Faith and Compassion Luke 7:1-17

Turn your Bibles, please, to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

We're going to read Luke chapter 7, beginning in verse 1.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 7, beginning in verse 1.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

And I'll be reading through verse 1 through verse 17.

Luke chapter 7 beginning in verse 1.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

When he had completed all his discourse and 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.

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

For I am also 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 marvelled 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.

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

Soon afterwards he went to a city called Nain, and his disciples were going along with him, accompanied by a large crowd.

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 sizeful crowd from the city was with her.

When the Lord saw her he felt compassion for her and said to her, Do not weep.

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.

The dead man sat up, began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.

This report concerning him went out all over Judea and all the surrounding district.

Would you pray with me, please?

Lord, thank you for your word.

Thank you for who you are, and thank you for days and weekends like this that we get to celebrate you in the midst of a lot of grief, a lot of pain.

Be honored as we continue, please.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you.

Please be seated.

And as you're seated, if the children would come up, we're going to read together.

We're going to read together the slide that as they dismiss, realizing that they are a part of our church, even if in there they're in a different location for the next few minutes.

And part of this too is just to remember to pray not just for the kids, but these brave souls who are leading the kids.

So here, if you would put up the slide, please.

And we'll read this together.

Lord, we ask you to bless our children and those who are ministering to them today.

May they know Jesus, love people, and impact the world.

The Lord bless you and keep you and may make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Thank you.

We have been working our way through the Gospel of Luke, and we are starting in chapter 7.

And this morning, the two episodes, the two events that Jesus is encountering both deal with death.

I couldn't have planned this if I had meant to.

I couldn't have planned it to be the same weekend as 9-11, the 25th anniversary.

Some things are just and rightly so are not in my hands, but I want to show you how our Savior, our Lord, our King, sitting on his throne, encounters and interacts with those of us who are experiencing death.

This is not an uncommon thing.

We all, I believe, have been touched by that, some more recently than others.

I believe that we all have uh those that perhaps come to mind immediately when we think about losing loved ones or friends, not just uh locally, but globally when we think about what's happened in our country and those who have been assassinated, uh, from Charlie Kirk to others over the years.

And we think about our Christian martyrs, uh, friends and family.

There was a there's a pastor, brother of mine in um Zimbabwe who was martyred just a few months, uh years after I spent some time with him, uh, and uh understanding that living by faith and walking with Jesus is not a hundred percent guarantee of life and prosperity on this side of glory.

But as we encounter this and we we see what is what is happening in these two episodes, I I want us to come to grips with the God that we worship.

The God who knows us, who made us, created us, and understands where you are this very second.

We do not worship a God who is just transcendent.

We don't worship a God who is way out there and has no recognition or knowledge of us, who has fallen asleep at the wheel and doesn't know what's happening, and we don't worship a God who is just right here and not in control, complete control and power and sovereignty.

We worship a God who is both.

He is other and he is imminent, he is out there and he is in here, he is both and.

And because we worship a God who is so great, according to his revelation, we see his characteristics, we see his traits, and how he is able to take care of us in ways that we humanly, physically cannot do.

We are limited in our finite ways.

He is not limited, he is not just physical, he is more than, he is spirit, truth, all that he is about and what he is able to do.

This all revolves around his ability to take care of us.

Now, next week, Lord willing, if you come back and we're gonna keep going in Luke chapter 7, and we're gonna pick it up in verse 18.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

But I want to show you these verses.

If you've got your Bible with you, I hope you do.

I want to show you the verses that follow these two episodes because they're all connected.

But we're not gonna take the time this morning to dig into this because, well, you've got to have something for next week.

But here we go.

In verse 18, after the the rising of the boy, of the man of the widow's son, and then in verse 18, the disciples of John reported to John the Baptist about all these things.

Summoning two of his disciples, John's disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the expected one, or do we look for someone else?

Then he then he continues, um, verse 20.

When the men came to him, came to Jesus, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, are you the expected one, or do we look for someone else?

What Jesus is doing in these episodes, we've been talking about it since the beginning of the year, of his identity, of his being the savior, being the Christ, and what he's doing in these episodes, it draws his attention.

You see that in the very last verse we read in verse 17 of our passage this morning, the report concerning him over all Judea and all the surrounding district.

So it would be everywhere.

John the Baptist hears this, and this is why I want to bring this up.

It won't take but a minute, but it's worth, I think, for context, for us to see what's happening here.

You've got your your your finger or your toenail in Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

I need you to go back and just look at a few verses in the beginning of the gospel.

I want to show you what John was doing.

John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask, is this the one?

I want to give you a theory.

It's not absolute, but I want to give you a theory of why John was asking this, and it's all Lord willing, going to tie in together at some point.

Boy, I hope that happens.

Here we go.

John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

When John the Baptist is preaching, look at what he says to the people.

John chapter, I mean Luke chapter 3, John the Baptist preaching.

Luke 3 · chapter mention

He says in chapter 3, verse 7, so he, after he quoted the scripture about the voice crying in the wilderness, his fulfillment of that, in John in Luke chapter 3, John the Baptist says, it says, he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him.

Luke 3 · chapter mention

This is a great way to win friends and influence people.

He says, You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come.

John's got it in his head.

And this is not all wrong, but he's got in his head the wrath of God.

And that is coming.

But what Jesus is doing right now isn't wrathful.

So John's got this question, he's wondering.

I'm I I thought I understood.

I thought I knew who you were.

I thought this was all going in according to plan.

I preached this, I said this, the wrath is coming, but I'm seeing a whole lot of good, but not a whole lot of wrath.

What's happening?

Go over another chapter in Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Jesus in his in his sermon in Nazareth, whenever he is he pulls out Isaiah chapter 61.

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

And as he is in the synagogue, and this is his commissioning, so to speak, where he is he is starting to tell his people he's about to begin his public ministry.

He's back home, and that's an issue and of itself.

But in chapter 4, verse 17, the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the book and found the place where it was written.

You think about the episodes we just read about.

This is them, this is the poor, this is the needy.

He sent me to proclaim him release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

And there's a whole lot, just in verse 19.

It's beautiful.

The year of Jubilee and the release of dead, and all that happens there, and he stops right there.

Now I'm not going to ask you to take the time to do this.

We talked about this month ago, but that's not the end of the verse in Isaiah chapter 61.

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

There's another verse that comes right after that.

It says, the day of the vengeance of our God.

Jesus stops at proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

Not because the wrath of God is not coming.

That's not the issue.

It's the timing.

And so Jesus is showing himself for who he is.

He's showing the reality of the kingdom coming, of who he is going as the Messiah, going to release the slaves, freedom to the slaves, uh, preach the gospel to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, set free those who are oppressed.

Definitely the year of the Lord's favor, release of all the debt, all that he is doing, all that he is going to do.

And John is sitting in prison.

And I'm not going to put anything on John.

I'm not, I don't know what he was thinking.

I'm guessing here, but thinking to himself, this is not the way it's supposed to be.

You're supposed to come, there's supposed to be victory, and I'm still sitting here in prison.

Bad things are still happening.

What is going on?

You continue in Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Let me just let me just close this idea back, and then we'll go back to chapter 7.

In Luke chapter 4, verse 20.

Luke 4:20

Jesus closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, 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.

And all were speaking well of him.

And wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips, and we should pause there, but unfortunately it keeps going.

And they were saying, Is this not Joseph's son?

So in one in one moment it's wow.

And then the next moment it's whoa.

In one moment is this is amazing.

And in the second moment, I said, Ah, but we know this guy.

And we we can't know the Savior.

I don't know where that logic comes from, but that's what they're thinking.

Is this not Joseph's son?

And he said to them, verse 23 in Luke chapter 4, he said to them, no doubt, you will quote this proverb to me, physician, heal yourself.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, he did some amazing things in Capernaum.

Do here in your hometown as well.

And he said, Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

But I say to you in truth, this is why I'm bringing all this together, not just what I've said, but this as well.

In verse 25, I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land.

And yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zepharah in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elijah the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but only naming the Syrian.

Now, I'm not bringing that up just to bring it up.

I'm telling you that those stories, Elijah and Elisha and what he's referring to back in chapter four about how the people of Israel didn't understand their need for God.

They weren't living by faith, so God used other countries and other peoples to bring a recognition of who he is.

And then you fast forward to Luke chapter 7, and you've got a Roman and you've got a widow.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

You've got outsiders that he is going to, just like with Naaman and the centurion, the similarities are not accidental.

And you've got the widow, just like Elijah and the widow, and then Elisha and the widow.

If you want to do further research, 1 Kings chapter 17, 2 Kings chapter 5, um, and chapter 4, both all of those chapters talking about how the prophets were dealing with those on the outside of Israel, used by God to glorify God, show who he is and what he is about.

1 Kings 17 · chapter mention 2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

And the exact same thing is happening here in Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

So now, now, you say, well, that's quite a precursor.

We're going to be here until 3 o'clock this afternoon, but hang on.

We're going to be okay, I promise.

Now we go to Luke chapter 7, verse 1.

Luke 7:1

We just finished the sermon on the plane.

He has just talked about the foundation, about who we we have to trust in him more than any other in chapter 6.

Now in chapter 7, verse 1.

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

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

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

So you've got a slave who's about to die.

He asked the leaders in the synagogue, we're assuming the elders, to go to Jesus.

There is so much uncommon about what's happening here.

And I get it, we've got to do the research.

We've got to go to the context.

We've got to get a sense of what's happening.

We can't expect in 2026 in Florida to have a sense of what's happening some 2,000 years ago.

But I got to tell you, take my word for it or look it up yourself.

Roman centurions did not care about Jewish people the way this guy cared about Jewish people.

And take my word for it, please.

Romans didn't care about slaves the way this man cared about his slave.

They were property.

So there is so much weird about this that is supposed to draw our attention.

Verse 4.

When they came to Jesus, the elders, 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.

Okay, that sounds pretty good.

Alright, so you've got the higher-ups, you've got the muckety mucks, you've got a spiritual elite.

Sorry for the Greek words.

I'm trying to try to be humble here.

Alright, so he got these spiritual, arrogant people coming, and they come to Jesus and they say, This guy, I know that you don't, you're not supposed to like Romans, and I know that centurion is bad news, and we hate everybody, but he's not so bad.

I mean, he's he's still an enemy, but he's not much of an enemy because he's really helping us out.

So why don't you just do me a favor and take care of his request?

Just just do me a solid.

I'm gonna stop using you.

So just help me here.

So they come and Jesus doesn't say anything, and he's on his way, verse six.

Jesus started on his way with them, and when he was not far from the house, centurion sent friends.

Wait a minute.

He sent the elders, the Israelites, the Jewish, the Israelites, he sent them to Jesus, maybe kind of a in-road.

And then maybe he understood Gentile and Jew.

Maybe he understood that we don't talk to those who aren't our kind.

And maybe he understood the animosity, maybe he understood the hatred.

I don't know what he did or did, but he's got all that going, saying, Let me let me do a build bridging, uh, see if we can get some sort of um relationship built here, and then then maybe Jesus will help my servant who is about to die.

But then, as Jesus is getting there, close to the house, verse 6, the centurion sent friends.

I love this.

He didn't send representatives, he sent friends.

He didn't send people who were in charge of the synagogue, in charge of worship, who could speak Jesus' language, he sent friends.

And then saying to him, This is what the message that the friends relayed to Jesus, Lord, do not trouble yourself further, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof.

A Roman centurion, the conquering nation, the man who could have ordered the dead.

He's got the humility and the insight to realize who he's talking to.

That's pretty good.

Verse 7.

For this reason, I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you, but just say the word.

You understand that when we talk about episodes, real life events that happen in the gospels, and we talk about people being healed, and about how God, Jesus in the flesh, fully God fully man, that he and death had this struggle, but he was not equal with death.

He conquered death.

You understand that when we talk about Jesus walking on this earth, that we're not talking about someone who was intimidated by the evil one in the midst of his temptations just a few chapters before.

He understood who really is in charge, he understood his identity as son of God, he understood his identity as Messiah.

And please, I beg you, don't rip these verses out of Luke chapter 7 and think to yourself, well, all I've got to do is have enough faith, and nothing bad will ever happen to me again.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

That's not what the scripture says.

There are two episodes here, and I think this is intentional.

One of them, near death life.

The other one, fully dead life.

The message this morning, please hear me, is not you have to have more faith, and no one in your life will die.

That's bogus.

That is not scripture.

You have to have no, you have to have more faith, and the people now who are very sick will not get any sicker.

That's not what this scripture is talking about.

It's talking about something much more fundamental, foundational, that you and I have to get a grasp on.

And I'm saying this with a little bit of uh timidity because I don't want to come off like I got it all figured out, and I definitely don't want to crush those of you in this room who are already, as the word used earlier, heavy laden.

I understand.

I see it, I experience it.

Others I love in this room have experienced the grief of losing loved ones.

I get I'm not saying that that's not a big deal.

What I'm suggesting as we look at these verses is you've got a savior who understands the situation better than you do, who knows life and death, who is there at the beginning, and he will be there at the end, who understood before the world was even created the agony, the grief, the angst that we are going to walk through, and he's walking right there with you.

He has no he has no absence, uh, forgetfulness, amnesia.

He understands.

And I'm not suggesting that all you gotta do is just pray harder and life is gonna be perfect.

What I'm telling you from the scripture is that this centurion had something that we have to have when we come to our Savior.

The faith of the centurion.

Centurion was one who understood what the authority is all about.

The faith of the centurion was one who had a grasp of what it means to know who truly is in charge.

Say the word, and it's done.

He didn't say you have to.

He didn't say you do this, or I'm going to hold my breath until I turn blue.

He didn't say I'm going to take my toys and go home.

I'm not going to believe in you anymore.

He said, I understand what authority is all about.

I understand what it is to be under authority and over other people, to have authority over others.

I understand what it is to have those who listen to me and those who I listen to just say the word.

And the thing is, he had no idea how big of a truth he was unleashing.

He had no idea.

He does now, some 2,000 years later, he's in the presence of glory, Lord willing, but now he gets it.

But standing there, sending the message first by the elders and then by his friends, I'm not worthy.

Yeah, you're right.

But you, you just say the word.

Do you pray to a God who is sort of over there, kind of doing his thing?

I hope he thinks it's about me every once in a while.

Or do you pray to a God who is sitting on his throne this very moment?

And you aren't worthy.

I'm not worthy.

But be able to say, Lord, say the word.

You can take care of this.

This is your realm.

This is your kingdom.

This is your world.

He understood.

The centurion understood.

Asking Jesus to come into the room, to come into the house would have defiled him.

Jesus was going to do it anyway.

Jesus didn't care about that.

He didn't care about what the people expected.

He didn't worry about the fear of man.

He didn't worry about going through the right channels and making sure he made the elders happy.

He had something so much greater for this man.

So continue in verse 8.

The centurion explaining, 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.

But here's the response in Jesus, verse nine.

When Jesus has heard this, he marveled at him, turned and said to the crowd that was following him, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.

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

So I suggest, can I offer that when you walk and we all do through the valley of the shadow of death when we understand that life is not the way we want it, quote unquote.

It's not perfect as we would hope for.

We're not living in a fantasy world that is very real and sometimes very raw, and events happen that we don't appreciate or understand, and we if we could, we'd do it all over.

You understand, pleased, that living by faith is not some sort of Pollyanna, just hope for the best and everything's gonna work out, kind of silliness.

It is very much I'm unworthy, you are worthy.

I don't understand, you do.

I'm not God, you are.

That humility and that dependence and then that that earnest reliance.

That's that's the call.

See, that's just one.

He continues.

He leaves Campernium, verse 11.

Soon afterwards, he went to a city of a few miles, it's about a day's travel.

Went to a city called Nain, not a very it was Hodunk is what it was.

His disciples were going along with him, accompanied by a great crowd.

My guess is, and I can't I can't prove this, my guess is there were more people coming than there were who actually lived in the city.

But here he is, verse 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.

Once again, Dr.

Luke is giving us specific details.

He's the scientist, he's the physician, he understands that we need to know the details.

And when he says this, all sorts of things should unpack in our brain.

He's saying that small town, got that, verse 12.

The dead man was being carried out.

And in that day in culture, it would be immediate.

It wouldn't wait days or weeks, it would be probably happened just a few hours earlier.

All of this is happening.

The woman is coming out, the son of his mother, the only son of his mother.

So the fact that this was her only son, same word by the way, that we use this in John 2.16.

The only son of his mother, she was a widow.

So you got those things coming.

In that culture, a widow is someone who is doubly burdened.

Because, and I I know this sounds sexist and I get it.

Don't go there, just live in the context.

When you had a husband, you were provided for.

When you didn't, you were in harm's way.

She lost her husband.

When you had children, you were provided for, she no longer had her only child, she was in harm's way.

This was someone who was struggling not just with grief over the loss of a loved one, but also with what's going to happen tomorrow?

Where am I going to get food?

What's going to happen with my home?

What's going to happen to me?

Where do I go from here?

I I'm confident as a mother, she was weeping over the loss of her child, but please hear me, her whole life was now undone.

She had nothing.

She had no ideas, she had no options, the whole city was grieving with her, sizes will crowd.

Verse 12, up from the city was with her, but then you have Jesus.

Then you have Jesus.

Verse 13.

When the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her.

Now, if you if you have fallen asleep and just woke back up, nowhere in this verse, nowhere in this passage did anyone ask Jesus to do anything.

The centurion bent over backwards.

The centurion, in humility and in faith, he said, Please.

The widow, crowd, nobody asked Jesus to do anything.

Why does that matter?

Because the compassion of Jesus Christ is not hindered, limited, or relegated by your intercession.

His love for you, his love for you, his love for you is faithful.

Long suffering, patient, covenant, has said.

There is nothing about our Savior that he waits up in the heavens and he is handcuffed by your prayer life.

There is nothing about our Savior standing, sitting on his throne, standing at the right hand of God the Father, saying to himself, Man, I wish they'd asked me to do something.

I'm so right there.

He is here.

He is sovereign and he loves you.

See, we we say words like that all the time.

And I get it in the religious circles, in the religious jargon, the spiritual language, we we say God loves you all the time.

But do you understand the depth of what the scripture talks about when it says God loves you for God so loved the world?

But even deeper than that, when we understand what it means to love someone, to adopt them, to rescue them, to redeem them, to restore them, to remake them, to glorify them, to give them life eternal, when we talk about who God is and what he does for us to say that the compassion of Jesus Christ is overwhelming, that his grace is amazing, is honestly an understatement.

It's not even close to who he really is and what he is about.

He loves you.

In your bedroom, the morning of the funeral.

He loves you.

A day later, a week later, a month later, the friends and the family, they've stopped bringing potlucks, uh big casserole dishes, and you got enough food, you're good.

They don't call as much, they don't talk as much.

The same Jesus that loved you the day before is the same Jesus that loves you the day of, and then the same Jesus that loves you the day after.

He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The compassion of Jesus Christ is not limited by your frailty.

He's not limited by anything.

He loves you.

See, if you don't have the faith of the centurion, humbly coming and saying, I'm unworthy, but you just say the word, and then you understand the compassion of Christ, these two things work together beautifully because you're not having faith in faith.

You're not just believing, so you can say, I believe.

That's so silly.

You're having faith in the love of God.

That He knows, He understands, and He weeps, and He grieves, and He loves.

The compassion of Jesus Christ walks into this situation.

He wasn't worried about going into a Gentile's home and being defiled.

And folks, he's not worried about touching a casket.

I had so many silly jokes go through my head when I was reading this and thinking about it.

But one, have you ever seen a market for used coffins?

That's what's happening right here.

He's gonna get done with it, he's saying, Well, use it somebody else, blah, blah, blah.

It's just anyway, all right.

Come back, come back.

Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 7, verse 14.

Luke 7:14

After Jesus felt compassion, told her, Do not weep.

I can't even imagine what she was thinking.

Who are you?

Where are you coming from?

What is this all about?

Of course I'm gonna weep.

Verse 14.

And he came up and touched the coffin.

And the bear the bearers came to a halt.

I don't blame them.

Nobody nobody does that.

Nobody touches dead people, especially on purpose.

And he said, and he said, just say the word.

And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise.

Can't you imagine?

The overwhelming sense of pause and anticipation.

Young man, I say to you, arise.

And just it just it just amazes me.

We read scripture, you go from verse 14 to verse 15, and you think just well, that's just from one sentence to the next.

Can you imagine what was happening in the crowd as they hear Jesus' words?

And then the very beginning of verse 15, the dead man sat up.

He sat up and he began to speak.

And Jesus, verse verse 15.

And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

Isn't that beautiful?

I brought you from death to life.

I'm not asking you to follow me.

I want you to go back and take care of your mama.

He gave him back to his mother.

The man literally owed Jesus his life.

And Jesus said, Take care of your mama.

Verse 16.

Another understatement in the script in the scripture.

Fear gripped them.

I don't doubt it.

Fear gripped them all.

And they began glorifying God, saying, A great prophet has arisen.

Remember the talk about Elijah and Elisha.

A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people.

You have no idea how true those words are.

This report concerning him went out all over Judea and all the surrounding district, which brings us into what we'll cover next week with John the Baptist.

So what I'd like to do over the last few moments is I'd like to take you just to a few scriptures, and I want you to consider with me just for a moment about what it means to walk by faith, especially in days like today.

Days of funerals, days of grief, days of mourning, days of remembrance, when we've lost so much, and we still want to walk by faith.

And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to take you through three scriptures.

I'm telling you in advance so you don't think that I've lost track.

I've got it written down right here.

I'm not going to take you anywhere else.

We're good.

So we'll take but a few minutes, but I really want you to see this.

And if you would like to, you can think about this as the imposition time, because it really is.

I want you to consider, my brothers and sisters in Christ, what it means to walk by faith and trust the heart of God.

And to know that He loves you.

And living in that faith, that humble, unworthy, but yes, Jesus, yes kind of faith.

Go with me, please, first to Psalm 49.

I was reading this passage this last week in my daily Bible reading, and this overwhelmed me, and I thought to myself, this is too good for me not to wait to get it to these folks.

Psalm 49, I just want to show you this concept.

It helps me to kind of get my head around it.

Psalm 49.

This is one of the sons of Korah, the musicians, the artists who wrote these psalms.

And in the in the midst of the Psalm, I'll have you scoot down to verse 5.

But if you're not there with me, hang on.

Please get there if you can.

I want you to see this in the scripture.

Look at what look at what he's saying.

I'm going to explain it real quick, but I want you to see it.

Verse 5, Psalm 49, verse 5.

Psalms 49:5

Why should I fear in days of adversity when the iniquity of my foes surrounds me?

Even those who trust in their wealth and boast in the abundance of their riches.

Okay, so you gotta keep the contrast in mind.

They're struggling because time is hard, because they're going through a hard time.

I just said the same thing twice.

Anyway, all right, so that they they are in days of adversity, and then they look around and they've got these people they see that don't seem the least bit bothered by anything.

They trust in their wealth and they boast in the abundance of the riches.

Verse 7.

No man can by any means redeem his brother.

Well, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

I'm having a hard time.

I'm seeing my friends or my associates or whatever, and they've got all this wealth and they've got all this successful living, and they seem to be okay, but then he says, wait a minute, verse 7.

All that money that you got is not going to get you to God.

No man can by any means redeem his brother.

You can't pay your way into this, or give to God a ransom for him, for the redemption of his soul is costly.

Costs more than we'll ever have.

He should cease trying forever.

That he should live on eternally, that he should not undergo decay.

Okay.

I I once again I don't mean to insult your intelligence.

I'm gonna pretend like you're me, and I need things explaining multiple times.

But look at this.

In verse 8, the second part of verse 8.

And he should cease trying forever.

He's on the hamster wheel of business and productivity and success, and thinking if I just keep going and keep going and keep going, I'll make more money, I'll make more advances, I'll be more successful, etc., etc.

etc.

Verse 9, that he should live on eternally.

He actually believes, he doesn't say that out loud because it sounds silly, but he actually believes that he will never die.

That if he stays healthy, that if he just keeps doing the right thing, if he hangs out with the right people, if he takes the right medicines, if he does the right drugs or whatever, he will live on eternally.

And then look at this one, verse nine, that he should not undergo decay.

That he'll never he'll never deteriorate.

Excuse me?

You're not gonna look that this is crazy.

But that's a world we would live in.

If you could just if it's just four easy payments of$99.99, and you will live forever.

All those rainbows, all those grays, all that whatever, whatever, it'll be gone and everything will be fine.

You'll never undergo decay.

This is written thousands of years ago, and it is so applicable.

We actually believe that we're okay.

All right, sorry.

Verse 10.

For he sees that even wise men die.

He understands that the stupid and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.

Their inner thought is that their houses are forever.

You really think you really think you're gonna be being forever?

And your stuff is gonna last forever, the way it is now, forever?

And their dwelling places to all generations.

Nothing's gonna change.

They have called their lands after their own names.

You really think that your heritage is going to last forever?

That there will always your name will always be on front of everybody's lips and thoughts, that people won't forget you a generation from now?

Sorry, I'm I it sounds like I'm bursting into your bubble.

I'm really just trying to have you see.

This is an insanity.

You can't live for today.

It doesn't last.

Verse 12.

The man in his pomp will not endure is like the beasts that perish.

Alright, let's go over to Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

That was not the most good message right there, but I just hang on.

We're getting there.

We're getting there.

Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

I'm chapter 2, verse 14.

Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14.

Hebrews 2:14

Therefore, this is the second of three.

I told you there's only three.

We're gonna be fine.

It'll be okay.

We're okay.

Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14.

Hebrews 2:14

Therefore, since the children share flesh and blood, he himself talking about Jesus, likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Psalm 49, you're crazy if you don't realize you're gonna die.

Hebrews 2, when you realize that you're gonna die, would you please realize that the King of Kings, the Prince of Princes, the Lord of Lords, already has conquered death and he has freed us from the fear of death.

We no longer have to live there.

It doesn't mean we enjoy it, it doesn't mean we look forward to it, it doesn't mean that we're saying, hey, I'm really I'm I'm anticipating with eager, eager breath that I'm going to be grieving for weeks, weeks, months, years.

That's not what he's saying.

He's saying this fear of the unknown, this fear of death, this fear of being conquered by something out of our control, that's gone.

Because I worship a Savior who loves me so much and is sitting on his throne right now, and in his power, his sovereignty, his wisdom, he has conquered death, and there's nothing, nothing, nothing that will ever separate me from the love of Jesus Christ.

Okay, one last verse.

You guys are doing so good.

Thank you for your patience.

I understand.

This is really hard.

We're gonna make it.

Last part.

Just go to your left a little bit, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

We'll finish here.

Verse 50, the last part of the chapter.

This is the invitation.

Now I say this as brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery.

We will not all sleep.

That's a euphemism for death.

We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Verse 57.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We experience days like today, weekends like this weekend, but we don't do it without hope.

We do it with one who has given us victory in the face of death.

And even as I say that, I realize it's much bigger and grander and more wonderful than I can even begin to imagine.

But you and I, right now, you have a choice.

You have a decision of whether or not you're going to trust your Savior, Jesus Christ, whether you're going to say, I am unworthy, but you are worthy.

I don't know, but you know.

I'm not in control, but you are.

Just say the word.

Or you're going to be a fool, according to the scripture.

And you're going to think that all you got to do is just try a little bit harder, work a little stronger, do the best you can, and then everything is going to be exactly the same way it is today, a hundred years from now.

Well, that's not going to work.

Knowing your victory is in Jesus Christ because of who He is: His love, His wisdom, His sovereignty, His authority.

So we face weekends like this, as believers in Jesus Christ.

And we say to ourselves, I don't understand what's going on in the world today.

And that's a good question, that's a good observation.

And we say, I can't believe these things are happening in our culture, in our culture, in our country, in our world.

I don't understand why things are so bad all around.

And it seems to be getting worse.

And perhaps we're perhaps we're tempted to think that somewhere along the way God has fallen as sea, or that we're no longer under his sovereignty, his reign, his love, his authority.

He is the shepherd, we are the sheep.

Perhaps we're tempted somewhere along the way to lose our faith and to think to ourselves, well, this is just life, and when we're done, we're done, and then that's all there is to it.

When we have scripture after scripture after scripture after scripture that tells us our victory is in the one who conquered death.

Very thing that the world is afraid of.

He said, I put it under my foot.

It is no longer an issue for you.

You come with me, we're going from here.

You and I have this in Jesus Christ.

The only question that I have for us this morning is, are you gonna live by that?

I want you to bow your heads with me for just a few moments.

I just want I just want you to send some time with your Savior.

You don't have to stand up.

If you'd like to come forward and come to the altar, the deacons, pastors will be here available for you.

But honestly, I'm I'm okay with whatever you want to do.

But I want to give you just a moment.

If you've already checked it out, you're already in the third stage of anesthesia, then I'm sorry, I don't want to talk to the rest of us.

If this is something that you need, please don't leave this building without it.

Trust in the love of God to understand He is worthy.

Bring it to your Savior.

I'm gonna ask if the music will play quietly.

Just a few moments of prayer.

I'll close this in just a minute.

But you are so good.

You love us.

You take the first step.

We don't we don't have to ask.

You're already here.

You came to us before we even knew we needed you.

So it's in that faith that I'm gonna ask for my brothers and sisters this morning.

We just need to trust you right now.

Trust your heart.

Trust your wisdom.

Lord, I pray for the individuals who maybe have heard the gospel a million times.

It never occurred to them till this morning that today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day to trust you both with life now and life forever.

I pray for them.

I pray they come to in faith.

Because of who you are, we praise you and we thank you, and we honor and glorify you.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Would you stand with me, please?

Pastor Adam will come to close us in prayer.

We have a word of prayer.

Those of you that are teachers and life leaders, if you would please join us in the fellowship hall.

We have uh something prepared for you as well.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this day and for your word that was just preached.

And how we were reminded from your word how we have hope in you or a God of compassion.

Lord, we fix our eyes on you, Lord, and ask you to guide us, to light our way, to lead our steps.

Thank you for all your love, Lord.

You might pray.