045 The Evidence of Faith
James 2:14-26
May 20, 2018

We have now completed our doctrinal study of the SOLAS,
But before we wrap up the study completely
I do think it important to cover a bit of the application side of this study.

And namely I just want to make sure you understand that
These SOLAS should result in the sanctified life.

If your understanding of the SOLAS
Leads you to more apathetic and sinful life
Then it is obvious you did not understand them
And you most certainly have not believed them.

Those SOLAS represent the truth of the gospel
And the gospel should produce righteous living.

Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

Or even:
1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification”

It doesn’t get much clearer than that.

Now last week we quickly looked at the reality of SOLA GRATIA and what it should produce.

Paul said it clearly:
Titus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

Grace should produce godliness.
If it doesn’t then you have missed the point of grace.

Tonight I want us to look at another SOLA and what is should produce;
Namely SOLA FIDE.

And tonight we look at this passage in James to remind us
That while we are saved by faith alone, true faith is never alone.

It is always accompanied by works; namely works of righteousness.
Tonight James specifically targets your faith.
He wants to know if it is real or not.

And it all stems on this one belief of James:
FAITH IS NOT INVISIBLE

I don’t know where the idea came from
That all spiritual attributes were invisible.
People just sort of want to spiritualize everything and make it all personal and private.

But that just isn’t Biblical.
And that is precisely what James is talking about here
Throughout the end of chapter 2.

Look down at verse 18:
“But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; SHOW me your faith without the works, and I will SHOW you my faith by my works.”

Look down at verse 22:
“YOU SEE that faith was working with his works…”

Look at verse 24:
“YOU SEE that man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

It is clear that James is talking about FAITH YOU CAN SEE

There are three main points to this passage as we examine different types of faith.
#1 EFFORTLESS COMPASSION REVEALS DEAD FAITH
James 2:14-18

James wastes no time with two very penetrating and important questions.

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?”

You really need to key in on the word “says” there.
• James is referring to the person who claims to be a Christian.
• James is referring to the person who claims to believe in Christ.

They “SAY” they believe, but if it wasn’t for their outward confession,
You’d have no idea that they were a Christian.

And James says, “What use is it..?”

Another way to ask that is,
• “How much value does your confession have?”
• “What is your worth?”
• “What can your accomplish?”

And if you want to know specifically what James is getting at,
Look at the next question:

“Can that faith save him?”

Now we’re getting to the heart of the issue.

You have a verbal faith that is void of any other evidence…
What can that faith accomplish?

Well, here’s a few things it can do
• It can make you feel better about yourself
• It can also get those evangelistic nuts off your back
• It can help your reputation around other Christians
• It might even gain you access into Christian circles

The reality is that there is value in faith that is only verbal.
The problem is that it has no eternal value.

For all the things that it can do for you,
One thing it can’t do is save your soul from hell.

It may gain you access into the church, but it will not gain you access into heaven.
It may get the evangelist off your back, but it won’t keep you out of hell.
Namely because it is not the kind of faith that God accepts.

James actually alluded to this earlier in his epistle:
James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Even in that verse James revealed that there is a definite MEASURABLE ACTION side that is required in our faith or our religion.

He spoke of VISITING orphans and widows and KEEPING oneself unstained.

And that is the type of religion that God accepts.

But religion or faith that has no action and is not measurable
Is not acceptable to Him.
And so it is not a faith that can save.

And please let this sobering reality sink in a little tonight.
THERE IS SUCH A THING AS FAITH THAT CANNOT SAVE

John 12:42-43 “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.”

We know that true faith requires confession, so whatever it meant that they “believed” it certainly did not result in salvation.

Here’s another:
John 2:23-25 “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

Again, there is a group of “believers”.
I don’t know what type of faith they had, but whatever it was,
It was clear that Jesus didn’t accept it.
He would not give Himself to them.

John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

There again, they claimed belief but Jesus wouldn’t buy it.
He wanted to see obedience.

So again, we are confronted by people who “believe” or people
Who have some kind of faith, but they still are not saved.

And that is what James is trying to say.
Your faith cannot be this surface only intellectual claim,
It must be verifiable.
It has to be something that can be seen.

HOW ABOUT A “FOR INSTANCE”?
(James likes hypothetical illustrations)

“If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food”

Now there is the hypothetical

1) You have “a brother or sister”
• This isn’t even some pagan
• This isn’t even your enemy
• This is a fellow “brother or sister”

2) And they are “without clothing”

James doesn’t say they don’t have the latest fashions,
He says they are “without clothing”
They are either exposed to the elements
Or exposed in an indecent manner.

3) They also need “daily food”

Now in our culture we don’t know much about “daily food”
We have deep freezers and refrigerators and our food is packed full of preservatives that let it survive on the shelf for hundreds of years.

But when the Bible says “daily food” it means food for today.
They have nothing to eat.

They are a fellow believer, they are naked and they are hungry.
That is a real situation.

And I shouldn’t have to tell you what a Christian should do there.
The word is COMPASSION

And Scripture is clear about it.
You are to care for your brother.
You are to treat him as you would want him to treat you.

But here is what the person with fake faith did.
(16) “and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,”

Your answer to their dilemma was
To SPEAK A BLESSING OVER THEM

There is some more of that WORD-FAITH junk
We see floating around today.
AND SUCH IDIOCY FRUSTRATES JAMES

Do you want to know about useless faith?
“one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”

What you did for that poor brother is just about as pointless
As telling God you believe in Him.

It isn’t verifiable – it isn’t real

And to that James makes a solid point.
(17) “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

You have faith that consists of effortless compassion.
James as a word for that kind of faith – “DEAD”

I don’t know what you have, but it isn’t saving faith.
• You have religion without compassion
• You have religion without love
• You have a belief that has thus far been unable to rid you of selfishness and fill you with divine love.

If you don’t have measurable compassion for the poor,
Then you have a major problem.

1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”

You get the point.
Faith that is void of compassion is not saving faith.

AND HERE IS THE KICKER
If all you have is verbal faith with no works
ANYONE CAN SHOOT A HOLE IN THAT!

(18) “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

This isn’t James challenging you,
This is James giving you another hypothetical.

James says, “lets suppose all you have is that verbal faith that is void of any measurable compassion.”

You claim to be a believer, though it is hardly evident.

Do you know how easy it is to prove you a fraud?
“someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

In other words, all someone has to do to discredit your faith
Is walk up to you and say, “Do you have faith?”
You’d say, “Yes”
And they say, “Show me”

Perhaps you answered, “That’s not possible for faith is spiritual and private and invisible.”

And then they will answer, “I will show you my faith by my works.”

This man basically said – “Put up or ___________”

DO YOU SEE THE PROBLEM?
You have a faith that cannot be verified
This does no good for your mission in the world
This does no good for your eternal hope of heaven
This is NOT what SOLA FIDE was pointing to.

Effortless Compassion Reveals Dead Faith
#2 EMPTY CONFESSION REVEALS USELESS FAITH
James 2:19-20

James is still speaking of that faith with no works.
He is talking about that man who “says he has faith but he has no works.”

And James really squares in on the religious here.

He is referring to people who make an outward claim “that God is one”

Where did he get that statement?
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Israel was steeped in a world of polytheism.
All of their neighbors believed in numerous gods

And God told Israel – There is one God, Me! And you should give Me all your love.

So a good Jew quickly learned that “God is one”
Or that there is only one God.

James’ problem was not their lack of belief in Deuteronomy 6:4,
It was in their LACK OF adherence to Deuteronomy 6:5
In which they were to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind.

That was the problem.
And it is a real problem even today.

People all over our culture, people all over our churches who say,
“I believe in God”

James says “You do well;”

Of course the problem is this:
“the demons also believe”

I’ll tell you something about Satan and his demons.
They are monotheistic.

• They believe in the one true God.
• They know God is real.
• Satan is more sure of the nature and work of Christ than anyone.

If you tell a demon there is only one God, they will agree.

But where a condemned demon goes even farther than most who claim to believe in God today, at least they “shudder”

At least they fear God.

Matthew 8:29-31 “And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”

Mark 5:7 “and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!”

Those demons believed in Jesus, they believed in the judgment,
They knew there was only one God – they even swore by Him.

And James’ concern is that most of the “believers” he sees
Don’t even do that.

(20) “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”

And boy does James hit the nail on the head!

What he reveals is precisely the problem
People are unwilling to “recognize”
That faith without works cannot save.

People so badly want to pronounce their friends and family “saved” simply because they claim to believe.

But their friend or family member
• Exhibits no love of Christ,
• No faithfulness to His church,
• No commitment to His word,
• No desire to share His truth,
• No concern for His commands.
• No evidence of His Spirit
• No hunger for His righteousness

But they hold relentlessly to the fact that one time in VBS as a child
They claimed to believe and was even baptized.

They are unwilling to even consider the possibility
That their faith may not be genuine.

And James says that is “foolish”

That is to make a mockery out of faith
That is to disregard the requirements of God
That is to dispense false assurance by the bucket loads

And attitude like that won’t glorify God or save the lost – it is foolish!

Instead you ought to recognize what Scripture teaches,
And that is that genuine saving faith is accompanied by works.

1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

And if you don’t have those works, I don’t see any way in the world
You can actually believe your faith is real.

In fact it would be “foolish” to assume it is.
James says the faith that you have is “useless”

Effortless Compassion reveals Dead Faith Empty Confession reveals Useless Faith
#3 EVIDENT CONVICTIONS REVEAL PERFECT FAITH
James 2:21-26

Now here comes the fun part of the text.
(In fact these verses nearly kept the book of James out of the New Testament)

On the surface it can seem very contradicting
To other passages of Scripture.

For example:
(21) “Was not Abraham our father justified by works..?

Romans 4:1-5 “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,”

Paul said Abraham was justified by faith,
And James just said he was justified by works.

(24) “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

You have to admit it appears to be quite a contradiction.

But it isn’t.
In fact I would go so far as to tell you that Paul, James, and the writer of Hebrews would all stand in perfect agreement with one another.

TURN TO: HEBREWS 11
Now you know the writer takes you through
Example after example of people with faith.

Let me ask you a question as we look over this group of people.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THEY HAD FAITH?

Abel (4) – “Abel OFFERED to God a better sacrifice”
Enoch (5) – “he OBTAINED the witness…”
Noah (7) – “PREPARED an ark”
Abraham (8) – “OBEYED by going out”
Abraham (9) – “LIVED as an alien”
Sarah (10) – “CONCEIVED”
Abraham (17) – “OFFERED up Isaac”
Isaac (20) – “BLESSED Jacob and Esau”
Jacob (21) – “BLESSED each one of the sons of Joseph & WORSHIPED”
Joseph (22) – “GAVE ORDERS concerning his bones”
Moses’ Parents (23) – “HID Moses”
Moses (24) – “REFUSED to be called the son of…”
Israelites (29) – “the PASSED through the Red Sea”
Rahab (31) – “she had WELCOMED the spies”

And the writer goes on and on.
DO YOU CATCH THE POINT?

The writer of Hebrews certainly believed that it was by faith
That the saints of old gained approval before God.
But he was under no misconception that their faith
Was some sort of empty, useless, dead, intellectual claim.

Their faith had weight, it was verifiable, you could see it.

And Paul would have been right on board with this.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”

Well what do you think you were supposed to test?
What do you think you were supposed to look at?

All of these men believed in verifiable faith.

SO HOW DO YOU SETTLE THE APPARENT CONTRADICTION?

Here it is:

Both of those men would wholeheartedly agree
That you are justified before God by faith.

What James wants you to know is that you don’t have works,
Then you don’t have the type of faith that justifies.

When James talks about being justified by works,
He is NOT talking about justification of your soul,
He IS talking about justification of your faith.

And that is what he is about to show you.

He gives two examples.
(21-24) “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

James first brings up that famous event in Abraham’s life.
He brings up the event where Abraham offered up Isaac on the altar.

James says that when Abraham did that, “the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

In other words, what Abraham did on Mt. Moriah
Proves that Abraham really did believe.

We remember Abraham’s salvation:
Genesis 15:6 “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

That is the day when Abraham was saved.
We know that because that is the day that God gave him righteousness.

Now, God can see the heart and so He knew Abraham’s faith was real.

But if God hadn’t said so, based on that passage, how would you know that Abraham really believed God?

You wouldn’t.
In fact, if God hadn’t said so, you’d be really concerned about Abraham
Based on what is coming next.

• Chapter 16 he goes in to Hagar
• Chapter 17 he laughs when God tells him Sarah will conceive
• Chapter 20 he passes off Sarah again
• Chapter 21 he tries to keep Ishmael even though Sarah knows he has to leave

I mean let’s face it, if God hadn’t said he was justified, we would see nothing in his life that gave us any indication that it was true.

But then we come to CHAPTER 22, and God gives that command to sacrifice Isaac, which Abraham does.

Genesis 22:10-12 “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Did Abraham save himself when he offered up Isaac?
No, Abraham proved that he was saved.

In that act of obedience “the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

And to that James says, (24) “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

That is to say, WORKS ARE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY
AS A VALIDATION OF YOUR FAITH.

If you don’t have works, then you don’t have faith.

Well, let’s look at the next example:
James is making that same point again, “In the same way…”

(25-26) “In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

Take Rahab for an example.
She “received the messengers”

Did that save her before God? No
(It did save her from destruction)

But Rahab’s actions were because of her faith.

Let me show you:
Joshua 2:8-13 “Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. “Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”

She believed, she trembled, and her action proves that.
Her faith was proved real.

And the reality is that James could bring up every single person
In the faith hall of fame and ask the exact same question.

• Was not Able justified by works when he offered up a better sacrifice than
Cain?
• Was not Enoch justified by works when he lived righteous in a pagan land?
• Was not Noah justified by works when he built the ark?

Do you see?

Through their works “faith was perfected”

And then comes the conclusion:

(26) “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
And what an analogy.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE CALL A “BODY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT”?
A corpse.

And with that you understand his point.
“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

It is a question geared at the mass of people who claim to be Christians,
Who claim to believe in God, who claim SOLA FIDE,
But whose lives have no verifiable evidence of that claim.

And the question is,
Are you prepared to ride that type of faith into eternity?

And that is also the expectation of SOLA FIDE.

The Reformers fought to the death for the belief
That we are justified by faith alone,
But they always held to the belief that it must be real faith.

And faith is verified by works, namely righteousness.

Because He Felt Compassion
Luke 7:11-16
May 20, 2018

A common view of the God of the Old Testament
Is that He is angry and vindictive and vengeful and cruel.

That view is somewhat understandable if you take stories like:
• The Great Flood – where God wiped out all of humanity save 8
• Sodom and Gomorrah – where God reigned fire upon those cities
• God at Sinai – where He is seen in fire and smoke and an earthquake
• God during the conquest – where He commands the annihilation of Gentiles
• Even the Exile of Israel – where they were subjected to many horrors

And people have taken those stories and concluded that
God is distant and angry and cruel and harsh.
But that is not at all the entire picture of who God is.

When God announced His presence before Moses, He said:
Exodus 34:6-7a “Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;”

Probably the most famous account comes in:
Psalms 103:8-11 “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.”

While God is most certainly holy and just and
One who will not leave the guilty unpunished,
That does not mean that He lacks compassion and mercy.

In fact compassion is one of the main attitudes
God continuously commanded for His people.

Psalms 82:1-4 “God takes His stand in His own congregation; He judges in the midst of the rulers. How long will you judge unjustly And show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”

Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

Isaiah 58:6-7 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

Jeremiah 7:5-7 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”

Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

God’s compassion and His desire for compassion should be evident
Even when you read of Him in the Old Testament.

But without a doubt God’s greatest revelation of His nature
And His character came in the form of Jesus.

John 1:16-18 “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

That is to say, “If you really want to know what God is like, then look at Jesus. Jesus reveals God to us.”

Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

When God wanted to give His greatest self-revelation
He came in the form of a Savior.

And you probably recognize by now that
LUKE HAS BEEN CONTINUALLY HIGHLIGHTING THAT.

You cannot read Luke’s gospel without picking up on the fact that
JESUS IS CONCERNED ABOUT the lowly, the down-trodden,
the outcast, and the rejected.

In fact, when He revealed His purpose in coming, He stated it like this:
Luke 4:16-21 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus declared Himself a compassionate Savior
For all who are broken and rejected.
By no we’ve seen that they are the central figures of Luke’s gospel.

But equally important to Luke is to reveal to us that
Jesus didn’t just stop at concern, He also delivered them.

It wasn’t sympathy without substance.
It wasn’t empathy without action.
THE PITY OF JESUS ALWAYS BROUGHT THE POWER OF JESUS

AND THAT IS EVIDENT AGAIN IN OUR TEXT THIS MORNING.
(Jesus is compassionate)

In the flow of Luke’s gospel we see that he is currently
Giving us the context and back story to the coming conversation
Between Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist.

After revealing the story of the Centurion’s slave and the story of this widow’s son, Luke goes on to say:
Luke 7:18-19 “The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”

The point of course being that it was the spreading of these two miracles that caused John to send his disciples to Jesus.

• John was imprisoned
• John was a little confused by his circumstances
• John’s confusion had even caused him to wonder about Jesus
• But these miracles Jesus was working pushed John to find out

That is the purpose of recording them, but beyond that these miracles still have value and are worth our time to study.

Last week we saw how Jesus healed the Centurion’s slave even from a distance and we saw how great the authority of Jesus is.

• By hearing the Centurion’s testimony we received a great explanation of what manner of authority Jesus has.
• He can simply command things to occur and they must occur, even things like the reversal of sickness or paralysis.
• The Centurion understood what no one in Israel had yet grasped and this man’s great faith caused Jesus to marvel.

We saw that story last week.

This morning we move forward to a story about a grieving widow
In it we see confirmed for us the great compassion of our God.

Let’s break it down into 4 points this morning.
#1 A CRYING MOTHER
Luke 7:11-12

Here we read that “Soon afterwards he went to a city called Nain;”

• I think the KJV actually says “the next day”.
• Either way, it was right on the heels of healing the centurion’s slave.

It was only a couple of miles from Capernaum to “Nain”

And we have no doubt why Jesus was heading there.
He was going to preach the gospel in the synagogue like He was accustomed to doing.

Luke 4:16 “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.”

Preaching in the synagogue was “His custom”

And we also see that not only where His disciples following Him, but He was also “accompanied by a large crowd.”

Needless to say, Jesus was “trending”.
• No one ever spoke with the kind of authority He spoke with…
• No one ever had the kind of power that He demonstrated…
• No one else offered salvation like He offered it…

What else are you to do?
So it’s definitely worth the trip to go with Him to hear His next sermon
And to see His next round of validating miracles.

But as the Jesus crowd is approaching Nain,
Instantly they are met by a different crowd.

(12) “Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.”

Well here we have our second crowd.
• Only this one isn’t following a Preacher, this crowd is following a dead man.
• It is a funeral procession.

Obviously someone in the crowd, possibly even Jesus,
Inquired as to who had died and the particulars were given.

• This was a young man who had died.
• And to make matters worse he was “the only son of his mother, and she was a widow”

The simple picture is that of being absolutely alone.
Widows had a tough time in Bible times.
It wasn’t like they could live off their husband’s social security or retirement.

They were often times left with nothing, and with no advocate.

That is why we read of such awful occurrences as their houses being devoured.
Luke 20:46-47 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”

Or why we read about a widow having to plead for legal protection.
Luke 18:1-3 “Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘ Give me legal protection from my opponent.’”

This was an all-too common occurrence.
They were left to fend for themselves
And were often times taken advantage of.

This is why Paul would say that true godly widows where those who trusted God.

1 Timothy 5:5 “Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day.”

That’s not hard to understand
When you grasp their severe social disadvantages.

Their one support was that if they had children
Then they could be cared for by their children.

Paul even wrote to Timothy
1 Timothy 5:3-4 “Honor widows who are widows indeed; but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.”

Paul would go on to say on that same note:
1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Well, this woman may have had a devoted son, but she doesn’t any more.
• And now she is feeling the grief of losing a husband,
• The grief of losing a son,
• And no doubt the worries of what life holds for her now.

This is not how she planned for life to go.

And the fact that the funeral is being attended by “a sizeable crowd”
Should tell you that her plight was on the minds and hearts
Of a great deal of her friends as well.

People felt bad for this woman.

A Crying Widow
#2 A COMPASSIONATE SAVIOR
Luke 7:13

Now certainly at this point we are NOT SURPRISED
To find that Jesus is demonstrating compassion.
He does it all the time.

What makes this scenario a little unique is that
Everything that happens here is instigated by Jesus
And not by the people.

Most of the time when a miracle occurred
• It was typically because someone approached Jesus with a problem.
• They would then expound that problem to Him and ask Him to help.
• His help would typically then be contingent upon the faith of the one asking.
• If they expressed faith that they believed He could do it, then He would validate their faith by granting the miracle.

But this scenario is different.
• This widow did not ask Him to help.
• No one in the crowd is said to have asked for help.
• There is no record of anyone in the crowd exhibiting faith.
• In short, no one is asking for or expecting anything from Jesus.

Everything that happens here only happens because Jesus initiates it.

And that is what makes it beautiful.
“When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her”

Compassion is defined as: “Pity, inclining one to help or be merciful.”

The Greek word here translates, SPLANCHNIZOMAI (splangkh-nid-zom-ahee)
Splanchna is the “bowels” and so it means to be “moved deeply on the inside”

It was the same word used of this man:
Mark 9:21-22 “And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

This was a father who had helplessly watched a demon
Throw his son into the fire and the water.

And the feeling he felt for his son was the same feeling
Mark says that Jesus felt for this selfish crowd.

It is also the same word that Luke uses of how the father felt about the prodigal son.
Luke 15:20 “So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

Does that give better insight into the feeling Jesus had for this woman?
It was the same feeling a father has when his child is hurting.
It was the same feeling a father has when his lost son is found.

Jesus hurt deeply in His gut for this woman.

What happens here
• Is NOT because people won’t leave Jesus alone.
• Is NOT because He is just trying to get the crowd off His back.
• Is NOT some sense of duty to maintain a proper ministry.

We’ve all had moments like that in our life.

We like to call it compassion but what it really is
Is a desire to satisfy people to move them along
And to get them to quit bothering us.

We have many benevolence requests that come through our church, and we help a whole lot of them.

I’d like to say that we help them because we hurt for them in our gut
And we are just moved with compassion
And have an overwhelming desire to alleviate their pain.

But honestly, that’s just not always the case.
• Often times the help I give is really more about getting them to leave me alone.
• Often times it is more about doing it because God says to do it than it is
because I have some inner longing to help.
• Often times I don’t feel pain for them, too often I feel like they dug this hole
themselves and then brought me the shovel to dig them out.

Now that’s just me being honest.
(Are you surprised that I’m not more like Jesus than that?)

BUT HERE Jesus, under no external compulsion or request,
Is motivated in His inner being simply because He “saw her”

• He wasn’t so preoccupied with His next speaking engagement…
• He wasn’t so inflated by the large crowed already following Him…
• He wasn’t distracted by the circus of people around Him…
• He wasn’t put off by yet another need from a complete stranger…

• He didn’t turn His eyes
• He didn’t look away
• He stopped and He “saw her”

It implies that He took a moment to ponder her situation.
What must this woman be dealing with?
How severe must her grief be?
How real must her anxiety be?
How lost and confused must she be?
He took a moment to see her.

And I would say to you that all true COMPASSION STARTS HERE.
In fact, I think on the flip-side we could say that
OFTEN TIMES OUR LACK OF COMPASSION
Actually begins with a lack of seeing people.

Matthew 9:35-36 “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

There again we understand that Jesus ministry
First began with His willingness to see where people were.

And when Jesus took a moment to see this woman, “He felt compassion for her”

Aren’t you glad we serve a God who feels compassion for His people?

MIGHT I REMIND YOU that there is no logical reason why this should happen?

• He is holy, we are sinful
• He is eternal, we are mortal
• He is infinite, we are limited
• He is wisdom, we are foolish
• He is beauty, we are fallen
• He is transcendent, we are common

David offered unique perspective on this:
Psalms 39:4-6 “LORD, make me to know my end And what is the extent of my days; Let me know how transient I am. “Behold, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my lifetime as nothing in Your sight; Surely every man at his best is a mere breath. Selah.”

“Selah” means meditate on that.

Take just a second and ponder how insignificant we actually are,
Especially in comparison to the God of the universe.

He is from everlasting to everlasting.
He is the only God there has ever been or will ever be.
• Do you know how many humans have existed before you?
• Do you know how many currently exist with you?
• Do you know how many are coming after you?

So what makes you expect that you’d ever receive any kind of special attention from the God of heaven and earth?

And yet, we have it.
He sees us, He knows us

Jesus said:
Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

That’s remarkable. It caused David to pray:
Psalms 8:3-4 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?”

Boy there’s a good question.

When you see Jesus stop here and take the time to look at this widow and then actually feel “compassion” for her.

The only logical question to ask is “Why?”
Why would You; the Savior of the world; the holy, infinite, eternal, immortal, magnificent God; why would You take the time to care about this woman’s problems?

It really doesn’t make sense that it should bother Him.

And yet Scripture says it does.
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

It is remarkable here that Jesus, without any external pressure,
Cares for this woman and the pain she feels.

HE CARES FOR YOU AS WELL.
Certainly He cares for those who are His.
He has great compassion for His elect.

And yet He also has compassion even toward the wicked.
• Does He not send rain on the just and the unjust?
• Has He not given to all men life and breath and length of days?
• Does He not feed the birds, the mountain goats, and the wicked among men?

GOD IS FULL OF COMPASSION ON HIS CREATION AND ESPECIALLY UPON THOSE WHOM HE HAS CALLED TO HIMSELF.

And Scripture reveals that if you are in a difficult situation then God cares.
He is the God of all comfort.

Now, if He has chosen to leave you in your difficult situation
That does not mean that He does not care, it only means that
He is providentially using your trial for an even greater purpose.

Hebrews 12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

And that of course falls under that magnificent promise:
Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

God may indeed be ordaining your hardship for an even greater good
Which you do not yet see,
But you can certainly rest assured that He cares for you.

HE HAS COMPASSION.
• He is a God who feels deeply for those whom He has created.
• He is a God who is moved inwardly for His people.

That is a magnificent reality for us to grasp.

A Crying Mother, A Compassionate Savior
#3 A COMMANDED RESURRECTION
Luke 7:13b-15

I put the end of verse 13 here because I feel certain that it must have come across as a strange command to this woman.

“Do not weep.”
Look, Ecclesiastes says that there is a time for weeping,
And trust me, this looks like one of those times.

The command to “not weep” can only be given
Based upon the knowledge of the One who told her to stop.

Think about that for a moment.
Do sometimes the commands of God seem strange to you?
• Commands like “do not fear”
• Commands like “rejoice always”
• Commands like “be thankful in all circumstances”

If we’re honest we’d have to say that there are times
Where it does not appear that the commands of God
Match the current situation.

This woman would be in one of those times.

However, the command proves to be absolutely relevant
Not based upon what the woman knows,
But based upon what the Savior knows.

If she knew what He knew, she’d agree that this day is no day for weeping
Perhaps if we knew what God knew
Then we’d also know that
Our day is no day for weeping or for fear or for disdain.

Well here is why He told her not to weep.
(14) “And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

That again is a sentence filled with all sorts of BIZARRE OCCURRENCES.

1) He “touched the coffin”

According to Mosaic Law, this would have made Him unclean
And therefore unable to enter the synagogue and uable to preach.

If you’ll remember (Good Samaritan) this was most likely the reason that the priest and the Levite first passed by the man who’d been beaten by robbers and left for dead. They passed him by because they didn’t want to disqualify themselves for ministry service. And yet Jesus said that only the Samaritan did it correctly because he rendered compassion.

Well Jesus is here doing exactly as the good Samaritan did.
He is risking defilement (though impossible for Him) that He might render compassion.

Of course in Jesus’ case, He cannot be defiled,
For He is about to run what is unclean straight out of town.

But He touches the coffin…very strange.
2) He stops the funeral procession “the bearers came to a halt”

Even in our culture we have learned that when someone is going to bury a loved one; that is not the time to interrupt.
• We are told to pull over to the side of the road.
• We are told to let them pass.
• You don’t bust up the order of service in a funeral.

But Jesus just did.

3) He told the dead man to do something.
“And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

Now, speaking to the deceased is one thing.
• From time to time we see people say their last good-byes.
• More commonly we see people speak to their closest loved one.

But certainly no one tells the dead man to do anything,
Especially not “get up!”

And that’s what Jesus did.
He interrupted this funeral procession and told the dead man to get up.

But, because He has AUTHORITY even over death, we read:
(15) “The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

He didn’t just get up, He also spoke, thus proving He was actually alive.
Jesus just conquered death!

Charles Spurgeon commented on the scene this way:
“Yonder a procession descends from the city. Our spiritual eyes see death upon the pale horse coming forth from the city gate with great exultation. He has taken another captive. Upon that [coffin] behold the spoils of the dread conqueror! Mourners by their tears confess the victory of death. Like a general riding in triumph to the Roman capital, death bears his spoils to the tomb. What shall hinder him? Suddenly the procession is arrested by another: a company of disciples and much people are coming up the hill. We need not look at the company, but we may fix our eyes upon One who stands in the centre, a Man in whom lowliness was always evident, and yet majesty was never wanting. It is the living Lord, even He who only hath immortality, and in Him death has now met his destroyer. The battle is short and decisive; no blows are struck, for death has already done his utmost. With a finger the chariot of death is arrested; with a word the spoil is taken from the mighty, and the lawful captive is delivered. Death flies defeated from the gates of the city, while Tabor and Hermon, which both looked down upon the scene, rejoice in the name of the Lord.”
(Spurgeon, Charles [The Treasury of the New Testament; Volume 1, Marshall, Morgan & Scott, Limited; London Edinburgh] pg. 717)

Jesus conquered death!
(What’s your problem?)

Beyond that, this is certainly a miraculous picture of salvation.
• We too were dead in spirit ignorant to the things of God.
• But it was Christ who breathed life into our dead souls and allowed us to hear
the words of God which bid us to leave the grave of sin and latch on to
new life.
• And not only where we granted the ability to hear the call, but also by grace we
were granted the ability to answer it.
• Life flooded in and enabled us to rise.

Ephesians 2:1-5 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),”

We are all Lazarus’s.

The resurrection of this man pictures salvation.
But his resurrection also foretells the great coming resurrection.

Charles Spurgeon continued:
“This was a rehearsal upon a small scale of that which shall happen by-and-by, when those who are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live: then shall the last enemy be destroyed. Only let death come into contact with Him who is our life, and it is compelled to relax its hold, whatever may be the spoil which it has captured. Soon shall our Lord come in His glory, and then before the gates of the New Jerusalem we shall see the miracle at the gates of Nain multiplied a myriad times.”
(ibid, pt. 717)

John 5:24-29 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

This scene also foreshadows that one.

We have here One who is moved with compassion
And One who has the authority to satisfy it.

He cared for this widow and He had the authority to offer that care.
How comforting it is for us to know as well that
THE ONE WHO CARES FOR US CAN ALSO DELIVER US.

A Crying Mother, A Compassionate Savior, A Commanded Resurrection
#4 A COMMON RESPONSE
Luke 7:16-17

We don’t have to comment long here except to reiterate that
This has now become THE NORM.

Luke 4:36-37 “And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.”

Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

Luke 5:26 “They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

This Jesus is no mere man.
He is the God-man.

And while these people are not totally accurate as to who He is.
(Some think Him merely a prophet.)

What they are certain of is that through Him, God is at work.
And as Luke will show you, all of this is used
To prompt the conversation with John the Baptist.

But this morning I simply want to leave you with that wonderful reality,
That this same God cares for you.

He is NOT a God who is only compassionate because we bother Him to the point of exhaustion.

• He helps us because He cares for us.
• He is compassionate towards His own.
• And He who is compassionate also holds the power to change our circumstance in an instant.

The only time He doesn’t is when it is more compassionate
To allow the circumstance to continue than to stop it prematurely,
For He only desires what is best for His children.

This morning simply look at that story
And rejoice in the compassion of our great God and Savior;
Jesus Christ.

The Evidence of Grace
Titus 2:11-14
May 13, 2018

Last week we sort of wrapped up the SOLAS.
But what we’re going to do now is sort of
Put an APPENDIX on the end of the study.

As we have said the SOLAS all deal with the concept of justification.
They all relate to how a sinner is brought to salvation.
• By Grace Alone
• Through Faith Alone
• In Christ Alone
• As Revealed in Scripture Alone
• To the Glory of God Alone

Those all relate to how a person is brought to salvation.

However, we know that salvation is not the end point of the Christian, it is the jumping off point.

We are justified that we may live for the glory of God.

This is why even in the history of the church it was work of the Reformers
That gave way to a group of believer known as the PURITANS.

The Puritans were the second wave of Reformers
Who took the gospel which had been rediscovered in the Reformation
And whole-heartedly applied it to Christian life.

Men like John Knox and Samuel Rutherford, and Matthew Henry,
And John Owen and Isaac Watts

And these men lived just as their label suggested. They were Puritans.

And I make that point because I want you to understand that
The rediscovery of grace did not produce a more sinful church,
But rather a more holy one.

The fear of Rome and the fear of Legalistic religion for all time
Has been that if you ever expose people to pure grace
Then you will lose your strongest motivator for holy living; which is fear.

What they failed to realize is that without the exposure to pure grace
Then you never tap in to the strongest motivator for holy living;
Which is love.

A fitting analogy of this can be found in Luke’s gospel
In a story where we will study in the near future.

TURN TO: Luke 7:36-49

Without working on that text too much, there are a few things that are obvious.
We have a woman there who is doing the unthinkable for Jesus.

(37-38) paints a really remarkable picture of love and gratitude.
“And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.”

I don’t know a lot about the scene, but
• I do know that Jesus wore sandals and walked dirt roads…
• I know what my legs and feet look like after a day of baseball during the
season I can only imagine the condition of Jesus’ feet.

And yet this woman washed and dried and kissed them repeatedly.
She apparently made such a scene that it shocked the Pharisees who were watching.

But of course Jesus gave that all-important revelation about this woman.
(47) “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

THE POINT?
Grace produces genuine love and devotion.

That is actually the very foundation of Christian obedience.

The SOLAS really only relate to the doctrines surrounding justification,
But the Christian life does not stop there.

We are well aware that another doctrine arises
And it is the doctrine of SANCTIFICATION.

Namely that we are to now live holy lives.

And as we said the legalistic crowd has always feared that an exposure to pure grace would only cause people to no longer care about holy living.

This was in fact the battle Paul fought in Romans 6.
After revealing that where sin increased grace abounded all the more, Paul could already hear the antagonists firing at him from all sides.

• “Paul, now people are just going to live sinful and claim grace…”
• “Paul, if there are no consequences they’re just gonna indulge the flesh…”

To which Paul responded:
Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

And of course the point Paul makes is: NO THEY WON’T
People who have truly experienced grace
And been united with Christ have in fact died to self
And no longer desire those sinful things.

THEY WON’T return to sin using grace as a license
BECAUSE it is grace that has caused them to no longer want sin.

Now to be certain there are some who use grace as a license to sin.

For example Jude says:
Jude 3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Jude warned of people who do actually use grace as a license to sin.

But people who use grace in this way
Are only people who know about grace,
Not people who have experienced it.

True grace never leaves people in their sin
Because it is the gracious work of God to pull them out of it.

Some seem to think that
The grace of God is nothing more than God turning a blind eye to the evil things we do. That is not the grace of God.

The grace of God is when God reaches down
And rescues sinners from the sin which will destroy them.

He does not merely rescue us from the PENALTY of sin,
But also from the POWER sin
And the POSSESSION that sin has over our lives.

God’s grace is a total deliverance.

What that means then is that God’s grace comes with EVIDENCE.
And this is what we want to spend some time on
Now before we put a period at the end of our study.

Having examined the tenants of the gospel;
• Namely the process and purpose of justification.

I think it’s only fitting that we now look at what the gospel produces
Which is in fact a holy life.

And this is what Paul will spell out so clearly for Titus in his letter.

We’re not going to preach through the entire letter at this time,
But it is important to understand some basics here
So that the text we are looking at takes on its intended priority.

• The letter to Titus is known as a “Pastoral Epistle”.
• It is one of 3 pastoral epistles that Paul wrote (the other 2 are 1 & 2 Timothy).
• It is Paul’s instruction to a young minister regarding how he should set up and instruct the church.

Titus 1:5 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,”

• Paul’s admonition was for Titus to set up that church.
• He was to appoint elders to rule the church, and Paul gave Titus very strict instructions as to how to pick those men.

That is the basis of chapter 1.

When we get to chapter 2
• We find that Paul branches out regarding his expectations for people by addressing various groups of people within the church and how they should live.

For example:

(READ 2:1-2)
• There we find Paul’s admonition concerning old men and the key there being that they should be RESOLUTE.
• Men who know the faith, who live the faith, who stand in the faith, and who endure in the faith.

(READ 2:3)
• There we find Paul’s admonition to older women, and the key for them is that they should be REVERENT.
• They are not to get carried away in any fleshly vice rather that be drinking, gossip, or any other thing.

(READ 2:4-5)
• We find Paul’s admonition to younger women, and there we see that they should be DEVOTED TO THEIR FAMILIES.
• As wives and mothers they are expected to forsake the world and devote themselves to their husband and their children.

(READ 2:6)
• And Paul’s admonition to them is simply to be SENSIBLE, not impulsive or rash or quick tempered or arrogant.

(READ 2:7-8)
• We see Paul’s admonition to Titus and the key word there is that he is to be an EXAMPLE.
• At all times the church at Crete should be able to look at him as an example of what Christian living looks like.

(READ 2:9-10)
• That is Paul’s admonition to slaves and the key word is SUBMISSIVE.
• They are to humble themselves before their masters and do the work without grumbling.

Now, we can all agree that those comprise some very difficult commands.
They are not necessarily expectations that are easy to live up to.

The flesh wars against all of those,
And in most cases the world promotes just the opposite attitudes.

What Paul asks believers to do there is very difficult.
And yet Paul says these are the types of things we do
If we want to honor God and adorn His doctrine.

If you skip down to chapter 3 you find Paul giving a list of things that the believers in Crete should REMEMBER.

(3:1) says they should be GOOD CITIZENS
(3:2) says they should be GOOD NEIGHBORS

And the implication is that they are to be submissive to rulers
And good to neighbors WHO DON’T DESERVE IT.

And Paul’s reasoning is because we are also recipients of mercy.
(3:3-7)

And finally Paul tells Titus to remind this church in Crete what they should AVOID, and that is that they should avoid STRIFE

(READ 3:8-11)

If you take all that together what you find in Titus
Is a book filled with every difficult expectations for the Christian.

He/She is called to resist the flesh, resist the world, show mercy, love and goodness to all people and to do so without a contentious spirit.

We’ve only barely skimmed the top of what those commands imply but I think you still get the point that they are NOT EASY COMMANDS.

What they corporately reveal is THE EXPECTATION FOR THE CHURCH

And they are such an important expectation that Paul says in 2:15
Titus 2:15 “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.”

I mean these things aren’t optional.
These are the expectations for the believers in Crete.

But right in the middle of those expectations
We find the chief motive for that lifestyle.

What is it that motivates a believer to live in such a manner?
• Is it fear of judgment?
• Is it fear of God’s rejection?
• Is it fear of discipline?
• Is it desire to earn God’s favor?

What motivates such sacrificial living?
THE ANSWER: GRACE

Grace supplies both the means and the motivation for holy living.
And that is what Paul reveals in the passage we look at tonight.

For all of those who think grace is just some “get out of hell free” card
That allows believers to just do whatever they want without fear
They obviously do not understand grace at all.

Here Paul lays out the facts about grace.

And if you’ve received that grace which we talked about in the SOLAS
Then let me tell you the PURPOSE and AIM of that grace in your life.

There are 3 points we want to see tonight about grace.
#1 WHAT GRACE BROUGHT
Titus 2:11

“For” is the word that transitions this passage as the motivation for the commands we read above it.

It’s as if the church heard Paul’s list of expectations
And immediately said, “Why should we?”

And in verse 11 Paul brings the answer.

“For the grace of God has appeared,”

Stop there for a moment.
That certainly is no little thing.

“appeared” is EPIPHAINO
And it refers to something being BROUGHT TO LIGHT,
Especially in a way that was NOT PREVIOUSLY UNDERSTOOD.

It is not that God’s grace was not always present,
It is that God’s grace was not very well understood.

However when Jesus arrived and the gospel was proclaimed
Grace was brought to light.

2 Timothy 1:9-10 “[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,”

God’s purpose and God’s grace where both revealed
When they appeared with Jesus.

About Jesus we read:
John 1:14-17 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'” For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

• That is why Simeon could hold that 8 day old baby in the temple and declare that he could depart in peace for his eyes had seen God’s salvation.

Throughout His life Jesus became the very epitome of God’s grace.
• Doing good,
• Healing those who did not deserve it,
• Offering forgiveness to the vilest of sinners,
• Ultimately atoning for sinful men through His own death on the cross.

It was grace, grace, grace, grace; and it appeared
In a way that mankind never understood it before.

And the wonderful truth here is that God chose to reveal it.

God chose to show it to us.
• He certainly was under no requirement to ever be gracious.
• He certainly was under no mandate that forced Him to send His son into the world.

But it was in fact grace that caused God to let grace appear at all.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

God simply chose to reveal His grace.

And it is what grace brought that was truly amazing.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men”

Certainly you’ve studied enough now to know that
Paul is NOT here referring to UNIVERSALISM.

• He is not indicating that the appearance of Jesus ended with every single human now being saved.
• If you read the verse that way then you totally distort a large portion of the rest of the New Testament.

The point of course is that God’s grace
Brought the opportunity for salvation to all men.

Now I know, at this point you can throw up your hand and say, “Wait a minute, I thought we believed in election and limited atonement and things like that?”

We absolutely do, but don’t allow the reality of election
To distort the opportunity of salvation.

Any man who chooses to believe in Christ will absolutely be saved.
Salvation in that sense is possible for any and every human being.

As we said, every time we offer the gospel
It is a real and binding and absolutely valid offer.

Jesus has arrived and any man who wants salvation can be saved.

The doctrine of election merely reminds us that when the offer was made every single human, of his own free will, absolutely and categorically denies that offer.

The only people who take advantage of it are the elect whom God, by grace,
Regenerates their soul and grants them faith
And effectually draws them to Christ for that salvation.

But never has there ever been a sinner who wanted salvation to whom God said, “No, you’re not elect.”

God’s grace sent salvation into the world in the form of Jesus Christ.

And it is far more than just a salvation from hell.
• It is also a salvation from sin.
• It is a deliverance from our old master.

Which is also Paul’s point in Romans 6.
Romans 6:15-23 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It was freedom and salvation from sin.
That is what Grace Brought

#2 WHAT GRACE TAUGHT
Titus 3:12

Grace literally instructs us.
“instructing” is the word PAIDEUO

It is where we get our word “pedagogy” which refers to instruction.

In Galatians 3 Paul speaks of the law as a PAIDAGOGOS which is translated “tutor”

Grace is far more than just a sentiment of God to let sinners off the hook.
• Grace is a teacher
• Grace is a tutor
• Grace is an instructor

And here is what Grace taught:
“instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires”

“ungodliness” is ASEBEIA
Which refers to a lack of reverence and devotion to God.

As you know in our natural state were are totally depraved.
And Scripture speaks to this sinful condition repeatedly.

Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Or of course we could read that conglomeration of passages in Romans 3 again which reminds us that “there is none who does good; there is not even one.”

Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

And you understand of course that this was the heart of man.
• We had no reverence for God.
• We had no fear of God.
• We had no devotion to God.
• All we wanted was all that the world offered.

The entire world shared the same bumper sticker and it said,
“Where are we going, and what’s with the handbasket?”

It was literally “To hell in a handbasket”

But it was God’s grace that appeared in the form of Jesus Christ
To for the first time awaken us from our sinful slumber
And to instruct us to “deny ungodliness and worldly desires.”

It was grace that opened our eyes to the atrocity of blaspheming God.
It was grace that revealed to us our dangerous condition.

Romans 1:18-21 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

It was grace that appeared and showed us the error of our ways.
• Grace told us to stop offending God.
• Grace told us to seek out His forgiveness through Christ.
• Grace told us that reconciliation was possible.

Grace became our teacher and told us to flee from what was killing us.

And then Grace taught us “to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,”

“sensibly” is a compound word
And it has to do with a person who has a “saved mind”

They are in control of their own mind.
• He doesn’t allow temptation or influence to cloud his judgment.
• He tests what he hears and discerns what he sees.

“righteously” of course speaks of his dealings with fellow man.
• He’s not a cheat or a liar or immoral or a murderer.
• He walks in love which does no wrong to a brother.
• He doesn’t engage in the sinful patterns that inevitably harm others.

“godly” refers to a person’s devotion and nearness and desire for God.
• They commune with God
• They draw near to God
• They love God

And grace taught us all of these things.

Grace taught us that
• There is nothing but danger in destruction found in following the pattern of this world.
• Walking estranged from God and contrary to His laws would only bring suffering and pain.
• Our greatest good is to walk in unhindered fellowship with God.

And certainly since that is what grace teaches
Then that is what grace expects.

And so you understand why Paul follows that long passage of difficult commands with this revelation about grace.
• When he tells older men to be resolute
• When he tells older women to be respectable
• When he tells younger women to be devoted
• When he tells younger men to be sensible
• When he tells Titus to be an example
• When he tells slaves to be submissive

He knows those are hard commands to swallow,

But that is precisely what grace teaches.
• Run from the pattern of the world
• Run from the desires of the flesh
• Run from a disrespectful attitude toward God and pursue the things that please Him.

• Pursue a sensible mind that discerns what is true and clings to it.
• Pursue a righteous lifestyle that walks uprightly in the world
• Pursue godliness and close intimate fellowship with Him

This is not just what grace brought, it is what grace taught

#3 WHAT GRACE BEGOT
Titus 3:13-14

That is another way of saying “what grace produces”
And that is a longing for glory

Glory is the desire of the Christian in this life
Because it is in glory that our body of sin
Is totally and permanently done away with.

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

John there speaks of the glory that is to come
When our salvation is complete and our body of sin is done away with.

And because this is the hope of believers John goes on to say:
1 John 3:3 “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Which is to say that people who have a genuine hope for glory
Don’t just wait until glory to try and achieve it.

Even though we will never acquire sinless perfection in this life,
That doesn’t stop every true believer from seeking it out.

Sinless perfection is our HOPE, sinless perfection is our PROMISE,
And that makes sinless perfection our daily PURSUIT now.

In fact John would continue by referencing those who don’t pursue it.
1 John 3:4-8 “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

John wasn’t saying that if you ever sin at all then you aren’t saved.
That’s not true, nor the point.

John is speaking of the desire and pattern of life.
• No true believer is ok with sin
• No true believer disregards holiness
• No true believer desires sin

Grace in us produced a longing for sinless perfection.
That’s what Paul says here to Titus.

That Grace in us is “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”

• Because of grace we now long for Christ.
• Because of grace we now long for sin to be destroyed.
• Because of grace we now long for His kingdom where righteousness dwells.

Those who still find their pleasures
In the allurements and entrapments and carnalities of this world
Are only revealing that their lives are not a product of grace.

Grace causes us to desire the righteous kingdom.

In fact longing for that kingdom is a key descriptor of the redeemed.
=
2 Timothy 4:8 “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

And just to make sure you understand what His appearing entails
Paul reminds you of exactly what His mission was:
(14) “who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

• Do you really think that Christ will return to let lawlessness survive?
• Do you really think Christ will return to leave things filthy?
• Do you really think Christ will return to tolerate evil?

Of course not!
• Christ is a redeemer from lawlessness.
• Christ is purifier from sinfulness.
• Christ is an enforcer of good deeds.

And because of the work of grace in our lives,
We long for His return to complete that mission.

That is what grace produces in us.
• Grace brought us salvation from our sin.
• Grace taught us to quit loving sin and offending God and to seek righteousness and godliness.
• Grace begot in us a desire for Christ and His return and a kingdom where righteousness dwells.

THAT IS WHAT GRACE DID.

So how could anyone in this world say, “I’ve received the grace of God that I might go and now enjoy my sin”?

And you know the answer: THEY CAN’T!
• Genuine grace does not produce licentiousness in a person.
• Genuine grace does not produce apathy in a person.
• Genuine grace does not produce worldliness in a person.

GRACE PROVIDES SANCTIFICATION
GRACE TEACHES SANCTIFICATION
GRACE PRODUCES SANCTIFICATION
GRACE EXPECTS SANCTIFICATION

And we’re going to talk more about this in the coming weeks,
But namely I just want you to begin to CONTEMPLATE
THE EFFECT OF THOSE SOLAS IN YOUR LIFE.

Those SOLAS represent what God and God alone accomplished
In order to bring about your justification.
But it doesn’t stop with the SOLAS.

From there we move to sanctification
Where now, thanks to redemption,
I join the work of God to also work with Him
For my holiness and purity.

Regeneration was indeed a monergistic effort (God alone)
But after regeneration it becomes a synergistic effort (God and me)

Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

And this is what we’re going to begin to look at.
God started the work of making me like Christ,
And now thanks to grace I join that work.

Amazing Faith
Luke 7:1-10
May 13, 2018

Well now we have concluded Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plateau”.
And Luke now returns to the ministry section of Jesus.

Chapter 7
• BEGINS with 2 miracles
• CONTAINS how those miracles validate who Jesus is
• ENDS with Jesus confronting Israel’s unbelief

AND THAT HAS PROVEN TO BE A REOCCURING THEME
THROUGHOUT LUKE’S GOSPEL.

Also in chapter 7
• We have unexpected recipients of these miracles and forgiveness
• While those who expected to receive these things missed out.

AND THAT IS ALSO A REOCCURING THEME FROM LUKE

What we see again is this:
Salvation isn’t occurring where you’d expect for it to occur.
And the reason is because people don’t understand
The chief prerequisite for salvation.

Israel thinks the chief prerequisite for salvation is religious works.
• The problem is that only leads to self-righteousness which is
detestable to Christ.

The chief prerequisite for salvation is not religious works, it is humility,
• Because humility leads to faith.

And we’ve seen that haven’t we?
Over and over and over

Well that theme continues here with this Centurion.

And what I find fascinating about this story
Is how Jesus responds when He encounters this man
Of such humility and faith.

Luke reveals Jesus’ response in verse 10 when he says that upon encountering this man, “He marveled”

Marvel: means “to become full of wonder”.

The Greek word here translated “marveled” is THAUMAZO
And it is a word often used
To describe the way the crowd responded to Jesus.
It didn’t matter if it was His wisdom, His power, His love, or His patience,
The people around Jesus continually marveled at what they saw.

But it is not a word often used in regard to Christ.

We know that He is omniscient God. He is the all-knowing one.
We have verses that clearly indicate He read the hearts of men.

John 2:24-25 “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

So we quickly understand that there wasn’t much that could surprise Him.
There wasn’t much that could catch Him off guard.

BUT TWICE THE SCRIPTURE REVEALS THAT IT HAPPENED.

Once occurred according to Mark 6:6
Mark 6:1-6 “Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief.”

Jesus was astonished at their unbelief.
It was almost as though He was caught off guard
At how deep the rebellion of man could be.
Who knew man could be so stubborn and unbelieving?

And even because of this unbelief we often find Jesus
IRRITATED or seemingly put out with humanity.

Matthew 17:14-17 “When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

Mark 3:4-5 “And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”

Mark 7:33-34 “Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

Mark 8:11-13 “The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.”

John 11:33 “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,”

And when you look at passages like that,
It is obvious that humanity continually disappointed Jesus.

As Jesus walked this earth, He found humanity to be
Shallow, skeptical, stubborn, self-seeking, manipulative & unbelieving.

And in His hometown they even took that to a level
That is said to have astonished Him.

Jesus was well acquainted with the weakness and wickedness of man.

And that is what makes this passage so intriguing.

In Matthew 8:10, we see the only other time in Scripture
That says that Jesus was astonished.
We see the only other time He marveled.

What we recognize is that here is a day where Jesus marveled Because on this day He found what He was looking for.

And perhaps He had wondered if He would ever find it.
Luke 18:8 “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

But on this day He did, and He found it in an unsuspecting place.

So while this miracle as a whole is about His tremendous power to heal.
This miracle also opens the door for us to see,
Exactly what Jesus was looking for from humanity.

And it allows you and I to examine this man who marveled Jesus,
That perhaps we might marvel Him as well.

So let’s look at this encounter that made Jesus marvel this morning.
4 things I want you to see.
#1 A DYING SLAVE
Luke 7:1-3

First I want you to recognize the setting
Because I think it also plays into an important theme for the gospels and to the point Luke is making.

(1) “When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.”

Certainly you should be familiar with “Capernaum”
It is often referred to in the gospels.

You remember the demoniac that was delivered in the midst of the synagogue back in Luke 4? That was the synagogue in Capernaum.

Luke 4:31-35 “And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.”

Do you remember the four friends who tore the hole in the room to let their paralytic friend down? Also in Capernaum

Mark 2:1-3 “When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men.”

In fact Capernaum had sort of a reputation
Of being a town where Jesus worked many miracles.

Remember when Jesus rebuked Nazareth?
Luke 4:23 “And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'”

But it was the first miracle recorded there that, I think,
Is of extreme significance to our story this morning.

The FIRST recorded miracle to have occurred in Capernaum
Is recorded in John 4.

John 4:46-54 “Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, ” Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and his whole household. This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.”

There you have a man who ruled the synagogue in Capernaum reaching out to Jesus when Jesus isn’t even there.
• Jesus rebukes the man because he has a lack of faith,
• But then goes ahead and heals the man’s son
• Without ever even traveling to Capernaum.

Don’t you know that story spread?

Store that one away because I think it gives us a great deal of explanation as to why the Centurion responds to Jesus like he does.

But one other thing you should know about Capernaum is that
NONE OF THESE MIRACLES ULTIMATELY BENEFITED THEM.

For after all of these miracles occurred we still read:
Luke 10:13-15 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. “But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!”

In fact you may remember that infamous day when Jesus fed the 5,000 and then He left the region and crossed the Sea of Galilee.

• And on the next day He revealed to the crowd that He was the bread that came
down out of heaven and everyone must eat His flesh and drink His blood.

And the sermon ended in absolute disbelief.

John 6:64-66 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”

Want to guess where that sermon and ultimate rejection occurred?
Yep, Capernaum

I give you that as a backdrop to help you understand
Where this Centurion got such great faith
And why he was such a contrast to the city where he served.

Capernaum is a chief example of people
Who did not learn what they should have learned from Christ.
And that also causes this Centurion to stand out as a shining example.

But here we are in Capernaum.
And we find the situation, (2-3) “And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.”

So first we have a Centurion.
• That means that he was a Roman soldier and one who was in charge of 100 men.

The fact that he is highlighted in Luke’s gospel already follows Luke’s propensity to focus on the least expected as recipients of grace.

And here we find this Centurion somewhat out of character
Because we read that he has a “slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.”

Listen, to a Jewish audience, you don’t get much lower down the totem pole than a sick slave of a Roman soldier.

We learn from Matthew’s gospel that this slave was paralyzed and that he was fearfully tormented.

So obviously an accident has occurred.
(he most certainly wasn’t born paralyzed or else he’d never been a beloved slave)

Something awful has happened to this slave that the Centurion loved,
Causing him to become paralyzed and about to take his life.

And the Centurion is not only COMPASSIONATE,
But DESPERATE for someone to help.

Verse 3 says, “When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.”

This is why I gave you some of those backdrop stories.

• Remember it was the synagogue official from Capernaum who had first traveled to Cana to find Jesus when his own son was sick.

• And even though Jesus had rebuked this man’s lack of faith, Jesus did heal that boy without ever even traveling to Capernaum.

• So when this Centurion is at his wits end regarding his slave, it’s not hard to see who shared a testimony with him.

Someone in that synagogue among the Jewish elders told this Centurion
About what Jesus had done for the synagogue official’s son.

And the result was this Centurion requesting for these elders to go on his behalf to Jesus to see if Jesus would “save the life of his slave.”

But the setting is clear, we have a dying slave
#2 A DISCERNING SOLDIER
Luke 7:4-8

This is a part of the story that we love.
It begins with us seeing that clearly this Centurion was a “good” man
For not only where these Jewish elders willing to travel on his behalf
But they give a unanimously good report about him as they go.

Their wording is especially important.
(4-5) “When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

These men approach Jesus on behalf of this Centurion and his slave and their recommendation is: “He is worthy”

That is an important statement.
For it tells us so much about the Jewish understanding
Of what it means to be worthy.

Now first of all, “worthy” here is the word AXIOS
And it indicates “worth based upon merit or function or action”

For example:
Matthew 10:37-38 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Or:
Revelation 5:9-10 “And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

It is worth based upon merit or action.

That is the worth these elders ascribe to this Centurion.

And that is clear to us since these Jewish elders actually spell out why he is worthy saying “for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

So, because he loves us, and because he served us,
His actions have rendered him “worthy” of this deliverance.

While that does give insight into the type of man we are dealing with,
More than that it gives us insight into the Jewish doctrine of salvation.

• They thought deliverance was earned.
• They thought miracles and healings and even forgiveness was given to those
who were worthy of it.
• If you did enough then you deserved what you requested.
• That theology is evident in the way these men approach Jesus.

And so they advise Jesus to grant this man’s request
Based upon his merits.

Now, without confronting their theology we simply read (6) “Now Jesus started on His way with them;”
• So Jesus is consenting to the request.
• By all accounts it appears that He is going to go and heal this slave.

But that is when the story takes an unexpected turn.
It takes a turn that seems to even marvel Jesus.

(6b-7a) “when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You”

THIS IS SO RICH.

• Jesus has agreed to the terms of the Jewish elders and He is on His way
• Then this man apparently gets word that Jesus is nearly here
• And he sends a second group of messengers to stop Jesus.

And despite the recommendation of the Jews that this man was worthy,
The centurion says just the opposite.

“I am not worthy for You to come under my roof”

But here is the interesting thing.
HE USES A DIFFERENT WORD.

They said that he was AXIOS; worthy because of his merit.

He said “I am not HIKANOS (heek-a-nos)”

HIKANOS is NOT a performance based word.
It means “sufficient” or “competent”

Literally this centurion send word to Jesus saying, “I am not enough”
He didn’t say “I haven’t done enough” he said, “I am not enough”

It is the same word John the Baptist used
Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit (HIKANOS) to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

It is the same word Paul used
1 Corinthians 15:9 “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit (HIKANOS) to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

And there is Luke’s favorite theme staring us right in the face yet again.
• It links back to the humility of Zacharias and Elizabeth
• It links back to the humility of Mary
• It links back to those lowly shepherds
• It links back to the humility of Simeon or Anna
• It links back to the humility of Peter who cried “away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man”

This Centurion understood that in regard to the Lord of all the earth,
There are no criteria that makes one worthy of His presence.

Forget what I’ve done, forget my efforts, forget my actions,
None of those things could ever make me “enough”
To deserve your presence here in my house.

BEYOND THAT,
Even if works could accomplish it, even then, I still haven’t done enough.

For notice what the Centurion said next:
(7) “for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy, to come to You,”

There he used the word AXIOS
I haven’t done enough to deserve to come to You.
I am not enough to deserve You to come to me.

Isn’t that tremendous!
It is the humility that is required by the Lord.

BUT EVEN THAT ISN’T ALL.
That still isn’t what made Jesus marvel.

As we said earlier, humility is important because it leads to faith.

This man said, I didn’t come because I’m not worthy,
And I don’t deserve for you to come because I’m not worthy.
But I also didn’t expect You to come because it’s not necessary.

“but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this on, “Go!’ and he does, and to another ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

This man clearly heard the story of how Jesus healed the synagogue official’s boy without ever leaving Cana.

Finally this whole story and our Centurion COMES INTO FOCUS.
• He had a sick slave whom he loved.
• Some Jews (who loved him) told him about this Jesus who could heal even from a distance.
• He was clearly in awe of this Jesus he was told about.
• And his hope was that Jesus would do the same for his slave that He had done for the official’s boy.

But he never expected that Jesus would arrive at his home.
• And when Jesus is about to arrive
• The Centurion immediately stops Him
• And says, “No Lord, I’m not worthy of this, just give the order from a distance.”

He was merely hoping Jesus would grant by His awesome authority
That his slave be released of his illness.
He was clearly a man of great faith.

When the Jews heard the story about Jesus ability to heal,
They heard about a man who could fix all their problems.
When the Centurion heard that story he heard about a man who had authority like he had never seen before.

This soldier understood what it meant to be in submission to a higher ranking authority.

• I seriously doubt he ever expected Caesar to show up in his home.
• I seriously doubt he ever expected his commanding officer to show up in his
home.
• I seriously doubt he ever expected the Roman general or the governor or the
emperor to show up in his home.

He knew he was not worthy of such a thing.
The best he would ever hope for from any of those men
Was that they use their authority to his benefit.

And that is all he expected from Jesus.

But what is certain is that this man knew Jesus could do it,
And that he did not deserve it.

A dying slave, a discerning soldier
#3 A DELIGHTED SAVIOR
Luke 7:9

And there it is. 1 of only 2 times Jesus does this in Scripture.

“Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

This man finally gave Jesus the opportunity
To preach a sermon the world needed to hear.

He was surrounded by Jews who thought their only problems
Were Rome, hunger, and the diseases that plagued them.

They were certain that they were God’s people,
And that heaven was already a done deal.

And even after preaching the Sermon on the Mount and convicting them at every turn, it is obvious they still thought this to be the case.

And so Jesus takes the opportunity afforded by this humble, believing, soldier to preach a truly shocking message.

“not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

Talk about a dose of reality.
They might not even be as pleasing as a Gentile.

Matthew’s gospel takes the sermon even a step further.
Matthew 8:11-12 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

You mean to tell me that when the role is called up yonder,
There will be many Gentiles there with Abraham.

And if that was not shocking enough, many Jews will not get to go,
But will instead go to hell.

BUT THESE ARE JEWS!
Romans 9:4-5 “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

God has worked harder for their salvation
Than for the salvation of any other people on the face of the planet.
And yet you are telling me that many of them will not go to heaven.

And at that point everyone in that crowd
Had better be asking one question.
“WHAT DOES THAT GENTILE HAVE THAT WE JEWS DO NOT?”

Because what we have is frustrating Jesus, and what he has amazes Him.

Well friends you know the answer. Faith
And it was faith born out of his humility.

A humble person more naturally responds in faith
Because they have no other option.
They can’t fix it themselves
So they must trust someone else to fix it for them.

This man totally believed in the authority of Christ
And had no problem trusting in that authority.

To which Jesus said:
“not even in Israel have I found such great faith”

AND WHAT DID HIS FAITH LOOK LIKE?
IT WAS COMPASSIONATE – putting a servant before himself.
IT WAS FULL OF GOOD WORKS – building a synagogue for the Jews.
IT WAS HUMBLE – knowing that those works didn’t change who he was.
IT WAS SUBMISSIVE – having a firm grasp on authority
IT WAS CONFIDENT – knowing that Jesus could do whatever He wanted.

That was faith.
The centurion had it, the Jews did not.

He would go to heaven, they would not.

But the point of course is that in this man Jesus is delighted.
“He marveled at him”

He used this man as an example of exactly what He is looking for.
• I can only imagine the hours and days and weeks and months that Jesus spent traveling from city to city always in search of one who had this humble faith.

• I can also imagine the continual frustration He felt as person after person was convinced that they deserved salvation.

• And then on this day, seemingly out of the blue, from the most unlikely candidate Jesus finds an expression of the humility and faith that He had long been searching for.

And Jesus was ecstatic!
It should be our desire to delight Him in just the same way.

A Dying Slave, A Discerning Soldier, A Delighted Savior
#4 A DEFINITE SIGN
Luke 7:10

And the point of course being that Jesus was everything the Centurion thought Him to be.
• He was a man with authority.
• He tells paralysis and sickness to leave and it leaves.
• He has authority to do whatever He pleases.

And this only serves to continue to verify that Jesus is exactly who He claims to be.
• He is the Savior.
• He is the One who can set the captives free.

And the key concept learned in this passage
Is exactly what kind of captive gets set free.

It is NOT the one who thinks himself worthy because of all that he has done.
That was Israel and their self-righteousness caused them to reject Christ.

The one who is acceptable is the one who knows that he is not enough,
And therefore must throw himself on Christ.

And what an important point to drive into our minds yet again.
This is an area where Scripture grants us discernment
And helps us to think straight in a world that thinks backward.

We hear this self-worth push continually in our world.
Everywhere you turn, and often times it comes most through Christian music venues, we hear the message that YOU ARE ENOUGH

• You are enough
• You are worth saving
• You are worth dying for
• You deserve to be loved
• You deserve to be wanted

And we love that message which so elevates the worth of man.
It makes me feel good.

But it is a message contrary to the gospel.
The gospel DOES NOT TEACH
That Christ died for you because you were worth dying for.

Here is what the gospel says:
Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

That’s the whole point of the gospel.
That Christ died for you when you weren’t worth it.

The Jews had it all wrong.
• They thought they should be saved because they were worthy.
• They thought they had value and therefore should be delivered.
• They thought they had done enough and therefore merited love.

And this mindset caused them to be lost.

But take the man who understood what he was.
• He was not enough
• He was not worthy
• He did not deserve it
• And there we find the man who embraced the gospel

The gospel has always been a testimony to the grace of God,
Not the value of man.
It is the message that
God is so gracious and God is so merciful and God is so loving
That He would even be willing to save those who least deserve it.

Those like
• The insignificant slave of a Roman soldier
• Or, like you’ll see next time, a widow of an insignificant city
• Or, like you’ll see at the end of the chapter, a woman with more sin than you can list

And yet Jesus will deliver them all because He gives grace to the lowly.

Our world hates the message that “I am not enough”.
But I’m going to tell you friend, until you embrace that truth,
You will never be saved.

But those who do, cause Jesus to marvel!

To Him Be The Glory Forever
Romans 11:33-36
May 6, 2018

As you know, we are studying the fifth and final of the SOLAS.
We are looking at SOLI DEO GLORIA
Namely that redemption (as in all things) is for the glory of God alone.

And thus far we have really made 2 main points.
1) God does all things (including redemption) that He might make His glory known.
• This includes even the hard to understand things of life like the fall or suffering
or the hardening of Israel.
• God ordained all of those things that He might reveal who He is and His glory.

2) The fact that God is passionate about revealing His glory is a blessing to us since there is no greater gift God can give us than a revelation of Himself.
• God is not egotistical when He purposes to make His glory known, rather God
is blessing us by allowing us to know the greatest good that there is.

Consider a person with a fine singing voice who refuses to sing.
We’d say they are robbing us of the enjoyment of their talents.
Well in an infinitely greater way, this is true for God.

• The greatest joy we can have is in a revelation of the glory of God and
therefore God must make Himself known to bless us.

Well tonight we’re going to look at a great summation passage
That I think ties all of these SOLAS together under the banner of SOLI DEO GLORIA.

It is Paul’s doxology of praise
At the end of the theological section of his book.

• To fully grasp the weight of this doxology one would really need to have just come through a study of the first 11 chapters of this book.
• It is theological depth to say the least.
• Obviously we haven’t done that, even though many of the doctrines we have recently studied came from this marvelous book.

While we may not be able to readily pull up all the doctrines of Romans,
Simply think about where we’ve traveled in the last several months.

SOLA SCRIPTURA and the marvelous reality that God would choose to make Himself known.
• Had He not done this, we could not know Him
• Be God spoke!
• He gave us specific revelation in regard to His salvation

SOLA GRATIA And here we examined all of those precious doctrines of grace.
• That man is totally depraved
• And yet God by grace alone chose to save some
• He awakened them from the dead
• He granted them faith
• He effectually called them
• He atoned for them through Christ
• And He secured them in His salvation

SOLA FIDE Which of course is the means by which we are justified.
• God did not make salvation a checklist of human labors and accomplishments.
• There was no intellectual or physical test that had to be passed.
• God so ordained that faith alone would bring justification and to make matters even better it was a faith that He first granted to us.

SOLUS CHRISTUS
• Christ first lived a righteous life satisfying the righteous requirements of God.
• He then died a sacrificial death by which He satisfied the fury of God’s wrath.
• He then offers to cover us in His righteousness that we might stand before God justified in spite of what we are.

And now we are discussing the depths of SOLI DEO GLORIA

It’s been quite a journey.
And one that LEADS TO THE SAME DOXOLOGY that Paul records here.

NAMELY THAT THE WISDOM OF GOD
TO CONSTRUCT AND THEN CARRY OUT A PLAN
SO GLORIOUS AS REDEMPTION,
MOST CERTAINLY MAKES HIM WORTHY OF ALL GLORY.

As Paul contemplated the tremendous sovereignty of God,
It led him to FIRST marvel at the wisdom of God
And THEN to glorify God because of it.

Tonight we’re going to do the same.
First we’ll consider God’s wisdom, and then we’ll glorify Him for it.

3 realities about God’s wisdom.
#1 BEYOND HUMAN ABILITY TO CAPTURE IT
Romans 11:33

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”

And what a picture he paints for us.

He could have simply said, “Oh, the depth of the wisdom of God’
He could have said, “Oh, the riches of the wisdom of God”

But he implied that God’s wisdom and knowledge
Is a treasure beyond calculation.

Add up all the gold, add up all the silver,
Throw in all the diamonds on earth,
And the treasure does not measure up
To “the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”

Notice that Paul lists both “wisdom” and “knowledge”

“knowledge” seems to imply what a person knows
“wisdom” is what you do with what you know.

GOD EXCELLS IN BOTH CATEGORIES
He knows everything and always acts perfectly as a result.

God knows the answer to every riddle,
He knows the sum of every equation,
He knows what to do in every situation,
And He is never wrong, and He never makes a mistake.

God’s wisdom and knowledge are true riches.

No wonder the Psalmist said:
Psalms 119:14 “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.”

No wonder Solomon prayed:
1 Kings 3:7-9 “Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. “Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. “So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

GOD’S WISDOM IS A DEEP TREASURE.

And then look at what Paul says next:
“How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

God’s wisdom is certainly like a treasure,
But unlike gold, or silver, of diamonds,
It is not a treasure that mankind can simply go find.

It is beyond human ability to find it.

In fact the word for “unfathomable”
Is a word that refers to footprints that are untrackable.

• His wisdom cannot be found in school…
• His wisdom cannot be gained through experience…
• His wisdom cannot earned through hard work…

I know a person that loves to tell me, “Wisdom comes with age”.
That is absolutely NOT TRUE.
Experience comes with age, but not necessarily wisdom.

The wisdom of God is beyond the search of the human mind.

No human anywhere can simply get it on his own.
IT IS BEYOND HUMAN ABILITY TO CAPTURE IT.

1 Corinthians 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

1 Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

TURN TO: JOB 28
Such is God’s wisdom.

WE CAN’T FIND IT, BUT IT IS AVAILABLE.

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Which is of course the same thing that Job just said.
God gives wisdom to those who fear Him.

James gives more insight into this mystery.
James 1:5 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Paul adds a little more insight.
1 Corinthians 2:9-13 “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

God’s wisdom is beyond human ability to find, it only comes through:
Fearing God – Seeking God – Trusting God

Wisdom is God’s, and only He can give it out.

Beyond human ability to find it
#2 BEYOND HUMAN ABILITY TO COMPREHEND IT
Romans 11:34
He is quoting Isaiah 40:13

“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?”

Is there anyone here who could actually think
They have God’s mind figured out,
So much that they could actually give God advice about something?

Look at Isaiah 40
Isaiah 40:13-17 “Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.”

The insinuation is this:
That even if you could find the storehouse for God’s wisdom,
Even then it would be too lofty for you to understand.

It is so far above us, that apart from God’s help,
Even if you could find it, you couldn’t understand it.

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

Remember what David said:
Psalms 139:1-6 “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

God said through Isaiah:
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Paul asked, “Who has known the mind of the Lord?”

And the obvious answer is NO ONE.

Not only can we not find God’s wisdom on our own,
But we cannot comprehend it on our own either.
His wisdom is that much higher than us.

Notice Paul’s second question.
“or who became His counselor?”

Now that is a great question.
In other words, who gave God advice?

Proverbs 11:14 “Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.”

But that is not the case with God.
He doesn’t need your advice.

Remember what Paul told the Athenians on Mars Hill?
Acts 17:24-25 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;”

In other words, God does not need your advice,
For His wisdom is totally superior to yours.

WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM GOD?

Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

What a tragedy that people don’t tap into the resource
Of God’s wisdom for their daily lives.

Look at what Solomon said:
Proverbs 2:1-12 “My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice And equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things;”

It is God’s lofty, unfathomable wisdom, explained to you,
Given to guide you in all your ways in life.

No wonder Paul called it “riches”.

God’s wisdom is beyond human ability to find
God’s wisdom is beyond human ability to comprehend
#3 BEYOND HUMAN ABILITY TO CLAIM
Romans 11:35-36

“Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again?”

In other words, who does God owe for teaching Him all the stuff He knows?
Who taught God that God should give Him credit?

Paul told the Galatians:
Galatians 6:6 “The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.”

And so the question here is, “Who does God need to share with?”

And the answer: No One.
No one taught God, and therefore no one is worthy of God’s glory.

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

God’s wisdom is for God’s glory not yours.

John MacArthur wrote:
“The supreme benefit of God’s redemptive plan, both for Jews and for Gentiles, is to bring them salvation and eternal life. But the supreme purpose of that plan is to glorify Himself. His preparation of heaven for the saved and of hell for the unsaved is to display His glory. The surpassing purpose of every created being and thing in the universe is to glorify God. All other divine intentions are subservient to that supreme and ultimate goal. In the words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” (MacArthur, John; The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series, Romans 9-11, Moody Press, Chicago, Ill. 1994; pg. 124)

His wisdom is not given to gain you fame and fortune.
His wisdom is revealed to gain Him glory.

Notice what God said to Israel:
Isaiah 48:1-11 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of the LORD And invoke the God of Israel, But not in truth nor in righteousness. “For they call themselves after the holy city And lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name. “I declared the former things long ago And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. “Because I know that you are obstinate, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze, Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they took place I proclaimed them to you, So that you would not say, ‘My idol has done them, And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’ “You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known. “They are created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, So that you will not say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ “You have not heard, you have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth. “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off. “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

Did you catch what God said there?
I revealed My plan to you so you would give Me glory.

God’s wisdom is for His glory.
Isaiah 43:11-13 “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

“it is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed…”

That is why God mocked the idols of Israel
Isaiah 41:21-24 “Present your case,” the LORD says. “Bring forward your strong arguments,” The King of Jacob says. Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may consider them and know their outcome. Or announce to us what is coming; Declare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together. Behold, you are of no account, And your work amounts to nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination.”

I think you see God’s point.
I am the only wise God, and I deserve glory for it.

That is Paul’s point here as well.
No man can claim credit for God’s wisdom.
If He has it, it is only because God revealed it to him.

1 Corinthians 4:7 “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

And then Paul closes with a great verse.
And I want to look at this verse
AS THE FINAL SUMMATION of all that we have studied.

(36) “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things, To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

Now think about that statement.

It is Paul’s way of validating the wisdom of God.
• Do you want to grasp God’s great wisdom?
• Do you want to see how much credit God gets for salvation?

That credit is seen in the fact that
It all came from God and through God and to God.

CONSIDER THESE THINGS.

“For from Him…are all things”

“all things” is obviously a broad scope.

So certainly we look at things like creation.
• We know creation came from God, it certainly didn’t come from man.
• We’ve read Genesis 1 and seen that oft repeated phrase, “Then God said…”

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

Certainly creation came from Him.

So does JUDGMENT
• Who else was the source of the flood?
• Who else rained fire on Sodom?
• Who else destroyed Pharaoh’s arm in the sea?
• Who else toppled Jericho?
• The same God who will burn this entire world with fire.

Judgment comes from Him.

But more than that,
We worship because REDEMPTION COMES FROM HIM!

As we said, God dwells beyond time and space, there is no possible way could have ever traveled to find Him.
• God had to take the initiative.
• God had to make Himself known.

And He did, He gave us His word
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”

We recognize then the exclusivity and authority and blessing
Of this word which God revealed.
We shouted SOLA SCRIPTURA!

We don’t look to our own intellect or traditions or logic or edicts.
We run to God’s revelation as the guide for salvation, it came from God.

But even when God revealed Himself,
He also revealed a standard which condemned us to the core.

• His Law revealed that He was righteous, we are not.
• His Law revealed that all we seek is only evil continually.
• And we did not have the capacity to seek God or choose God or even desire
God.

We were dead in our trespasses and sins.
We couldn’t seek God and even if we could, we wouldn’t have.

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)”

And we cried SOLA GRATIA
Salvation came from God.

He made us alive and gave us a desire for Him.

But even then, we were in trouble, for who of us could do enough good to ever undo the evil of our hearts?

• How many hours of penance would be required?
• How many works of suffering would be needed?
• How many religious deeds would suffice?

And God said, “None!”
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

And we proclaimed SOLA FIDE!
All God requires is faith, and it is the faith which He first gives.

And you see why we say that redemption is “From Him”
It most certainly wasn’t from us.

But Paul also said that
“through Him…are all things”
Well that’s also true of things like creation
• Which God made apart from any human aid.
• We didn’t even arrive until day 6 when most everything else was already created.

Certainly it’s true of judgment.
Paul wrote:
Acts 17:31 “He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

But more than all of those things we understand that REDEMPTION COMES THROUGH HIM!

For not only did God initiate redemption,
He also accomplished it.

• We saw how God became flesh and dwelt among us.
• How this Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life on earth perfectly obeying every
single command God had ever given. (Active Obedience)
• We saw then how this Jesus then died on a cross as a sinner to suffer wrath
which He did not deserve. (Passive Obedience)

We read:
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

And we recognized that in this wonderful doctrine of imputation,
God treated Jesus as though He had lived my life
So that He could treat me as though I had lived His.

And at the top of our lungs
We sang SOLUS CHRISTUS!

It is not about what Christ did in me, but what Christ did for me.
This Christ did not come to make us righteous,
He came to be our righteousness.

Redemption came “through Him”
It most certainly didn’t come through us.

And because those first two are true Paul then said:
“and to Him are all things”

True of creation? Yes
Psalms 96:11-13 “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.”

True of judgment? Yes
Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

But even more than that, it is certainly true of redemption.
REDEMPTION COMES TO HIM

The sole purpose of redemption is that
We might know God and glorify Him forever.

Have we not seen the heavenly scene?
Revelation 5:8-14 “When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.”

• When we see that God alone initiated salvation (from Him)
• When we see that God alone accomplished salvation (through Him)
• Then we certainly proclaim that God alone gets the glory for it (to Him)

Which is what Paul said:
“to Him be the glory forever. Amen.”

And here rests the church!
We persistently, and continually, and unashamedly, and passionately sing with the loudest and highest and strongest voice; SOLI DEO GLORIA

He has done it all!
• It was His wisdom that conceived it
• It was His grace that confirmed it
• It was His word that revealed it
• It was His Son that accomplished it

It is His church that recognizes it forever and ever!
(READ PSALMS 145-150)

SOLI DEO GLORIA