WEBVTT 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.740 Luke chapter 7, that's in the New Testament, 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:12.480 kind of toward the back half of your Bible, toward 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:15.919 the front of the New Testament, Luke chapter 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:21.879 7, verses 1 through 10. Perhaps some of you have 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:23.780 heard this story, and maybe some of you have 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:27.579 not heard this story. It's a story about a centurion, 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:31.300 that's a Roman soldier, and a slave that he had 00:00:31.300 --> 00:00:33.579 that was very sick, and that's what we're going 00:00:33.579 --> 00:00:37.840 to talk about. Luke chapter 7, verses 1 through 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.899 10. We'll read through the verses, then we will 00:00:40.899 --> 00:00:48.159 pray. When he had concluded all his sayings and 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.880 the hearings of the people, he entered Capernaum. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:53.280 Now the he here is Jesus. We're talking about 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:58.200 Jesus. Verse 2. A centurion's slave, who was 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:01.719 highly valued by him, was sick and about to die. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:06.120 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:09.120 some Jewish elders to him requesting him to come 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:13.359 and save the life of his slave. When they reached 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:15.980 Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly saying, 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:19.719 He is worthy for you to grant this because he 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:21.959 loves our nation and has built us a synagogue. 00:01:23.099 --> 00:01:26.040 Jesus went with them and when he was not far 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:28.799 from the house, the centurion sent friends to 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.569 tell him, Lord, don't trouble yourself. Since 00:01:32.569 --> 00:01:35.370 I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 00:01:35.969 --> 00:01:38.909 That is why I didn't even consider myself worthy 00:01:38.909 --> 00:01:42.650 to come to you. But say the word and my servant 00:01:42.650 --> 00:01:46.530 will be cured. For I too am a man placed under 00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:49.790 authority. Having soldiers under my command. 00:01:50.969 --> 00:01:54.409 I say to this one, go. And he goes. And to another, 00:01:54.569 --> 00:01:58.329 come. And he comes. And to my slave, do this. 00:01:58.489 --> 00:02:02.329 And he doesn't. Jesus heard this and was amazed 00:02:02.329 --> 00:02:05.769 at him. And turning to the crowd following him, 00:02:05.829 --> 00:02:10.110 he said, I tell you, I have not found so great 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:13.569 a faith even in Israel. When those who had been 00:02:13.569 --> 00:02:16.870 sent returned to the house, they found the slave 00:02:16.870 --> 00:02:22.650 in good health. Let's pray. God, we come to you 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:24.490 today and we thank you for the freedom and the 00:02:24.490 --> 00:02:27.439 privilege to come and together and to... fellowship, 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:30.139 dear Lord, and to praise you and to hear your 00:02:30.139 --> 00:02:33.879 word. I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:38.180 be upon us today in a mighty way. God, you know 00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:40.319 where we are in life. You know our struggles 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:43.000 and our stresses and our sins and our pains. 00:02:44.060 --> 00:02:46.439 God, you know that we need you more than anything, 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:48.780 and I pray, God, that you help us to know that 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:52.319 today. God, I pray that you free us from the 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:54.740 distractions and the worries and the thoughts 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:58.560 of the world. I pray that you would, dear Lord, 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.560 help me to preach and teach in a way that's going 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:02.659 to bring glory and honor to you, that you take 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:05.139 away any pride or any nerves that I have, dear 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.659 Lord, and that your Holy Spirit would speak through 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:11.539 me to each one of us, God. I pray that your word 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:15.199 would do a work in our life today, that we would 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:17.919 seek you, that maybe there are some in this room 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:20.599 today, God, that do not know you. I pray today 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:23.500 that you would just work on them, dear Lord. 00:03:24.430 --> 00:03:26.689 I pray that we would just experience your presence 00:03:26.689 --> 00:03:29.889 and your love and your grace through these words. 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:34.150 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:03:35.550 --> 00:03:40.349 This is a short and simple story. Jesus did many 00:03:40.349 --> 00:03:43.250 healings, and of course, word got out. really 00:03:43.250 --> 00:03:45.930 quickly you got somebody that's driving out demons 00:03:45.930 --> 00:03:48.949 and healing people and jesus is making his way 00:03:48.949 --> 00:03:51.830 from town to town and and doing what the lord 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:55.330 had sent him to do and he's making his way into 00:03:55.330 --> 00:03:58.460 capernaum here we see in this story And much 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:01.479 like many of the other places that Jesus stopped 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:05.180 and visited and healed people, people would come 00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:07.680 to Jesus or they would sin for Jesus because 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.300 they would want healing in their life, or in 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:13.099 this case, in the life of someone that they love. 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:16.759 And the main character of this story is a... 00:04:17.280 --> 00:04:19.560 Centurion. And it's important for us to realize 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:22.540 who this character is. Now, of course, Jesus 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:26.019 encountered many people. Jesus was a Jew himself, 00:04:26.139 --> 00:04:29.040 and he tried to minister to many Jews and to 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.199 preach and teach to them. Sadly, there were many 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:34.079 of the Jews, the people who should have been 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:36.839 looking for Jesus, that those were the ones who 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.180 often rejected his words and rejected the things 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:44.040 that he did. But here we have a Gentile, a Roman, 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:47.879 a centurion. A man that would have had a little 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:51.139 power and a little wealth, but nonetheless, he 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:55.660 recognized who Jesus was, maybe in a more powerful 00:04:55.660 --> 00:04:59.420 way than any of the rest. He had a slave that 00:04:59.420 --> 00:05:02.139 was very sick, and he highly valued this slave. 00:05:02.339 --> 00:05:06.339 And so when Jesus came into the area, this centurion 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:10.180 sent word. He sent word by some Jewish elders. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:13.399 He sent word to Jesus, and they came to Jesus, 00:05:13.459 --> 00:05:16.620 and they said, look, Jesus. We know this guy, 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:19.639 this Roman centurion, he's got a slave who's 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:22.720 very sick and he sent for you and he requests 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:26.379 that you would come and heal him. And what did 00:05:26.379 --> 00:05:30.980 they say? They said, and he is worthy. And the 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:33.680 centurion is worthy. Jesus, you need to come 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.399 and do what he's asking because he's worthy of 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:40.040 you to respond to his request. And the reasons 00:05:40.040 --> 00:05:42.220 that they gave that we saw in this passage were 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:45.699 one, he likes the Jews. He's somebody who likes 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:48.480 the Jews, and he helped build us a synagogue. 00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:51.459 He helped build us a church. So Jesus, if there's 00:05:51.459 --> 00:05:54.959 anybody who's worthy of you to respond and help 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:57.180 them in their life, it's this guy because he's 00:05:57.180 --> 00:05:59.500 done the good things, the things that we think 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:03.199 are good. Now let's think about that for a second. 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:09.370 Do we ever fall into that trap? Do we ever fall 00:06:09.370 --> 00:06:13.269 into that trap as though that we think we are 00:06:13.269 --> 00:06:17.529 worthy of the love of God based on what we have 00:06:17.529 --> 00:06:21.990 done, based on the good works that we do? And 00:06:21.990 --> 00:06:24.569 we have to be careful not to fall into that trap 00:06:24.569 --> 00:06:27.790 because we can get this mindset that if I do 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:30.209 these good things for God, then God is going 00:06:30.209 --> 00:06:32.990 to do these good things for me. And so it's a 00:06:32.990 --> 00:06:36.329 give and a take. I'll do my part and God will 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:40.389 do his part. If I've done good, then God's going 00:06:40.389 --> 00:06:42.790 to do good to me because of what I've done, because 00:06:42.790 --> 00:06:47.470 I'm worthy because of my acts. We have to be 00:06:47.470 --> 00:06:50.529 careful not to fall into that kind of trap. This 00:06:50.529 --> 00:06:52.550 is human nature. This is kind of the way we work. 00:06:52.649 --> 00:06:55.790 We kind of understand this concept, right? If 00:06:55.790 --> 00:06:58.750 you're married, maybe you've seen this scene 00:06:58.750 --> 00:07:02.449 before. Maybe you're a man, you get home, and 00:07:02.449 --> 00:07:06.410 your wife's got your favorite meal cooked. Boy, 00:07:06.529 --> 00:07:08.990 you eat that meal. She's got a big old chocolate 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:11.610 cake here for you. You get through with your 00:07:11.610 --> 00:07:14.050 chocolate cake. And she says, let me give you 00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:15.949 a massage on your shoulder. Oh, you're tight. 00:07:16.069 --> 00:07:19.329 You must be stressed. And she does all that. 00:07:19.470 --> 00:07:23.550 And in the middle of that, she says, you know, 00:07:23.569 --> 00:07:27.389 I've been thinking. There's this new purse that 00:07:27.389 --> 00:07:30.209 I've been wanting. Would you mind if I bought 00:07:30.209 --> 00:07:32.769 it? It costs a little. It costs kind of a lot. 00:07:32.870 --> 00:07:37.300 Would you mind? So we understand this idea of, 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:39.699 okay, I've done some good, so therefore I'm worthy 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:41.540 to get some good back. And you men don't laugh 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:44.060 too hard. You do that too, right? You get your 00:07:44.060 --> 00:07:46.660 wife some flowers. You go to her work. You take 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:48.259 her the flowers. You say, hey, come pick up your 00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:50.680 car, babe. I'm going to wash your car. I'm going 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:52.199 to take you to your favorite restaurant tonight 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:54.660 where you like to eat. You get her out there. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.160 You get her on a nice meal. You get her a good 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:57.860 dessert. And you say, you know, there's this 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:01.000 new gun I've been wanting to buy. You know, I 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:04.420 was thinking I need a new boat. And I'm worthy 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:06.959 of it because look at the good I've done, so 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:09.600 therefore I'm worthy to receive the good that 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.939 you're going to do to me. And that was the mindset 00:08:12.939 --> 00:08:15.720 of these Jewish elders. They went to Jesus and 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.040 they said, Jesus, this dude is worthy because 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.600 look at the good things that he's done. But we 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:23.740 have to be careful not to fall into that trap 00:08:23.740 --> 00:08:26.819 because we can fall into that trap and we can 00:08:26.819 --> 00:08:29.720 begin to treat the grace of God like our bank 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:31.439 account. Does everybody in here know how a bank 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:33.679 account works? You have to put money into it 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.480 to get money out. And so as long as you've been 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.759 putting a lot of money in there, it's okay to 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:41.139 make some big purchases or even small purchases 00:08:41.139 --> 00:08:44.100 every once in a while. But when you ain't got 00:08:44.100 --> 00:08:45.720 nothing in there, you've got to put some more 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:48.440 in. And somehow we kind of try to juggle this 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:50.840 same idea with God. We say, well, God, I've been 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:53.159 doing all these good things, and I put a lot 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:55.399 of money in there, and I bought a sleeping bag, 00:08:55.580 --> 00:08:57.779 and I helped make a shoebox. And so even though 00:08:57.779 --> 00:09:00.320 I did this little sin, God, it's okay. It'll 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.379 take a little bit out of my account, but I've 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:04.259 got enough in there because I've been building 00:09:04.259 --> 00:09:07.320 up. And sometimes we begin to treat our relationship 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.259 with God as though that we can earn His grace 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:12.759 and that God is happier with us when we've put 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:15.179 more in than we've taken out. And as long as 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:17.210 our balance... as in the positive, we're okay. 00:09:17.830 --> 00:09:20.409 We can do a little bad, but it's okay because 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:23.470 we're worthy of God because we've done more for 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:28.149 Him than we've done bad. But that's not the way 00:09:28.149 --> 00:09:33.570 it works. Sometimes we think the opposite. Sometimes 00:09:33.570 --> 00:09:36.190 we think, man, I've done a lot bad lately. I've 00:09:36.190 --> 00:09:37.970 really been blowing it these last couple months, 00:09:38.049 --> 00:09:39.450 so I'm going to have to do good for the next 00:09:39.450 --> 00:09:42.269 few months. I'm going to have to get my balance 00:09:42.269 --> 00:09:46.000 back up in the green. It's in the red. But that's 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.419 not how God's grace works. That's not how it 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:51.399 works. It's not like we can do all the good we 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:54.019 can do so that God will wink at us when we do 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:56.059 a little sin and say, Ah, it's okay. I saw all 00:09:56.059 --> 00:09:58.320 the work you did last year for the church. It's 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:00.799 okay. That's not how the grace of God works. 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:06.379 We are always in the negative. Our sin has put 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:09.279 us in the negative. And there are no amount of 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:13.240 good works that you and I can do to earn the 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:18.490 grace of God. We cannot do it. We are not worthy. 00:10:18.929 --> 00:10:22.330 We may think ourselves worthy. People may think 00:10:22.330 --> 00:10:24.730 that we're worthy. People may tell us that we're 00:10:24.730 --> 00:10:26.710 worthy. Sometimes people do. Something good will 00:10:26.710 --> 00:10:28.710 happen to you and they'll say, you deserve that. 00:10:28.950 --> 00:10:32.289 You do so good in this and you do so good in 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:33.730 that. You're such a good person. You deserve 00:10:33.730 --> 00:10:37.590 that. But we're not worthy of the grace of God. 00:10:38.830 --> 00:10:41.289 Grace is something that we are not worthy of. 00:10:41.330 --> 00:10:44.120 That's the definition of the word. It's something 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:46.100 that is given to you that you have not earned, 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:48.580 that you do not deserve. That there is nothing 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:51.779 that you have done to be made worthy of the grace 00:10:51.779 --> 00:10:54.620 of God. And there's nothing that you can do to 00:10:54.620 --> 00:11:02.480 earn it. And the centurion recognized this. There's 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:06.559 nothing we can do to earn the grace of God. And 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:09.399 when we have this mindset and this attitude that 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:13.230 I've done bad, I've got to do more. I've got 00:11:13.230 --> 00:11:16.330 to work harder. I've got to do more work for 00:11:16.330 --> 00:11:18.490 the Lord. When we have that mindset, we need 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:20.529 to stop right there and we need to say, God, 00:11:20.809 --> 00:11:23.409 I'm not going to trust in my works to earn your 00:11:23.409 --> 00:11:25.730 grace. I'm going to trust in the work of Jesus 00:11:25.730 --> 00:11:30.549 Christ. That's where we get grace from. It's 00:11:30.549 --> 00:11:33.110 through Jesus Christ who died on a cross that 00:11:33.110 --> 00:11:35.789 we could be forgiven. Not by our works. We've 00:11:35.789 --> 00:11:38.429 done nothing to earn it and deserve it. But Jesus 00:11:38.429 --> 00:11:41.509 Christ, the Son of God, has given his life on 00:11:41.509 --> 00:11:44.230 a cross so that you and I could be forgiven. 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:47.570 And that work that he did is a perfect work. 00:11:49.049 --> 00:11:51.710 So we're not worthy of the love of Jesus Christ. 00:11:51.830 --> 00:11:54.850 But because of the grace of God, Jesus Christ 00:11:54.850 --> 00:11:59.399 loves us even though we are sinners. So these 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:01.200 Jewish elders, they come and they say, Jesus, 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:03.639 look, you need to come do this thing that this 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.159 guy wants to do because he's worthy of you to 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:08.399 do it because he's done some good things. So 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:10.419 therefore, you need to come do a good thing for 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:13.740 him. And so it says Jesus went on his way with 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:16.399 them. He began to go to the centurion's house. 00:12:16.940 --> 00:12:19.659 And before they got to the centurion's house, 00:12:19.820 --> 00:12:23.240 something weird happened. Now, he had sent for 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:25.460 this guy to come. The centurion had sent for 00:12:25.460 --> 00:12:28.340 Jesus to come, and Jesus gets close, and now 00:12:28.340 --> 00:12:30.580 the centurion sends some of his other servants 00:12:30.580 --> 00:12:33.980 out, and he says, hold up right there. Here's 00:12:33.980 --> 00:12:37.039 what the centurion says. He says, look, don't 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:41.019 come into my house. And you know what the centurion 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:45.639 says? He says, I am not worthy. That's exactly 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:48.600 the opposite of what the Jewish elders said. 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:50.820 They said, look, Jesus, come on, this guy's worthy. 00:12:52.009 --> 00:12:55.210 But the centurion, he knew he wasn't worthy. 00:12:55.610 --> 00:12:59.090 He said, Jesus, don't come to my house. I didn't 00:12:59.090 --> 00:13:02.110 even come to see you because I'm not worthy of 00:13:02.110 --> 00:13:07.090 you, Jesus. But I know who you are, Jesus. I 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:10.529 know of your authority. I am a man of authority, 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:14.049 and I know of your authority. And I know that 00:13:14.049 --> 00:13:16.649 if you just speak, then what you say can be done. 00:13:16.789 --> 00:13:19.250 So Jesus, don't come near me because I'm not 00:13:19.250 --> 00:13:23.649 worthy, but please just speak the word. Now this 00:13:23.649 --> 00:13:26.370 centurion guy, he was a pretty smart guy because 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:32.929 he recognized who Jesus was. He recognized the 00:13:32.929 --> 00:13:37.570 authority of Jesus Christ. He recognized the 00:13:37.570 --> 00:13:41.230 power of Jesus Christ. He knew that he was not 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:44.509 worthy of Jesus Christ because he recognized 00:13:44.509 --> 00:13:52.509 who Jesus was. What a beautiful, beautiful scripture 00:13:52.509 --> 00:13:56.509 for us to think about this morning. Do we recognize 00:13:56.509 --> 00:14:02.629 the authority of Jesus Christ? Do we recognize 00:14:02.629 --> 00:14:08.059 who Jesus is? He is the Son of God. Jesus says 00:14:08.059 --> 00:14:10.740 that all authority in heaven and earth have been 00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:16.019 given to Him. And this centurion, this Gentile, 00:14:16.750 --> 00:14:19.190 Man, Israel, of all people, the Jewish people 00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:21.450 should have known this truth. They should have 00:14:21.450 --> 00:14:23.929 been the ones rejoicing in Jesus Christ. They 00:14:23.929 --> 00:14:25.970 should have recognized the authority of Jesus 00:14:25.970 --> 00:14:29.090 Christ. And so many of them missed it. But here's 00:14:29.090 --> 00:14:32.210 this guy, this Gentile, this Roman centurion, 00:14:32.210 --> 00:14:36.230 and he has recognized the authority and the power 00:14:36.230 --> 00:14:40.370 of Jesus Christ. And he's also recognized where 00:14:40.370 --> 00:14:45.279 he stands in relation to Jesus Christ. You see, 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:48.120 our worth is not determined by what the world's 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:52.019 standard is. Our worth, whether we're worthy 00:14:52.019 --> 00:14:55.539 of Jesus Christ, is determined by what God's 00:14:55.539 --> 00:14:58.659 standard is. And what God's standard calls us 00:14:58.659 --> 00:15:01.720 to are things that we fail to live up to. And 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:04.720 by God's standards, we are unworthy. When we 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.320 realize that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:10.480 world, that Jesus Christ is the ultimate judge, 00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:13.639 and we recognize that he holds all authority, 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:17.220 then we have to recognize that we hold no authority 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:20.220 and that we are unworthy of his love, and this 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:23.879 Gentile man recognized that. Now, we can tell 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:26.139 pretty quickly how much we respect somebody's 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:30.139 authority by how much we live in obedience to 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:34.169 what they say. It's true of just regular everyday 00:15:34.169 --> 00:15:37.350 laws. How much do you respect the authority of 00:15:37.350 --> 00:15:40.190 the law? Okay, speed limit says 55. Do you go 00:15:40.190 --> 00:15:43.750 55? Well, if you go 55, you probably respect 00:15:43.750 --> 00:15:47.629 that authority. Maybe you go 60. Okay, you respect 00:15:47.629 --> 00:15:50.610 it a little bit, but not completely. You start 00:15:50.610 --> 00:15:52.909 going 150 everywhere, well, you don't have much 00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:55.950 respect for authority. You can tell how much 00:15:55.950 --> 00:15:58.789 you respect somebody's authority by how obedient 00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:01.610 you are to their commands. Now let's look at 00:16:01.610 --> 00:16:04.269 our life in Jesus Christ and all the commands 00:16:04.269 --> 00:16:07.389 and instructions that Jesus calls us to. Do we 00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:11.169 live in obedience to that? Maybe you do. Praise 00:16:11.169 --> 00:16:15.450 the Lord. Maybe you don't. Maybe you start looking 00:16:15.450 --> 00:16:17.210 at the Scripture and you see all the things that 00:16:17.210 --> 00:16:19.549 God calls us to, all the commands of Jesus, and 00:16:19.549 --> 00:16:21.870 you say, wait a minute, Jesus says love our enemies 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:23.710 and pray for those who persecute us. I don't 00:16:23.710 --> 00:16:28.309 do that. Jesus says don't do this. Well, I do 00:16:28.309 --> 00:16:31.549 that. Pretty soon, if we start going down that 00:16:31.549 --> 00:16:34.750 list, we might not like our answers. We might 00:16:34.750 --> 00:16:36.769 find that we don't respect the authority of Jesus 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:40.820 Christ at all. It's easy to tell if we respect 00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:42.740 the authority of Jesus Christ because we will 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:45.059 listen to and follow his commands and live in 00:16:45.059 --> 00:16:50.240 obedience to him. This centurion got it. This 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.440 centurion recognized the greatness of Jesus. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:57.019 He knew just how unworthy he was to be in the 00:16:57.019 --> 00:17:00.500 presence of Jesus. And he said, Jesus, I know 00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:03.120 who you are and I know that you're unworthy, 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.099 but I know your authority, so I just call on 00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:14.890 you. And Jesus says, I have not seen such a faith 00:17:14.890 --> 00:17:21.309 in all of Israel. The man had faith in Jesus 00:17:21.309 --> 00:17:24.730 Christ. And that faith was born out of humility 00:17:24.730 --> 00:17:28.440 and submission. that he humbled himself before 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:31.559 Jesus. He didn't run out and say, Jesus, I love 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:33.779 the Jewish people, and I helped build a synagogue, 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.480 so thank you for coming. Come on in. I'm worthy 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.680 of what you're about to do. He didn't say that. 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.880 Instead, when Jesus Christ came, the Son of God, 00:17:42.099 --> 00:17:45.200 he humbled himself before him, and he submitted 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:49.819 himself to him. And Jesus said, this man has 00:17:49.819 --> 00:17:53.099 faith. This is the beginning of faith. There 00:17:53.099 --> 00:17:56.140 has to be some humility, I believe, before we 00:17:56.140 --> 00:17:58.920 can come to faith. Because without humility, 00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:02.319 we're doomed to think that we can somehow save 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:05.319 ourselves. That somehow we have the power and 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:07.740 we have some authority in our life to change 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:10.680 things in our world and in our life. But we don't. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.779 We're just hopeless and helpless sinners. And 00:18:13.779 --> 00:18:16.319 what God wants us to realize more than anything 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:19.380 is that all authority has been given to Jesus 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:23.140 Christ. And He is our Savior and He is our hope. 00:18:23.819 --> 00:18:27.220 And faith comes when we, like the centurion, 00:18:27.299 --> 00:18:31.130 will humble ourselves and say, Lord Jesus. I 00:18:31.130 --> 00:18:35.789 come to you broken and tattered and torn, a sinful 00:18:35.789 --> 00:18:39.190 man, a sinful woman, and I'm not worthy of you 00:18:39.190 --> 00:18:42.589 today, Lord Jesus, but I humbly come before you. 00:18:43.710 --> 00:18:47.710 And that's exactly what the centurion did. He 00:18:47.710 --> 00:18:51.569 humbled himself before Jesus. And Jesus says, 00:18:51.609 --> 00:18:56.930 I have not seen so great a faith in all of Israel. 00:18:58.220 --> 00:19:00.299 And all the people who should have known about 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:02.539 the Messiah, who should have been waiting for 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:05.000 the Messiah, who should have known by the words 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.880 that Jesus said and John the Baptist said and 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:11.000 the scriptures that they would have had to read, 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:14.319 of all the people who should have known the Messiah 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.980 and been looking for the Messiah and when Jesus 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:19.259 came onto the scene should have said, this is 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:22.710 the Messiah. And some did. Some Jews did. But 00:19:22.710 --> 00:19:25.809 there were many Jews that saw Jesus and failed 00:19:25.809 --> 00:19:28.849 to recognize him and did not put their faith 00:19:28.849 --> 00:19:33.349 in him. And it says in the scripture that Jesus 00:19:33.349 --> 00:19:38.430 was amazed. He was amazed. Hear this Gentile 00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:42.190 man. He recognized the authority of Jesus and 00:19:42.190 --> 00:19:45.470 submitted to him while so many in Israel did 00:19:45.470 --> 00:19:52.759 not. Jesus was amazed at this man's response. 00:19:53.019 --> 00:19:56.160 You know, only two times in scriptures is Jesus 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.099 amazed. Two times. And both times that Jesus 00:20:00.099 --> 00:20:04.539 is amazed is really the same thing. Now, if you 00:20:04.539 --> 00:20:07.079 go back and look in Luke chapter 4 and in Mark 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:09.200 chapter 6, you'll see this story. Go back and 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:11.599 read those chapters this week. Mark 6, Luke 4. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:14.779 Jesus goes back to Nazareth. That's where he's 00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:18.009 from. and he begins to teach these people and 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:20.309 to preach to these people, and it says of the 00:20:20.309 --> 00:20:24.410 crowds that they are amazed at what Jesus is 00:20:24.410 --> 00:20:27.390 saying, that they are amazed at the things that 00:20:27.390 --> 00:20:28.829 he's speaking and the things that he's doing, 00:20:28.890 --> 00:20:31.890 that they are blown away. But then you know what 00:20:31.890 --> 00:20:35.069 it says right after that? It says, we're amazed 00:20:35.069 --> 00:20:38.210 at who Jesus is. He's so great. He's so awesome. 00:20:38.250 --> 00:20:43.450 But he's just Carpenter's son. He's nothing special. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:46.579 And you know what it says that they said about 00:20:46.579 --> 00:20:50.039 him? It says that the crowds in Nazareth, the 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:54.299 Jewish people there, were offended by him. Not 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:56.759 because of the words that he said, but because 00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:00.619 of his background. They failed to listen to what 00:21:00.619 --> 00:21:02.900 he said. They were amazed by it one minute, but 00:21:02.900 --> 00:21:04.200 then they said, well, there's nothing special 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:07.720 about this guy. He's just a local guy. He's just 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:10.160 a carpenter's son. There's nothing special about 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:13.680 him. And it said they were offended by him, so 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:16.700 much so that they drove him out of town to hurl 00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:18.460 him off the side of a cliff. They were going 00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:21.200 to kill him. One minute they were amazed at his 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:24.019 words, but they just could not bear to trust 00:21:24.019 --> 00:21:26.740 him and listen to what he had to say, and instead 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:29.960 they decided they wanted to kill him. And you 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.160 know what Jesus said in that passage? In Mark 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:38.180 chapter 6, verse 6, Jesus was amazed at their 00:21:38.180 --> 00:21:40.980 unbelief. He's the only two instances in all 00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:44.519 of Scripture where Jesus is amazed. One is here 00:21:44.519 --> 00:21:48.559 in the story of the centurion where he was amazed 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.220 at his faith. And the other was for his own people, 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:55.599 the Jewish people, the people of Israel. And 00:21:55.599 --> 00:22:01.279 Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith. The 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:03.339 very people who should have known Jesus and had 00:22:03.339 --> 00:22:06.599 faith in him didn't. And here this Gentile centurion, 00:22:06.660 --> 00:22:09.000 who probably didn't know the scriptures very 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:11.859 well, yet had heard of Jesus, recognized the 00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:14.759 authority and power of Jesus, and had faith in 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:18.619 him. And in both instances, Jesus was amazed. 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:24.259 The question that we have to answer today, it's 00:22:24.259 --> 00:22:27.220 which of those crowds are we going to be? Which 00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:28.940 of those characters? Are we going to be the... 00:22:29.309 --> 00:22:32.089 Are we going to be the ones in Nazareth that 00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:35.390 hear the word of Jesus and are intrigued by it 00:22:35.390 --> 00:22:39.250 and even amazed by it, but yet refuse to listen 00:22:39.250 --> 00:22:42.309 to him and follow him? Or are we going to be 00:22:42.309 --> 00:22:46.089 like the centurion? Are we going to be one who 00:22:46.089 --> 00:22:50.009 hears of who Jesus is, who sees the power of 00:22:50.009 --> 00:22:54.670 Jesus at work? Are we going to humbly submit 00:22:54.670 --> 00:22:57.430 ourselves before him for the forgiveness of our 00:22:57.430 --> 00:23:01.880 sins? Perhaps Jesus is still amazed today. I 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:06.039 don't know. Maybe he's amazed today when some 00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:10.700 come to him. Maybe he's even more amazed when 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:13.279 there are others who have heard the gospel, who 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:15.559 have heard of his love, who have experienced 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:20.039 it in some small way, and yet they still decide 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:24.839 to reject him. Now, I don't know where you are 00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:30.289 in life. As humans, We fall into that trap of 00:23:30.289 --> 00:23:33.910 trying to make ourselves worthy of God's love, 00:23:34.170 --> 00:23:37.910 of maybe trying to convince ourselves that we 00:23:37.910 --> 00:23:41.809 have done enough. But I'm going to tell you today, 00:23:41.890 --> 00:23:45.490 it's time to stop. It's time to stop trying. 00:23:46.750 --> 00:23:50.910 You have not done enough. God is not going to 00:23:50.910 --> 00:23:54.299 love you more if you... Put twice as much in 00:23:54.299 --> 00:23:56.359 the offering plate. Buy twice as many sleeping 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:58.700 bags. He's not going to love you more for those 00:23:58.700 --> 00:24:01.079 outward things. What God wants more than anything 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:04.299 is for your heart. If you want to experience 00:24:04.299 --> 00:24:08.359 the love and the grace of God, you'll experience 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:12.000 that when you stop relying on your works and 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:15.119 you start relying on the works of Jesus Christ 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:19.960 crucified and resurrected. There you will find 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:23.660 the grace of God. if you would humble yourself 00:24:23.660 --> 00:24:28.180 today before Jesus Christ, if you would repent 00:24:28.180 --> 00:24:31.859 of your sins, if you would realize that today 00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:36.720 is the day, the time is now, that Jesus Christ 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:40.599 wants to be your Lord and Savior. He didn't die 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:43.759 on the cross because you were worthy. He died 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:46.460 on the cross because you were unworthy. And He 00:24:46.460 --> 00:24:48.819 knew that was the only way that your sins could 00:24:48.819 --> 00:24:55.579 be forgiven. So who will you be today? Will you 00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:57.880 be those in the crowd who hear the words of Jesus 00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:02.019 and are offended? Or will you be those in the 00:25:02.019 --> 00:25:05.559 crowd that hear the words of Jesus and humble 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:11.519 yourself before him? Let's pray. God, we thank 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:15.160 you for your good words. I pray, dear Lord, that 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:18.880 you be with us this morning. Maybe there are 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:21.019 some here this morning and they have tried to 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:23.859 do it their way and maybe their whole life they 00:25:23.859 --> 00:25:26.700 have been trying to earn your favor and thinking 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:28.900 if they just do good enough, it'll all work out. 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:33.160 But God, that's just not true. I pray today, 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:36.200 God, that they would quit striving in an effort 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:39.220 that only is going to leave them worn out and 00:25:39.220 --> 00:25:43.740 burdened, dear Lord. I pray today that they would 00:25:43.740 --> 00:25:45.799 quit trying to make their wrongs right by their 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:49.230 good deeds. And that they would know this morning 00:25:49.230 --> 00:25:51.890 that it is through Jesus Christ crucified that 00:25:51.890 --> 00:25:56.329 their sins have been forgiven. God, if they would 00:25:56.329 --> 00:25:58.890 just ask in this moment, I pray that they would. 00:25:59.549 --> 00:26:02.049 If there are some in this room that do not know 00:26:02.049 --> 00:26:06.150 Jesus, young or old, dear Lord, I pray that in 00:26:06.150 --> 00:26:09.910 this moment, right now, God, that they would 00:26:09.910 --> 00:26:12.569 ask you to forgive them. That they would repent. 00:26:13.549 --> 00:26:15.990 That they would stop trying to live by their 00:26:15.990 --> 00:26:18.269 way, dear Lord, and start living in obedience 00:26:18.269 --> 00:26:21.109 to Jesus Christ. That they would let Jesus be 00:26:21.109 --> 00:26:22.869 the authority in their lives. That they would 00:26:22.869 --> 00:26:25.910 stop striving, dear Lord, to control their own 00:26:25.910 --> 00:26:30.789 destiny because we cannot, God. But through Jesus 00:26:30.789 --> 00:26:34.309 Christ, you've promised us peace. You've promised 00:26:34.309 --> 00:26:37.829 us an eternity, God. You've promised us forgiveness 00:26:37.829 --> 00:26:43.000 and grace. There is no greater... Joy, dear Lord, 00:26:43.180 --> 00:26:46.460 than to experience your grace and the joy of 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:51.779 forgiveness. So I pray today, God, that we would 00:26:51.779 --> 00:26:54.720 recognize that we are not worthy, but Jesus is. 00:26:55.859 --> 00:26:57.980 That we would humble ourselves at the foot of 00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:02.000 the cross, God, and ask Jesus to be our Lord 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:05.400 and Savior. God, maybe there are some in here 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.640 today, and they're yours, and maybe there's something 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:10.339 that you just brought out to them in this scripture 00:27:10.339 --> 00:27:13.369 this morning. Maybe there's something in their 00:27:13.369 --> 00:27:15.730 life that's just nagging at them, some sin or 00:27:15.730 --> 00:27:18.250 whatever it may be, God. I pray that they would 00:27:18.250 --> 00:27:22.450 just humble themselves before you today. I pray, 00:27:22.529 --> 00:27:24.309 God, that we would follow the example of this 00:27:24.309 --> 00:27:28.049 centurion. That we would recognize, God, that 00:27:28.049 --> 00:27:33.710 before Jesus, we are nothing but sinners. But 00:27:33.710 --> 00:27:36.009 nonetheless, that he loves us enough that he 00:27:36.009 --> 00:27:39.369 gave his life for us. So I pray that we would 00:27:39.369 --> 00:27:41.470 live in that truth, rejoice in that truth today. 00:27:42.410 --> 00:27:44.549 God, I pray that if there are any who have made 00:27:44.549 --> 00:27:47.789 that decision to follow Jesus Christ today and 00:27:47.789 --> 00:27:49.650 have humbled themselves before him, I pray that 00:27:49.650 --> 00:27:51.569 as we sang, dear Lord, that they would step out 00:27:51.569 --> 00:27:53.230 from that pew and that they would walk down front 00:27:53.230 --> 00:27:55.450 with me, dear Lord, that they would let it be 00:27:55.450 --> 00:27:58.430 known that they have decided to follow Jesus. 00:27:59.210 --> 00:28:02.690 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.