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The man believed the Word that ΙΗΣ said to him, and he went his way.

᛭ INI ᛭

The man believed in Christ and His Word. Faith is heartfelt confidence or trust. Faith is also being dependent upon someone or something, which means life or peace are impossible without it.

… confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your faith and trust is right, then your god is also true. On the other hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true God. … whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god. (LC I, 2–3)

Christ is the true God, one God with His Father and the Holy Spirit. True faith is in Him alone—“fearing, loving, and trusting in [Him] above all things.” (SC I)

What has Christ done for you that you trust in Him? He died for me and shed His blood for me on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. (Christian Questions with Their Answers #6)

The true God dies for our false gods. He gives forgiveness, new life, and everlasting salvation, for “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.” (SC VI) “Those who trust in the LORD Are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” When a false god is taken away or belittled, attacked, thrown under the bus, often anger abounds rather than repentance. All the more reason to repent!

True faith in Christ also includes trusting His Word, like the man did in our reading! ΙΗΣ said, “Go, your son lives.” And the man went away believing, “My son lives.” That’s true faith. When Christ speaks, faith says, “Yes, Lord!” Unbelief often says, “Yeah, I know,” but doesn’t listen, pay attention, or do.

THE FAITH THAT TRUSTS ΙΗΣ ALSO TRUSTS HIS WORD.

(I. What is “the Word” that faith trusts?)

When faith trusts Christ’s Word, it’s first of all the Word of Promise. Christ made a Promise, today. “Your son lives.” The man believed that Word and Promise of Christ, along with his whole household. Trusting Christ and His Word go together. ‌THE FAITH THAT TRUSTS ΙΗΣ ALSO TRUSTS HIS WORD.

Christ’s doesn’t just speak Promises, though. He commands and condemns. (We call this His Word of Law.) Christ speaks Law today, even to you and me: “Unless you see signs and wonders, you’ll never, ever believe.” The still small voice of the Word isn’t enough. Our flesh wants big results, rooted in marketing and preferences, to have full pews and offering plates. Such is American religion these days. The man in John 4, with true faith in Christ, clings to Christ’s simple Word.

“All Scripture [must] be distributed into these two principal topics: the Law and the promises. For in some places Scripture presents the Law, and in others the promises about Christ.” (Apology IV, 5) In fact, [this] distinction between the Law and the Gospel is a particularly brilliant light. It serves the purpose of rightly dividing God’s Word [2 Timothy 2:15] and properly explaining and understanding (SD V, 1) the Bible. In fact, the whole Bible is Christ’s Word. He spoke the commands and promises, and by the Spirit used each particular author to write it down.

Christ also proclaims His Law and Promises through His sent ministers. He commands His ministers to “preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His name.” (Lk 24) He says, “Whoever listens to you is listening to Me; whoever rejects you is rejecting Me and whoever rejects Me is rejecting the Father who sent Me.” (Lk 10) True faith does “not despise preaching…but holds it sacred and gladly hears and learns it.” (SC I, 3rd Commandment) Faith in Christ receives all Christ’s Word as Gift: Command, Correction, and Promise. Moreover, Christ’s Word of Promise, forgiveness of sins, is also delivered in the Sacraments, for the Sacraments are nothing without Christ’s Word, they also benefit nothing without faith in Christ or His Word, for THE FAITH THAT TRUSTS ΙΗΣ ALSO TRUSTS HIS WORD.

(II. Trust in Christ’s Word is the entire Christian life of faith and love.)

Your daily life as a Christian is all about trusting Christ and His Word. True faith always says, “Yes, Lord” to His Word, whether it’s Command or Promise. Christ says, “Love your neighbor as I command and describe in My Word.” Faith says, “Yes, Lord.” He says, “You sin and must live differently.” Faith says, “Yes, Lord.” Christ says, “I died for you, forgive you, and deliver My forgiveness to you in my Word and Sacraments.” Faith says, “Yes, Lord.” All this comes not from faith itself, but from the Lord! As the Psalmist says, “This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept Thy precepts.” (Ps 119)

Satan attacks Christ’s Word. Satan is prince and lord of this world, and so everything in this world is set up to attack Christ’s Word! Christ’s Word is attacked in all its forms—Command and Promise, the Bible, Preaching and Teaching, as well as the Sacraments. Satan’s behind it all! It’s not movie makers, musicians, sports franchises, politicians, political parties, governments, liberal higher education, or whatever other institution attacks God’s Word. It’s the devil and demons using them:

For we [don’t] wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph 6)

Satan doesn’t just attack Biblical morality. (Human sexuality always a favorite of his…) No, he also attacks Christ’s promises. He also say things like “your religion belongs in this building only and not out in the world.” And many Christians actually live that way!

Satan creates a culture where Christians don’t prioritize reading God’s Word or praying every day, either individually or as a family. Satan sets up a society where calendars and schedules get jam-packed with sports or school or work or entertainment. He degrades attention spans and promotes instant gratification, so that doom scrolling is everywhere but not Scripture, so that you can handle a multi-hour sports commitment but not a 75 minute worship service. We must repent, for the society and culture and institutions Satan sets before our eyes are just the reflection of our own heart’s desires.

Satan does this because He knows the power of the Word—not only the truth of the Word (the Bible’s trustworthy, Christ’s commands are true and should be done, His promises are true and true for you.) Satan wants to remove the Word from you. He doesn’t want Christ’s commands to prune you to make you more fruitful toward your neighbor in good works. He doesn’t want Christ’s promises to enliven you and strengthen your faith through the promise and giving of Christ’s forgiveness. He wants to magnify your flesh that says, “Yeah, I know,” but never actually changes.

And so Christ all the more enjoins you through Paul: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” To this Word faith says, “Yes, Lord.” Each piece of God’s armor flows from the Word of God, not only the “Sword of the Spirit.” The Word of God comes to you in many different ways. The power of God’s Law is that it will crucify your flesh anew, to work daily contrition and repentance. The power of the Gospel is salvation! Only God’s Word of Promise and forgiveness will enliven and strengthen your faith in Christ and His Word.

This is why God’s Word must be prized not only in every Christian congregation through things like a Biblically rooted liturgy, or readings, or sermons, or through singing “psalms, hymns, and spirit-inspired songs” of Scripture, as Paul said in last week’s epistle. No, the Word of God must be prized in every Christian home through its daily use so that repentance and life and faith in Christ and His word would abound!

(Conclusion.)

THE FAITH THAT TRUSTS ΙΗΣ ALSO TRUSTS HIS WORD.

Trusting Christ’s Word isn’t only meet, right, and salutary. It’s not only something faith does and unfaith doesn’t do. It’s not only actually cherishing, keeping, and actually doing the Third Commandment. It has everything to do with being in a world that rejects the Lord’s Word. Faith says, “Yes, Lord.” Unfaith says, “Yeah, I know.” “Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it’s sin.” (James 4)

The man today trusted Christ, trusted His Word, clung to Christ’s Word, and even recalled when and where Christ gave it! In turn, His whole household, His wife and son and servants also believed. Faith in Christ is never without the fruit of trusting that Word, clinging to it, cherishing it, doing it, living it. It’s really just the Word and the Holy Spirit bearing fruit in your life. That’s both believing the promises, which would include actually wanting to hear and receive them, but it’s also doing the commands. It’s just the blessing of the Word in and through you. Where such fruit is absent, the Word and Spirit are absent, thus faith is also absent. For,

THE FAITH THAT TRUSTS ΙΗΣ ALSO TRUSTS HIS WORD.

The blessing of His Word and Sacraments abounds to the man of faith, for forgiveness, life, and salvation are given through the Word of Promise, not only “Your son lives,” but also this one: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

᛭ INI ᛭

The World opposes God’s Word. Society rejects God’s Commandments, and no posting of the 10 Commandments will help. Culture and society, politics and entertainment reject the behavior commanded by God, no matter what it’s about! This isn’t just about proper relationships between one husband and one wife (male and female) as designed by God. Elections reveal false gods, too—gotta vote the person who keeps the government programs I like. But there’s also that the world would have us order our lives, set our schedules, manage our homes not by the word of God but place our priorities around work or sports. The world says keep your religion in this building alone.

The world opposes God’s Word because its prince and ruler is the devil. Satan constantly attacks God’s Word, and he’s been doing it since Eden. **“Did God really say?”** He causes us to doubt and reject Christ’s Law and His Promises. He wants you to think the commands of Scripture are just the ravings of men of a certain time, preachers only spout their opinions. He undermines the promises, too. He sows doubt in your heart about forgiveness and your constant need for it.

Our flesh is quick to chime in. Our brain cannot recall God’s Word properly. And our flesh will never stop ordering our days according to its own passions and desires. It will certainly keep God’s Word here on a Sunday rather than in your homes. Pray on Sunday or publicly around a flag pole, but reading the word together, praying together in our homes? How uncommon that is! “Yeah, I know.” says your flesh and never does it. But if you do, rejoice! **“This blessing has fallen upon you, that you have kept His precepts.”**

So the Lord would arm us with His Word, to command our flesh to death and Promise our new man in Christ to life! We must be on guard, as Paul says today:

> **Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we [don’t] wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Eph 6:10-13)**

Time fails me to show deeply how God’s armor is all tied to the Word, without the Word we’re defenseless and are not armed with **“the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Eph 6)** Defenseless, unarmed—just the way the devil wants you.