“DIVINE LIFE, UNLIMITED BY TIME AND SPACE.”

Before we go on to ‘the next’ of these ‘Signs’, I just want to put in an ‘important word’.  
 
Now this does not mean that anything else that is said is not ‘important’, but this must be ‘important’ as ‘the beginning’ of anything that we say.  
 
When we say so much about this ‘Divine Life’, we are not just thinking about it as some ‘abstract element’, but in its ‘true relationship’ to ‘the Lord Jesus’. 
 
‘Jesus Himself’ is this ‘Life’ and we cannot have the ‘Life’ without having ‘Him’.  
 
It is not something separate from ‘the Person of the Lord Jesus’ and I would be very sorry if there should be any thought that we are speaking of some thing called ‘Life’ as apart from ‘the Person of Jesus Christ’.   
 
The ‘Life’ is the way in which ‘the Lord Jesus’ manifests ‘His Person’ - it is ‘the expression’ of ‘the Divine Person’. 

That is a very important thing, for it would be quite easy for some people who want to find fault to say: ‘you put ‘Life’ in the place of ‘the Person’.’
 
Well, we have safeguarded ourselves against that ‘accusation’.  
 
It is ‘the Person of the Lord Jesus’ who is in view, but we can only know that ‘Person’ by ‘the Spirit of Life’ and ‘the Holy Spirit’, Who is ‘the Spirit of Jesus’, is ‘the Spirit of Life’.

It is not that some ‘abstract element’ called ‘Life’ is ‘Christ’, but ‘Christ personally’ is the ‘Life’.  
 
Now, having said that, we can come to ‘the second’ of ‘the Signs’ chosen by ‘John’.  
 
We want to read: John 4:45-54.  
 
‘The key’ to this ‘incident’ is in verses 52 and 53: “So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said unto him, yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour,  in which Jesus said unto him, your son lives”. 

There are ‘several features’ to note in this ‘story’, and the first is that this ‘man of Capernaum’ was a ‘King’s officer’ and was no doubt a ‘Gentile’.  

Then we note his ‘courtesy’ toward ‘the Lord Jesus’.  
 
He called ‘Him’ ‘Lord’ - “Lord, come down before my child  dies”. - which was a ‘title of honor’ and ‘courtesy’.    

Then we notice his refusal to be ‘offended’ with the way ‘the Lord Jesus’ answered him. 

It did seem sometimes that ‘He’ answered people in a not very kind way.

We saw how ‘He’ answered ‘His’ mother at ‘the Marriage in Cana’ when ‘He’ said: “Woman, what have I to do with you?” (John 2:4) 

On another occasion, when a ‘Syrophoenician woman’ came in her trouble, ‘He’ did not seem to answer her very kindly.
(Mark 7:27)

And here is this man coming in a very ‘courteous way’ and in ‘great trouble’, and ‘the Lord Jesus’ just says: “Except you see signs and wonders, you will in no wise believe”. (John 4:48)  

By that, if we look more deeply into these ‘answers’ of ‘the Lord Jesus’ we will see why ‘He’ did it.  
 
Sometimes ‘the Lord’ seems to be very unkind. 

Of course, ‘He’ was not really so, but ‘He’ sees that something is very necessary before ‘He’ can show ‘His kindness’, and that is that it is necessary for us to be perfectly clear that it is not just ‘the benefit’ that we want, but ‘Himself’.  
 
For instance, we want this thing to go away, or the person to change, when all the time ‘the Lord’ wants to reveal ‘Himself’.  
 
It is not just ‘Faith’ in what ‘He’ can do for us, but ‘Faith’ in ‘His own Person’.  
 
Do we want ‘the blessing’, or do we want ‘the Lord’? 

‘The Lord Jesus’ is always trying to get us to want ‘Him’, and that is exactly what happened here.  
  
The man said: ‘Lord, come down;- it is ‘You’ I need;- I cannot go on without ‘You’;- this is a matter of Life or death’.  
 
‘The Lord Jesus’ saw that that was his ‘spirit’ - that he was not going to argue about ‘motives’ or discuss ‘Signs’ and ‘Wonders’, but was saying: “Lord, it is ‘You’ I need”- and ‘He’ always responds to that. 

Sometimes ‘He’ seems to be unkind, but it is to find out whether our hearts really want ‘Him’ or only a ‘blessing’.  
 
And with this man the result was that “Himself believed, and his whole house”. (John 4:53)  
  
We notice that the word ‘believe’ is used ‘twice’ here. 

When ‘the Lord Jesus’ said “Go your way; your son lives”, it says that “He believed the word that Jesus spake”, but it is quite clear from this ‘second’ use of the word ‘believe’ that that was a ‘belief’ with some reservation, or difficulty, or question. 

I expect the man stood still for a moment and had to ask himself a question: ‘now, if I do not do what ‘He’ tells me to do, than I am in a desperate situation;- I had better believe what ‘He’ says; I will go, and believe that what ‘He’ says is alright’. 

But he was not wholly committed.  
 
You know, there is a kind of ‘belief’ which is not a whole- hearted ‘committal’.  
 
At the end, however, it says: “Himself believed and his whole house”, and this is ‘complete Faith’, the kind of ‘belief’ which commits himself with all that he has.   

Well, these are things that we take note of as we go on, but we are really dealing with this matter of ‘Life’ and its ‘nature’.  
 
It will not take us long to get to ‘the heart’ of this particular ‘Sign’.  
 
It is a very important ‘feature’ of this ‘Divine Life’, but it is very simple.  
 
Just look carefully at ‘the story’ again.  
 
We have said that ‘the key’ of this ‘Sign’ is in verses 52 and 53, and it is ‘the time-factor’. 

It was ‘one o’clock’ in the afternoon when ‘Jesus’ said: “Go your way; your son lives” - and ‘the servants’ said: “Yesterday at the seventh hour”. 

The man knew that that was ‘the time’ when ‘Jesus’ said those words.  
 
Notice: ‘the Jewish day’ began at ‘six o’clock in the morning’ and ended at ‘six o’clock in the evening’, and so ‘the seventh hour’ was ‘one o’clock in the afternoon’. 

You will remember, perhaps, other ‘time-marks’ in ‘the Gospels’.  
 
When ‘the Lord Jesus’ yielded up ‘His Spirit’ to ‘the Father’ on ‘the Cross’, it says: “The darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour”. (Luke 23:44)  
 
That was ‘three o’clock in the afternoon’, when ‘the Sun’ ought to have been shining most powerfully. 

This ‘time-factor’ is very important, especially in this ‘Sign’.   
 
‘The Lord Jesus’ said these words at ‘one o’clock in the afternoon’, and the man had to journey, perhaps on foot, all the way from ‘Cana’ to ‘Capernaum’.  

He started on his long walk. 
 
Probably when ‘the Sun’ went down at ‘six o’clock’ he did not continue his journey, for they did not travel after dark in that country.  
 
And so he went in somewhere to stay for ‘the night’ and started again on his journey in ‘the morning’.  
 
‘His servants’ came to meet him. 

We do not know exactly what the hour was when ‘the servants’ and ‘the master’ met, but there was the whole of the rest of ‘the first day’, ‘the night’ and some of ‘the next morning’ between his meeting with ‘the Lord Jesus’ and this meeting.  
 
And, there were many ‘miles’ between - a lot of ‘time’ and of ‘distance’; - a lot of ‘time’ and a lot of ‘geography’: and ‘the Life’ disposed of all that in an ‘instant’.  
 
All ‘the time’ and all ‘the miles’ disappeared when ‘the Lord Jesus’ spoke ‘His words’. 

The thing happened at the very time ‘the Lord Jesus’ uttered those words away there in ‘Cana’ - ‘the Life’ came in.  
 
Apparently ‘death’ had been at work in this child for some time. 

The ‘Greek word’ which describes his condition is in the  
‘imperfect tense’, which means that he had gotten nearer and nearer to ‘death’.   
 
‘Death’ had been coming on for some time.  
 
When the man came and said: ‘my child is at the point of death’, it was just about to finish its history in this child. 

And so the ‘time factor’ is here as well as the ‘geography factor’.  

But Notice: ‘the Lord Jesus’ spoke ‘the Word’ and ‘time’ and ‘geography’ were no more. 
 
It would not have mattered if that child had been ‘six thousand miles’ away, or if he had been on ‘Mars’.    
 
This ‘Divine Life’ is a ‘timeless Life’! 

It is ‘Eternal Life’, because it is in ‘the Eternal Son of God’. 

Let me stop here for tonight, and when we continue next week, we want to look more closely at ‘the Eternal Life’.

We concluded last Sunday by stating that ‘the Divine Life’ is  a ‘timeless Life’!

It is ‘Eternal Life’, because it is in ‘the Eternal Son of God’.

‘John’ has told us, as we have seen, that all this was to prove that ‘Jesus’ was ‘the Son of God’.  
 
How do we know that ‘He’ is ‘the Son of God’? 
 
Because ‘He’ gave us ‘Eternal Life’!  

Try this out on someone else - on ‘the Hindu Krishna’ (one of ‘the Hindu gods’), for instance, or any other ‘god’ in this world, and see if it will work ‘half-a-mile’ away.  

And see how long it takes to work.

It never works, even right on the spot. 

But we in this place today are in ‘the benefit of Prayer’ hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles away. 

If we are knowing something of ‘the Presence of the Lord Jesus’ and ‘His Life’, it is largely due to ‘Prayers’ so many, many miles away.     

Of course, that is only a ‘human way’ of putting it.

There are no ‘miles’ nor ‘hours’ where ‘the Lord Jesus’ is concerned.
 
‘His Presence’ means that all those things go.      
 
‘He’ is ‘God’, and one of ‘God’s Characteristics’ is ‘Omnipresence’.

‘He’ is everywhere, at the same time. 
 
This is something that we can put to ‘the test’. 
 
Why do we pray for people on the other side of the world? 

Because we believe that ‘Jesus’ is more than ‘time’ and ‘distance’.

And ‘His people’ who are knowing ‘the working of death’ can receive ‘Life’ by our touching ‘the Lord Jesus’ here. 
 
You know, I feel that we, ‘the Lord’s people’, and ‘the Lord’s Church’, have not used this great value of ‘Life’ enough.

We must believe that people on the other side of the world are as near to ‘Him’ as we are.  
 
And how near to ‘Him’ are we ? 
 
‘He’ is nearer than ‘hands’ and closer than ‘breathing’. 

And ‘He’ is the same to all ‘His people’, wherever they are. 
 
I said it would not take long to get to ‘the heart’ of this ‘Sign’ - but what a ‘wonderful Sign’ it is. 

‘The Lord Jesus’ has only to speak a word and all ‘time’ and ‘distance’ disappear. 

This ‘Nobleman’s Faith’ touched ‘the Lord Jesus’ and ‘He’ drew it out.  

‘He’ put that ‘Faith’ to ‘the test’.  

‘He’ really said: ‘Do you really mean business’? - ‘Do you really trust Me’?- or ‘Is it Signs and Wonders that you want’? - ‘Do you really believe Who I am’? 

All that is in this ‘test’, and when this man believed ‘the Lord Jesus’, even if it was in a weak way, ‘He’ took that ‘Faith’, which was only like a ‘grain of mustard seed’, and through it ‘the mountain of his trouble’ disappeared.  

‘The point’ is that ‘Faith’ always touches ‘the Lord Jesus’, and so it touches ‘the Eternal Son of God’, ‘the Universal Son of God’, ‘the Son of God’ Who is greater than all ‘time’ and all ‘distance’.  

That is ‘the meaning’ of this ‘Sign’.  

You see, when we are really ‘in Christ’, to use Paul’s phrase, we are always regarded as being together, although we may be ‘thousands of miles’ apart.  

‘The Lord Jesus’ does not look upon us as being in this ‘country’, in that ‘country’ or in another ‘country’.   

‘He Himself’ is the only ‘country’ in this ‘universe’, and so we leave our ‘country’ and ‘nationality’ when we come ‘into Christ’.  

I think perhaps this is found in the fact that this man is a ‘Gentile’.  

‘The Jews’ were exclusive and said: ‘We are the only people and our country is the only country’. 

‘The Lord Jesus’ went outside those frontiers and touched the world outside.  

This man was a representative of all ‘the nations’, for he was a ‘Gentile’. 
 
In ‘the Lord Jesus’ every ‘earthly division’ is removed. 

There are no Americans, British, Swiss, Germans, French or Indians ‘in Christ’.  

‘He’ is only one ‘nationality’ and that is a ‘Heavenly one’.  

‘He’ is only one ‘language’ and that is a ‘Spiritual one’.  

‘He’ is ‘the Heavenly Country’.  

No matter what we are here, ‘in Him’ we are all together as one ‘new man in Christ’.  

All ‘the earthly distinctions’ of ‘place’ and ‘time’ disappear ‘in Him’.  

It may take us a long time to travel about this world, but in this very moment ‘in Christ’ we can touch ‘our brethren’ six or seven thousand miles away.  

This is a ‘Miracle’.  

But here is ‘the Sign’ of that ‘Miracle’.  

This ‘Life’ is ‘Eternal Life’; it is ‘timeless’; it knows no ‘space’; everything is present when ‘the Lord Jesus’ is present.  

Let us just go back for a moment before we finish.    

‘John’ tells us that ‘Jesus’ did these ‘Signs’ “in the presence of His disciples” (John 20:30), and we have already pointed out that in Matthew, Mark, and Luke the word ‘disciples’ is in ‘Aramaic’ and means ‘apprentices’.  

To ‘learn Christ’ is to learn this ‘great Secret’. 

We are ‘apprentices’ in ‘the School of Eternity’ and we have to learn what ‘Christ’ means in this way. 
  
Of course, we do know something about it. 
  
Some of us have had very real experiences of ‘Prayers’ being made for us many hundreds of miles away and being answered for us at the very time they were made.  (e.g. sharks). 

Listen, it is a ‘wonderful thing’ to learn that!  

That was what ‘the Lord Jesus’ was teaching ‘His apprentices’.  

They were able to say: ‘well, that is wonderful!

Here in one place ‘the Lord Jesus’ speaks a word, and it is discovered the very next day that at that very moment the thing happened many miles away.’ 

I am quite sure that this is one of ‘the great things’ that came into ‘the Church’ at the beginning. 

We can see it at work in ‘the Book of the Acts’. (Acts 10)

There, up in ‘Caesarea’, is a ‘Gentile man’ who is praying.  

Down here, on ‘the Coast of Palestine’, at ‘Joppa’, is ‘another man’ who is praying.  

‘The Prayers’ of both are answered at the same time, and the result is that they come together, and ‘the Lord Jesus’  is ‘glorified’.  

Let me ask, what does this mean to us?

Surely this is something that ‘the Lord’ has put it into ‘our hands’.  

If ‘He’ is ‘the carpenter’ and we are ‘the apprentices’, ‘He’ has put this ‘tool into our hands’ and is saying: ‘Now go and make things out of this ‘wonderful Power’ of ‘Divine Life’ which is ministered through ‘Prayer’.  

There is much more in this ‘story’, but we have just sought to get to ‘the heart’ of it.

I think ‘the Lord’ has revealed ‘His Secret’ to us, and it is a wonderful ‘Secret’ to possess.  

We need not be alone, wherever we are.  

We are going to leave it there, but if these have been only a few words, not taking a long time to say, it is one of ‘the most wonderful things’ that have been revealed by ‘the Holy Spirit’.   
 
How great ‘the Lord’ is! 

No ‘time’, but from ‘Eternity’ to ‘Eternity’! 

No limitations of ‘place’, but ‘everywhere’.