On Behalf of Your Family

If you listen carefully to the secular media and the education elite. You'll find a great deal of emphasis on children in this hour Michael is not good, not necessarily not necessary, so I said if you listen carefully because their agenda is not the well-being of children, but the indoctrination of children with their propaganda. Their agenda is not the wholeness of children, but the brainwashing of them with their own humanistic doctrine. There aim is not the success of the child, but rather what they call a child feeling good about himself or herself now sadly there are well-meaning churches that have adopted this deadly approach. Listen to me.

Please. When the main emphasis is on significance and not the Savior. When the main emphasis is on pride and not salvation when the main emphasis is on independence are not dependence on God. When the main emphasis is on believing in the children and other children believing in God. When the main emphasis is on the children, believing in themselves alone than that could not be very good for the future of the children in the last message I pointed to you from Psalm 127 how the next generation how the children are the heritage of the Lord. Another 7000 was the Lords we saw how God wants us to pray for the next generation so that they may grow up to be arrows in the hand of the Almighty God, we saw how it is only in knowing God and developing intimacy with God on the knees of prayer on behalf of the next generation will receive results and answers to prayer and therefore the intercession for the next generation is of vital importance. Today I want to give you a biblical example of a man, a father who believed God on behalf of his family turn with me to John chapter 4 beginning at verse 46. It tells us about a man of whom we know very little.

We don't know much about him and he himself. This man might not have understood a great deal about the faith. You may not have known a great deal about the Bible. He did not know much, probably about anything, but he trusted Jesus his faith in Jesus Christ on behalf of his son was unshakable.

His faith in Jesus on behalf of his family. It was unwavering. His intercession on behalf of his family would not quit and would not give up and beloved, listen to me this is what I've been trying to tell you throughout this series of messages.

Call upon me that this is the kind of persistence in prayer that honors God and God honors. This is the kind of consistent, persistent at the feet of Jesus that will produce answers to prayer.

This is the kind of worship and adoration in faith that brings heaven to earth, not allies.

Of course, in some situations and in some families.

The children are one of the children will come to the Lord first.

If the unbelieving family and then the children lead their parents to Christ and that's fine that's wonderful.

I believe without a shadow of doubt from the Scripture that when God brings somebody to himself from a family that he has a plan for the rest of the family, but the moment the parents come to Christ he or she must take on the rightful place of being intercessors for the family. It is this kind of worship that God is looking for. Once the parents come to Christ he or she must intercede on behalf of the family.

I know that in some cases when the children of believers and the parents are not bitter struggle. There are attacks from the very people that you would hope to support you from the parents, and I have seen it too many times, but nonetheless I have also seen that when these young men and women persistent and prove their faith in Jesus Christ, the parents give themselves to him. In fact, I read the other day about the young teenager who gave his life to Christ and he was on fire for Christ. But his skeptical father always made fun of him always kind of gave a snide remark hero there. One time he come back from church and he said son whether the preacher teach you today, he said well he taught us about Moses.

We learned how Moses went behind enemy lines and rescued the Israelites from Pharaoh, then how Moses got some engineers to build a pontoon bridge and then after the builder they got the Israelites to cross on the pontoon bridge. He would buy sent bombers back to bomb that bridge and then as Egyptian tanks came in and father stopped and he said son son that the preacher really say all that he said no but if I tell you what he said he will not believe philosopher Kierkegaard who said that it is very hard to believe because it is very hard to obey. Then we repeat this is hard to believe because it's hard to obey.

And the reason so many people in our culture and our society anywhere in the world. They refused to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and put their faith in him as the Savior of the soul and the Lord of the life is because they don't want to surrender to them. They don't want to obey him, but for believing moms and dads listen to me your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. On behalf of your family should be the kind of faith that never gives up the kind of faith that never doubts God's promises. The kind of faith that would not be deterred by the circumstances should be the kind of faith that would insist on taking God at his word with Murray to you what the Adam Brahma said about this persistence in prayer. He should pray on when rough and dark your pathway and you cannot see the light when every spark of hope has vanished and bright day has turned into night.

Pray on, for God will surely hear you noting well.

Each sent request praise and in faith truly believing that he always gives what is best and I want to say amen to that. This high powered government official who is nameless, was a man of power that to him.

A lot of people bowed and scraped when it came to the gate of the palace. People bowed to him and yet he comes to Jesus in humility and he bows to Jesus.

He came to him with faith that was born out of a crisis, but that faith did not stay there. It went from a crisis faith all the way to being a contagious faith. In fact if you look closely at the story look at it again. Are you gonna find a five-step letter step after step after step one you see a crisis faith.

Step two. There is a continuing faith. Step three. There is a confident faith. Step four. There is a confirmed faith and step five. There is a contagious faith. All of our faith must move from crisis faith to be a contagious faith and the reason we do not have believers in this day who have contagious faith is because we have so many believers who live in a crisis. Faith. I want to explain that in a minute very often our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is born out of a crisis and that's fine.

You see, God uses crises in our lives to bring us to himself and responded refused a crisis in my life to bring it to himself and that's fine. I thank you for that crisis.

But that's the first step. That's a baby step. It must not stay on that level. It is like the crisis in a mother's labor that produces a beautiful child.

It is often a crisis that brings us to rebirth and regeneration. Just like a labor pain and that is why Jesus calls it that you must be born again, and here in chapter 4 verse 46 and 47. This high powered government official came to Jesus in desperation out of a crisis. Faith, please listen to me.

You must not stay in the crisis faith. You must move on because your own testimony, your reward in heaven is dependent on moving away from crisis faith all the way to contagious faith crisis. Faith is for children and that's understandable.

Not for people to be walking with God for years now regret about the pastor who went to visit this home and is a little boy there and he said to me said the Billy. He said you pray every night. He said yes sir I pray every night is a raw ability to pray every morning he should know because I'm not afraid in the daytime as a crisis. Faith in us understandable, follow child but not for somebody's been walking with the Lord for a long time. This member of King Herod's cabinet who could have afford afforded all of the medical facilities that money could buy. He could afford all the medicine that was available and yet this illness of his son was beyond human help.

Yet this crisis. Faith growth a baby face, but the wonderful thing about this man. His baby faith did not stay there. It did not remain a crisis faith, but it moved on to be a continuous faith. Look at verses 4748 and 49. The Bible said he implored Jesus to come and heal his son literally because that is in the continuous tense is what it means. It means he continuously besought Jesus he continuously persisted in his request.

He grinned tenuously implored Jesus and on the surface. If you look at that verse you think Jesus was rebuffing this powerful man but Jesus was of course addressing the crowd as well as testing this man's crisis faith. Look at verse 48 unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will inevitably you know some people who would say I'm not going to believe unless I see a miracle I want to tell you secret about those people. If they see 100 miracles. Inevitably, is the truth. This man said.

I believe therefore he saw the medical, not the other way around.

Someone said that if you want to increase your faith. You must consent to the testing of your faith, did you get that if you want to increase your faith. You must consent to the testing of your faith, let me ask you this. Have you tested your faith lately. Have you actually taken steps to test your faith has the Lord tried to test your faith and found wanting. Only you can answer that Jesus was testing this man's crisis faith to see if it is a continuous faith that question the Jesus not know that this man has a continuous faith, absolutely not.

He knew he knows everything he knew everything but the man needed to know the man needed to know that he had moved from crisis faith to tenuous faith he needed to know that his faith was not temporary but permanent. If his faith is fleeting or firm.

He will need to survive his see if his faith was a crisis faith or continuous faith he made out on this one. It's very important. Our intercession on behalf of our family must draw from crisis to continuous you say why because continuous faith is not only exercised when you're in trouble and you need God, but on a daily basis. It is exercised not only when you need something from God, but they by day by day and this nobleman's face went from crisis faith to continuing faith, the confident faith.

Look at verse 50. Jesus replied you might go your son will live in the Bible said the man believed Jesus and went his way. Listen to me confident faith takes God at his word, did you get that confident faith trusts God even when you cannot see evidence with your own eyes confident faith does not doubt in the dark. What God has revealed in the light confident faith deals on the promises of God and would not let up and would not give up confident faith is constantly uprooting doubt like weeds and throwing them out. One of the tragedies. From what I read is that it has become fashionable in some Christian circles to welcome doubt, did you get the old drought is only human. Draft should be embraced. Doubt should be accepted as part of the Christian life. Listen to what James said in chapter 1 verse 6A, founding person is unstable in all he does add a leg up. Kissing the word.

How do you develop confident faith listen to me by having a vision for life that is as big as God himself. Right, exercising your continuous faith means that you don't just live in the faith of yesterday.

It does not mean that you live on somebody else's faith.

You have WRs you have to have it daily renewed someone said faith is like a toothbrush. Everyone should have their own and use it regularly should not use somebody else's above all in developing a confident faith you need someone sometimes to walk with you until you get to that point and that's absolutely wonderful thing to do when the crisis faith gives way to continuous faith will produce confident faith and only then will you be able to see confirmed the faith. This powerful man, this powerful member of the cabinet of King Herod. He trusted God for his family. He took Jesus at his word on behalf of his son. So much so that he did not go home that night.

Did you notice I didn't go. I mean adopting person. I mean, he is going to get the fastest camel or donkey whatever he can get. And he was going to go home as fast as he can and will live to see if that really happened at doubting man would have said unless I see and until I see with my own eyes I will not believe. But this man checked in a hotel room and spend the night. All the rescue are you interceding on behalf of someone to have a family member you you been interceding on behalf of some of your family for salvation.

Are you exasperated for not seeing answers to prayer listen was be honest now to get exasperatingly thick so long. Go home and read the promise of God in first Corinthians chapter 7 verses 14 to 16 and have confidence in God and in the promises of God. Listen to me if God had heard the prayers of Abraham interceding on behalf of loft and his family will he not accept your confident faith in him on behalf of your family. If God blessed Solomon because of David, will he not answer your prayers. Golf confident faith some of your problems. I will, Michael. How do you know that this guy spend the night in the town and did not go home. Well is in the book.

He did not run home to check on the healing of us in verse 51 of John four while he was still all the way his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. Look at verse 52 when he inquired as to the time when his son got better. They sent to him and here it is he ready are you ready here it is. The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour yesterday didn't go home. He trusted Jesus. He slept like a baby all the wires and anxieties gone.

All the fear gone, Jesus spoke and I believe the but I can imagine the servants of these people who work for him in this big honcho yeah this big shot everything.

These guys probably was staying at the gate of the city waiting for him him and they can't wait to tell them the good news. They stayed up all night is what's holding them back. Why is he not hear man.

We wish we have a Twitter order or Facebook that we can just send them a text message and and tell them the good news and and they didn't have any of that stuff so there was so excited that waited at the gate that could wait until he came as a way to tell the boss here's there's he's not gonna believe it. It's incredible. The boy was almost dead. Now he's alive and yet when he gets there in the Telemann with excitement to fill them all the news and he says what time did that happen hey boss who can know what time it happened you getting excited only got excited yesterday when Jesus told me what time to help doesn't make a great deal of difference in this it makes a great deal of difference. He said because that is the longer Jesus gave his word that is the moment Jesus kept his promise. It makes a lot of difference because that is the moment my confident faith trusted in God boss doesn't really matter. Yes it does.

Because this is not a coincidence. This is not a happenstance. This is not an accident. This is not positive thinking. This is not possibility thinking this is not wishful thinking that was the moment he said and I believed when a crisis.

Faith becomes a continuous faith and develops into confident faith. It produces confirmed faith, then it is naturally you don't have to work at it. Naturally, it becomes a contagious faith. Verse 53 when the nobleman confirmed the times of the healing of his son.

The Bible said so. He and all his household believed. I know I know that this is contrary to our rugged individualistic Western culture, but please listen to me. God bless his families that God deals with families that God wants whole families to follow him and saw in the book of acts chapter 10 when Cornelius believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The very first jumped up and he believed in him that his whole household… The next 16 when the Philippian jailer believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible said his all kind loss that is his entire household got baptized when Lydia believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

She and all of her household were baptized. God wants us to trust him, not just for ourselves but for our family.

He wants us to believe him on behalf of of our families.

Thanks for listening to this message from Dr. Michael you Seth recently featured on leading the way. If you'd like to know more about us, please visit LTW.org that LTW.org