1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:05,680 The sermon today will be coming from Matthew chapter 8, verses 5 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:09,520 through 13. If you don't have a Bible, it'll 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:18,760 be in Page 762 of the Bible under your seat. 762 This is 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:23,000 what God's Word says. When he had entered Capernaum, a 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,320 centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, Lord, my 6 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,720 servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly. 7 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,240 And he said to him, I will come and heal him. 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,000 But the centurion replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,960 under my roof. But only say the word, and my 10 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,240 servant will be healed. For I too am a man under 11 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:44,840 authority, with soldiers under me. 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,280 And I say to 1 Go, and he goes, and to another come, and he 13 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,240 comes, and to my servant do this, and he does it. 14 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,640 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who 15 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,120 followed him, Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I 16 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,720 found such faith. I tell you, many will come from 17 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,280 east and West and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and 18 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,760 Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the Kingdom 19 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,160 will be thrown into the outer darkness. 20 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,800 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth 21 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,640 into the centurion. Jesus said Go, let it be done 22 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,120 for you as you have believed, and the servant was healed at 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,680 that very moment. This is God's word. 24 00:01:33,060 --> 00:01:34,900 What's going on? Port City family and friends. 25 00:01:34,900 --> 00:01:36,780 How are we doing? Good. 26 00:01:36,780 --> 00:01:39,460 My name is Tanner. It's good to be with you at Port 27 00:01:39,460 --> 00:01:42,260 City All. We are on a mission to empower 28 00:01:42,260 --> 00:01:44,740 people. Empower means you can do it and 29 00:01:44,740 --> 00:01:47,900 we can help. We want to help people follow 30 00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:49,740 Jesus. We believe that the gospel 31 00:01:49,740 --> 00:01:53,260 changes everything in your life and God actually made you to 32 00:01:53,260 --> 00:01:56,280 multiply your life. You might not feel like you're 33 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:58,960 some apostle or super Christian or something like that. 34 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,960 Well, the good news is you don't need to be like God multiplies 35 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,080 the lives of those who know him. So whether you've known Jesus 36 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,639 for 5 minutes or 50 years, we believe God wants to multiply 37 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:10,080 your life and we want to help you. 38 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,000 You can do it and we can help. So what I'm going to do is I'm 39 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,400 going to pray for our time in God's Word that we would hear 40 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,000 what God wants us to hear. And even over just this vision 41 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,840 that we believe God wants to multiply our lives. 42 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:26,320 Will you pray with me? Our Father, we believe God, that 43 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,360 you want to multiply our lives, that because of what Christ has 44 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,360 done that God, your normal means of taking your mission 45 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,560 throughout the earth is by people just embodying this 46 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,320 message, by people knowing you, by the Spirit and God that you 47 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,960 give new life, that new life comes to the next generation 48 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,160 through the one before it. So God, make this a church that 49 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,000 multiplies disciples. God, would you make us a 50 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,200 training center, a hub, a boot camp, if you will, Lord, where 51 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,760 people are just pumped out who love you, know your word, 52 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,280 understand the church, and are on mission, on fire for you. 53 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,960 So God, open our eyes to understand your word right now. 54 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,160 We pray in Jesus name, Amen. I know the last time you thought 55 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,760 about how much authority is baked into your daily life, you 56 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,320 tell your Mama, yes ma'am, or you should you tell your coach 57 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,240 yes coach. You know some of those usually 58 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,240 isn't it crazy? The yes coaches seem quicker 59 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:16,840 than the yes Mams, don't they parents? 60 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,680 The coach ones were like, yes, coach, we'll run 100 miles for 61 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,880 coach. But employees listen to their 62 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:24,200 bosses. You know, there's, there's a 63 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,520 sense in which authority is just baked into the design of way, 64 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,560 the way things are just supposed to go. 65 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,440 OK, Now that could go one of two ways. 66 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,360 When somebody is a bad authority, it just creates 67 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,120 anxiety. They have the positional 68 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,920 authority and they have the power to kind of everybody under 69 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:45,320 them is looking over their shoulder. 70 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:47,240 They're not at ease. There's no peace. 71 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,040 There's a sense of just tension, right? 72 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,440 But when somebody is in that position, has the power, the 73 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,480 approachability, the kindness and their thinking of the good 74 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,200 of those under their care and leadership, authority is a good 75 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,800 gift. And if you've never been under 76 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:06,880 good authority, part of you wants to be. 77 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:11,480 Maybe your parents were were awful. 78 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,360 I know that happens. Maybe you've experienced some 79 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,000 bad things at the hands of authority. 80 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,200 But what we all long for is this safety that good authority was 81 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,840 designed to give us in creativity and rest, in joy. 82 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:29,600 And what we're going to see in today's text is a Roman military 83 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,920 official who knew the top of the food chain in the worldly power 84 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,640 did not go there, did not go to that authority. 85 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:39,800 He's going to go to Jesus, who is not the authority over 86 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,560 religious topics. He's the authority over all 87 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,720 authorities. He is the king of kings, and he 88 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,800 approaches him in a posture of childlike faith, like a kid 89 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,840 going to their dad. He just approaches Jesus with a 90 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:57,120 giddiness because he's seen something in Jesus that he is 91 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,520 both approachable and able. He's kind, he's good, and he's 92 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,440 powerful. We're going to see in Jesus what 93 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,040 authority was meant to do, which is produce in us a childlike 94 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,520 trust, independence. OK, so in our text today, we're 95 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:11,520 going to take it from 4 angles. We're going to take it from the 96 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,800 angle of the centurion, the crowd who Jesus turns and talks 97 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,760 to, the servant who the centurion came on behalf of, and 98 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,040 lastly from Jesus himself. If you are ready, let me hear 99 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,400 you say I'm ready. Point #1 the centurion. 100 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,720 We see in the centurion just the audacity of faith. 101 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,880 We we read here in verse 5, when he that's Jesus had entered 102 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,440 Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to 103 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:39,080 him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home suffering 104 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,640 terribly. And he said to him, I will come 105 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,040 and heal him. But the centurion replied, Lord, 106 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:50,320 I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the 107 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:52,080 word and my servant will be healed. 108 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,160 For I too am a man under authority with soldiers under 109 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,360 me. And I say to 1 go, and he goes 110 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,440 into another come and he comes into my servant. 111 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,960 Do this and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he 112 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,000 marvelled and said to those who followed him, truly I tell you, 113 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,600 with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 114 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,360 And then in verse 13, after kind of turning to the crowd, Jesus 115 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,920 turns to the centurion and says, go, let it be done for you as 116 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,000 you have believed. And the servant was healed at 117 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:24,040 that very moment. OK, context matters. 118 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,480 Remember, like Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount. 119 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:28,840 He's coming down the mountain, Leper approaches him. 120 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,480 Last week, you go back and check that sermon if you missed it. 121 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,160 And then this week it says he's walking into Capernaum. 122 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,040 So I want to show you that on a map real quick. 123 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,040 Remember, the Bible is real life. 124 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,440 It's not just a a book that somebody made-up. 125 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,480 This happened. OK, So the region like the area 126 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,320 is Galilee and Capernaum is there. 127 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:48,920 You see the Sea of Galilee towards the top of the screen 128 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,200 and Capernaum is right by the Sea of Galilee. 129 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,040 Galilee is where most of Jesus's ministry happened in his three 130 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,000 years. And the Bible says that a 131 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,880 centurion approached him. OK, somebody say centurion, I 132 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,480 made y'all do that so I y'all won't feel as silly during the 133 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,640 sermon when I mess it up. It's a weird word to say 134 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,400 centurion. So if I mess it up, just know I 135 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,880 heard some of y'all just slip a little bit, OK? 136 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:14,000 I love you. God bless you. 137 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,920 OK, so a centurion is a Roman military official of about 100 138 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,000 soldiers. OK, so he's in charge of about 139 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,040 100 soldiers. And he comes before Jesus and he 140 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,560 says, I got a servant. I got a servant that needs 141 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:30,640 healing. Will you come and heal him? 142 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,040 Just like, oh, I'll come. He doesn't say will you come? 143 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,120 He says, I have a servant, will you heal him? 144 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:37,560 And he says I'll come. And he says, Nah, I've got 145 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,920 authority over some people. When I say the word, it gets 146 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:43,600 done. You just say the word and Jesus 147 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,680 is amazed. So there's a couple things about 148 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,800 faith that I think the Lord wants us to grab from this text. 149 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,200 OK, First is the object of faith the object of faith? 150 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:59,000 OK, notice that the the centurion does not look to 151 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,240 himself as the reason why Jesus should intervene. 152 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:07,280 He literally says, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come 153 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,880 under my roof, y'all, that. I mean, we just read over that. 154 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,840 Of course I'm not worthy to have the Lord come over, y'all. 155 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:16,120 We tend to think we're worthy of a lot. 156 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:19,280 We don't struggle with thinking too much of ourselves. 157 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:23,000 OK, But this man, he comes to Jesus not on the basis of his 158 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,760 worthiness, but Jesus's willingness, y'all. 159 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,880 This story is rooted in what he'd seen in Jesus's heart and 160 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:34,000 power and kindness, not in what he brought to the table. 161 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:37,200 Lord, yesterday I read my Bible. Will you heal my servant? 162 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,760 You know, like there is no sense in which he feels valid to ask 163 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:44,280 What? A picture of faith? 164 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,240 Many people don't ask because they don't feel worthy. 165 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,040 Do you see the irony? You might think I don't ask God 166 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:52,360 to do anything 'cause I don't feel worthy. 167 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:57,680 And it's like the point of the gospel is that God makes 168 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:01,520 unworthy people worthy, right? It's in our unworthiness. 169 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:05,920 We come to the Lord because of who he is, not who you are. 170 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:09,440 So if I could sit with you and hear about your sin and all the 171 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:10,480 things I'll be like, that's great. 172 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,360 Let me tell you mine, OK? We don't come to the Lord 173 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,080 because we're worthy. We come because he's willing. 174 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,680 So what the. And let's think about this real 175 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:21,000 quick, OK? Because there's something 176 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:26,800 assumed in the text, right? What we get in the text is how 177 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,400 he relates to Jesus is based on Jesus authority, right, his 178 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,160 power, like when Jesus says I'm willing to come and he's like, 179 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:36,680 no, no, no, no, I got authority. And so we get this image of like 180 00:09:36,680 --> 00:09:38,000 him really understanding authority. 181 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:42,200 But why he came to Jesus is because Jesus is good. 182 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,320 That make sense. What the centurion is modeling 183 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,200 for us is why we come to Jesus and how. 184 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:55,520 But if we run with how first we forget why, OK, He came to Jesus 185 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:59,400 because he had a problem he could not solve on his own, and 186 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,640 he knew Jesus was good. You know, we've said this a lot. 187 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,840 Somebody can have all power and not be good enough for you to 188 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,680 approach, you know, some power you ain't approaching. 189 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,440 Oftentimes we associate power with unapproachability. 190 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,000 But do we see how he appeals to his authority? 191 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,040 And that's wrapped up in his person, his presence, the person 192 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,040 of Jesus is approachable and able. 193 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:28,440 He's willing, he's able. So in his examples, he says, I 194 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,160 have AI say to 1 soldier go, he goes, I say to 1 come, he comes 195 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,160 and I say to my servant come. And he does. 196 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,600 So he appeals to the concept of authority, which he himself gets 197 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,320 to do. And he says that's at play here. 198 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,520 Do you see that? Which is kind of a cool thing to 199 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:47,800 think about. It's like he was just a Roman 200 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:49,240 soldier, y'all. He didn't know the Old 201 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:52,440 Testament. He didn't know no stories, but 202 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:54,480 he knew something. He knew enough that Jesus, 203 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,800 you're good, I've seen something, I've heard something. 204 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:00,160 You are good and you are able. And he comes to him. 205 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:02,840 He says based on what I know, you don't even need to come. 206 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:09,640 And again, his understanding is rooted in who Jesus is, not who 207 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:11,920 he is. But this is what's cool too. 208 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,560 The centurion is a lesson for us that you don't need to know a 209 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:16,240 ton. You just have to live in light 210 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,040 of what you know. Some of us keep learning things 211 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,640 and don't live in light of what we know, right? 212 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,480 Isn't the goal to live what we know? 213 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:28,560 What he knows is you're good and you're able, and he operates 214 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:31,760 according to that, right? The object of his faith is 215 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:34,480 Jesus, and the object of his faith is big. 216 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:39,720 So he's asking this big object that is Jesus to do something 217 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:46,040 big, right? So before we go on, we can't get 218 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,640 in our heads that this story makes it so that we can just run 219 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:55,280 around saying words like in demonstrating what his faith 220 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,680 looks like, you have to catch what he saw or you'll never do 221 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:00,080 what he did. Does that make sense? 222 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:06,200 He saw the Christ, He saw Jesus. His ask is big because his God 223 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,280 was big. Show me your asks. 224 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:14,640 I'll show you your God. He went to the Lord and just saw 225 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:18,160 Him. The way your faith grows is by 226 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,640 looking at a big object of your faith. 227 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,960 Your faith does not grow by focusing on you having big 228 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,840 faith. It grows as your understanding 229 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,520 of His trustworthiness, His goodness, His approachability 230 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,680 and ability grows. Second thing about faith is the 231 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:37,840 grab of faith. So we got the object, but there 232 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,160 is something about this grab He does here, right? 233 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,600 Jesus says I'm willing to come do it, and He cuts him off and 234 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,960 says, Nah, just say the word. That is some bold faith. 235 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,560 There's an element of he is grabbing God himself and saying 236 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:59,160 do it different than you're intending to do it right now and 237 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,440 changes his mind, which is amazing. 238 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,520 There's a sense in which what the grab of faith does is, is 239 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:08,480 grabbing God and letting him be God. 240 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,040 You got to let God be God. It's not enough to know that he 241 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:16,360 is what faith is is saying God be who you are. 242 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:21,600 I'm living like that's true. So do it if you are so please be 243 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,440 so OK, so I want to talk around just kind of the again, the 244 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,400 culture, American faith culture, y'all. 245 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,640 What this man is not doing is flexing his faith. 246 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:35,960 Y'all. He's just demonstrating it. 247 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:39,440 It's the vehicle to get who he wants, which is Messiah on 248 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,960 behalf of his servant. Y'all faith is not to be our 249 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:45,200 brand. Does that make sense? 250 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:47,880 Unhealthy faith culture can go one of two ways. 251 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,080 One is faith just becomes your brand such that you want people 252 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,240 to pay attention to how big your faith is. 253 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,800 You are center of your faith. That is not healthy faith 254 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,840 culture, OK, because it's the opposite of what we're talking 255 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,640 about where you're not convinced by the other, you actually some 256 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,840 kind of way or into yourself and it becomes a means to get what 257 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:12,040 you want. And then when the nose come, you 258 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,640 stop because actually what you wanted was it and not him, OK. 259 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:19,800 But the opposite side of unhealthy faith culture is when 260 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,240 you don't ask. Does that make sense? 261 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,520 The flip side, we can use our brains to guard our heart. 262 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:27,360 I'm talking to some people who know a lot of Bible, like 263 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,480 myself. OK, listen, what we can 264 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:34,280 sometimes do is we can take our brain and make excuses for God 265 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,080 and not engage our heart in a childlike manner the way he 266 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:39,000 does. He don't know much. 267 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:40,680 He just takes his heart as it is. 268 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,200 He has a need he can't meet and he goes to the source who can 269 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,760 handle it and he says handle it. Handle it in accordance with who 270 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,560 you are and what we do through our experience and through our 271 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:54,280 our just inner jadedness or critic or even in the name of 272 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,880 not wanting God to look bad. I can't have the Lord looking 273 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,040 bad out here. So let me not ask something big 274 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,440 in front of people who might then question how good he is, 275 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,880 right? And that's what I do is I become 276 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,600 God's bodyguard through theology. 277 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:10,320 I don't want you to look bad, Lord. 278 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,800 So let me not demonstrate faith so that you don't look bad. 279 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,160 Think about that sentence. Let me not demonstrate faith so 280 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,200 that you don't have to look bad, Lord, because I don't actually 281 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:23,480 leave. You will show up. 282 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,600 You see how that works? And So what happens is what 283 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:31,680 childlike faith does is it just puts your heart on the table 284 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:33,760 with God and you just live with God where you're at. 285 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:35,800 If you need God to show up, you beg him. 286 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:37,520 When he doesn't, guess what you do, You weep. 287 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,920 Is this text a promise that your life is coming true if you ask 288 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:43,280 hard enough? Absolutely not. 289 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:46,520 Not at all. That's not Matthew's intent. 290 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,880 It's a window into who Messiah is. 291 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,600 It is not a promise of what he'll do in every situation, 292 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,640 always. Many people did not get their 293 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:55,920 miracle when he walked the earth. 294 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,520 Many. This is not a formula for you to 295 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:02,800 get your miracle, period. But there is a window here into 296 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,800 what faith is. It's just taking life on its 297 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:10,840 terms and just go with it. When it's painful, live in pain. 298 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,400 When you need him to show up, ask him to show up. 299 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:17,000 But I don't see anywhere in the text where we explain for others 300 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,280 how God isn't really who he could be. 301 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,000 And let me stop you there. So guys, I think healthy faith 302 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,280 culture is just let God be God. Let him be a healthy authority. 303 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,000 Let him be the dad to your child likeness. 304 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:34,200 Let him just be the one you ask. My kids have learned there's 305 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,360 certain things that will happen if they ask me and there's 306 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:38,800 certain things that won't. If they won't, why'd you give 307 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,280 them that? They asked, right? 308 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,000 There's something about the ask that is just so powerful and 309 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,320 there's a reality to verse 13. You cannot duck which says let 310 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,280 it be done for you as you have believed. 311 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:56,160 You just got to sit in that. So you can't. 312 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,360 You can't run with the faith theology that runs to God will 313 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,600 do all things and you can't run with one that says he will do 314 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:06,400 nothing like there's a reality that there's some stuff he'll do 315 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,599 if we ask. That's the life of faith is 316 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:13,839 trusting him that he is the prize, not ultimately what he 317 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,359 gives, but and particularly y'all notice how big his faith 318 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,480 is on behalf of somebody else. He ain't even asking for his own 319 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,400 sake. There's love of God and neighbor 320 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,119 right before our eyes right here. 321 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:29,440 Notice how bold his faith is on behalf of somebody else. 322 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,720 But Jesus takes this moment and turns to the crowd. 323 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,280 Look with me, let's talk about the crowd. 324 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,320 There's there's some some scandalous stuff gets said right 325 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:43,320 here in verse 10. When Jesus heard this, he 326 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:47,600 marveled and said to those who followed him, truly I tell you, 327 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,800 with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 328 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,680 I tell you, many will come from east and West and recline at 329 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,120 table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven, 330 00:17:57,120 --> 00:17:59,360 while the sons of the Kingdom will be thrown into the outer 331 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,080 darkness and that place there will be weeping and gnashing of 332 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:03,880 teeth. Got to speed up a little bit. 333 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:07,520 Three points about the Kingdom. First, the access of the 334 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:14,440 Kingdom, y'all, the Kingdom is available to all, everybody, by 335 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,720 grace through faith. OK, what this is communicating? 336 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:22,560 This is a Roman soldier, OK, Jesus came down the mountain. 337 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,760 He's fulfilling the the story of Yahweh all the way back to the 338 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:27,240 Exodus. He went up on the mountain, 339 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:29,200 taught the law, the Moses picture, all that. 340 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,200 Go back and listen. If you don't see all those 341 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,920 connections, it's OK. But what is being communicated 342 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:36,440 to us? Think about it. 343 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,720 The first miracle, which there are 10 in Matthew chapters 8 and 344 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,480 9, was with a leper, OK? A leper had no access to God, 345 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,600 was declared unclean. And the second miracle is to a 346 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:51,240 Roman military official, y'all, what is being communicated to us 347 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,760 is the the party has arrived and who wants to join it is 348 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,920 different than who you thought. You would think there'd be a 349 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,240 line of a certain type of people, but who Messiah is 350 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,360 drawing to himself is the people that the Jews would have been 351 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,880 like, Nah, lepers and Roman military officials. 352 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,000 No, Roman military officials probably had a list of stuff 353 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:12,960 they'd seen and done. Let me just put it like that. 354 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:15,720 They use their authority in interesting ways in the name of 355 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,240 Rome. We can't know for sure what he 356 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,800 did. But you don't get that position, 357 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,080 no kind of way. And you got to do certain stuff 358 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:23,720 when you have it. It's just reality. 359 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,160 And Messiah is letting this man be on his team. 360 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,240 So what Jesus does in this moment is he is declaring 361 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,360 definitively all the Kingdom is not inherited by blood. 362 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,640 And what Yahweh was doing all the way back with Abraham, who 363 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,280 is y'all's guy. Abraham Once Upon a time was a 364 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:44,080 Gentile. Want to know how he became a 365 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,680 Jew? Because God called him it 366 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,640 renamed him and he demonstrated faith in me before he ever had a 367 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,560 system of trust and sacrifices and covenant of circumcision and 368 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,680 all the stuff. It was always by grace through 369 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,800 faith always. And so he names drops all the 370 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,280 people that the the the Jews were homies with Abraham and 371 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,640 Isaac and Jacob. He's saying I'm a be chilling 372 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,400 with them one day with guys like my man right here and a lot of 373 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,920 y'all won't be. What he's communicating is the 374 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:19,160 the Kingdom is available to all who think they need grace. 375 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,680 Y'all grace offends you if you don't think you need it. 376 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,600 Y'all the the the air in heaven, if you will. 377 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:30,400 You still can't see it. Isn't it amazing? 378 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,440 You can't see air, but you are constantly interacting with it. 379 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,320 It's grace. The way you access grace is by 380 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:41,680 the nose of faith, OK, Your nose takes in grace, breathes it in, 381 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:43,840 breathes it out, OK. That's how we access it. 382 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,360 It's what God does for us that we can't do for ourselves. 383 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,840 And where God is not, obviously God is omnipresent. 384 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,320 Y'all know what I mean? The other air option is self 385 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,080 righteousness. I stand on my own, I do what I 386 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:01,760 did this, I'm a good person, I know the stories I went to 387 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:04,120 church. That heart posture is just 388 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,160 antithetical to the Kingdom. That's what Jesus is 389 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,880 communicating. And by and large, the people of 390 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,720 Israel had gotten to a place through the leadership and all 391 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,400 the different things where they just, they were not by grace 392 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,160 through faith, trusting in in Yahweh. 393 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:21,640 And the evidence is the fact that they want to kill Messiah 394 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,280 and don't want him, don't want to follow him. 395 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:27,120 They wouldn't let God be God. Ironically, they had a whole 396 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:29,400 system but weren't demonstrating childlike faith. 397 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,200 They weren't asking him to demonstrate his goodness to the 398 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,680 Romans. They wanted the Romans dead, you 399 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:36,800 know. They wanted to overthrow him. 400 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:40,920 God is looking for people who will trust Him by grace through 401 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,560 faith. God is looking for people who 402 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:45,240 will worship Him as spirit and truth. 403 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,520 He's looking for people who don't stand on their worthiness 404 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:50,200 but know that he still wants them. 405 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:54,440 That's grace. Second thing, the texture of the 406 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,320 Kingdom. I can't help but notice how 407 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,960 relational the text is. Think about it. 408 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,240 The centurion comes on behalf of the servant. 409 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:04,520 Jesus cares about the servant. He cares about the centurion. 410 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,600 Then the centurion shows the faith. 411 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,160 Jesus turns to the crowd and teaches them what the centurion 412 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:10,960 just told them that they should have paid attention to but 413 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:12,400 missed. And then after he turns the 414 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,760 centurion, it says, you're good, your guy's good. 415 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:16,840 Go. It's very relational. 416 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,720 And in his little speech, he brings up Abraham, Isaac and 417 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,560 Jacob. Y'all kind of the the imagery 418 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:26,440 here, y'all is literally of like a heavenly banquet where they're 419 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,560 eating food and chilling the heroes of the faith and 420 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,360 potentially those in the crowd if they will repent and stop 421 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:37,320 trusting in their works, but in what Christ has done, they could 422 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,360 be in on the action. Here's the idea, y'all, you know 423 00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:42,640 what you do when you eat food? You share stories, you share 424 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:44,840 stories of heroes. The good news of the Bible is 425 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,600 there's one hero. Just one is King Jesus. 426 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,120 It's this imagery of us in a heavenly banquet just chopping 427 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:53,680 it up, talking about how good Jesus is. 428 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:55,800 They ain't sitting around toasting to themselves. 429 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,400 Abraham, you remember when you that ain't that ain't the 430 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,880 conversation. OK, There's an air here of 431 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,200 relational invitation. Jesus is saying, so we're going 432 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,480 to talk about hell in a minute, but just hear me that behind 433 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,400 Jesus's words of warning is a posture of invitation to the 434 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:13,520 banquet. Are you with me? 435 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,480 Sometimes you won't hear an invitation, so you got to hear a 436 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,080 warning. But the posture is please be at 437 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,520 the table celebrating the one hero, which is not you. 438 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,040 And if you think you're the hero, let's go to coffee after 439 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,040 service because I'm like, listen, none of us is the hero. 440 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,400 There's one hero and he wants to chop it up with you and break 441 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:36,520 bread with you. And then lastly, the timing of 442 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,920 the Kingdom. You know what the Bible teaches 443 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,640 that in the person of Jesus, the Kingdom has come and it is still 444 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,520 coming. It's known as the here and not 445 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,200 yet, the now and not yet. OK? 446 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,280 It's this idea that it broke in and it's still breaking in. 447 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,160 There's this overlapping that is started that will come to 448 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,960 completion one day. And so in some sense, heaven is 449 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,640 a final destination of sorts, but it's already at play. 450 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,520 It's just eternal life in our midst now. 451 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,240 And it goes to another phase, if you will. 452 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,280 And in a similar way, hell is similar. 453 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,800 People talk about it as a final destination, which it is, but 454 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,760 it's just the it's the byproduct of an ongoing default. 455 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,360 Does that make sense? Like if you want nothing to do 456 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:21,920 with the Lord, you're going to experience the side of him which 457 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,120 is judgment. That's that's how that works. 458 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:29,960 Hell is real. It just is is coming. 459 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,040 We need a good judge to make a lot right that we see wrong all 460 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,440 the time and ourselves structurally all across the 461 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,040 world. We need that it will happen. 462 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,760 If for some of y'all it's time to wake up and smell the roses, 463 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,680 that is grace. Grace is available to you to 464 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,760 stop standing under your own strength and come to him. 465 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,240 OK, let's talk about the servant. 466 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,720 Let's talk about the servant, y'all. 467 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,120 The servant is ironically the easiest person to forget about 468 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:04,240 in the story, isn't he? Verse 6 Lord, my servant is 469 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,520 lying paralyzed at home suffering terribly. 470 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:11,720 Verse 13 And into the centurion Jesus said, go, let it be done 471 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,040 for you as you have believed, and the servant was healed at 472 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,200 that very moment. It's easy to forget He's the 473 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,600 reason this story happens, isn't it, y'all? 474 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,520 And in many ways, I, I don't know who you identify with in 475 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:24,680 our story. Maybe you feel like the 476 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:26,200 centurion. You want to have more faith. 477 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:27,800 That's great. I resonate with that too. 478 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,080 Maybe you, maybe you're kind of just checking Jesus out. 479 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:32,320 You don't know where you're at with him yet. 480 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,040 You feel like you're in the crowd and he just told you some 481 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:36,240 hard stuff. I feel that too. 482 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,080 But y'all, in a lot of ways, the person we have the, the most in 483 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,240 common with in the story is the servant. 484 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,320 Let's think about the need we have and our path to wholeness. 485 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,480 Let's think about the need we have and the path to wholeness, 486 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,720 y'all. This man lies at home, 487 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:59,640 paralyzed, cannot move, brings nothing to the table, nothing, 488 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:04,240 just sitting there. If he is not radically 489 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:08,040 intervened on behalf of another, his situation is hopeless, 490 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:09,440 right? That's the idea. 491 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,360 He's suffering and paralyzed. What that kind of did in my mind 492 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:15,120 is kind of that phrase. Like a dead man dying. 493 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,320 You're you're a dead man, you just don't know it yet. 494 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,480 That kind of phrase, y'all. That really is what the Bible 495 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,520 teaches about us apart from Christ, we are dead in our sin. 496 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,400 We feel so autonomous. We're alive, we're making 497 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,680 choices. We think we're a king. 498 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,000 We think we're a queen. We think we run in the show. 499 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,040 If I could just get this, I'm living for Friday. 500 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:37,360 We feel like such an original. We feel so alive. 501 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,160 But when the gospel good news comes upon you and tells you 502 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,680 you're dead in your sin, you're like, I mean, obviously you can 503 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:45,720 reject that. But if you really think about it 504 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,640 a little bit, as autonomous as you feel and as much control as 505 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,400 you feel over your life, what you'll begin to notice is that 506 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:53,960 the Bible's assessment of you is more true than your own. 507 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:57,800 You know, the Bible is telling us this is hard, that we are 508 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,960 dead in our sin, that we are not an original. 509 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:06,520 We're actually slaves to sin. We only want to do what our sin 510 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:10,080 nature wants us to do. And at best, if we get involved 511 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,000 in religious activity is to feel a little closer to God, 512 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,040 spiritual but not religious. Whatever phrase you want to use, 513 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:17,200 where you're like, man, I'll do my thing. 514 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,680 You know, like I'm willing to man, I'll even check the word 515 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,760 out. But we remain the head honcho in 516 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,520 control. And we think we are in control. 517 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,200 But the Bible goes so far as to say we're dead in our sins, 518 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:32,400 slaves to sin and to Satan. There's a sense in which his 519 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:36,920 main strategy is to hand you the, the, the, the instrument as 520 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:38,240 it will. And you start playing it and you 521 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,400 think you're an original and you never even think about where do 522 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,160 I get that? That makes sense. 523 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:44,960 And that's kind of how he operates. 524 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,240 He will let you be your own king as long as you want to be in 525 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,960 whatever form you want that to take. 526 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,000 You can even get a little more religious long as you stay in 527 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,000 charge. And in that way, you are still 528 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,400 just a dead person dying. You are not an original apart 529 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,280 from God's intervention. You will suffer terribly and you 530 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,560 can't move. That's hard, but it's freeing 531 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,640 truth if you will let it resonate. 532 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,400 Now let's think about the path to wholeness. 533 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:14,080 So that's the that's the need every human being has in the 534 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:15,960 path to wholeness. Think about it. 535 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:21,840 How is the servant healed? By nothing They did at all. 536 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,680 They did nothing, somebody else. So they lied. 537 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,760 Dying dead, dead man dying. There's somebody willing and 538 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,920 able to heal, and somebody intervenes and pulls that 539 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,960 willingness out on behalf of the one who's not even present to 540 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,680 make it happen. Y'all, in some ways the 541 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,040 centurion's faith and stuff, what Jesus did was pure grace. 542 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,040 But there's a greater intervention in the gospel, what 543 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,040 Christ has done. Y'all, the Son of God stepped in 544 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:52,520 and took upon himself the wrath of God in such a way that when 545 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,160 he goes to the Father, he gets a yes. 546 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,840 He is worthy to be heard from the Father. 547 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:01,040 And what He did in dying on the cross and appealing on our bath 548 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:05,640 is so that when we turn to Him in faith, God will not say no. 549 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,120 He will say yes. It's not a wish. 550 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:11,600 It's not your worthiness that makes you worthy. 551 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,560 It's the intervener that makes you well. 552 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:16,720 You bring nothing. He's back home. 553 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,240 He just gets healed. He's like man, He did it for me. 554 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,040 You see how that works? My man leaves to go get some 555 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,520 coffee. By the time he comes back he can 556 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,320 walk. Isn't that crazy? 557 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:31,840 But y'all think about it. He did nothing somebody else did 558 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,560 for him. I just want to appeal to some of 559 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,200 y'all. The path to your wholeness is 560 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,120 not through anything you do. Somebody say anything. 561 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:51,240 You're like anything T anything, anything, nothing you do. 562 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:53,880 You know what I'm saying? It's what Christ did and you 563 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,920 just receive it by grace through faith. 564 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,320 Repent, turn from your sin and acknowledge he is a hero. 565 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,960 He runs the full 100 yards. He don't take it 99 and you take 566 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:06,840 it one. Your faith isn't even really 567 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,280 what saves you. It is receiving a gift. 568 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,400 You get no credit for taking a gift because otherwise that 569 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:15,440 makes your faith the means of your salvation. 570 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,600 It's just receiving what Christ has done. 571 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:20,400 It's turning, it's acknowledging, it's 572 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:23,480 surrendering. Some of y'all need to do that. 573 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,320 Let's talk about Jesus and we don't. 574 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,320 Not great. Let's talk about Jesus. 575 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,600 Let's talk about Jesus. Jesus is the standard of 576 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,880 authority in this text. What a king we have, y'all? 577 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,600 A king who gets giddy over what he sees in other people who 578 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,360 probably have lived as wicked of lives as you and me. 579 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,640 He's not a person with authority, just hammering you 580 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,520 like how dare you sinners ask me for anything. 581 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,480 Like I think that's what we think God is like. 582 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,760 But look at this man. I got three things about Jesus I 583 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:55,600 want you to see that I hope make you giddy about him 'cause he is 584 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:59,520 giddy about you #1 Jesus is the Incarnate King. 585 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,760 Somebody say Incarnate. OK, the Christmas story is the 586 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,160 story of the incarnation, but in the backdrop of this story is 587 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,600 the assumption that Jesus wanted to be there. 588 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,440 Y'all, if the Son of God did not want to be in our midst, he 589 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,840 would not have came. We just take that for granted 590 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,080 when we read a text like this. He came to make situations like 591 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,400 this happen. This is why he came, was to make 592 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:26,840 scenarios like this one go down. So He came so that this could 593 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:28,200 happen. Y'all. 594 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,800 The incarnation is the idea, the truth, the reality that the 595 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,000 eternal Son of God, He's eternally been Father, Son, and 596 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,640 Holy Spirit. The Son took on flesh, OK, So he 597 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:43,680 became human as we are, So as God, God cannot be surprised. 598 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:45,920 As man. He marvels because he's 599 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:47,560 surprised. That's the incarnation. 600 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:51,800 It's a mystery. He lived a human life just like 601 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,240 us. So it's a legit marveling from 602 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,120 the God who came for us. He's Emmanuel. 603 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:01,440 I just want you to hear God came for you. 604 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,120 I remember I was in a chorus one time. 605 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,960 Sister act anybody. You came, you came from heaven 606 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,600 to earth. Come on, shut away. 607 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,280 They made me be the little boy trying to do the little La La, 608 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,000 la, la, La La. I just got up there. 609 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,680 I was like, I was so scared. Go watch sister act 2. 610 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:26,160 God bless you, OK? But yo, he did, He came for you 611 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,880 #2 Jesus is the Son of the Father, OK? 612 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,000 He is God. He's man. 613 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,560 He's the God man. He is the Son of the Father. 614 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,960 Yo, listen to me. The Trinity is inherently 615 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,920 relational. He's one God in three persons, 616 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,280 three persons, one God. When I see the one, I see 3. 617 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,760 When I see three, I see one. Here's the idea. 618 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,920 The goal of the entire Bible is relational. 619 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:53,640 It started relationally. In the end, in Revelation 21, 620 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:57,240 God says the dwelling place of God is with man. 621 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,280 That's where we're going back with him in fullness. 622 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:08,000 He's Emmanuel, God with us. So is the goal miracles for 623 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,640 miracle's sake? No. 624 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:12,920 Is the goal morality for morality's sake? 625 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:17,160 No. The goal is life with God. 626 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,080 That's it. So you're going to get every 627 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:25,800 miracle? No, God wants to live with you 628 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,000 by grace through faith. All of it is pointing to that. 629 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,080 And he's a good Father as demonstrated through the sun by 630 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,760 the Spirit, so that you could be brought into life with this God 631 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,760 who wants to live with you. Heaven is a place of 632 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:46,720 relationship #3 Jesus is the King of kings. 633 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:49,040 Y'all, let me tell you something. 634 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,840 It's obvious in the text. But who did the man not go to 635 00:33:54,840 --> 00:34:00,440 that he had the power to go to? He did not go to Caesar Want to 636 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,040 know why Caesar don't care? Caesar can't help. 637 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,760 Let me tell y'all something. Caesar don't care. 638 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:12,080 And Caesar, Caesar still can't help you, OK? 639 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,719 There's a lot of things that we go to Caesar for without even 640 00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:18,120 realizing it. And y'all, we got to be careful 641 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:20,400 we don't create a sacred secular divide in our mind. 642 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:22,159 God has made all things. All things are good. 643 00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:24,159 All things are from him and through him and to him. 644 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,800 I'm talking about the posture of our heart. 645 00:34:27,159 --> 00:34:31,159 Who do we go to when we're in a time of need, even through the 646 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:33,760 good gifts? But there's many things I do 647 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,320 where I don't go to him. I go to it. 648 00:34:35,679 --> 00:34:39,480 OK, But the idea in the text is that he did not go to Caesar 649 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:41,719 because Caesar don't care and he can't help. 650 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:43,880 He would have been annoyed by this request. 651 00:34:45,159 --> 00:34:48,080 Even 5 minutes on Caesar's Google, Google Calendar for the 652 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:49,120 day would have annoyed him with this. 653 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:51,400 Brother, get this man out my face. 654 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,920 The idea of power at that time was to leverage power to get 655 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:58,000 your freedom. Get these peasants out my face. 656 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:02,720 Let's throw a party y'all. I want us to see that the King 657 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:07,280 of Kings, how he uses his power is to move towards you, not away 658 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:08,640 from you. Y'all. 659 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:10,080 Parents, let's get real for a second. 660 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:13,040 How often do we act like even our kids are a burden to us? 661 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,800 I need some time. I need some me time and you and 662 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,160 your finiteness. You do Amen. 663 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,960 So let me. I'm just saying the one with all 664 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:24,720 power and authority is moving towards you, not away from you. 665 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:29,480 For some self-care. God is full, He's overflowing, 666 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,280 He's good. He's full of authority and power 667 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,400 and goodness and he uses it on behalf of others. 668 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,880 How crazy is that? That is so different than what 669 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:41,760 we think of. Who is this man who gets to call 670 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,120 the shots on heaven and hell? Jesus. 671 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,280 Who gets to do that? Jesus does. 672 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,880 Who gets to call the shots on what the Kingdom is like? 673 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,680 Jesus does. Who gets to heal somebody 674 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,080 without even going there? Jesus does. 675 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,560 Y'all? There is one who has such power 676 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:05,560 in such approachability, in such kindness that your soul craves. 677 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:07,920 You crave somebody you can trust. 678 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:12,400 You crave somebody who cares because sometimes you pick up 679 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,600 the phone and you call somebody just because you know they care. 680 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,520 The people in your life you love most, you know care about you 681 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:19,800 most. Big facts. 682 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:22,360 I don't know who it is, but there's somebody. 683 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,880 The 3:00 AM friend, right? If something was going down, 684 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:28,680 that's who you'd call. Yeah. 685 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,640 I just want you to hear your soul was made for somebody who 686 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,400 would take the call, who cares and who can and sees where it's 687 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:37,920 going and is forever committed to your good. 688 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,200 Irregardless of how they handle that call. 689 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,400 They're not just a friend to bring in on the know, not just 690 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:45,200 I'm just letting you know, I know there's nothing you could 691 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:46,800 do. That's not this friend. 692 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:52,040 This is the friend who cares. Who can doesn't mean that it's 693 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,240 going to happen the way you think it should. 694 00:36:54,240 --> 00:36:57,440 If they care and they can't, that's where we struggle, but go 695 00:36:57,440 --> 00:36:59,600 to them and childlike dependence of faith. 696 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,520 This is the king of kings. This is what your heart craves, 697 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,200 is an authority you can trust, who has all power, who has all 698 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,280 approachability, who has all kindness, who cares? 699 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,360 And I love he marvels at Jesus's faith. 700 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:16,360 He marvels at him. I think the question the text is 701 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,720 asking us is, are we marveling at Jesus? 702 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:24,440 Look at this guy. He's impressed with a Roman's 703 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:26,800 faith. He turns to the crowd and is 704 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:32,400 just like, please go. I love how he ends it with go. 705 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:34,160 You see how go was one of the words he said. 706 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,920 He says to his people. He says go, let it be for you as 707 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,160 you believe. I think that's funny. 708 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,800 I just think Jesus is funny. He could have been like it's 709 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:42,120 done. He could have said anything, but 710 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:44,760 he said go. I would have been walking home 711 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:49,160 like he said what I said. Jesus is just the man. 712 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:52,720 Jesus is giddy about this man's faith. 713 00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:57,040 Are you giddy about Jesus? If you're not a follower of 714 00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:01,400 Jesus here today, I just want to invite you to know this King, to 715 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:05,360 know this authority who has all power, who is all approachable, 716 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:08,600 all kind, forever committed to your forever good. 717 00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:11,240 They're not just trying to get you out their way so you stop 718 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:12,880 annoying them. They want you. 719 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:14,760 They came for you. That's this king. 720 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:18,920 And your path forward is repentance and faith and 721 00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:22,160 trusting in him, into the faith family in the room. 722 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:27,320 Listen, maybe just start with one area in your life where 723 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,400 you're not approaching God and childlike dependence and just 724 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:34,600 let Him be him. Stop being his bodyguard. 725 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:39,200 Just let him be Him. And there might be pain that 726 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:43,320 comes from that as every child has to wrestle with of Daddy. 727 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:44,640 You could give me the candy right now. 728 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:47,440 You might not think what you asking for is candy. 729 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,920 He knows whether it is or not. He knows the plan. 730 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,240 But go to him and ask Him for His hand. 731 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:56,440 Let's see what He does in our midst, particularly all on 732 00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,920 behalf of others. There's asks, our city needs 733 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:02,200 y'all. There's asks, our communities 734 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:04,680 need y'all. There's ask, our friends need 735 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,280 y'all. And let us not be ones who could 736 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:09,400 have asked them and didn't because we were afraid to make 737 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,040 God not look good. Y'all, our city needs us to ask. 738 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:17,400 Our friends need us to ask. We need to ask Jesus to save 739 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,880 them, to open their eyes, to change communities, to help 740 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:22,400 people to, to change generational sin. 741 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:24,680 God can do it. Let's ask him. 742 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:26,760 Let's go to him in childlike faith. 743 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:35,200 We all pray with me. Our Father God, you are amazing. 744 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:38,600 God, this is just just so much amazing stuff going on in this 745 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:39,840 text. I just pray you would open our 746 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:41,600 eyes. God, you're so kind not to 747 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,800 overwhelm us with truth. We can't handle it all at once. 748 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,200 But I just pray breakthrough right now in the name of Jesus 749 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,560 for somebody. They would see with clarity that 750 00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:51,680 they're not an accident. God, I don't know their story. 751 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:52,960 I don't know what they've been through. 752 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:55,480 I don't know what's been said to them, but I know that you 753 00:39:55,680 --> 00:40:00,600 created us to rest under a kind, good, powerful, able authority. 754 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,920 God, when the when the when our righteous 1 is an authority, the 755 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,120 whole city is blessed. It's it's it just comes to life. 756 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:10,440 God, we pray that under your leadership we will come to life 757 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:12,120 and thrive. God, we pray that over our city 758 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:13,920 got many need to come to faith in Christ. 759 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,200 Many things need to change many sin patterns need to be broken. 760 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:19,760 We just pray you would do it by the power of the Holy Spirit and 761 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,400 God, I pray. For we your church, God, that we 762 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,600 would be askers, childlike, dependent. 763 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:27,840 God, forgive me for the ways I don't go to you because I'm 764 00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:31,480 scared. God, give us childlike faith and 765 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:33,160 dependence. God, save in our midst. 766 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:35,880 Do this all for your glory and the good of our neighbors, the 767 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:38,040 good of our city who needs it, and for our own joy. 768 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:39,640 We pray in Jesus name, Amen.