1 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,680 You're listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit ministry 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,880 podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,280 learn from God's Word together. If you would like more 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,720 information regarding Key Life or to speak with one of our 5 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:20,920 pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com. 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:32,400 If you would open your Bibles to Luke Chapter 7, looking there 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,400 today, and I said, said earlier that if you've been here a 8 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,920 while, your Bible might automatically open to Psalm 119. 9 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,280 So you're going to have to retrain it this morning and go 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,000 to Luke 7. And, and as we sang that song 11 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,600 together and reminding one another, no matter what we're 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,000 facing in this life, if we're believing the Lord Jesus, we 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,400 have won the victory because Christ has won the victory. 14 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,840 So we have this eternal, overwhelming hope that no matter 15 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,040 what the world throws at us, no matter what we go through, if 16 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,880 you know Christ, you have everything and you have victory 17 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,200 because he's conquered sin, He's conquered death, He's conquered 18 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,800 the grave, and He promises US everlasting abundant life with 19 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,480 Him. With that in mind, I want to 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:23,720 look at this first several verses in Luke 7 till we see the 21 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,080 power of our Lord Jesus on display here. 22 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,880 So look with me in verse verse one as we begin reading. 23 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:37,880 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were 24 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:42,880 listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion servant, whom 25 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,640 his master valued highly was sick and about to die. 26 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,000 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to 27 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,200 him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 28 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,200 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him. 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:02,240 This man deserves to have you do this because he loves our nation 30 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,320 and has built our synagogue. So Jesus went with him. 31 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,080 He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends 32 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,920 to him. Lord, don't trouble yourself, 33 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,720 for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 34 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,760 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come 35 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,200 to you. But say the word. 36 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:27,080 I'm a servant will be healed, for I myself am a man under 37 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,480 authority, with soldiers under me. 38 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,520 I tell this one go, and he goes, and that one come, and he comes. 39 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,440 I say to my servant, do this and he does it. 40 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,200 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to 41 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:47,280 the crowd following, he said, I tell you, I have not found such 42 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:52,280 great faith even in Israel. And the men who had been sent 43 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,720 returned to the house and found the servant. 44 00:02:54,720 --> 00:03:00,520 Well, soon afterward Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his 45 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,320 disciples in a large crowd went along with him. 46 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,640 As he approached the town, gated dead person was being carried 47 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:10,280 out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. 48 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,200 And a large crowd from the town was with her. 49 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,040 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and he said, 50 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,960 Don't cry. Then he went up and touched the 51 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,200 beer they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. 52 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,880 He said, young man, I say to you, get up. 53 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,000 The dead man sat up and began to talk. 54 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,160 And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 55 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:38,320 So they're all filled with awe and praise. 56 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,200 God, a great prophet has appeared among us. 57 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,840 They said God has come to help his people. 58 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,560 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the 59 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:53,160 surrounding country. Pray with me, Father. 60 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:59,360 Thank you for this timeless truth that you have preserved in 61 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,040 your Word for us to read today and glean from. 62 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:10,360 Not just to glean facts, just to glean good information, but 63 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,920 you've preserved this so that we can glean from the infinite well 64 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:20,360 of Christ our Lord, who He is, how He acts. 65 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:25,640 Would you teach us we need you to help us through this. 66 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:30,200 May we see more clearly your son Jesus on display so that we may 67 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:35,400 worship and live for him in Jesus name Amen. 68 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:43,120 As we jump into the to the right in the middle of of a gospel and 69 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,240 I'm always I love when I get an opportunity to preach and it's 70 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:51,600 sometimes tough that you're not assigned a text or as we have 71 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,880 the luxury every week of we end at verse 67 and next week we 72 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,640 start at verse 68. And it's wonderful. 73 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:00,240 It's great. It's a great thing to know. 74 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:04,480 And when you jump into a middle of the book, as I get the 75 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,240 opportunity to to do today, we need to set some background. 76 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,520 We are in a gospel. If you're unfamiliar, the first 77 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,360 four books of the New Testament are gospel accounts Matthew, 78 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,040 Mark, Luke and John. Luke writes his gospel of Jesus 79 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,680 life and really for the chief purpose of laying out for us the 80 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:25,200 person and work of Jesus Christ, who he is and what he did on 81 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,760 this earth through many occasions. 82 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:33,400 His his deity is absolutely unequivocally proven that Jesus 83 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,000 is fully and truly divine. And I've talked to people from 84 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,280 time to time who don't believe that Jesus is God. 85 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,080 Read the gospels and you cannot get away from the fact that he 86 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,400 is God. He claims that he shows that he 87 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:51,440 proves that it is true but also in the gospel says full humanity 88 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,120 is also there that Jesus is the God man in the truest form that 89 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:57,560 he is true God and he is true man. 90 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,080 You see his authority over everything being exercised, the 91 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,800 wind, the waves, the storm, the lives of individuals, the the 92 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,160 even the demonic realm. They obey him. 93 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,880 You see his authority to teach unlike anyone has ever seen 94 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:19,560 there even his approval from God the Father is heard from on high 95 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,240 Jesus baptism. This is my Son, whom I'm well 96 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,160 pleased. Jesus lays out for us His 97 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,720 sovereignty to behold that He is an absolute control of every 98 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,360 single thing, period. He doesn't lay that down when he 99 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,080 comes to the earth, He gives it to US. 100 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,480 Power is displayed over everything. 101 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,360 I even I love this. And we see in the Gospels, Jesus 102 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,960 gives us reasons and ways to read the Bible. 103 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,320 He teaches us how to understand and believe the Scriptures. 104 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,680 He lays out for us the reliability and the 105 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,240 trustworthiness of the Holy Scriptures. 106 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,840 Most of this that we learned in the Gospels about Jesus, it's 107 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:07,920 seen for us and learned through His direct actions or His 108 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:12,800 interactions with individuals. Here we have today in Luke 7, 109 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:19,960 the 1st 17 verses, we see for us how Jesus deals with the lowly. 110 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:25,000 And this is so important for you and I to understand because we 111 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,880 are lowly, we are creatures. Our scripture writing, reading 112 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:35,800 this morning, we are but dust. We are laid low, we are nothing. 113 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,120 So we need to see how Jesus dealt with these people and even 114 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,360 we're going to learn by God's grace how Jesus deals with us 115 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,160 the lowly. This account in Luke 7, it opens 116 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,800 up as we read in verse one. Jesus finished saying all this. 117 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:54,200 Well, the obvious question you need to ask is what was He 118 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,040 saying? It's right after a portion of 119 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,360 Scripture that you're probably familiar with, but just in 120 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,280 another gospel account in Matthew 5 through 7, you have 121 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:06,640 the Sermon on the Mount when in Luke 6:00 and 7:00 there is or 122 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,800 five and six, there is a sermon that people debate whether it's 123 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,320 the same one or he's saying the same things at a different time, 124 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,840 and it's been dubbed the Sermon on the Plateau, says a lot of 125 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:17,400 the same things about loving your enemy. 126 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,920 He gives the Beatitudes talks about judging others. 127 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,040 He compares a good, good tree bearing good fruit and a bad 128 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,000 tree bearing bad fruit. Even gives us the the story of 129 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,760 the wise and the foolish builder who build their house on the 130 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:30,880 rock. The wise and then the the storm 131 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:32,720 came and went and beat against that house. 132 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,600 And then the the foolish builder who builds his house on the sand 133 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:37,640 and the wind comes and blows against that and it falls with a 134 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,440 great crash. So regardless of this is a 135 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,800 different time than Matthews, or it's the same time I happen to 136 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,480 think it is, Jesus says the same essential things. 137 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,560 And aren't you thankful that Jesus says the same things over 138 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:52,400 and over again? Because we are slow. 139 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,560 We need to hear it again. And so after Jesus said all of 140 00:08:57,560 --> 00:09:03,920 that, he enters Capernaum. Capernaum was a town on the 141 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,640 North Shore of the Sea of Galilee. 142 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:12,640 This was really a hub of Jesus's earthly ministry after he is ran 143 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,160 out of his hometown of Nazareth and they try to kill him. 144 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:17,520 He kind of escaped a, a plot to kill him there. 145 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,720 But he goes into Capernaum for the first time and there he 146 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,400 calls some of his disciples, he ministers there and he leaves 147 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:25,160 and he kind of stays in the air for a little bit. 148 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,240 And for sure he teaches this sermon and now he's back in 149 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:32,400 Capernaum. He's back there. 150 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,520 We see him dealing with the Lillian. 151 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:41,160 We see how he does this first way that he deals with the low 152 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:45,640 is lowly is that he he does it by honoring real faith. 153 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:49,040 Jesus deals with the lowly by honoring real faith. 154 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:51,520 We see that look at verse 9. We're going to skip ahead 155 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,240 because this is the focus for this, this part of the sermon. 156 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,400 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him and turning to the 157 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,720 crown following, he said, I tell you, I have not found such great 158 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:06,640 faith even in Israel. And so if you say the word faith 159 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,720 in a group of professing Christians or in a church 160 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,440 service or in a small group Bible study and you were to 161 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,960 interview 5 Christians or or professing Christians to give 162 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,400 you their definition of faith, you would get 5 or 6 different 163 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,800 answers sometimes. But we're going to look right 164 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,680 here. Jesus commends this man's faith. 165 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:27,000 He said, I've seen nothing like it and it amazed him. 166 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,200 What is so amazing? Why did he honor this man's 167 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:33,440 faith? In other words, what was this 168 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:38,560 man's faith consisting of? Well, we see it very clearly 169 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:42,520 that those who have real faith are those who devalue self. 170 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,680 That's the faith. Jesus honors those who devalue 171 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,360 self. Not on everybody in this passage 172 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,040 devalues self. We have in verse 2, there's some 173 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:57,520 people that come the centurion's servant really slave and his 174 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:02,200 master valued highly literally He beloved, he loved this slave, 175 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:06,360 this centurion, this master did this slave was sick and about to 176 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,040 die. And the centurion heard about 177 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,600 Jesus sent some elders of the Jews to him asking him to come 178 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,360 and heal his servant. This is a this is a bad 179 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,600 scenario. This is we, we are, we are 180 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:22,320 pulling off punches. We're going to Jesus. 181 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,920 Jesus can heal this man. I've heard about him and he 182 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:27,400 sends the elders of the Jews. The centurion does go find 183 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:28,960 Jesus. Go see if he'll come to my house 184 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:32,440 and see if he will heal my slave whom I love so much. 185 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,120 And this is what they come telling in verse 4. 186 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,960 They came to Jesus and they pleaded earnestly with him. 187 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:42,800 That carries the idea of just frantic begging. 188 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,840 No, Jesus, I need you listen, listen up, listen up. 189 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:46,280 This is what you need to come do. 190 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,440 They plead with him earnestly to come. 191 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:57,200 They say this man deserves to have you do this because he 192 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,960 loves our nation. He's built our synagogue. 193 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:05,560 Everything that they base this man's worth on is personal 194 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:11,040 merit, personal actions. This man is worth you doing 195 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:15,000 something for Jesus because of what he has done. 196 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,120 I hope you've been around the scriptures long enough and 197 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,480 you've been in this church long enough that you realize nobody 198 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:24,600 deserves Jesus to do anything for them. 199 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:28,440 You don't do things so that Jesus will then owe you. 200 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,520 That is false. Jesus owes you nothing but 201 00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:36,160 eternal damnation. That's what you deserve. 202 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:38,480 That's what this centurion deserves. 203 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:40,080 That's what these elders deserve. 204 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,280 But they come to Jesus with this plea. 205 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:47,400 You need to help him, help his servant, because man, he is so 206 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:49,840 worth it. He's great. 207 00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:56,400 This is a worldly idea of value. We hear it thrown around, right? 208 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:58,280 That you, you would love such and such. 209 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:03,560 You would love so and so because they are just a great guy there. 210 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:06,480 That's a great gal. They've done so much for me. 211 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,760 They are awesome. They come to Jesus and say this 212 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:16,160 guy is awesome and they give him two reasons why. 2 reasons why 213 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:20,720 he's so great. First, he loves our nation. 214 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,040 Now let's look a little bit deeply into that. 215 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,680 He loves our nation. These are the elders of the 216 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,640 Jews. Jesus being a Jewish man, the 217 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,080 Jews in just a few short chapters and probably was 218 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:36,720 already boiling, they wanted to kill him and they would later 219 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,520 call to crucify him, crucify him and bring him all through sham 220 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:42,800 trials. The elders of the Jews are 221 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,000 saying, Jesus, this man deserves you to do something for him 222 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:50,160 because he loves our nation. They're trying to find some 223 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:56,200 common ground with Jesus loves our nation and he built our 224 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,640 synagogue. And the way that that's phrased 225 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,160 in the Greek is literally like this. 226 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:05,760 He himself did it. Either he paid for it or he had 227 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,480 a direct hand in the matter. This man built our synagogue. 228 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:12,000 We could call it Centurion Synagogue. 229 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:15,560 He matters that much. He's deserving of it that much. 230 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:17,320 He's done so much for our country. 231 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:24,520 Jesus, he is patriotic and he seems to be pretty religious 232 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:27,520 then in America. Aren't those two things to so 233 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:31,120 many people? That is what goodness and 234 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:32,960 godliness is. That's worth. 235 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,720 He's patriotic and he's religious too, and he goes to 236 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,800 church and he has judeo-christian values. 237 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,600 Goodness in God's economy has nothing to do with your 238 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,880 patriotism. You can love the country. 239 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,720 You can love America. You can sing God Bless America 240 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:58,880 at the top of your lungs and go to hell. 241 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:04,520 You can give your life on the battlefield for this country and 242 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:10,800 thank God for those who have and think that that's going to earn 243 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:15,280 you some merit in God's economy and he's going to like you more 244 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,280 and love you more and honor you more because of what you've done 245 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,400 for your country in the name of God. 246 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:22,520 And God says that is a filthy rag. 247 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:28,760 To me, there's nothing. Religion, patriotism. 248 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:34,440 Jesus is not impressed with this, but these people are, and 249 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:41,920 so many today are. But the centurion, as true as 250 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,240 this stuff is about him, watch what he says about himself in 251 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,320 verse 6. Jesus went with him, and it was 252 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,160 not far from the house when the centurion sent more friends to 253 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:55,160 say to him, that's Jesus. Lord, don't trouble yourself, 254 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,720 for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 255 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:00,800 Now that sounds different, does it? 256 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,120 That sounds way different than what other people were saying. 257 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,480 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come 258 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:10,680 to you. Everybody's talking about how 259 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:14,000 worthy and deserving he is and he confesses his own 260 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:19,080 unworthiness. He is devaluing himself. 261 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:22,360 And in a world that's all about self, love and do this for 262 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,600 yourself. Love yourself, value yourself 263 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,960 more. Jesus does not honor that. 264 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:35,360 This man says I deserve nothing. Jesus, don't even come to my 265 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,160 house. I'm not even worthy of that. 266 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:41,160 That's why I'm sending more people. 267 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:42,360 And I knew you were getting close. 268 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,800 And so I'm scared that if you come to my house, I'm going to 269 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:52,040 be found so unworthy. It's an element of real faith, 270 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:57,560 total devalue of self. But he doesn't just devalue 271 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,880 himself. That in and of itself is not 272 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,000 real faith. It's an element of real faith. 273 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:04,520 And so many people get this confused. 274 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:08,440 I do think you talk to to individuals and parents and 275 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,560 other people who think that just because someone is aware of sin 276 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,960 and there's some guilt involved in their sin and they understand 277 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,440 a little bit about sin, that boom, they're saved. 278 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:19,839 That's faith. That's not faith. 279 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,960 That has to be there for you to have truth, saving faith in 280 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,079 Christ. But you must not just devalue 281 00:17:25,079 --> 00:17:27,920 yourself. You must depend on the Savior. 282 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,960 And that's who Jesus offers honors. 283 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,880 That kind of faith, the one that devalues herself and the one 284 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:37,920 that depends on the Savior must be both or it's not faith. 285 00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:41,680 And ironically, you're never going to depend on the Savior 286 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,680 truly until you genuinely devalue yourself. 287 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,200 This is this is amazing what he just says. 288 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:58,000 So, so look with me again in verse 7, he uses the 289 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:04,080 understanding that he has of being an authority and being 290 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,280 over people and having people answer to him being the boss, 291 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,880 giving directions. He understood effectual 292 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:19,240 authority, he says, but say the word and my servant will be 293 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,720 healed. That's enough to just stop and 294 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,600 really ponder for a minute, isn't it? 295 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:26,720 And here's why he understands it. 296 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:30,120 He says, look, I have I'm a man under authority. 297 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:37,080 I've got soldiers under me. I tell this one go and he goes, 298 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:41,200 tell this one come. And he comes. 299 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,040 I say to my servant, do this and what does he do? 300 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:51,800 He does it. I understand what it means to 301 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,560 give the word. I know what it means to say 302 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:07,320 something and have it done. Jesus looks at him in verse 9. 303 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,000 Jesus heard this. What's his reaction? 304 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:14,920 He was amazed at him. He is just amazed, Jesus. 305 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,040 This is one of two times in all the Gospels you see that Jesus 306 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:24,720 was amazed. He's obviously amazed at this 307 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,360 man's faith. The other time that he's amazed 308 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,600 is in Mark chapter 6 at the Jews. 309 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,520 He was amazed at their lack of faith. 310 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,920 The two times Jesus amazed one has extraordinary faith and then 311 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:39,960 another group of people have a lack of faith. 312 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:43,680 That's what amazes Jesus. The Jews were so amazing to 313 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:45,360 Jesus. They didn't have faith because 314 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,920 they had the promises, They had the Scriptures, they had the men 315 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,200 of God, they had the patriarchs. They had the hope of salvation. 316 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,920 But yet when the Savior came, they didn't have faith in him. 317 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,320 They had all the knowledge accrued in order to have faith. 318 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,520 And Jesus is amazed at their lack of faith. 319 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:09,040 Yet this Gentile centurion man has greater faith, he says, than 320 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:15,640 anyone I've seen in Israel. When he does this, he's not just 321 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,560 honoring this dude's faith, he's rebuking the lack of faith of 322 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:25,760 the Jewish people. I haven't seen anyone in Israel 323 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:34,760 with this kind of faith. He's blown away and it's a slap 324 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:36,680 in the face to those people who think they have faith, the 325 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,120 crowds who are there who have no faith, the people that have seen 326 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:43,320 the miracles of Jesus yet still have no faith. 327 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:49,240 Jesus says I've seen nothing like this man, this man who has 328 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,520 real faith that devalues himself, that depends on the 329 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:59,200 Savior, that just a word and my slave will be healed, just a 330 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:07,640 simple word. When this happens, Jesus rewards 331 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:12,280 this kind of faith. In verse 10, the men who had 332 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,680 been sent returned to the house and found the servant. 333 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:20,240 Well, that's what he wanted. That's what he depended on, 334 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,960 That's what he needed. And Jesus delivers. 335 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,560 I've never seen faith like this in all of Israel. 336 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:36,200 The Lord honors this faith, this faith in a in a very real and 337 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,880 personal sense for you and I to maybe test, test yourselves to 338 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,640 see if you have genuine faith. Number one, are you genuinely 339 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:49,120 really aware of your own unworthiness, your own not 340 00:21:49,120 --> 00:21:53,200 collective, not we're all bad, we're all sinners, but I am a 341 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,320 Sinner. I am undone. 342 00:21:55,360 --> 00:22:01,120 I am undeserving. This is highlighted in the book 343 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:03,120 of Luke in several different places. 344 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:07,040 Luke 5 verse 8 that Jesus appears to Peter and the other 345 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,160 group of the fishermen and they hadn't caught any fish and he 346 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,400 told them where to cast and they catch fish so many fish they 347 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,280 couldn't handle it. And when Peter saw this, he fell 348 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,240 at Jesus knees and said go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man 349 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,120 that that that's that's saving faith. 350 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:28,360 I have nothing. I am sinful, go away from me. 351 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,200 Luke 18 We see a more clearer picture of the the parable 352 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,440 between the tax collector and the Pharisee, Luke 1813. 353 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,720 The tax collector stood at a distance and he would not even 354 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,280 look up to heaven, but he beat his breast and said, God have 355 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,360 mercy on me. The Sinner. 356 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,720 Jesus said this man went home justified rather than the other. 357 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,880 This man had true faith in his own unworthiness and he depended 358 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:59,040 and trusted on the mercy and grace of his Savior. 359 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,760 It wasn't like the Pharisee who had it all together. 360 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,120 Thank God that I'm not like him. Oh, I could be so bad, I'm not 361 00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:09,600 like them. Oh Lord, thank you that I'm 362 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,600 great. I do this, I tithe, I do all of 363 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,400 this. I am just a great fella and I'm 364 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,800 not like this guy. Thank you that I'm not so bad. 365 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:25,720 That's not faith. That is abhorrent to God. 366 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:29,880 Real faith is genuinely aware of their own unworthiness. 367 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,200 In the same time they know and trust the power and authority of 368 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:38,000 Jesus. I'm undeserved, he says. 369 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:40,320 I, I, I don't deserve to have anything. 370 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:41,840 I'm so unworthy you can't even come to my house. 371 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:46,400 But just say the word, and my slave will be healed. 372 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,360 Your power transcends proximity. You don't even need to come up. 373 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:54,760 There were times that Jesus, didn't he? 374 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:56,760 He healed people with just a word. 375 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,640 Be healed, Lazarus. He didn't touch Lazarus, come 376 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:01,960 out of the grave. Then there were times where he 377 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,240 takes a blind man and he spits in the ground and he makes a 378 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,000 little mud with the dirt and he wipes it in his eyes and heals 379 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:08,600 them that way. Or he lays his hands on them and 380 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:12,480 heals them. This man has such great faith 381 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,200 that he knows Jesus. You don't even need to be there, 382 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,560 but if you just speak it, your word is so powerful that my 383 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:25,680 servant will be healed. Where do you get this faith? 384 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:31,160 Well, he'd apparently heard enough because faith, Romans 10, 385 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,640 verse 14 says, comes from hearing and hearing the word 386 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:34,960 about Christ. He'd heard. 387 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,120 He had heard enough about Jesus. Maybe he'd heard the stories. 388 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,520 Now Jesus exercises his power over disease. 389 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,040 This is the Messiah. He's claiming to be the Messiah. 390 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:46,800 People believe him to be the Messiah. 391 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:52,880 He's healing people. Have you heard about Jesus 392 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,520 calming the wind in the waves? Think peace be still. 393 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:00,680 It was still in the disciples. When they saw that, they were 394 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,400 amazed and said, who is this? Even the wind in the waves? 395 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:13,000 Obey him, baby, They had heard over Jesus has power over sin, 396 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,960 to forgive sin. That was the issue, wasn't it? 397 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:18,400 For the Pharisees, they couldn't get it. 398 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,400 Who can forgive sins but God alone? 399 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,360 He just looked at the man who's crippled and he said, what's 400 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:26,280 easier, get up and walk or your sins are forgiven? 401 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,440 I tell you, your sins are forgiven and get up and walk. 402 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,320 Take that. Maybe they heard about that. 403 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:37,240 Maybe he's putting more pieces together. 404 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,920 There's the same word that was going to say heal this slave is 405 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,040 the same word that said let there be light and there was 406 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,560 light. Maybe. 407 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,920 Maybe later on in life he heard about this story. 408 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,840 Jesus comes to the grave of his friend Lazarus, and he says 409 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,440 Lazarus come out of the grave. And guess who came out of the 410 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:57,440 grave? Lazarus. 411 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:04,640 Maybe he knew about this Jesus. He knew enough to believe that 412 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,160 all this Jesus needs to do is say the word. 413 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:12,360 But if you're going to be saved from your sin, you need to know 414 00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:15,440 that it is just the power of Jesus word that can make you 415 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,360 clean, that can save you. It's not your word, it's his 416 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:20,560 Lord. I'm trusting you. 417 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,360 That's faith. I'm so unclean, I'm so undone. 418 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:27,160 I need you to wash me and to cleanse me and to save me. 419 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,200 Just the word. He will do it. 420 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:36,680 All we're seeing here is so unnatural. 421 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,160 That's why Jesus is amazed. Jesus is not amazed because it 422 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:42,520 shocked him or he didn't know it was coming. 423 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:51,560 Come on, He's God. This faith can only be found in 424 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:56,240 someone who has been graced with saving faith. 425 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,200 Saving faith comes as a gift from God. 426 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,880 Paul makes this argument talking about suffering, that this 427 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,040 should be so elementary. In Philippians 129 he said it's 428 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,280 been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in 429 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:13,080 him but also to suffer. Making the point that you guys 430 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,800 already know that believe for faith is granted to you by God, 431 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:19,520 otherwise you'd never have faith. 432 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,800 God uses all the elements, the hearing, the working, the 433 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,240 making. It makes sense to birth saving 434 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,680 faith in this man so that he then exercises it in the 435 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:30,880 Messiah. Unnatural. 436 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,720 This is a work of God. That's why it's so amazing. 437 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,640 And anyone who has faith in Christ, it's a work of God, and 438 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,800 it should amaze you because why in the world would you trust in 439 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:45,600 a God that you cannot see in a Jesus who died for your sins and 440 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,800 resurrected that you did not personally witness? 441 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,360 Why would you forsake the things of this world that you see? 442 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:53,960 Why would you devalue yourself when, let's be honest, you're 443 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,440 probably a nice guy? Why would you think you have 444 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,160 nothing to offer? Because God has convinced you 445 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,440 that you have nothing to offer in comparison with the goodness 446 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:02,720 and mercy and greatness of Christ. 447 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,880 And he's your only hope. When you exercise this kind of 448 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,400 faith in Christ, it's never turned away. 449 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,880 Psalm 5117, a broken and contrite heart. 450 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:16,720 You God will not despise. He won't turn it away. 451 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,080 Jesus more clearly in John 637 he says whoever comes to me, I 452 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:27,760 will never drive away. What hope so don't beat yourself 453 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,440 up and think, ah man, I hope maybe I hope my faith is really 454 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:32,720 saving faith. I hope saving grace of God and 455 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,880 you think is it God is it God? If you understand your sin 456 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:40,040 before God, I beg you to see the goodness and mercy poured out on 457 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,880 Christ in your place on the cross, and his death and 458 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,920 resurrection being the only suitable sacrifice for your sin. 459 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,440 And you trust him to save you, and he will. 460 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:51,440 And if you do that, here's what I can conclude. 461 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,160 It was a work of God and praise God for a work of God that he's 462 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,080 doing in your life and he's doing in your heart and he's 463 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,600 doing in your soul, and the saving faith that he has 464 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,240 birthed. If that happens, it's because 465 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:07,920 God saw fit for it to happen. So do you have that faith? 466 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,440 Is that the definition of your faith in Christ? 467 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:16,880 Maybe You say, yeah, I think I'm a Christian. 468 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:19,760 Did you come to Christ like this? 469 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:21,800 Oh, Jesus, you're so good for me. 470 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,320 Oh, yeah. This is the best step for me to 471 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:25,320 do. I think this is the wisest 472 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,720 choice. Or did you come to Jesus like 473 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:29,200 the hymn writer? Nothing in my hands. 474 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:30,880 I bring simply to the cross. I cling. 475 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,720 I got nothing. I I I have more than nothing. 476 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:35,960 I don't even, I I'm not even worth saving. 477 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:37,360 I don't know why you would save me. 478 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,600 Oh, but Jesus, I'm trusting you to do it because you said you 479 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,560 would, and I know you can. That's salvation. 480 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:46,680 That's what it means to have faith in Christ. 481 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,840 Maybe in daily life, you're just not trusting the promises of 482 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:53,560 God. You're not having real faith. 483 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,240 The apostles face this. Yeah, great. 484 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:01,800 This should help us because US 21st century believers struggle 485 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,680 with the same things that the apostles did who were with Jesus 486 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,920 24/7. And when they were suffering 487 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,160 from lack of faith, You know what they said, Lord, Luke 17, 488 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:13,320 five, increase our faith. You can pray that Lord increase 489 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,200 our faith. What does that look like? 490 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,520 Lord? Make me be less valuing of 491 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:19,760 myself. Help me see my own unworthiness 492 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,360 and help me see the worth of you and my need desperately for You 493 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,560 every hour. Lord, increase our faith. 494 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:28,800 I promise you He won't disappoint. 495 00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:33,040 He's going to deliver on that prayer because Jesus deals with 496 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:34,920 the lowly by honoring real faith. 497 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,720 Second way he deals with the lowly is by having genuine 498 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,480 compassion. Compassion's a great a great 499 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,840 term and in the Greek it, it actually means this is to be 500 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,840 deeply moved in the bowels or in like the gut. 501 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:50,320 But we understand why I felt that deeply. 502 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,320 It was gut wrenching. It's not just that feeling, but 503 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,240 it's a feeling of love and pity from the depths. 504 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,280 Do you see someone hurting? You see someone harmed, 505 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,760 suffering, and there's something inside of you. 506 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:08,320 And we understand that the illustration that just moves us, 507 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:14,120 some of us show it by crying, some of us show it by just slap 508 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:18,280 them on the back. Jesus has compassion. 509 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:22,280 And the Princeton theologian BB Warfield said the compassion is 510 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,080 the emotion that is most attributed to Jesus in the 511 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:26,600 Gospels. Compassion. 512 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,880 Matthew 936. When Jesus saw the crowds, He 513 00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:35,880 had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless 514 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:39,480 like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 1414. 515 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,600 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion 516 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,280 on them and healed their sick. Matthew 2031. 517 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,160 Lord son of David, have mercy on us. 2 blind men coming to Jesus 518 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,000 and Jesus stopped and called them. 519 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:50,240 What do you want me to do for you? 520 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,240 He asked. Lord, they answered, we want our 521 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,600 sight. Of course because they were 522 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:59,320 blind, one of their sight Jesus had compassion on them and 523 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:00,840 touched their eyes. Immediately they received their 524 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,560 sight or they all too. Famous parable, The prodigal 525 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,960 son, the two sons. Luke 1520. 526 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,080 While he was still a long way off there he'd been squandering 527 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:17,720 his father's inheritance. His father saw him and was 528 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:22,520 filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his 529 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:27,640 arms around him, and kissed him. Maybe in Mark 140, Jesus man 530 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:29,400 says, Jesus, if you're willing, you can make me clean. 531 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,120 And Jesus was filled with yet again compassion. 532 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:35,360 He reached out his hand and touched the man. 533 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,040 I'm willing, he said. Be clean. 534 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,240 His compassion drives His willingness towards those who 535 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:46,560 are suffering, towards those who are hurting, towards those who 536 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,680 are lowly. Verse 11. 537 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,320 Jesus goes to the town soon afterward called Nain. 538 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,240 His disciples were with him and a large crowd were following 539 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,600 with him. Nain was about 25 miles, give or 540 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,520 take from Capernaum, the town we lot last saw him in, in this 541 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:04,120 prior miracle. It's on the other side of the 542 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:05,880 Sea of Galilee. So it had taken kind of a common 543 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,040 trade route and come around the West side of the sea more than 544 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,080 likely. And then he'd arrived in this 545 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:15,520 town name and he comes up to the gate and there's a crowd with 546 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,280 him. No doubt there's the crowd is 547 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:22,360 doing this. They are amazed at Jesus. 548 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:26,040 I hope he does something else cool. 549 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:28,600 I mean, think about everywhere he goes. 550 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:36,360 He heals somebody, He raises the dead, He casts out demons, He 551 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:38,800 sits down and teaches them as one of the authority like they'd 552 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:42,760 never heard of. When they get hungry, he breaks 553 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:44,520 bread and feeds everybody and has leftovers. 554 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,360 Of course they're following Jesus. 555 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:51,320 What's he going to do next? They're enjoying the blessing of 556 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:57,600 Jesus there in their presence. But Jesus's heart is moved to 557 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,320 fulfill what he came to do. Or he says in Luke 532 that I 558 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:02,720 came not to call righteous, but sinners to repentance. 559 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:06,560 His mission moves forward. The crowds don't really quite 560 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:10,320 understand this yet. The mission is to save. 561 00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,239 The mission is to be compassionate towards those who 562 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,239 are suffering, those in those hopeless scenarios. 563 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:17,880 And let me tell you, this is a hopeless one. 564 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:22,400 In the town of Name, Jesus walked up to the gate and 565 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,760 there's a funeral procession. Funerals are sad times, aren't 566 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,159 they? They're solemn, contemplative 567 00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:35,080 times, very serious, many cases, very hopeless. 568 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,840 This one was one of those. It was a dead man being carried 569 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:41,600 out. He was carried out of the Bible 570 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,080 says a beer, but it really was kind of a open coffin where you 571 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:48,159 can see what's going on, big procession, a lot of people. 572 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:52,280 But there was a dead man. This dead man was the only son 573 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:59,280 of his mother who was a widow. Now it just gets more hopeless 574 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,520 here. Only son? 575 00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:09,520 Doesn't the Bible hold an only son in a different drama? 576 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,840 And it usually emphasizes that his only son, Abraham, he's told 577 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:19,080 to sacrifice his son, his only son, when he raises the knife 578 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,600 over the boy and the Lord says no, don't harm the boy. 579 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:26,760 Or older translations. I love don't lay a hand on the 580 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:28,720 lad but he starts saying lad more. 581 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:34,520 Don't touch the boy. Don't harm your son, your only 582 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:40,000 son. In Luke 938 man comes to Jesus. 583 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:46,320 Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only son. 584 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,760 This is extremely hopeless. The Bible paints that picture 585 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,720 for us. It's not just their only son, 586 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:01,720 but her husband has also passed. This was a widow, and if a widow 587 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:04,120 were to lose her husband, she was really dependent on her 588 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:06,720 immediate family. The government didn't do a whole 589 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:10,400 lot for him, so her way of providing for herself had just 590 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:16,440 gone out the window. Now she has a son who might can 591 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:17,800 step up and be the man of the house. 592 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:21,640 Now he's dead. Hopeless widow here, grieving 593 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:27,440 the loss of her only son. She's hopeless and everyone 594 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,440 around is helpless. What do you think about it? 595 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,560 If you've ever been to a funeral, you go there with great 596 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,000 attention, don't you? Hopefully you want to love the 597 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,040 family. You want to be there for the 598 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:41,400 family. You want to pray with and pray 599 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:47,000 for the family. Especially the tragedy is 600 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:55,560 greater if it's unexpected. A son who is not yet old passes 601 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:58,120 away. Parents who have the son or 602 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,920 daughter live in their house or grieving the loss of their 603 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:02,840 child. Or maybe it's a it's a spouse. 604 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:08,680 This is WAVY. When you go to these funerals, 605 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,240 you go with great intentions, but they're so often man, your 606 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:15,000 hands are just kind of tied behind your back. 607 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,000 What can you do to help? Maybe you've been in that 608 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,360 grieving process. I mean, there's, there's been 609 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,040 the person who wants to help so badly that they end up harming 610 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:25,840 just because they, they, they talk too much. 611 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,120 You don't want to do that. So what? 612 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:30,280 Where's the balance? Do we speak? 613 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:32,360 Do we, do we, do we do we not? Would you do we cried or we're 614 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:36,160 just there. Nobody can really do anything 615 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:37,680 for this widow because you know what she wants more than 616 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,120 anything. She wants her son back. 617 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:44,640 She wants her husband back. That's what's causing her 618 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:51,880 suffering and grief. Jesus looks at her hopeless, 619 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:58,160 suffering, helpless, and he has enough compassion to actually 620 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:01,400 step in. Look what he says to her verse 621 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:05,400 13, the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her. 622 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,320 That's literally he had compassion, same word in the 623 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:15,560 Greek had compassion on her and he said do not cry. 624 00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:20,520 That seems oddly placed until you realize what we've been 625 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:21,760 talking about a little bit earlier. 626 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:28,560 The power of Jesus's words. Do not cry. 627 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,360 He says something. He steps in and says something 628 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:38,280 out of his compassion being moved and he steps in and 629 00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:43,840 actually does something. He goes up and he touched the 630 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:47,200 coffin they were carrying him on and the bearers stood still. 631 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:54,800 The funeral procession stopped and there's Jesus doing a huge 632 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:57,080 no, no, touching the coffin of a dead guy. 633 00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:00,280 In their mind, he's defiling himself. 634 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:04,520 What is going on? Jesus has not moved, touches the 635 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,520 beer. Everyone stops, all eyes on him, 636 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,960 all ears open. He said, young man, I say to 637 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:20,730 you, get up. What did he do? 638 00:39:22,210 --> 00:39:24,610 You shake him. Is he resuscitated? 639 00:39:24,610 --> 00:39:27,330 Does he do mouth to mouth or chest compressions? 640 00:39:27,330 --> 00:39:32,520 Whatever's in now? No, he just touches the side of 641 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:34,400 the beer. Oh, man, get up. 642 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:38,040 Then the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave 643 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:43,440 him back to his mother. No rehabilitation time, no 644 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:45,200 teaching him how to talk because he's been in a coma. 645 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:47,600 He's probably drained, damaged, though He was completely dead. 646 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:49,200 And now he's completely alive again. 647 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:52,160 Instantaneously, at the word of Jesus. 648 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,320 Touch the coffin. Young man, get up. 649 00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:02,520 Why'd he do this? Because he looked at the 650 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,880 suffering woman and he had compassion towards her. 651 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:11,040 He didn't just say, I wish you well, man. 652 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:13,080 This, this is terrible. This is, this is so tragic. 653 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:14,640 It's so unfortunate. I hate that you lost your your 654 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:16,360 husband and your daughter and your son. 655 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:20,520 I mean, I'll pray for you. That's really the best we can 656 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,600 do, isn't it? Jesus can do so much better than 657 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:24,680 us. He says, get up. 658 00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:32,200 Here's your mom, here's your son, but I want you to see a 659 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:33,760 greater fulfillment. Hopefully you're putting the 660 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:39,240 pieces together here. You see that Christ has real 661 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:42,120 compassion on real sinners, which He looks upon. 662 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,440 He has compassion towards sinners. 663 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:51,200 That's the point. The greatest suffering that you 664 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:55,360 and I can ever face is our sin before God that violates on our 665 00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:58,760 Creator and separates us from fellowship with our Creator. 666 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:01,360 That's the greatest amount of suffering. 667 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,080 Christ has compassion. He has compassion enough to step 668 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:14,480 in and to come to this earth, to take on flesh, to be born under 669 00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:20,440 the law, to become a curse for us and laid down his life for 670 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:27,360 helpless, hopeless sheep. That's easy to say, right? 671 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:29,920 Yeah, Jesus loves sinners. Oh, he came to die for Sinner. 672 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,720 You need to get like this. Jesus didn't just die for 673 00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:38,240 sinners, but I'm a Sinner. Jesus died for me. 674 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:41,360 I'm the one that he had compassion on. 675 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,400 Don't just externalize and say, wow, I'm so glad Jesus has 676 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:48,360 compassion on people who are really bad and sinful. 677 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:53,840 Jesus has compassion on me who's so bad and so sinful. 678 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:58,280 Jesus has compassion on you, poor Sinner, that he would come 679 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:02,880 and live a perfect righteous life and die for you. 680 00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:07,000 And Isaiah writes and Isaiah 53 four, that he took up our pain 681 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:11,520 and bore our suffering, Then he bore our defilement, then he 682 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,280 became a curse for us. He was stricken for us. 683 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:18,800 He became sin, the one who knew no sin, so that in him we might 684 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:24,720 become the righteousness of God. And in that cross he absorbed 685 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:29,720 God's anger for us. The angry hand of God that 686 00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:42,120 should have destroyed us was laid heavily upon the person of 687 00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:45,560 Jesus Christ. He absorbed all the anger that 688 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:51,920 was due us. He did this for us because he 689 00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:56,120 had compassion towards the state we were in. 690 00:42:57,360 --> 00:43:00,000 Thomas Goodwin said there's comfort concerning such 691 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:05,280 infirmities and that your very sins move him to pity more than 692 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:09,400 to anger. Child of God, that's how God 693 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:12,840 deals with you. Pity instead of anger. 694 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:19,960 You deserve so much anger when we know the rest of the story 695 00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:21,960 through Christ. He didn't just go to the cross, 696 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:25,320 He didn't just absorb the wrath of the Father, but he defeated 697 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:27,280 death three days later when He rose from the dead. 698 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:31,120 And he promises everyone who will come to Him by faith will 699 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,920 also be free from death, will also resurrect. 700 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:35,720 Look what He says in John 5 verse 28. 701 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,640 Don't be amazed at this for a time is coming when all who are 702 00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:43,880 in their graves will hear his voice and come out hear His 703 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:46,760 voice. Those who have done what is 704 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:51,600 goodwill rise to live. Christian, we have a hope they 705 00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:54,280 had our funeral. When they lay that body in the 706 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:57,320 grave or however they dispose of your carcass, that will one day 707 00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:00,400 be raised and reunited with your soul to be with the Lord 708 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:07,680 forever. When we can see a wonderful 709 00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:11,160 picture of this in our own salvation, our own regeneration, 710 00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:13,680 we look at this miracle. We look at several other 711 00:44:13,680 --> 00:44:17,120 miracles of Jesus. There's no faith exercised by 712 00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:19,120 the people. Obviously the first one there 713 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:20,520 was faith. He was amazing, his faith, but 714 00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:24,880 this one with the dead, the the widow's dead son, he has zero 715 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:29,680 faith for you. Recovering Southern Baptist 716 00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:34,080 Jesus did not honor his thought free will. 717 00:44:34,480 --> 00:44:37,280 He violated it when he said get up. 718 00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:41,360 He didn't come up to the grave and say hey buddy, I'm knocking 719 00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:44,600 on the door of your heart. You think you can get up out of 720 00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:46,040 that grave? I really want to do something 721 00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,080 for you, but I've done 99%. I need you to do the one. 722 00:44:51,720 --> 00:44:53,440 That's not how regeneration works. 723 00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:55,080 That's not how the new birth works. 724 00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:00,560 There is 0 faith involved. God breathes life into your dead 725 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:02,000 soul. Why? 726 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:03,920 Because he's compassionate towards you. 727 00:45:04,080 --> 00:45:06,400 And if he doesn't breathe life into your dead soul, guess what? 728 00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:08,360 You're going to keep doing what dead people do. 729 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:12,120 Sinning, chasing after the world, chasing after your flesh, 730 00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:14,480 and submitting to your Father the devil. 731 00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:15,920 That's Ephesians 2 one through 3. 732 00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:21,000 So because of God's compassionate hand, He 733 00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:24,640 regenerates you to life and even gives you saving faith to 734 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:31,840 believe in Him. And as you're a believer, then 735 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:36,480 the compassionate Word of Christ just know what to say and when 736 00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:43,000 to say it. I'm amazed at the living and 737 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:46,360 active Word of God that you read the thing that you need at just 738 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:51,400 the right time. You read something like this 739 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:55,560 when you're weary and worn out from just the rat race of life. 740 00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:58,120 Or maybe you're wore out from just trying to do the church 741 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:00,200 thing and it's not clicking and you're trying all the religion. 742 00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:01,880 You're trying all the stuff, but man, you just have no 743 00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:03,680 fulfillment. You read the words of Jesus in 744 00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:06,360 Matthew 1128. Come to me, all who were weary 745 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:08,240 and burdened. You say I'm weary and burdened. 746 00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:13,120 I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn 747 00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:15,080 from me, for I'm gentle and humbling heart, and you will 748 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,760 find rest for your souls. Oh, don't we need so much rest 749 00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:22,960 for our souls? And the compassionate Jesus 750 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:28,040 Christ offers it, even offers timely rebukes through his word. 751 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:31,320 You just need a slap on the mouth. 752 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:35,880 I don't know if that's politically correct, but we need 753 00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:38,280 it, don't we? We think we're on the mountain. 754 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,160 We think we're doing really, really good, and we read 755 00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:43,160 something in the Word and we hear a sermon or we're talking 756 00:46:43,160 --> 00:46:45,680 to other Christians and we're just fellowshipping and they say 757 00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:47,920 something or do something. You say wow, I'm a scoundrel, 758 00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:51,760 thank God who had compassion on you to show that to you. 759 00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:58,760 He does that because he has genuine compassion. 3rd and 760 00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:02,240 finally, he learned how Jesus deals with the lowly. 761 00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:06,320 He does so by highlighting his identity. 762 00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,480 I don't want you to miss what happens here, their reaction, 763 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:14,880 because it tells us a whole lot. Verse 16, they're all filled 764 00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:17,920 with awe and they praised God. What that literally means is 765 00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:21,440 they were gripped with fear and they praised God. 766 00:47:22,600 --> 00:47:24,400 They were in awe. They were in wonder. 767 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,760 I would imagine they were in awe and wonder because the point 768 00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:32,160 that they went to mourn the death of this kid is taken away 769 00:47:32,160 --> 00:47:35,880 because this dude walked through the gate, touched the coffin and 770 00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:41,360 said get up and he got up. They're in awe. 771 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:42,920 They're they're gripped with fear. 772 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:45,960 Who is this? And they praise God. 773 00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:51,800 They say a great prophet has appeared among us close. 774 00:47:53,120 --> 00:47:55,480 They said God has come to help his people. 775 00:47:57,000 --> 00:47:59,600 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the 776 00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:09,080 surrounding country. This was no small matter and 777 00:48:09,080 --> 00:48:13,880 Jesus's identity is highlighted here, that he is majestic and to 778 00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:21,160 be feared. All too often God is treated as 779 00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:26,360 our buddy. God is treated as just someone 780 00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:28,800 else. I've even heard this awful 781 00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:30,320 illustration. This is how you pray. 782 00:48:30,320 --> 00:48:32,720 You just talk to God like you're talking to just one of your 783 00:48:32,720 --> 00:48:36,640 friends. That's not how Jesus said to 784 00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:44,600 pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed, 785 00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:47,560 be your name, revered be your name. 786 00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:52,040 Yes, we have Open Access to the throne of God through Jesus 787 00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:56,520 Christ, for that came at a great cost and a cost worth fearing in 788 00:48:56,520 --> 00:49:00,160 a cost worth realizing. The majesty of God, the psalmist 789 00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:04,800 wrote in Psalm 147, verse 5. Great is our Lord and mighty in 790 00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:06,960 power. First Chronicles 2911. 791 00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:11,920 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and 792 00:49:11,920 --> 00:49:15,840 the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and 793 00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:19,200 earth is yours. Does that sound like it's no big 794 00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:22,000 deal? That sounds like someone to be 795 00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:25,240 feared. Yours, Lord, is the Kingdom. 796 00:49:25,760 --> 00:49:27,760 You are exalted as head over all. 797 00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:30,640 Wealth and honor come from you. You're the ruler of all things, 798 00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:33,400 and your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength 799 00:49:33,400 --> 00:49:36,160 to all. And they rightly did what the 800 00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,200 psalmist called for them to do in Psalm 33. 801 00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:41,880 Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the people of the world 802 00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:44,800 Revere him. That should be our reaction to 803 00:49:44,800 --> 00:49:52,320 when God is revealed to us. But don't miss what else they 804 00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:55,840 say. They're gripped with fear, 805 00:49:56,720 --> 00:50:00,880 filled with awe and praise God. But then they say a great 806 00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:07,640 prophet has appeared. God has come to help his people. 807 00:50:11,720 --> 00:50:15,520 The Jesus has identity of 1 of majestic and to be feared. 808 00:50:16,880 --> 00:50:18,520 Yet he's condescending and close. 809 00:50:22,200 --> 00:50:26,720 God Incarnate stood in their midst, exercising the power of 810 00:50:26,720 --> 00:50:33,880 God alone to help them. Jesus had not come to smite them 811 00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:36,320 in their unbelief, He'd come to help them. 812 00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:44,160 If you don't see this balance clearly that He's majestic, yet 813 00:50:44,160 --> 00:50:47,400 He's condescending in close, you can do something that John 814 00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:50,880 Bunyan warned about in his pilgrims progress in the valley, 815 00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:52,880 the shadow of death. He said as you walk down that 816 00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:56,840 path, on one side there's a deep ditch that you can fall in and 817 00:50:56,840 --> 00:50:59,160 on the other there's a great bog that you can fall in. 818 00:50:59,720 --> 00:51:02,200 And we do this with with with different concepts in Scripture, 819 00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:04,680 don't we? We may over emphasize the 820 00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:07,680 sovereignty of God. Then we forget man's 821 00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:10,240 responsibility to repent and believe or even to share the 822 00:51:10,240 --> 00:51:13,320 gospel, or we do vice versa. And it's all about 823 00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:14,920 responsibility. It's all about choice. 824 00:51:14,920 --> 00:51:17,520 And it's all about this, that we've minimized the sovereignty 825 00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:19,920 of God. The Bible holds it in great 826 00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:21,960 balance. Among many other things. 827 00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:27,080 This is one of them. So you can fall into one of 828 00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:30,000 those ditches or bogs by doing this. 829 00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:38,120 You can over emphasize God's majesty because you want to 830 00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:47,640 avoid heresy. Anybody say Amen, but in that 831 00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:52,560 you can run the risk of forgetting and missing his 832 00:51:52,560 --> 00:51:57,960 closeness that God has come to help his people. 833 00:52:01,680 --> 00:52:03,080 You may even miss his compassion. 834 00:52:05,840 --> 00:52:08,480 You can overcorrect. Oh, God is so Manny and forget 835 00:52:08,480 --> 00:52:10,920 that, yes, but he is compassionate. 836 00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:15,280 Or you can do this. You can over personalize and 837 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:19,840 over trivialize as so often happens, God's compassion and 838 00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:23,720 even his closeness that you forget that he is majestic and 839 00:52:23,720 --> 00:52:27,040 should be feared. You see what I'm saying? 840 00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:29,960 You see how this text holds them both there? 841 00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:33,280 Yes, God is to be feared. He's come to help us. 842 00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:39,240 And doesn't Jesus embody that? I mean, there's no further than 843 00:52:39,240 --> 00:52:42,480 the cross. Does Jesus hate sin? 844 00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:47,920 Does the Father hate sin? Does the Father love the Son 845 00:52:48,600 --> 00:52:50,960 eternally? Does the Father love us? 846 00:52:51,680 --> 00:52:53,920 Yet he poured out his anger on his only begotten Son because he 847 00:52:53,920 --> 00:52:55,400 hates sin so much. What? 848 00:52:56,920 --> 00:53:02,360 Yes, you see this. And Jesus came to this earth to 849 00:53:02,360 --> 00:53:10,720 condescend, to bring us, to reconcile us to our Creator, the 850 00:53:10,720 --> 00:53:14,760 high, holy, majestic Creator, who we were damned from. 851 00:53:17,120 --> 00:53:21,640 You've got to see these two. And I'm no huge CS Lewis fan, 852 00:53:22,800 --> 00:53:25,120 but I did watch The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when I 853 00:53:25,120 --> 00:53:28,920 was a little kid. I didn't read the books, too 854 00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:30,360 much reading, but I watched the movies. 855 00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:31,080 And they were good, weren't they? 856 00:53:35,240 --> 00:53:37,480 But when the word got around the Aslan, the great Lion was 857 00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:41,440 returning. And poor little Susan, she's 858 00:53:41,440 --> 00:53:43,120 talking to Mr. Beaver about it, isn't she? 859 00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:52,440 And she asked, is he quite safe? I feel rather nervous about 860 00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:58,360 meeting a lion safe, said Mr. Beaver. 861 00:54:00,120 --> 00:54:05,720 Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but 862 00:54:05,720 --> 00:54:13,480 he's good. That is what you need to see in 863 00:54:13,480 --> 00:54:15,720 Christ. Course he isn't safe, but he's 864 00:54:15,720 --> 00:54:19,760 good and compassionate and full of tender mercies. 865 00:54:21,880 --> 00:54:25,080 We see that in this account. As they're fearing God, there is 866 00:54:25,080 --> 00:54:27,600 a widow rejoicing that her Son has been compassionately raised 867 00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:31,800 from the dead. As we fear God is high and holy 868 00:54:32,480 --> 00:54:37,480 and unapproachable, yet He's been given us access to the 869 00:54:37,480 --> 00:54:41,400 blood of Jesus Christ to enter his throne room of grace with 870 00:54:41,680 --> 00:54:48,000 confidence. And He's done this for the lowly 871 00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:53,120 Christian. This is, this is our Savior's 872 00:54:53,120 --> 00:54:55,640 heart towards us. This is how he deals with us. 873 00:54:58,160 --> 00:55:06,320 God has truly visited his people and you see it no clearer than 874 00:55:06,320 --> 00:55:12,560 the life and work of Jesus Christ that the God man came and 875 00:55:12,560 --> 00:55:16,240 he fulfilled all righteousness. The law that you could never 876 00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:20,160 keep, He kept perfectly and he died as a punishment for your 877 00:55:20,160 --> 00:55:22,280 sin. Believer in my sin. 878 00:55:22,400 --> 00:55:25,600 And he rose victoriously on the third day and he calls every man 879 00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:27,680 everywhere to repent and believe him. 880 00:55:31,360 --> 00:55:37,760 May we rightly bow in wonder that he would love me. 881 00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:46,520 He would love you, a Sinner condemned, lowly and unclean. 882 00:55:48,520 --> 00:55:50,240 Let's pray together. Father, thank you that that is 883 00:55:50,240 --> 00:55:53,400 true. Help us to believe it. 884 00:55:56,160 --> 00:56:04,040 May we see Your compassionate heart, so full of grace, so 885 00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:09,240 undeserved. May we be in awe of you. 886 00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:16,760 May our all drive us to obedience and faithfulness to 887 00:56:16,760 --> 00:56:24,080 You that you breathe life into dead sinners, and You give us 888 00:56:24,880 --> 00:56:28,480 eternal life, abundant life that now brings honor to You to 889 00:56:28,480 --> 00:56:36,840 fulfill our great purpose. Father, may we see you. 890 00:56:36,840 --> 00:56:42,880 I pray that the words from your word will change us in Jesus 891 00:56:42,880 --> 00:56:48,760 name, Amen. You've been listening to Key 892 00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:51,520 Life Fellowship's Pulpit Ministry podcast. 893 00:56:51,880 --> 00:56:55,040 Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.