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Jesus Christ's ministry was characterized by an almost daily working of miracles. There was no disease, no situation, and no devil that could stump Him. I've seen some miracles in my life, but I would love to be able to go back in time and simply walk a day with the crowds that were following Jesus. The scriptures say that if every miracle that Jesus did in His earthly ministry would have been written down, that every book in the world would not be able to hold them (John 21:25)! There were days that the Gospels simply said that "multitudes came to Jesus" and "He healed them all" or "the entire town came to the door of the house where He was" and "Jesus ministered unto them." When God anointed Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to write the things which they had witnessed and heard, He inspired them to only write down the detailed accounts of a few miracles. Of the countless thousands of miracles and healings that Jesus performed, we only have recorded 35 specific cases. That doesn't seem like much. Yet, I believe that God chose for these particular 35 miracles to be recorded because they teach us everything that we need to know about faith and coming to God. Of all the teaching sessions that Jesus gave in three and a half years of ministry and stories that He told, we only have 32 written down for us to read and from which to learn. I believe that in those 32 parables, we have all that we need to learn about what moves God to bring mercy and healing in our lives today. The scriptures say:

That means that if Jesus Christ was a miracle worker a long time ago, then He is still a miracle worker today. If Jesus could heal cancer back then, then today He still heals cancer. If Jesus could open the blinded eyes and unstop the deaf ears two thousand years ago, then He still has that ability today. If He could forgive even a woman caught in the very act of adultery and the very people who crucified Him, then He can forgive even the vilest sinner that may be in this place this morning. If He could fill thousands with the Gift of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost back then, then He can still pour out the Holy Ghost on every person within this county! Some may say "if that's true, preacher, then why don't we see more miracles?" If Jesus Christ has not changed, then it must be our expectations and faith that has wavered! But even if you have never seen a miracle or ever experienced the Holy Ghost coming to change your life, you can receive it today, because you are in the midst of at least one person who stands totally convinced that Jesus Christ has not changed and what He did for others, whether it be forgiveness, a supernatural healing, or deliverance from a bad situation, He WILL do for you, IF you will approach Him with faith!

Anybody need something from God today? It is not His will that you leave empty handed. Jesus never turned hungry people away without first putting something in them. The disciples looked at the crowd and the time and said "Jesus, we are out here in the country in the middle of nowhere and there's 5,000 men plus their families here. Why don't we send them away in time so that they can get back to town and get something to eat." Jesus said "Don't send them away until we give them something to eat." All they had was two fish and five loaves that some little boy's mother had packed him, but Jesus made sure that every person left completely filled. If you are truly hungry today, and you will express that hunger to Jesus, then it doesn't matter how little that you may feel that you have, Jesus will not turn you away when you surrender what you do have to Him and allow Him to break and bless it!

Do you only have a glimmer of hope that you have been carrying around and holding on to with all of your heart? Why don't you give it to Jesus and watch Him take the little hope and multiply it into bountiful joy? Why don't you stop trying to hang on to what you think might be a possible solution if you can just help yourself and give it to Jesus and let Him heal the problem!? This is not a place of religion today, but a place where you can hear the challenge and message of God and respond to the Spirit of Jesus walking through these aisles. Whatever you do, if you have a need, do NOT leave this place without bringing it to Jesus, the one who can meet that need!

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35 specific miracles recorded. Of them 21 are anonymous and we have no names or any additional information about the people involved. If you exclude the miracles that directly involved the disciples as the main characters, then there are actually only four miracles where we know the actual name of the person who received the miracle. One of them, Malchus, did not have faith for himself and his name is only mentioned because he is the servant of the High Priest whom Peter chopped off his ear when they came to arrest Jesus. Another, Lazarus, was dead at the time of the miracle and it was not his faith that produced the miracle either. What that means is that of all the people who approached Jesus, we only know TWO of them by name. And both are a case of tremendous faith.

For the rest, sometimes a small bit of information is given like "Peter's mother-in-law" or "the Syro-phonecian girl." But for most, they are referred to in scripture as "a certain man." Or "there was a "certain woman." The writer did not give their specific name, but wanted you to know that it was not a made up story either. We see this practice in Jesus' teachings as well. Some stories that Jesus told were hypothetical situations used to illustrate a spiritual principle. He would say something like "the kingdom of heaven is like unto ... a sower sowing seed." or "a big pearl of great price." Yet sometimes, it was very evident that Jesus was not telling a hypothetical situation, but was relaying a real story that had actually happened. For example the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus which ended up with the rich man in hell and the beggar with Abraham, begins by saying "there was a certain rich man." The beggar is named, the rich man is not because it was likely that someone would have recognized his name. When Jesus wanted you to know that the unbeliever was a real person, He referred to Him as "a certain man."

Almost every time that a person is referred to as "a certain man" and then is not named, there is always something negative about the story. "The certain rich man" died lost. The "certain man" who had laid lame at the pool of Bethesda for 38 years immediately began to express his doubt and excuses of why he had laid there unhealed for so long when Jesus walked up. He tried to say that he wasn't healed because "no body would help him." If you do not get what you need from God today, with Jesus in the house, then you can't blame anyone else for it! Jesus had to look at him and say "do you want to be made whole?" Only after the man stopped expressing his doubt and excuses, and expressed faith in Jesus did the healing happen. If you want God to work your situation out, then you've got to quit the blame game and stop pointing fingers at other people at why you haven't gotten what you need and start expressing faith that Jesus Christ can do the work today! And you have got to want healing! Some people don't want to be healed because then they wouldn't have anything to use to get other's sympathy! Their complaining has become a way of life and they wouldn't know how to act if their situation was better! Don't get so despondent in your situation that you convince yourself that Jesus cannot fix it! This man had been in the same hopeless situation for 38 years and yet with Jesus in the house, the only thing that stood between him and his miracle was if he was willing to stop the excuses and gripes and focus on Jesus. You see, as long as you are pointing fingers at others and giving excuses, you are focusing on yourself. Get your eyes off how large your problems seem and get them on how much bigger the power of God is!

I could go on and on of case after case of how almost every time that a person is referred to as "that certain man" or "a certain woman" and is not named, that there was some negativity or doubt or unbelief that had to be erased in their life before the miracle could take place. You can easily find them yourself simply by reading through the Gospels. I want to stop and focus on one more specific case that we read about in our text. In those verses, we read of a "certain man" whose son was possessed by a devil that was trying to destroy him. Apparently the boy suffered from either seizures or schizophrenia or both and in these fits and changes of personality, would hurt himself. Many mental illnesses are just that "chemical disorders of the brain" and such that has no spiritual cause. Just because a person is schizophrenic, has a bi-polar disorder, or seizures or something does not necessarily mean that they have a devil or spiritual problems. But in this case, it was a devil that was trying to destroy the boy under the guise of a common mental illness.

I want you to notice a couple of things about this story. First the man was standing in a great crowd. No doubt he was only there because somebody had told him that Jesus could heal his son. I also want you to notice that the man did not approach Jesus directly at first, but went to the disciples who could not heal the child. The man was trying to get his situation worked out on his own terms without anyone knowing the details of his situation. Simply put, he was probably too prideful to admit that he had a problem by going directly to Jesus in front of such a big crowd. But when the disciples could not heal his son, the man got desperate. His desperation eventually overrode his pride and drove him to Jesus. Jesus did NOT commend him for faith, but rather said:

I don't think the man first approached with true faith that Jesus could do the work for him. Jesus had sent His disciples out before ministering in pairs and I think that the man had heard of a miracle that the disciples performed and that is also why he went straight to the disciples instead of directly to Jesus. He had faith in the men but not necessarily in Jesus.

How many people will flock to a crusade if a certain name who is known as a "faith healer" is going to be there!? I've known people to never admit that they needed prayer on Sunday morning in their local church, but the minute some tele-evangelist sweeps into town, they rush to get prayer. They have more faith in the man than they do Jesus Christ. Do you really think that a mortal man has the ability to heal your body or fix your situation. I don't want to disappoint you, but I do not have that ability in my own power. You can come down to the front and get prayer and have faith in me and you will likely return to your seat disappointed. But if you come and allow the ministry of the church to pray for you like the scriptures command and have faith that JESUS can do the work, then you will likely return to your seat with your miracle! Don't get me wrong, I know that there are often notable miracles that happen at such healing crusades and such and that for every fake, there are also mighty men of God that deserve their reputation of praying successfully for healings and miracles. What I am trying to get you to see, is that the minister has very little to do with it. So does the size of the crowd. Just as this man in our text, managed to eventually find his way to Jesus in the crowd and received his miracle, so do many people who start out with faith in a man sometimes manage to turn to Jesus in those situations and also receive their healing.

But my point is that there is just much Jesus Christ in this building as there is anywhere else in the world. He is not respecter of persons and He is not picky. There may not be a banner with the words "healing crusade" behind me this morning. There may not be thousands of people that have come from miles and miles to see some personality "perform" on a stage. But if Jesus is here, then you do NOT have to leave without a blessing or a miracle! And whether or not you get your miracle is not based upon anybody else but you! This certain man had misplaced faith. It is not enough to come before Jesus unless you are willing to lay aside doubt, pride, and fear and believe that He really can do it this morning, this moment! But I think the great doubt that was at first expressed by this man is why we never find out his name and he forever will be known in history as "that certain man." It is those who do not trust God completely who forever remain in the background of God's plan and providence.

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In our other text, James spoke out that when you ask Jesus you cannot "waver" in your faith. The word "waver" in the Greek means "to doubt, to hesitate." "To state one thing and lean toward another." In other words, to waver is when you say "I know what the scriptures say but...." That 'but' just became a waver. To act like you believe in church and yet go out living like you do not. That is wavering. To say you believe God's Word one day and the next not be sure. That is wavering. To respond to the preaching of the Word this morning with the thought that "God can fill me with the Holy Ghost" and yet allow the thought "but probably not today." And James said for a man who wavers to not think that he will receive "anything" from the Lord. Do you feel as if everybody else is receiving the blessings? The problem is your faith is wavering. Almost every time someone comes to me and says "so and so is getting blessed and received the Holy Ghost and got their miracle, and so on...." the problem is that they are "double minded" as James said here. They are sincere but they are not convinced of God's Word. They are not really sure that God can do it for them and so usually they are not surrendering EVERY area of their life to God. There is an area of their life in which they are wavering from God and they are not realizing that that slight wavering in another area of their life affects their ability to receive ANYTHING from God. Even in other areas.

Sir, the problem is not God, but your belief in God's Word. Ma'am, the problem is not that God is hindered, but that you are holding something back from Him and are not really opening every part of your life to Him. You cannot waver, because it will affect your ability to receive ANY blessing from God. The scriptures say that "without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). But you must also stay true to that faith no matter what the circumstances say. You cannot waver.

There is a true story of an organic biology class that was a graduate-only course in a particular college. Most of the students in the class had to pass the course in order to receive their Masters and to have any hope of going any further. The course was tough and most of the students were nervous about the final exam because most of them needed a "B" or better to just pass the class. The instructor, knowing the importance of them passing this exam and that it would mean the difference between them being able to graduate, or having to return for another year decided to do things slightly different. He prepped them and worked with them to prepare for the exam, but when they walked into the class that morning to take the test, he gave them a little speech. He said "I know that this exam that you are about to take is very important to your graduation hopes and that many of you are very nervous about it. In two minutes, I will hand out these tests and you may begin. But right now I want to make you a special offer. If you will come up here and sign your name on this piece of paper, I will give you a "90," a B grade, on this exam and you do not have to take the exam. But you must take the B and you must leave before I begin to hand out the exam in two minutes." One by one students began to get up and sign the paper, many were overjoyed and relieved, and willing to take a "B" on the test not to have to take it. In sixty seconds there were only three students left in the room. The professor looked at them surprised and told them "are you sure you want to chance taking this test?" "Do you know how hard this exam is?" At those words, one of the students nervously got up, signed their name on the "B" list and walked out leaving only two students. The professor looked at his watch and said "you've only got 20 seconds to make your decision before I hand you your exams." The two students stayed. The professor drew out two thick exams and wrote the students names on the top and then handed the exams to the two students. Across the top of the exam was written these words: "because you had confidence in yourself, you get a perfect score, an A, on this exam, congratulations!"

Can I tell you that the exam of life will be when you stand in judgment before God and give an account for everything action that you have lived?! True faith is not confidence in yourself, but confidence in God. The easy way out is to doubt. It takes absolutely no effort to give up. Anyone can waver under the pressure of life and give in to compromise. And that's exactly what doubt is. When you doubt God's Word, you cause yourself to miss out on the greatest blessings of God.

There are only two chapters in the Bible that are devoted completely to one subject. I Corinthians 13 is the "Godly love" chapter. Hebrews 11 is the "faith chapter." The love chapter talks in abstracts about what true love does and doesn't do, but the faith chapter names specific people who had faith. Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Gideon, and David are named. It is the hall-of-fame of people who lived not by what their situation looked like but by what God had said. I've already said that faith is NOT self-confidence that you can make it through any situation, but true faith is confidence in God that no matter what happens, you will keep living according to His Word because His Word cannot lie no matter how bad the situation may seem! Faithful men are men who are certain that God will do what He has said so they are faithful to Him. They refuse to be known in history as "a certain man" but they are named because they stand "certain" of God's promises. And I ask you today, which are you? Are you a certain man, just somebody that has heard about how that Jesus Christ can make the difference in your life and fill you with the Holy Spirit and help you to overcome sin and live holy but really have your doubts, or are you here because you are certain that God can not only do those things, but that He can and will do them for you and will start today if you will approach Him with your faith!? Are you like the "certain man" who it will really take God getting you to a desperate situation before you are willing to be completely honest with Him!? Are you a "certain man" or are you a man that is certain? There is a big difference between the two. Can you live your life in complete confidence that God WILL do as He has said?

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I would like to spend the remainder of this sermon by pointing out the positive examples of the two recipients of miracles that are named in scripture.

The first man was named Jairus. He was a ruler of the synagogue and was a man highly esteemed in the religious community. He had only one daughter who was twelve years old when she became sick and began to die. Notice the difference in actions between Jairus and the "certain men" of scripture. As family and friends began to gather and weep at the house and someone hired the mourners to come and cry, Jairus refused to participate. While everyone else is heartbroken, Jairus is putting on his sandals and grabbing his walking stick. "Where are you going Jairus?" "I'm going to find Jesus." "But Jesus hasn't been here for a few weeks." "I know, but I'm going to find him if I have to walk all day and all night." "Whatever you do, don't bury her." Instead of blaming God and getting mad and despondent at the coming loss of his only little girl, Jairus is going to seek until he finds Jesus.

He found Him at a nearby village, and He walked up to Jesus and said "my daughter is dying, come and lay hands on her so that she may be healed and live." Jairus had perfect confidence that Jesus could heal, but that belief did not good, until he acted upon his faith and went to Jesus! Can I tell you that God knows your struggle and your problems. But He will not get involved unless you will come to Him and express your faith in Him! He is a gentleman, He won't get involved unless you ask Him to!

While they are walking toward the house, a servant runs up with the news that his little girl has died. The servants words were "why trouble the master any longer?" The account in the Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jairus' response to her death was no different than when he first approached Jesus, he said "my daughter is even now dead, but come and heal her and she shall live." In the face of bad news, Jairus did not allow his faith to waver. In his mind, he was certain "Jesus can heal her while she is still alive, and if the worse happens, Jesus can raise her up!"

How many times do people not see the hand of God answer their prayers because they waver at bad news after their first act of faith? You come to God with genuine faith and give it to Him asking Him to fix the situation and then the situation goes from bad to worse. You were asking for healing and now your situation seems final in death. Why are we so quick to lose our faith and certainty in God just because a situation seemed to get worse? The same God that can fix the situation can fix it no matter how bad it gets. If the worse-case scenario happens, He can still perform the miracle. Nothing is final when you get Jesus involved. Jesus attended four funerals in his ministry including His own and all four involved a resurrection! Don't waver if you ask God to touch a situation and it seems to get worse. Maybe God is just showing you how powerful that He really is! Maybe God is just seeing if you are "a certain man" or a man who is certain! Jairus was a man who was certain that Jesus could do the work not matter what the situation and He did! He got all of the doubters out of the house and raised the little girl up from the dead! The little girl couldn't have faith for herself, she was healed because her daddy was a man who was certain that God could do it! Could it be that it is a matter of life and death spiritually whether you are just another wavering "certain man" or you are a man or woman who is "certain!?"

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The other named benefactor of a miracle was Blind Bartimaeus. He is the man who was sitting by the side of the road when Jesus passed by leaving the town of Jericho. The scripture says that he began to cry out until he got Jesus' attention. The people around him tried to hush him and make him be quiet, but Bartimaeus was "a man who was certain" that Jesus could and would touch him. He refused to allow the pressure of other people to force him to stay the same as he had always been. The people around you get used to you being the way that you are. Some of them get a little comfort from knowing that you are worse off than they are in a particular area. These are the type people who think that church ought to be dignified and that you should not be real with God, but let me tell you something about someone who is certain that Jesus will do a miracle for them like Bartimaeus: He refused to allow himself being pressured by peers into forever remaining unchanged. If it took hollering at the top of his lungs and making somebody else uncomfortable to get the attention of Jesus, he was going to do it! He would not let Jesus pass him by.

I want you to quickly grab your Bibles notice something with me. We have three different accounts of this miracle and all three have some peculiarities.

First Matthew's account:

I want you to realize that we are reading the disciple Matthew's account of this story. Matthew was there when it happened and was an eye witness. He says that there were "two blind men." Notice that they are right out of the city of Jericho. Both men cried out to Jesus "have mercy on us, thou Son of David." Both were rebuked by the crowd. Both were healed after Jesus asked them "what do you need?"

Now turn to the book of Mark:

This has to be the same story as Matthew because of the similarities: they are right outside the city of Jericho, there is a great number of people, a blind man began to holler out "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me," the crowd tries to shush him, Jesus asks him what he needs, and then heals him. But Mark mentions only ONE blind man and gives his name "Bartimaeus." We know that scripture does not contradict itself. I want you to realize that Mark was not there when this story happened because he was still a kid, but later he wrote his gospel from the memories of Peter and by going around the Early Apostolic Church and asking people about what happened to them. The fact that Matthew mentions two blind men and Mark mentions one, means that after 25 years or so only one of the blind men who were healed was still living for God! That Mark was able to tell us his name, means that Mark obviously knew him and knew him well. In fact, when you read the accounts of Mark, you will notice that there are details such as Bartimaeus "casting away his garment" that he could only know if he had talked to Bartimaeus himself. AND notice that Mark wrote the name of Bartimaeus' father as well! Obviously not only did Bartimaeus receive the Holy Ghost and live for Jesus in the Apostolic Church, but he won his father as well! There is no discrepancy between the two scriptures when you realize that Mark was writing from the viewpoints of the people that were still hanging around the Church DECADES later! When you read the story of Jairus' daughter being raised in Matthew and Mark, you will find the same occurence. Matthew does not mention his name, but Mark names him and gives extra information. It is obvious that both Bartimaeus and Jairus are named because they continued living for God after the miracle and were filled with the Holy Ghost in the Early Apostolic Church!

Now look quickly at Luke's account of the blind men:

All the criteria are here that proves that this is the same miracle: they are near Jericho, a blind man is calling out to Jesus in a great multitude, he is saying "Jesus, thou Son of David have mercy on me," Jesus stops and asks him what he wants, and then he is healed. But Luke who also wrote by interviewing people who were still in the Early Apostolic Church only mentions ONE blind man, and although Luke probably knew Bartimaeus, he doesn't mention him by name. Instead Luke says "a certain blind man." I believe, and I have other scriptures to back this up (for example compare Mark and Luke's account of the demoniac of the Gadarenes to Matthew's TWO demoniacs...) that if Luke had been referring to Bartimaeus, that he would have named him as Mark did. I believe that Luke is writing only about the OTHER blind man that was healed that day with Bartimaeus but did not continue to serve the Lord. And I do not believe that it is an accident that Luke, in doing so, refers to him as "a certain blind man." That day there were two blind men that Jesus met and healed. One of them would forever be known a "a certain blind man" but the other would be forever known as a man who was certain! Bartimaeus was so certain that he continued to follow Jesus even after Calvary, and became a part of the Apostolic Church, and even won his father to the Lord! As to the other man, we never hear anything else about him. He received his momentary miracle, but did not give his life to God. Which are you today? Are you a "certain man" or a man who is certain!? God can give you anything that you need today, but if you get your miracle and go back to wavering in your faith, what good will it do you? Live your life as a man or woman who is certain of what Jesus can do for you!