Building Your Life On The Rock (Part 1)

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What does it look like to build your life on the words of Jesus? You will like the answer. 

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Building Your Life On The Rock (Part 2)

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry.
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Michael Lee Abneroth here, coming to you from the studios of beautiful downtown
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Burbank, California. Okay, Worcester.
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That little bump you just heard, that right there, that was a Joel Osteen cube hitting the deck, hitting the dust.
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You can write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com. Any questions for the
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Abneroth brothers, go to pat at thepactum .org. And I think that's about it.
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I wonder how many people secretly went to the Pactum conference, but didn't want some of the people at their church to know.
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You might go get corrupted. My session was on legalism and antinomianism.
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And I should probably tweet out, although I'm doing kind of the Grandpa Mike version now of my
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Twitter of X, that is being nice. I should probably say something like, most of the people that accuse me of being antinomian are historically antinomian.
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What do I mean by that? Well, it was Luther who said, and I believe he coined the term antinomian, that he said you're an antinomian if you deny the validity of the moral law of God for today.
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I know lots of people who say the Ten Commandments aren't for today. That's what an antinomian is.
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Today on No Compromise Radio Ministry, we're going to talk about something that's marvelous.
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Not marvelous. What's the guy's name? The fighter. Hagler? Hager?
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Marvelous. He fought Tommy Hearns. It's Hagler, I think.
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I don't know. I don't have time to look it up. I don't really care. But before I do that, I want you to know that the condensed version of Cancer is
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Not Your Shepherd is out now. It's called Jesus and Cancer. And if you go to Amazon and look for Jesus and Cancer by Mike Ebendroth.
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So far, only Justin has given me a review, five -star review. Thank you, Justin. Maybe I'll make it back to Tennessee again someday.
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If you take me to Bucky's, I probably won't go. But if you take me to watch people drink moonshine on the side of that busy road,
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I might go. Anyway, Jesus and Cancer. I think the list price is $6 .99.
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If you want to order a bunch of them, you can email me, Mike at NoCompromiseRadio .com.
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And they're designed to be easier to read than Cancer is Not My Shepherd and cheaper.
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And you can just buy 10 of them and hand them out type of thing. So, that was the goal there. That was
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Nahum's idea. And so, it's off and running. Hopefully, by the time you hear this, the
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Law Gospel Primer will about be ready to order from Amazon. I think it's going to be close.
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Hopefully, it's going to be mid -December, maybe closer to Christmas, trying to do it as fast as I can. But when you need to finish the project, then you send it to the editor.
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And Erin, she turned that around very quickly. Then you send it to the typesetter.
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And Paige is doing a great job there. And you've got Steven to do the artwork for the cover.
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Then you have to get a sample copy and read through it. And it just takes a little while. So, hopefully, that will help you.
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Law Gospel Primer. That's the kind of small little booklet the size of about, oh,
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Pat Avendross' Act of Obedience book. And you just buy bunches of them and hand them out to the church. You can have a class on it, etc.
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Back to marvelous. What comes in your mind, what comes to your mind when
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I say the word marvelous? What's marvelous in your life?
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What makes you marvel? Can you define marvelous? That's a lot of questions.
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That's a rapid fire questions there. I looked up marvelous in the dictionary.
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And it says, causing wonder, splendid, an event which causes astonishment.
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Right? It's marvelous. And the etymology of the
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English word comes from a word that actually means smile, if you studied that.
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Marvelous. I don't even know if you say that very often. That's marvelous. What did
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Jesus marvel at? Did Jesus ever say, that's marvelous? I don't mean in English, but in scripture.
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Jesus, did He ever say, that's amazing. I'm astonished. Now, some might say, well, of course,
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God can't be surprised. God can't marvel. God can't be astonished. Oh, really? The God -man can.
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Obviously, Jesus is truly man, truly
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God, and men can marvel, right? What does that sound?
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Stop, children. What's that sound? Everybody look what's going on. Yes, I'm sitting here by myself in the studio, laughing at my own jokes.
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My own inside jokes should give me a rating of two for that, one for me and one for Jesus. I'll never get that.
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I was in the hospital this week for a bunch of tests, bone biopsies, echoes, cat scans, blood tests, genetic marker tests, all kinds of things.
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A diagnosis? Oh, we don't know, but the prognosis is one day
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I'll die. How soon? I don't know the rate we're going.
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I think I have nine lives. Four of them are left about. That's about it. So, we'll just see.
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It's been a good life so far. Back to the passage. What makes Jesus marvel?
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Now, of course, fundamentalists, they have often said, you know, the Bible never says that Jesus smiled.
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You know, Bible never says that Jesus laughed. Well, my first comment is what a way to live.
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Of course, Jesus smiled. You think he was frowning when he was holding children? He's a true human, perfect human, and humans smile.
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Do you know you use more muscles in your face to frown? Today, there's only one thing in scripture that Jesus ever marveled at positively, one and only one, and it has a direct application to you.
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It's found in Luke chapter 7. So, we're going to talk about that a little bit today.
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You know what I do often at the radio show is I talk about the passage that I'm going to be preaching, but I do it in kind of a noco style.
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That is, it's not a preaching style. It's kind of laid back, loose. I'm trying to think of another word that starts with L.
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Can't think of one. Licentious. That would not be one. A licentious.
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Luke 7, as you know, the book of Luke, the gospel of Jesus according to Luke, Luke is trying to get you to have certainty concerning the things you've been taught about Jesus.
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So, there's piecemeal stuff that Theophilus knew about, and he, Luke, wanted
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Theophilus to have a more well -rounded account and to know everything that Luke thought he needed to know.
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And today, we're going to see Jesus commending someone. Now, of course, he blisters false teachers.
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He excoriates the Pharisees. He has harsh words for those that want to add to God's grace and to put people underneath the shackles of tradition.
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But here in chapter 7 of Luke verses 1 to 10, he commends someone.
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And since he doesn't commend people that often, we should probably stop, look, and listen.
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We should probably not stop, drop, and roll, but we should probably try to listen. Jesus is ministering in Galilee, and the writer
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Luke wants us to basically say, who is Jesus? Should I believe in him? Is he the right
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Messiah? Should I trust him? And in this section of chapter 7,
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Jesus is going to go on to heal the widow in Nain, and he's going to heal her son, rather, not the widow, but the widow's son, raise him from the dead.
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We're going to learn a little bit about John the Baptist, and he's trying to figure out, is Jesus the right one? There's the sinful woman that has a lot of sins to be forgiven, and Jesus forgives her.
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And the big topic swirling around here is faith in Jesus. Is he,
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Jesus, the one who is to come? That's the question. Is he the one who is to come?
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I'm looking at my iPad here, and it's not drawing like it's supposed to. I've got this new thing on top of the iPad screen that kind of feels more like paper, so it's easier to write with your eye pencil.
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But I don't really have the eye pencil at the cheap knockoff, so that's probably why it's not writing very well.
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When I upgrade to the new iPad, then hopefully I'll get the real eye pencil.
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And so anyway, we'll see what happens. If somehow you double ordered an iPad, a new generation iPad, and you double ordered it, and you've got one sitting around, and you can't return it for some reason,
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I'll give you my address. Now, this passage is well known, and it's a centurion, and he has a servant who's sick.
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And of course, we know that Jesus is going to heal this centurion's servant, and we know that it comes right on the heels of Luke 6.
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Now, if you don't learn anything else, this is very important. Sometimes, okay, strike that, many times chapter breaks hurt us.
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That is to say, and maybe the chapter breaks in and of themselves don't hurt us, but we, when we read, we're hurt by chapter breaks.
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So, if you look at John 14 and Jesus telling the disciples, don't let your heart be troubled, and I'm going to go prepare a place for you at my father's house and come back, etc.
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It's wonderful as is, just with no context. If it was chapter one, you know, it was one chapter, that'd be awesome.
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Like, you know, John, third John, second John, Jude, some, you know, Philemon, Obadiah, one chapter, that'd be great.
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But 14 follows 13, and chapter 14 follows chapter 13.
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And at the end of 13, Peter says he's going to not deny Jesus ever. And he's going to deny him three times, actually, before the rooster crows.
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And it's going to be bad. Now, did I just say before the rooster crows? Actually, sometimes when you talk, you're like, it's, you know, speaking on the radio is kind of like a spelling on the chalkboard or on the whiteboard, where you could spell the words anytime, anywhere, but somehow when you're up in front of people, it doesn't happen.
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Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. So, three denials, then the rooster crows.
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But 13 and 14 go together. Galatians chapter 5 with the fruit of the Spirit there at the end of the chapter, and then chapter 6, the attitude we should have when we restore people.
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It's kind of the attitude of the Spirit -filled person, right?
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The actions and the attitudes of the Spirit -filled persons. And so here too, we have a tie -in between chapter 6 and 7.
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So, if you don't get anything else, like I said earlier, if you get this, you'll be happy you tuned in today. You turned on to tune in today.
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That is to say, at the end of chapter 6, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what
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I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like.
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He's like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built.
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But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.
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When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great. Building your life on the words of Jesus, coming to Jesus, hearing his words and doing them, it's like somebody who builds a house and laid the foundation on the rock and he was stable.
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What does it look like to build your life on Jesus' words? Answer, chapter 7, verse 1 to 10.
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Hey, there you have it. That's the tie -in. That's the big moment here that I want you to get.
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What's it look like to build your life on Jesus' words? Or in this particular case, the centurion says, you say the word and it'll be done.
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You just need one word, right? I can tell people to go and they go. I tell people to come and they come.
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I tell people to do this and they do it. You just say the word, be healed.
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One word in the Greek. Just say the word, whatever that word is, healthy, whatever the word is.
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When God says a word, it's going to happen. And so today on No Compromise Radio, the tie -in is building your house on the foundation of Jesus' words.
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Here is a stellar, stellar example by someone who is a soldier, a centurion, a
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Gentile, a leader, taking Jesus at his word, simple faith, childlike faith, dependent faith.
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Luke wants you to be certain, Theophilus, and all readers who would read Luke. And here we have the centurion.
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He is certain. Now, earlier in Luke, and Jesus had said, the
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Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are impressed.
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This is bad. I was thinking about something else and just trying to read. To set at liberty those who are impressed is the wrong translation, to those who are oppressed.
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And in chapter 5, the writer Luke makes sure that we understand that the power of the
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Lord was with Jesus to heal people. And so, Jesus comes for a mission, his messianic mission sent by the
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Father. He has the power of the Lord with him to heal, and he is going to be the one that we should expect.
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We don't need to ask the question, is there someone else? No, this is the
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Jesus. He is indeed the Messiah. He has power. He has authority. He is sent from the
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Father. And when you ask the question, is this the real Jesus? Is this the real
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Messiah? I have real sin. There's a real hell, and I need to be really forgiven. I want to make sure
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I trust the right one. You've got to make sure you're trusting in the right Messiah. And chapter 7 uses the healing of the centurion's servant to bolster people's faith.
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If you're not a believer, you should be believing. And if you are a believer, you should be believing.
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Everything about this section has to do with hearing and listening and words.
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Chapter 6 verse 27, but to you who are listening, I think that's
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NAS, let's see what ESV says in chapters 27, but I say to you who hear. In chapter 6 verse 47, it says, everyone who comes to me and hears my words.
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In this section, if you go to chapter 6 verse 49, the one who hears my words.
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Chapter 7 verse 1 for our passage today, after he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered
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Capernaum. Chapter 7 verse 3, when the centurion heard about Jesus.
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And then in chapter 7 verse 5, it says, for he loves our nation and he is the one who built us our synagogue.
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But that doesn't have anything to do with this. So why is it in my notes?
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Spencer, you can take that one out. Jesus is busy.
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He finishes his sermon, the sermon on the plane. He enters
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Capernaum and there are a lot of things happening in Capernaum.
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One writer said out of the 33 miracles that Jesus did, 11 were done at Capernaum.
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And the centurion had a servant who was sick, verse 2, and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him.
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When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant.
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So this servant of the centurion, he is sick and he is dying.
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And so the centurion makes a request for the Jewish elders to go ask
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Jesus to come and heal this servant. This servant is going to die.
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The death watch has started and the centurion must know something about Jesus.
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He might not have a lot of Old Testament data to look at. That's just my guess.
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But he must have heard that Jesus can heal because otherwise why would he ask for somebody that he didn't know anything about?
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And of course, remember in chapter 4, Luke chapter 4, Jesus rebuked the demon saying, be silent and come out of him.
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Be silent and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him having done him no harm.
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And they were all amazed and said to one another, what is this word? For with authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits and they come out.
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And reports about him went into every place in the surrounding region and somehow made it to the ears of the centurion.
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Matthew's account says that the servant is lying paralyzed, suffering terribly.
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Now, people want to make a lot about centurions, and they basically just say like a century, like a penny or a cent, 100, this is someone who can, you know, is in charge of 100 men in the
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Roman army. And you can take a look at what people write about centurions and how they'll say it's not really a rank, it's a class within the military.
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If you're a new centurion, you have 100 men.
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And if you're a senior centurion, you're kind of like a major. If you're the most senior, you're like maybe a one -star general.
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You got paid quite a bit of money if you were a centurion. And it took a long time to get there.
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You could not be one right away. You can't go up the ranks very fast. They would say that it takes 16 years to become a centurion, sometimes even longer.
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So, these men were great military minds, great military leaders.
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And Polybius, who wrote in about 100 to 200 BC, he said, in choosing their centurions, the
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Romans look not so much for the daring or fire -eating type, but rather for men who are natural leaders and possess a stable temperament.
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Not men who will open the battle with launch attacks, but those who will stand their ground even when hard -pressed and will die in defense of their post.
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So, these men are tough. And it's interesting because the
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New Testament doesn't say anything negative about centurions. It's usually positive.
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Remember at the foot of the cross when Jesus uttered his last breath? He uttered his last cry and breathed his last, rather.
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Temples torn in two, and the centurion said, truly, this man was the Son of God. One thing we do know, he was a
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Gentile, and he's serving in the Roman army, and he's willing to die at his post.
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And Matthew's account shortens it, condenses it, and it has the centurion going to talk to Jesus.
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But we know that here we had the elders go to Jesus.
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So, the centurion sends the elders to go. And that's no big deal when it comes to Bible interpretation.
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Matthew said, centurion went. Luke says, centurion sent the elders of the
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Jews. So, is there a contradiction in the Bible? Of course not. Now, who built the
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Solomon Temple? Solomon? You think he really was out there building?
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No, he's doing that through other people. Who scourged Jesus? Pilate? The Bible says
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Pilate did it, but he didn't really do it. Is there a problem there if he had someone else does it?
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As Augustine said, what one does through others, one does himself. So, Matthew's account is just shortened a little bit.
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And the centurion was an interesting man because he sends the Jewish elders to a
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Jewish rabbi, and he's concerned about his servant, highly valued by him.
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And this poor servant was suffering terribly and paralyzed. And the way the centurions could deal with their servants, with their slaves, they could just treat them like an animal.
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Says a slave, an animal, or a cart, we're all talking about the same. Slaves were used, slaves were abused.
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And here we have a kind, tenderhearted centurion for his servant.
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And he hears about Jesus, Jesus is close. And so, could you go get
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Jesus and have him come here to heal my servant? When they came to Jesus, Luke 7, 4, they pleaded with him earnestly saying, he is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation.
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And he is the one who built us our synagogue. That's what the Jewish leaders, the
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Jewish elders are saying to Jesus about the centurion. They're imploring
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Jesus over a long intended period, it seems like, saying over and over and over, please come and do this.
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This man is worthy. That's going to be important for us as we talk about it later. He's helped build a synagogue for us.
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He loves us. Yes, he's a Roman soldier, but he loves us. He understands. And he's worthy.
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Matthew's account gives us what Jesus said, I will come and heal him. So, that's what Jesus did.
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He said, I'll come and heal him. Jesus did not say, I can't be bothered. I'm going fishing.
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I have some carpentry work to do. I need to see my friends. My mother is requesting me. I'm tired from preaching.
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It's too far. It's above my pay grade. I might be able to heal him, but depending on how bad it is and how far the disease has progressed, it might be too far for me to do, but I'll give it a shot.
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He's like, yes, I will. He doesn't even know what the symptoms are. He doesn't need to know anything.
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Yeah, I'll come. Sure, I'll do it. As a matter of fact, it's no big deal. I can heal anyone because I am the
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Messiah. You know, Jesus comes and touches lepers and he's not defiled.
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He's not going to be defiled if he goes into the home of a Gentile. I mean, most
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Jews wouldn't go into Gentiles' homes. The Gentiles could perform abortions in there and do all kinds of other things, and Jesus is not going to be stopped by that.
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Verse 6, Jesus went with them when he was not far from the house.
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The centurion sent friends saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.
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Therefore, I did not presume to come to you, but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I, too, am a man set under authority with soldiers under me.
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And say to one, go, and he goes. And another, come, and he comes. And to my servant, do this, and he does it.
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First the centurion sends the elders, now he sends friends. And this whole section is screaming.
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The wise man builds the foundation of his house on Jesus' words.
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And here this man recognizes Jesus is Lord. The Jews think
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I'm worthy. I'm not worthy. And how humble he is, how right he's thinking.
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Jesus, just say the word. He doesn't say, come and put some oil on him. Come and recite some
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Latin. Come and I'll give you some herbs. If I sow a financial seed, would you help? What do
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I need to do? He just said, just come and say one single word. Say the word. This is a man building his life on the words of Jesus.
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Well, my name is Mike Ebenroth. This is No Compromise Radio Ministry. And I just want you to know, dear Christian, you can trust the
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Bible. You can build your life on the words of Jesus. You can trust him for everything on earth, including eternal life.