealth, but he does not have health. He has status, but he has no safety. He has power, but he doesn't have power over the thing that he needs to have power over the most. And the fact that he is a high-ranking official going to a lowly carpenter means this: he has extinguished all of his options.

Like, can you imagine if you're in Phoenix? I mean, we have access to amazing doctors. You have all the resources. You have everything you need. You've tried everything, and it's not working. And someone's like, "Hey, this village six hours away — couple people, there's a dude there that can do miracles." You'd be like, "What?" Like, if you're going there, it's because you have tried everything and it hasn't worked out.

So, get this. He comes to a place where he is so desperate. His desperation is evidenced by the fact that he is going to Jesus, a lowly carpenter. But the beautiful thing is: he brings it to Him. I don't know what it is that you're facing, but my suggestion is you do what he does — that you bring it to Jesus.

He comes and he brings it to Jesus. And it says this: "When the man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son." Please come down. Please, can you come? Can you come heal my son, who was close to death? He's watched his son at this point on his bed going pale, becoming frail, the life coming out of him. And he's like, "I'm doing everything."

And get this — he's in Capernaum, and he runs to Cana. That is an 18-mile journey. That is six to eight hours. You're with your son on his deathbed. And he is so desperate, he's like, "My son could pass away at any point, but I'm going to leave my son, because there's this Jesus character." He is desperate. And what he does is he goes up 18 miles geographically — Capernaum is at the Sea of Galilee, it's a low place; Cana is in the mountains. He goes up geographically, but he goes down socially.

And I think sometimes, when I look at that — there's some things that Jesus is wanting us to do, and what it requires is humility. Jesus is wanting to do some stuff in our lives, but we're unwilling. I'm unwilling to humble myself. I'm like, "No, I don't want anyone to know my secrets. I don't want to join a group and tell people what's going on in my life, because what will they think of me? I don't want to go ask for prayer, because what will they think of me? I don't want to get baptized."

If y'all didn't know, it's Baptism Sunday. Get baptized. If you've never been baptized, today is your day. We have everything that you need in order for you to get baptized. We have clothes, we have hair products, we have underwear, we have everything. Get baptized. But so often we won't do that, because we're so afraid of what will people think of us. So we're not taking the next step that Jesus has for us, because we're not in a place where we're saying, "Jesus, can You humble me, that I can move?"

He goes up geographically, but he comes down socially. This man is desperate. Desperate. And he says, "Jesus, can you come with me?" He has no idea that Jesus can actually heal from a distance.

"Unless you see signs and wonders"

And Jesus says this: "Unless you people" — sounds like Christian cussing. "Unless y'all." He's like, "You people." He says, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe." And it almost sounds callous, but you must remember where Jesus is coming from. He's coming from Samaria, where they believed based on what? His word. And now He's saying, "Man, unless you guys see a sign, you're never going to believe." You almost feel this tension in His voice.

It's almost like He is anticipating this conversation He's going to have with Thomas — doubting Thomas — which is only recorded in John. Jesus dies. He's raised from the dead. And the disciples are like, "Man, we've seen Jesus." And doubting Thomas is like, "Nah. Unless I touch the nail scars in his hands and I touch his side, I will not believe."

Man, we give doubting Thomas a bad rap. I don't think we should call him doubting Thomas. Do you know what I think I should call him? Thomas. Because I'm not doubting Brad. I'm Brad. And sometimes Brad doubts. Sometimes you doubt. Man, we are so judgy on Mr. Thomas, but we do the same thing. There's times that Jesus says something and we're like, "No, no, no, Jesus. Unless all the lights are green, I will not believe." You've done it. You're like, "Unless this happens, I'm not going to move forward." Why? We're doubting. We do it all the time.

But I love Jesus. He meets Thomas in his doubt. He meets you in your doubt. And it says while the disciples are hanging out behind a locked door, Jesus appears. He's like, "Peace be with you." Why? Because they were freaking out. Can you imagine — nice little dinner, door locked, and all of a sudden Jesus is like, "Hi." He's like, "Peace be with you."

And I love what He says to Thomas. He comes up to him and He says this: "Put your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." And Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God." Then Jesus told them, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. But blessed are those that have not seen and yet believe."

We say, "Jesus, I will believe it when I see it. God, when I'm healed, then I'll be good. When You provide, then I'll be good. Then I'll get baptized." But we live in an upside-down kingdom. And so often, it's not "I'll believe once I see." It's once you believe that you will begin to see. C.S. Lewis says it this way: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." Once we believe, we begin to see. It's literally the definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance of things that we did not see."

Take Jesus at His word

Jesus is frustrated with him. But the royal official, he is persistent, just like Mary was. And he says, "Sir, please come down before my child dies." So Jesus looks at him and He says, "Go, your son will live." Five words. "Go, your son will live." That's not a lot of theological training. Go, your son will live. Like, that's it.

I would be like, "Jesus, can I have some footnotes? Can I have some paragraphs? Jesus — I got a great idea. Jesus, how about you come with me? Go visit my son, and if what you said doesn't come true, you'll be right there. It'll be brilliant. Like, we'll be right there. At that point, you can just touch him. He can be healed." He says, "No. Go. Your son will live." I'd be trying to take control of the situation. But not this man. It says this: "The man took Jesus at his word and departed."

Man, can we come to a place where we just take Jesus at His word? Brad, what should I do with situations beyond my control? You should take Jesus at His word. I think it's the most powerful line in that story. Take Jesus at His word. The previous story — the water into wine — Mary says this: "Do whatever he tells you." Brad, what should I do? I think you should do this. I think you should take Jesus at His word, and then you should do whatever He tells you. I think that's what a disciple does. We take Jesus at His word, and then we do whatever He tells us.

Romans 10:17 says this: that faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God. He hears, and in that moment, faith is birthed. Here's what you need to know about faith. Faith is an internal conviction that leads to an external action. It's an internal conviction that leads to an external action. If you read Paul, he is always talking about faith as an internal conviction. If you read James, he always talks about faith as an external action. Which one is it? Both. James actually says it. He says that faith without works is dead.

I think one of the best places you see it is the Grammys. "I just want to thank Jesus. I want to thank God Almighty." But then we look at their lives, and there's nothing about their lives that actually says that they're followers of Jesus. I think one of the most dangerous things is sometimes we can say a sinner's prayer. We can say the prayer, and we're like, "I just said the prayer." Didn't mean it. Didn't change anything about my life. He's not actually my Lord. "But I said it, and I'm saved." No. If there's no external action that shows an internal change, then we're not changed.

Now, does the action save me? No. My faith in Jesus saves me, but my faith in Jesus produces action. And if we do not look like Christians, if we never act like Christians — I have news for us. We're not Christian. We're not Christian. "Man, I said the prayer. I did the thing. I'm good." No, you're not. Our faith has to produce fruit. "This is how you will know that they are my disciples: by their love." By their love.

This is what is happening in this place. It's why I think baptism is so important. Baptism doesn't save you. If it did, the thief on the cross would be doomed. And he wasn't. Jesus said to him this: "Today you will be with me in paradise." Baptism doesn't save you, but saved people, when given the opportunity, get baptized. It's why we're always like, "Follow Jesus." What was the first thing that Jesus did when He started His ministry? He got baptized.

If you've never been baptized, get baptized. "But my family isn't in town." Get baptized. "But we don't have a photographer." We do. "But I don't have clothes." We do. We've eliminated everything. Why? Because we don't want anything to stop you from following Jesus. Saved people get baptized — not because baptism saves you, but because Jesus saves you. And when Jesus saves you, you obey Him. It doesn't make you saved. It shows that you have been saved. Does that make sense?

It's an internal change that leads to an external action. He takes Jesus at His word — that's internal conviction. And then he departs — that's an external action. James says, "Do not merely hear the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." We are not changed by the word that we know. We are changed by the word that we do.

But so often we are educated beyond our level of obedience. We're like, "I know that sinning is wrong, but I'm the exception." Or, "I know that I'm supposed to forgive, but they were mean. I know I'm supposed to turn the other cheek, but no. I know I'm supposed to go an extra mile, but my feet are tired." We just don't do it. I know we're supposed to pray, but we don't. I know that we're supposed to trust, but we don't. I know we're supposed to be generous, but we aren't. I know I should give back, but I don't. We should do what God tells us to do.

I love the simplicity of his faith. He took Jesus at His word, and he went on his way. He does not have a lot of theological training, but he's doing the thing that Jesus tells him to do.

Healed from a distance

And it says that while he was still on the way — this is going back home; he took Jesus at His word and he left — his servants met him with news that the boy was living. He was healed from a distance. People are like, "Can Jesus still heal? He's sitting on the right hand of God." Yes, He can. He healed here from a distance. He can heal now from a distance. He can heal from a distance.

It says when he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him." Then the father realized this was the exact time at which Jesus said to him, "Your son will live."

I don't know about y'all, but if Saint was sick on a bed about to die, at one o'clock when my son is healed, do you know what I would do? Run. I need to get back to Saint. He could have had means — many people believe he would have had a horse. He could have made it home in time. People say he was afraid of bandits. I would not be. I'm like, I'm getting to my son. No — he says, "I'm going to stay the night in Cana. I'm going to go back the next day." He didn't return in panic. He returned in peace. Why? Because he took Jesus at His word. Some of us are in panic because we're not taking Jesus at His word. We're doing the thing and we're doubting, but we're not taking Jesus at His word.

He took Jesus at His word, and he goes back, and it says that him and his whole household believed.

Dads, I just want to talk to you for a second. He believes, and his entire household believes. Priests of our home, of our family. Like, I remember growing up watching my dad read the Bible, pray every day, go to church every day. And you know what I've done my entire life? Those exact things. Because I saw my dad do it. We need to step in to lead our homes. I know that we have so many incredible dads. But if there's a moment that we've fallen off, let's reset. His whole household believes.

And at face value, this is one healing, but it's more than that. There was an external healing, which was the healing of the body. There was an internal healing, which was healing of anxiety and fear. And there was a spiritual healing, because they were made alive again in one moment. And like I said, I don't know what everyone's struggling with here today. I don't know the internal thing. I don't know what's on your heart. I don't know what's been going on. I do know this: that if you bring it to Jesus, He can do something with that.

Your questions about healing

And since we're in the series about the miracles of Jesus, I think often we can have questions when it comes to healing. And I want to take the remainder of my time just to answer those. We often have questions about healings like this: Do they still happen today? Anyone ever wondered that? Like, do they still happen today, or was it just for the Bible? And if they do happen, then why do they get healed but not me? Did I pray wrong? Did I not have enough faith? Did I miss something?

Let me say this. There are some people here, and you are feeling such guilt because of something that happened — because you've grown up in what would be a hyper-faith environment that says that if you believe enough, if you pray enough, if you fast enough, you will 100% always be healed. God is some cosmic genie, and if we do the right things — you know, we rub the lamp — then all of a sudden it's going to happen exactly the way that we think. Anyone been in that kind of environment? And some of you are feeling guilty, because maybe there's someone that has passed away, and you've been told that it's your fault because you didn't believe enough. If that's been said to you, I'm sorry, because that's not what the Bible teaches. "You just got to conjure up more faith. You just got to do more of that. And if you do that, then all of a sudden the healing is going to happen." Nope. Job was a pretty great dude, and everything got taken away from him. It wasn't a faith problem. Sometimes in life, things happen. So I want to bring balance.

Does God heal?

The first question — I posted on social media and I was like, what questions do we have? The first question is this: Does God heal? Yes. Emphatically, yes. I've seen it in my own life. When I was growing up as a teenager, I remember one moment there was this boy who was in a wheelchair, could not move, was diagnosed, was going to be there for the rest of his life. My friends and family, we got around, prayed for this kid. Three days later, he was walking. Jesus decided to heal that person in that moment. I have seen it. I'm sure many of you have seen that God can heal, that He still heals.

But it's also theological. We know this: that Jesus heals. Does He heal? Yes. Matthew 4:23: "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every" — say every — "every disease and sickness among the people." Jesus heals. The early church, they prayed for healing — James 5:14, for those of you taking notes. They prayed for healing. James 5:14. And also, we know this: that God's character does not change. Malachi 3:6.

So, we come to this place where we're like, "Okay, I know that God heals, but then why don't I see it?" Like Acts — have you ever read Acts? You're like, "Where's all the action?" It's like people are just getting healed. Like, this is insane. Like, where is this? We need to remember: there were 24 miracles in Acts that happened over 30 years. And sometimes we expect 24 miracles in one day. It happened over 30 years. I'm 34. If I sat down and wrote all the miracles that I've seen — we are living in greater times. Jesus is working. Jesus is healing. But sometimes we feel like He's not, because He's not doing it 24 times in our exact vicinity. Jesus still heals. God still heals.

How does He heal?

Okay. How does He heal? I love this, because I think sometimes we have all these formulas, and I just love Jesus. He's like, "I'm going to heal this person." And He's like, "Okay, going to spit on the mud. Do that." Can you imagine if that's the only way He did it? You'd be like, "Man, you got a headache? Okay, here we go. You're blind? Okay, there we go." No. Sometimes He did it that way. Another time He put His finger in a guy's ear, and He took some saliva and put it on someone else's tongue. What? I'm like — Jesus is like, "Okay, I'm going to mess with him right here. Okay, there we go." Sometimes He speaks. Sometimes He touches. Jesus heals in so many different ways.

I remember a pastor, a friend of mine, a mentor — one day he was praying for someone, and they were sick, and he felt God say to him, "Blow on them." And he's like, "What?" You — let me just say this — you got to know that you've heard from God before you just start going around blowing on people. So he's standing there, and he blows. The person was healed. And he's like, "Call a prayer service. We're getting healed. God is moving." And they call the entire church. Anyone who needs healing, come. And he says to me, he's like, "Brad, and we huffed and we puffed and we blew and we blew, and no one got healed." He says, "And I was talking to God. I was like, 'God, why did that happen?' And I felt the Spirit of God tell me: 'I didn't tell you to blow.'"

Like — we can make a formula out of something. And Jesus is like, "I'm doing it all these ways." But get this: the purpose wasn't the method. The purpose was Him. It's not the method that brings healing. It's Jesus that brings healing. And if all we had is methods, we would trust in our methods rather than trust in Jesus. We need to trust in Him.

But how does He heal? Most of the time in the New Testament: prayer. So for those of you who are wondering — prayer. James 5:14: "Is anyone sick among you? Let him call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make a sick person well. The Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven." Sometimes God says no, sometimes God says yes, and sometimes God says later — but He always answers that prayer.

It also means it doesn't replace traditional medicine. I think we can get kind of weird about that at times. Colossians 4:14 says that Luke — who wrote Acts and also wrote Luke — was a physician. I love it. The guy writing about miracles was a doctor. So I think you should pray to God for healing, and go to a doctor for help, and allow God to choose which one is going to heal you. I think we can be balanced in our approach.

What role does faith play in healing?

Faith is connected to healing. We see this: the woman with the issue of blood, Mark 5. The two blind men, Matthew 9. The centurion, Matthew 8. Faith is connected to healing — but not all healing requires personal faith. There's the balance of it. The paralytic lowered through the roof — it was the faith of his friends. Sometimes you're not going to have faith for the thing, but it's going to be the people around you that are going to have faith for the thing for you, that is going to allow God to do the thing that He needs to do.

The man at the pool of Bethesda didn't even know who Jesus was. Neither did the man born blind in John 9. They're like, "No, Brad, you need faith." Great. Talk to me about Lazarus. He was dead. You need faith? Did he have faith? He was dead. Brad, what are you saying? I'm saying that you don't always need it. Jesus is powerful enough to heal people if He chooses. We got to balance everything.

Does God always heal?

This one's hard. Because I think there's times that I've prayed, and I'm like — man, I've prayed standing up. I prayed on my knees. I prayed lying down. I prayed on my stomach. I pray, "God, what can I do to force You to heal?" And people will say, "You don't have enough faith." No, no, no. God will heal when He wants, how He wants, for His purpose. And not everyone is healed immediately.

Paul wasn't healed. 2 Corinthians — he talked about a thorn in his flesh that he prayed for three times, and it never got taken out. Timothy had frequent stomach illnesses. We read this last week — 1 Timothy 5:23. He's like, "Take a little wine for your frequent stomach illnesses." This is Paul, the guy that's healing people. Now he's saying, "Here's some medicine." Trophimus — however you say that — Trophimus. 2 Timothy 4:20, it says this: "Erastus stayed in Corinth." This is Paul talking. And he says, "And I left Trophimus sick." He's like, "I just left him. He was sick. I left him." This is Paul, healer guy. Not everyone is healed immediately.

But here's the good news: every single one of us will be healed in eternity. Every single one of us. Sometimes God chooses to do it now. Sometimes He does it later. Revelation 21: "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old things have passed away." We will be crying, and we'll open our eyes, and we'll see Jesus face to face, and He will wipe the tears from our eyes with those nail-scarred hands. I cannot wait for that day.

Why does God heal in this life?

Because He loves you. Because it serves as a witness, and it brings Him glory. The man born blind — the disciples are like, "What sin has he committed?" Get this. This is so powerful. John 9:3: "It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered. "This happened so that the power of God can be seen in him." Sometimes you're going to walk through something in your life, and the reason you're going through it is because God is trying to do something powerful in you, that He can be glorified. Sometimes He's glorified in our miracle. Sometimes He's glorified in our suffering. Either way, He's glorified. Can you see the balance? We got to come to the middle.

What the second sign shows us

It says the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said, "Your son will live." So he and his whole household believed. This was the second sign. The second sign.

Remember, we're studying the signs of Jesus, and they all point to something greater. The exit sign is not the point in this building. The exit sign points you to something greater. We saw that last week with water into wine. We saw that Jesus replaces — He replaces the old religious purification with the new covenant. We see that Jesus transforms this disgusting water into new wine, which represents that we can come to Him sick and broken, filled with stuff, and He can transform us into something different. But not only that, He provides. Because while the bridegroom ran out — Jesus, our bridegroom; we are the bride of Christ — while it was on the groom to provide and he ran out, Jesus says, "I can provide, and we will never run out." He's the greater picture. Salvation — eternity is a wedding feast.

So it says that this was the second sign. And the question is this: what was the sign? Like, this passage is hardly preached on. And I'm like, why? It's the second sign. What is the sign, though? What is this trying to actually tell us? And I need to give this to you. I need to give this to you quick. There's a couple things that, if you're taking notes, I want you to write down.

1. Jesus' word has authority over sickness

The first thing is this: Jesus' word has authority over sickness. That's what we need to know. Jesus's word has authority over sickness. Jesus has life-giving power. And in a second, all He has to do is speak. When I speak, not much happens. But when Jesus speaks, the entire universe comes into alignment. When I speak, not much changes. But the entire cosmos is waiting on Jesus to speak. And when He speaks, it obeys. Jesus has life-giving power, and one word can change everything. It shows us He has authority over sickness.

2. He is not limited by distance

The second thing it shows us is this: that He is not limited by distance. He doesn't need to be close to be in control. He doesn't need proximity to have power. He doesn't need anyone to touch Him in order for Him to heal them. He is not limited by distance. Like I said, right now, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and He can heal your situation, because He shows here that distance means nothing to Him. If you're trusting Him for healing, Isaiah 59:1 says this: "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear." He is not limited by distance. All He has to do is simply speak.

3. Believing in the word brings life

What's the final thing the sign shows us? It shows us that Jesus's word has authority over sickness. It shows that He is not limited by distance. But it also shows this: that believing in the word brings life. Believing in the word brings life. What happened? It says that he took Jesus at His word, and he believed. He believed and departed. Because he believed in Jesus's word, what happened? His son will live. If you believe in the word, it will bring life.

John 1:1 — what does it call Jesus? It says that He is the Word. "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God." In the same way that he believed in the word and his son was healed — if you believe in the Word, you can be healed. If you believe in the Word, you can have life. That's what it means. Jesus is saying, "I just need you, like the Samaritans. I just need you to believe not only in my words, but in me, who is the Word." And if you believe in the Word, you won't only have life in this life — you will have life in the next. Ain't that beautiful? We just have to believe in the Word.

He says, "Go, and your son will live." On the cross, He says, "It is finished." Jesus has authority over life itself. Water into wine — He shows that He has power over creation. Over here, He shows that He has power over life itself. The first miracle, He saves a wedding from shame. The second sign, He saves a child from death. The first sign shows that He can fix what is empty. The second sign shows that He can raise what is dying.

Bring it to Jesus

What is it that is dying in your life? Let me just encourage you with this: bring it to Jesus. Not only that you can get that thing healed, but that you can get Him. Not just the miracle worker, but the miracle Himself. Jesus.

I want to pray for every single person now. Now, let me just say this: if you're here and you actually are trusting for healing, we're going to have our prayer partners right after the service, and they would love to partner with you and pray. And God is going to answer one of three ways: yes, no, or later. But we're still going to ask, because that's what the Bible tells us to do. But right now, I would love to pray for every single person who is here.

Jesus, I want to thank You for who You are. I want to thank You for everything that You're doing. God, I don't know what it is that people are struggling with. Lord, I don't know the healing that people need. But Jesus, I pray that right now You will come. That You will heal. That You will do what only You can do. You know every need. You know everything that is going on. So Jesus, we thank You. We thank You for who You are. We thank You for what You've done.

Will you continue praying? There might be some people here, and maybe you do not know this Jesus. We're talking about this man who went to the cross. And because He went to the cross, He can give you eternal life. And if you're sitting here today, you might be like, "Man, I'm far from God." Well, if that's you, we want to give you the opportunity to come close to Him. And the Bible says this: that if you just believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He raised from the dead, you will be saved. It's not about saying a prayer — it's about following Him. And if you're here and you've never taken that step, and you want to do that today, I want to give you that chance. If you're here and you've never taken that step to follow Jesus, I just want you to say, "Brad, that's me." If you've never taken that step and you're doing that here today, that's awesome. I love that.

Pray with me. Just say, "Dear Jesus, I believe that You're the Son of God and the Savior of the world. I believe You came to this earth. You died on a cross. And You were raised that I can have life. Right now, Jesus, I make You my Lord. I make You my Savior. I am following You. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name."

Come on, church, why don't you do me a favor? Why don't you put your hands together for everyone who just said that for the very first time? We love you so much. And if you just said yes to Jesus, it's the best decision you could ever make. Congratulations. And we have a next step for you. We would love for you to text the keyword YES to the number right here on the screen, because our team has a gift we would love to send you. And that's a 21-day devotional called You Said Yes, so we can partner with you on this journey — because you were not meant to walk it alone.

And if this ministry has impacted you, we would love for you to pray about two things. First, we would love for you to pray about sharing this message. You never know what a simple share could do to impact someone around you. And second, we would love for you to pray about partnering with us financially, because your giving enables us to share messages like this with people all around the world. And so, thank you for giving to help make that possible. You can do that by going to spiritchurch.co/give. And hey, church, we're so excited. We will see you right back here next week. And remember that with God, there is more.