Faith In Christ

I do hope you believe in Jesus because that's what we're going to talk about today.

Last week we began a new sermon series on the topic of faith in the scripture.

What faith is, how to get faith, how to live by faith.

If you'd like a sermon outline, just raise your hand, or ushers would be happy to hand you one to follow along today.

And just a reminder, last week we started something special with our children's church children who are up here for the summers.

And we invited them to take one of these notebooks last week and participating as they listen to the sermon to write any notes, draw pictures, what they hear, and see me after the service.

I'll give you a special credit.

And if you get four of those stamps, you get a special prize.

So keep it up, kids.

I hope you brought your notebook today, but we'll look forward to doing seeing what you have today.

I think it's a it's a sad commentary in our society and educational system when after almost 60 years, people have no idea who Neil Armstrong is.

Or they don't even know the trumpet he played.

Just think about it.

Okay, okay.

The same really can be said about faith.

Not many people understand what the Bible means by faith.

In many of the recorded healings Jesus did in the Gospels, he always wanted to make it clear that it was by faith in him that healed them.

And if faith is the trigger for Jesus' healing and salvation to come into our lives, the question today is: how does that faith come into our lives?

How does it happen?

We begin to see how faith comes into our lives by looking at two healings today in the Gospel of Luke.

In Luke chapter 7, there's a healing at the beginning and a healing at the end of the chapter that serve kind of as bookends of what faith in Jesus means.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

I would say in doing this study, this is probably this is probably the most significant uh uh passage we're going to look at to understand what faith in Jesus is all about.

Um it's it's just amazing to me.

But anyway, Jesus healings.

Uh Luke is writing these these accounts in his gospel.

He was fascinated by these healings, primarily because he was a physician himself by profession.

He took care to take down important details of those healings in his gospel.

And uh we're gonna look at Luke chapter 7 today.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Two people who are at extreme ends of the social spectrum at that time and place in history.

One was a God-fearing Gentile man who was a Roman centurion.

The other, the second was a Jewish woman referred to as a sinner, which meant she was a woman of the street.

The first story describes great faith in Jesus.

The second story describes the commitment always associated with faith in Jesus.

We'll look at those two things, and it's gonna tell us a lot about faith in Jesus.

First, let's look at the centurion's great faith in Jesus.

I'm gonna read the passage today in Luke chapter 7, beginning in verse 1.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

When he had completed all his discourse in the hearing of the people, he went to Capernaum.

And a centurion slave who was highly regarded by him was sick and about to die.

And when he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking him to come and save the life of his slave.

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.

It was he who built us our synagogue.

Now Jesus started on his way with them, and when he was not far from the house, the centurions sent friends saying to him, Lord, don't trouble yourself further, for I am not worthy to come under, for you to come under my roof.

And for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.

But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

For I also am a man placed under authority with soldiers under me.

And I say to this one, go and he goes, and to another come and he comes, and to my slave, do this, and he does it.

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.

And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

How did faith come into the centurion's life?

Faith in Jesus.

Well, if you heard it, faith follows a similar pattern that we saw last time.

The centurion's faith, he had faith in God, we're told.

He was a God fearer.

He he uh supported, he loved the Jewish people, he loved the Jewish God uh of Israel.

But his faith in Jesus was triggered by a problem in his life.

His slave, whom he highly regarded, was near death.

His faith in Jesus began when he learned then information about Jesus.

Uh keep in mind the centurion was stationed in Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

And uh in Capernaum, if you remember, Jesus did many healing miracles in that in that town.

Um so the centurion, I believe, probably had really good, reliable information about Jesus and what he could do.

And that information uh the centurion had was enough to give him the faith to ask Jesus to help save his slave.

But interestingly, this is where it gets really interesting.

The centurion didn't go to Jesus himself.

He sent some Jewish elders to go to Jesus and ask him to come and save his slave.

And we know that the Jewish leaders didn't believe in Jesus, yet they did what the centurion asked because they were kind of beholden to him since he built their synagogue.

Which, by the way, we can still see uh the ruins of today, the first century synagogue uh there in Capernaum.

Um here's the irony of faith.

Here's the irony of faith in Jesus.

We know it from the scripture, it takes faith to believe in Jesus.

But do you realize it also takes faith not to believe in Jesus?

If you don't believe Jesus is God, it's not because you don't have faith, it's because you believe something else.

But you have faith.

I've heard some people say to me, no one can be sure about God.

No one can be sure that they're right about God.

But how can you be sure about that?

That's a statement of faith about God.

That's what you are choosing to believe about God without proof by faith.

In that case, you're basing your entire eternal destiny on that belief.

Because look, none of us have infinite knowledge.

Every conviction you and I have about God is by faith in that conviction.

You have to believe something.

Um of you are aware of the Sheldon Van Auken, who is an author of the book Your The Ladies Are Looking Reading This Month, uh A Severe Mercy.

Um in 2012, he actually appeared at Wheaton College for a lecture.

Um and I love his testimony.

Um he once described his experience of how he came to faith in Jesus.

He said, Let me just read you some of the things he said.

He said, I began to see a gap between the possible and the proved.

It would take faith to cross it.

I was going to base my whole life on the risen Christ.

I didn't want there to be any gap.

I wanted proof.

I wanted to see letters of fire in the sky spell it out for me.

Jesus is risen.

Then he says, when I saw there was a gap behind me as well.

I couldn't prove that Jesus was not God.

I couldn't prove He was.

I realized I couldn't reject Jesus without a great step of faith, and I couldn't go ahead and believe in him without a great step of faith.

Once I saw the gap behind me was every bit as big as the gap before me, I decided to go across to Jesus.

In other words, to believe in Jesus or not to believe in Jesus takes faith.

You're believing in something.

Why did Jesus say to the centurion, uh, I've not seen anything with such great faith.

What makes faith in Jesus great?

Well, we see the answer in verses four and six.

First, we see the greatness of the centurion's faith in his view of himself.

The Jewish elders appealed to Jesus to help the centurion because they believed he was worthy.

He's worthy.

Look at all the good.

He's a moral, moral man.

He loves our nation.

He builds our He's doing all these good works.

He's worthy.

The Jewish elders in their whole theology believed that being morally worthy meant that's when God would really bless you and save you and heal you.

Be morally good.

In contrast, did you hear what the centurion said?

He asked for Jesus' help, not because he was worthy, just the opposite.

He knew he was unworthy to receive help.

When they came to Jesus, the Jewish elders earnestly implored him, saying, He is worthy for you to grant this to him.

He loves our nation.

He was built our synagogue.

But in verse 6, the centurion sent friends saying, Don't, Lord, don't trouble yourself.

I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof.

Did you see that?

That's the first element of saving faith in Jesus, to see yourself as a sinner unworthy of his grace and help for you, not because you're morally deserving of it.

First step.

Second, the greatness of the centurion's faith was not only found in his view of himself as being unworthy as he comes to Jesus, but in his view of Jesus himself.

The foundation of faith in is Jesus' worthiness and our unworthiness.

Look at the centurion's high view of Jesus.

He viewed Jesus, viewed that Jesus was way, way, way, way above his pay grade.

Way above.

Wouldn't even, he didn't even want him to come into his house.

Centurion was a man under authority, he said, and in authority over others.

He told people what to do.

And he believed Jesus was so powerful that he didn't have to be physically present to heal his slave.

All he had to do was say the word.

That's a very, very high view of Jesus.

Before he heard about Jesus, the centurion's faith in God was all based on moral virtue.

His moral virtue.

He did good works.

He was a good person.

He loved Israel, God's people.

He built a synagogue for the Jews.

But after he heard about Jesus, he transferred that trust in his moral virtue to Jesus alone.

That is great faith.

Great faith means that whatever you are trusting in to get what you hope for, you transfer that trust to Jesus alone.

Now let's turn to the second example in Luke chapter 7, where we see that that transfer of trust, up close and personal, is associated with being a commitment to faith in Jesus.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

I'll read the passage in Luke 7, beginning in verse 38.

36.

Now when one of the Pharisees was requesting Jesus to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.

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 in an alabascar 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 her hair out of her head, and kissing his feet, and anointing them with perfume.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him, that she's a sinner.

And Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to say to you.

And he replied, Saith, teacher, a money lender had two debtors, one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty.

When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both.

So which one will love him the more?

And Simon answered, So I suppose the one he forgave the more.

And he said to him, You've judged correctly.

And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman?

I entered your house.

You gave me no water for my feet.

She's wet my feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair.

You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.

You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume.

For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven.

For she loved much.

But he was forgiven little, loves little.

And then he said to her, Your sins have been forgiven.

And those who were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves, Who is this man?

Who even forgives sins?

And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you.

Go in peace.

This is just a fascinating account.

Who is this woman?

In direct contrast to the centurion, Luke tells us she was not a virtuous woman.

She was in the text called a sinner, meaning a woman of the street, a professional prostitute.

That's who this woman is.

The woman does two astounding things that show us that faith is the commitment to transfer all my trust to Jesus alone.

A commitment to do that.

Two things, two astounding things she does.

First, she lets her hair down in order to wipe Jesus' feet with her tears.

Now, for a woman to let down her hair at that time was an act of intimacy in that culture, confined to the intimacy of a marriage relationship.

What she's doing in the home of this Pharisee was not just outrageous and scandalous, it was something she never did for free.

The second thing she did was she took an alabaster flask filled with a very expensive perfume, broke it, poured it all over Jesus' feet.

A word about the alabaster flask.

You need to know that it was common for women who had money to wear a flask of perfume around their neck.

The flask had a tiny hole in the top of it, so the aroma, the beautiful, wonderful perfume could fill the air around her.

It was considered an object of great beauty for a woman to wear this.

Keep in mind this is a time before refrigeration, uh, deodorant, and soap.

In the hot arid climate, there was a lot of body odor.

For a woman to set this around her neck at great expense so she could walk around and smell nice meant that she became desirable.

An object of beauty and attractiveness.

Women today don't need to tie an expensive plaster around their neck to be attractive.

Back then, wealthy women wore these.

But for a prostitute, it would have been her tool of the trade.

Absolutely necessary for what she was doing.

But wait, she she poured it out on Jesus' feet.

She had to break it.

She had put all her money into that little thing so she could continue to make money.

The flask of perfume made her attractive.

And she just poured it out.

What's going on?

Zenturion was saying, I've always trusted in my moral virtue to make me somebody.

The woman is saying, I've always trusted in my beauty and attractiveness to make me somebody.

The woman's faith in Jesus became real when she made a commitment to pour out what she was trusting in and transferring all of her trust to Jesus.

That's faith.

The power of saving faith is not just believing in Jesus generally, it is looking at Jesus, finding out the other things I've been trusting and believing in, and pouring them all out at Jesus' feet.

So he's the only one left.

Transferring all my trust to him alone.

That's faith.

Jesus said to the to the woman in in chapter seven, verses forty eight and fifty your sins have been forgiven.

Your faith has saved you.

Go in peace.

Now I want you to see the contrast between Simon the Pharisee's faith in Jesus and the woman's faith in Jesus.

It's a stark contrast.

Simon probably heard Jesus' teaching, saw his miracles, and concluded, oh yeah, Jesus must be a prophet.

He even said, if this man were a prophet, he would have known what kind of woman who was touching him.

Based on what the woman was doing, even Simon, Simon started to even doubt Jesus was a prophet.

The woman's faith in Jesus is a complete trust in him as the Son of God.

How do you move from Simon's superficial faith in Jesus to the woman's saving faith in Jesus?

Jesus actually explains that in his parable.

He says there's the man who was a benefactor to two people.

He lent one person a little and he lent the other person a lot.

And then the benefactor forgave both of them.

Their debt was gone.

Which one do you think would be more grateful?

Who would love the benefactor the most?

Well, Simon answered, Well, obviously, the the one with the biggest debt.

In the parable Jesus is giving, it's when you realize that your debt is canceled, you see, it doesn't just disappear into the air.

The benefactor has to bear the cost himself.

Somebody has to bear the cost.

The person who knows what the benefactor has done will be filled with transforming love toward that person.

Jesus is trying to tell Simon, Simon, you think at best I'm a prophet who's come to tell you how to live right.

But she sees that I've come to bear the cost of her not living right.

Big difference.

Superficial faith, saving faith.

He says to Simon, You invited me into your house with very minimal hospitality.

She's poured out her life.

You didn't pour out your life to me because you because you don't see yourself as that bad, or me as that worthy.

There you go.

Superficial faith.

I'm not that bad.

Ah, Jesus was a good guy.

Or saving faith.

I'm not worthy.

He is worthy.

Jesus said to Simon, if you're forgiven little, you're gonna love little.

If you're forgiven much, you're gonna love much.

Knowing that that benefactor bore the cost of your debt.

See, the thing is, if you don't see Jesus Christ, the Son of God, laying down his life, pouring on his life for you, you're only gonna have a superficial faith in Jesus.

That's all you're gonna have.

You will not have a great committed faith where Jesus is real in your life.

The confidence of this woman tells me something else.

When she entered the Pharisees' house uninvited, in a scandalous, outrageous way, it tells us that she's been touched by Jesus before.

He helped her before this.

She knew exactly what she was doing.

Her uh debt was paid.

And so what's Luke is contrasting the superficial faith of the Jewish elders and Simon the Pharisee with the great faith of the centurion and the committed faith of the woman.

It's a contrast.

While the Jewish leaders viewed Jesus as a prophet who deserves their attention, the centurion and the woman viewed Jesus as the Son of God who deserves our worship.

I need you to consider the last thing Jesus said to the woman.

He said, Your faith has saved you.

He did not say, listen to me carefully, because this is where a lot of people get uh the wrong idea about salvation and believing in Jesus.

He did not say, you know, ma'am, if you just keep this up, these all these good works, and you're good from now on, you'll be in the process of being saved.

He didn't say that.

He did not say, you know what, going through all these beautiful rituals has saved you.

No, he didn't say that.

He said, your sins have been forgiven.

Your faith has saved you.

Um have been forgiven.

Sasopkin.

Perfect tense.

Not present.

It is saving you.

No, you have been forgiven.

It's over.

It's done.

The faith, right now, you're clean forever.

It's finished.

You are forgiven and saved right now, nothing more.

That's huge.

His pronouncement is huge.

We are saved the moment we believe in Jesus is who we claim to be, the Son of God who died for our sins to forgive us and give us eternal life.

The moment.

So the challenge is now to figure out, figure out what that little flask around your neck represents, and lay it down at Jesus' feet.

Transfer all that trust.

What your moral worth, you're a good person, you follow all the rituals and rules, uh, you're you're super successful, you got a lot of money.

Take that little flask, break it, pour it out, and just trust in him alone.

Transfer it.

That's the message of this morning about faith.

Whether you're a person of moral virtue like the centurion or a sinner like the woman, we're all saved by grace through faith in Jesus.

Trust the words of Jesus like the centurion did.

You don't have to be physically present to save my slave.

Just say the word.

Or pour out your life to Jesus like the woman did in order to experience a faith that heals and saves and is actually very real when you do it.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for these two examples of saving faith in Jesus.

I ask you to please help us to find in their examples a way to test and clarify our own faith in Jesus so that it's not just a superficial general faith in him, but a life changing, transforming, complete trust in him.

Help us, Lord, who have been forgiven much, to love Jesus much, who poured out his life so we could be forgiven and saved for eternity.

I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.