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Faith and Humility: The Centurion's Story 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Today, we're looking at Luke chapter 7 verse 16. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God saying a great prophet has risen up among0:21 us, and God has visited his people. 4 encounters or events we see here with Jesus in Luke chapter 7, we have the healing of the sick, we have the raising of the dead, we have the elimination of doubt,0:33 and we have the forgiveness of sin. Now verses 1 through 10, what we have here is doctor Luke's account of the centurion and the centurion's servant who was sick unto death. Now Luke's account0:45 provides more detail than what we have in Matthew, which is not surprising being that, Luke was a physician. I'm sure these cases, he focused very closely on. Verse 2, and a certain centurion's servant who was dear0:57 to him was sick and ready to die. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, pleading with him to come and heal his servant. Now keep in mind that this centurion, that's a military,1:09 a Roman military officer. Now this was not the normal Roman official who was a Roman occupier. This man cared for the Jewish people. In fact, was a part of1:21 building them a synagogue. Now it's interesting. I find that he sent to the elders of the Jews. I mean, he had been he was the occupier. He was there, you1:33 know, around that region as the Roman official to keep order, to enforce the law. And but he was good to the Jewish people. And so he had a need and he sent to the1:45 Jewish leaders, the elders of the Jews, asking them to go to Jesus and ask for help. Verse 6, then Jesus went with them. And when he was already1:57 not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him saying, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not even think myself worthy to come to you, but2:08 say the word and my servant will be healed. I mean, look at the the humility that this man had. And, because he goes on in verse 8, for I am also a man placed under authority, having2:20 soldiers under me. And I say to 1, go and he goes to another, come and he comes and to my servant, do this and he does it. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him. And he2:32 turned around and he said to the crowd that followed him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. And those who were sent, that is those who came from the centurion2:44 returning to the house found the servant well who had been sick. There's 3 characteristics that we find here in the centurion that are worth emulating. Number 1,2:55 humility. He was a man of great humility. Despite the the position that he held, he had compassion. He was not asking for himself. He was asking on behalf of3:07 his servant. He was interceding for his servant. And number 3, he had faith. He had faith in in god. He had faith that that that Jesus could do and would do what he had requested on3:19 behalf of another. Now I tell you what, a great deal can be accomplished when these 3 traits are present in our lives. Alright. Next, in verses 11 through 17, we haveMiracles and Recognition: Raising the Widow's Son 3:31 the raising from the dead of the only son of a widow woman. Now this incident is unique to the book of Luke verse 12. And when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, a dead3:43 man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. When the lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, do not3:55 weep. Then he came and touched the open coffin, and those who were care those who carried him stood still. And he said, young man, I say to you, arise. So he who was dead set up and4:07 began to speak, and he presented him to his mother. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God saying a great prophet has risen up among us, and4:19 God has visited his people. Now here in verse 16, we have it's kind of an explosive verse that quiet it's quietly tucked away in this passage. I want you to4:30 look at it again. Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying a great prophet has risen up among us, and God has visited his people. You see, when God visits his4:42 people and his spirit is at work in our midst, we're gonna respond in these 2 ways. Number 1, we're gonna respond with fear or holy reverence for4:54 god, a reverence, a holy fear. And secondly, it results in praise and worship of of god. Verses 18 through 35, John the BaptistDoubt and Affirmation: John the Baptist's Inquiry 5:06 sends his disciples to inquire of Jesus if in fact he is the coming 1. Now, jeez John the Baptist wanted to baptize him, was the forerunner, but he's in prison.5:17 And now keep in mind, John the Baptist was 1 of the old the greatest prophets of the old dispensation. But here we see his humility or his humanity rather being revealed. And I think that's so we can identify with5:29 him. He was in prison. Okay? Things were not, I think, the way he planned they were going to be. He knew he was going to be going before Jesus, the Messiah, but what did that mean?5:41 Now many had different expectations of what would happen when the Messiah appeared. Many of them were looking for a political redeemer, someone who would restore the kingdom to Israel. But you see, god's5:53 ways are not our ways. Notice though that Jesus didn't criticize him. Far from it. Look at Jesus's response in verse 22. Jesus answered and said to to them, go and tell6:05 John the things that you have seen and heard, that the blind see, that the lame walk, that the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel6:17 preached to them. What Jesus was doing here, he and John John's disciples had just been witnessing some of the things that had happened in this chapter, so they saw it. And what Jesus6:29 was pointing to, this is what the prophet said the Messiah would do, and he was doing it. Now after John's disciples leave, Jesus praises the character of John the6:41 Baptist as a as a man steadfast in truth, a man that was unparalleled in self denial. He was not seeking personal pleasure, and he was a messenger of6:53 God. No no no question about it. But look at verse look what Jesus says in verse 28. For I say to you among those born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the7:04 Baptist. Not a greater prophet. But look, but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. What what's Jesus saying here?7:16 Under the new covenant that was being revealed in Christ that would be established after his resurrection, those following him following Jesus exceeded John the Baptist.7:28 You see, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, those characteristics that were seen in John that made him a faithful messenger, those would be even7:40 greater in our lives, should be, because of what what has been done at the cross for us and because we have the Holy Spirit poured out upon us. Then we have in versesForgiveness and Gratitude: The Anointing by a Sinner 7:51 36 through 50 the account of Jesus having dinner at the house of a Pharisee. And this, incident speaks to the gratitude that those have who are8:03 forgiven of their sins toward the 1 who has forgiven them, and that is Jesus. Verse 36, then 1 of the Pharisees asked him, that is Jesus, to eat with him. And he went to the Pharisees house, and he sat down to eat. And8:15 behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table at the Pharisee's house, brought in an alabaster flask of fragrant oil. Now who this woman is, we we8:27 really do not know. There's a lot of debate among the scholars. Some say it was Mary Magdalene, but there's no evidence to support that claim. What we do know that that she was known for sinful8:38 living, most likely, she was a harlot, most likely. Verse 39. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself. So it's kind8:50 of those, you know, having those little bubbles in cartoons, people thinking while he's thinking this to himself. This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what9:02 manner this of woman this is who is touching him for she is a sinner. Now when I read that, the first thing I thought is, well, how did the Pharisee know what kind of woman she was? Was his name in her black9:14 book? I don't know. Verse 40. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. So he said, teacher, say it. There was a certain creditor who had 2 debtors.9:26 1 owed 500 denarii and the other 50. And when they had when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me9:38 therefore, which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose the 1 he forgave more. And he said to him, you have rightly judged. Then he turned to the woman and said9:50 to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but10:02 this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time that I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you10:14 her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Then he said to her, your sins are forgiven.10:26 And those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? Then he said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.10:38 Notice, I mean, Jesus does this repeatedly, but notice how he confronts the Pharisees' latent hostility to what he is witnessing. It was kind of a10:50 indignation of what was occurring here on behalf of this Pharisee. And and and so what Jesus does, he doesn't confront that heart issue with the Pharisee.11:02 What he does is he tells a parable, a story, a word picture combined with a question. Which of them will love him more? You know, what might it indicate in our lives if we have little11:14 or no gratitude toward Jesus? From what Jesus is saying, it would be that we've not accepted the forgiveness that he has provided. Now let me point out in this parable that both the11:26 debtors had debts they could not pay. Denarius was a day's wage. These 2 debtors, while their debts were different, were both in the same category. They were unable to pay11:38 their debts. 1 was huge, 1 was just big. And the sins we've committed, they may be different. You know, we we may not be on death row for committing murder or some heinous11:49 crime, but guess what? All of our sin has separated us from god and we're unable we're unable to satisfy the debt of our sin.12:01 We all, every 1 of us, must come to the cross of Jesus if we are to be saved by his grace through faith in his grace. By his grace, we're saved through faith.12:13 Jesus said in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father except through me. Look again at what Jesus says there. Your faith has saved you.12:25 Go in peace. For by grace are we saved through faith, Paul writes. And when we've experienced that disgrace in our hearts,12:37 We we've experienced the grace of god. Our sins have been forgiven. Our hearts are naturally gonna be filled with gratitude, and then we can go forth in peace. Father, we thank you for your12:49 word. We thank you for the centurion, a man of humility, a man of compassion, a man of faith. May may those characteristics be seen in our13:01 lives. And, lord, I pray that our hearts would overflow with gratitude as we have accepted the forgiveness that you have provided for us. You've paid our debt, lord Jesus, a debt we could not13:13 pay. May our hearts overflow with gratitude. Holy Spirit, continue to lead us on this journey, opening our eyes to the truths of your word that we might13:24 apply the principles of your word and the truths of your word to our lives in this world in which we're living. For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Again, thanks for joining me this morning. Until13:36 next time, keep standing on the word.13:41 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:53 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Faith and Humility: The Centurion's Story3:28 Miracles and Recognition: Raising the Widow's Son5:02 Doubt and Affirmation: John the Baptist's Inquiry7:50 Forgiveness and Gratitude: The Anointing by a Sinner
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