By Faith = By Jesus

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church.

Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota.

We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 12, verses 22 -34.

And He said to His disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you

will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.

For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

Consider the ravens.

They neither sow nor reap.

They have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them.

How much more valuable are you than birds!

And which of you, by being anxious, could add a single hour to his lifespan?

If, then, you are not able to do this, as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

Consider the lilies, how they grow.

They neither toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the

oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?

And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried.

For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

In the name of Jesus.

Seek His kingdom.

What on earth does that mean?

How do you seek something that you can't see?

Hmm.

Well, let's see if we can unpack this one.

This is an interesting text, or should I say text, that we have in front of us.

Well, let's try to figure out, let's seek an answer for this seeking the kingdom stuff.

Maybe if we seek the answer, we can find the kingdom along the way, right?

Hebrews 11 .1 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

Faith is the conviction of things not seen.

Hmm.

By the way, Greek word for conviction

in the ESV.

Better translation, certainty.

It is the certainty of things that are not seen.

How on earth are you supposed to be certain about things you can't see?

Right?

Now, if you think about it for a second, we're certain about a lot of things we can't see.

For instance, I've never seen an H2O molecule.

Never.

My eyesight is getting worse, not better.

And things that small, well, even in my best days, I wasn't able to see them.

Yet I know H2O molecules exist.

But then, of course, I know that because, well, I read it somewhere in a science book.

My teachers told me these things are all over the place.

Those of you who are farmers think we've probably had far too many H2O molecules

over the past couple of months, right?

But right now we're talking about in this text things related to the kingdom of God.

We're seeking the kingdom of God.

So faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

The certainty, the conviction of things that are not seen.

And that's the thing.

The kingdom of God is something that we confess as an article of faith.

It is not something that we see right now.

You get glimpses of it, but they're ever so fleeting.

For by faith the people of old received their commendation.

Commendation from whom?

Well, by God.

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of

things that are visible.

A good way to think about faith, I've said this before and I'll say it again.

A good way to think about faith, it's a lot like eyesight, right?

We all have eyesight.

We are able to see things.

Some better than others.

Some with the assistance of devices like this, right?

But eyesight is always looking at something.

And the thing that it's looking at is the object of its sight.

Faith is like that.

Faith is like eyesight.

You're looking to someone or something.

And so because of that you can actually substitute the word faith with the thing that is

the object of your faith.

And who is the object of our Christian faith?

It is Christ himself.

And so as we read through Hebrews 11, in the verses that follow we will read,.

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice.

Substitute the word faith with the word Jesus and it still works, right?

By Jesus Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice.

By his Jesus, though he died, he still speaks.

You see, the sentence makes perfect sense because faith is always looking at something.

What is your faith looking at?

Well, Jesus in our Gospel text, Luke 12, talks about, if you would,

the opposite of faith.

What is the opposite of faith?

It's doubt, unbelief, fear, anxiety.

These are all the opposites of faith.

So Jesus says in our Gospel text, he said to his disciples, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.

And you see them all going, but, but, but, Jesus, come on, right?

Don't worry about what you're going to eat.

I don't even know where my next meal is coming from.

I taught you to pray.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Do you believe me or not?

Don't think about your body.

Don't worry about that.

Don't worry about what you're going to put on.

For life is more than food.

The body is more than clothing.

Consider the ravens.

We've seen those, right?

Crows or any bird.

Think of the barn swallows here, right?

They neither sow nor reap.

They have neither storehouse nor barn.

And yet, who is it that feeds them?

God does.

God feeds them.

Of how much more value are you than the birds?

May I propose an answer to the question that Jesus asked.

Of how much more value are you than the birds?

For which of the birds did Christ bleed and die for?

Which of the birds have their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

If there was ever a candidate for a bird having his name written in the Lamb's Book of Life, it would

probably be Big Bird.

But Big Bird, of course, we know is a puppet animated by a human.

And that's why I say that.

Of how much more value are you than birds?

And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his life span?

Jesus, in the days before pepcid, in the days before tums and antacids,

already understands the debilitating effects of anxiety.

Anxiety causes people to have ulcers.

It causes people to lose sleep.

And it doesn't add a single day to a person's life span.

We know, because of medical science today, that quite the opposite happens.

The person who is perpetually anxious, totally in anxiety,

that person, well, their health falls apart, they deteriorate.

And what's the root problem of that?

Well, see, anxiety is the opposite of faith.

If you have certainty that God loves you, that God cares for you, that you are more valuable than the birds,

you don't have to worry about a thing, do you?

Not one thing.

So he says, if then you are not able to do this small thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

And then he gives another example.

All object lessons we can just look around us.

Consider the lilies, how they grow.

They neither toil nor spin.

Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,

how much more will he clothe you?

O you of little faith.

Hmm.

So seeking the kingdom of God has something to do with faith.

All of that anxiety, all of that worry, all of that inability to sleep, all of that, ah!

That's all signs of little or no faith.

He says, do not seek what you are to eat, what you are to drink.

Don't be worried.

For all the nations of the world seek after these things.

And that's what the world's all about, is it not?

Just pick up a magazine at the grocery store, at Walmart, Vogue,

GQ, whatever it is, you know, 17.

I haven't seen that number in a long time, right?

Pick these things up.

And what are these magazines filled with?

Clothes, food, seeking after the things of the world.

Your Heavenly Father knows you need all of these things.

Every last bit of them.

So, if your Heavenly Father knows that you need them, seek his kingdom.

And there it is again.

These things will be added to you.

Now, by the way, Jesus helps us out a little bit here.

If this sounds familiar to you, you're thinking, you know, I've heard this before in another gospel.

Think, well, Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount.

And Jesus there in chapter 6, verse 33 says, Seek first the kingdom of God and

his righteousness.

And these things, all of these things, they're going to be added to you.

As a bonus, if you would, right?

Seek his kingdom and his righteousness.

Not your own, his.

So how do you do this, O you of little faith?

Well, consider by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.

To which he was commended as being righteousness.

God commending him by accepting his gifts.

And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

By faith, or you could say by Jesus.

Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death.

And he was not found because God had taken him.

Now, before he was taken, he was commended as having pleased God.

How do you do that?

I'd like to know.

Oh, the text says, without faith, it's impossible to please God.

Let me read it again.

Without Jesus, it's impossible to please God.

You see, your faith looks to Christ.

So whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists.

And that he rewards those who seek him.

By faith, Noah being mourned by God concerning events as yet unseen.

So you'll notice here that in this great hall of faith passage, that all of the

patriarchs are commended for their faith.

You know you're hearing bad preaching when the emphasis is put on the wrong syllable.

And what I mean by that is, oh, Noah, he obeyed.

No, no, no.

Noah did what he did by faith.

And because he believed and trusted in the Word of God, the thing that was unseen

yet, that's the flood coming.

Who told him it was coming?

God did.

He believed God.

Then he built the ark.

The thing that was not seen was the flood.

Eventually it was seen.

And Noah was well prepared because he had faith.

By faith, Noah being mourned by God concerning events as yet unseen.

In reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household.

By this, by this faith, by Jesus, he condemned the world and became the heir of the

righteousness that comes by faith.

By faith, you can say by Jesus, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a

place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

He went out not knowing where he was going.

That's generally how it goes with me any time I go out.

But for Abraham, it was a special kind of not knowing, right?

By faith, he went to live in the land of promise as a foreigner.

In the land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose

designer and builder is God.

Did he find that in this life?

No, he didn't.

But oddly enough, we're all looking for that same city.

By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive when she was past the age since she considered him

faithful who had promised.

Therefore, from one man and him as good as dead were born descendants, as many as the stars of heaven,

and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

You see, all of this was accomplished by faith.

And when you truly believe and trust God's words and his promises, well, it

results in action.

And that's what Romans chapter 4 says.

What shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh?

For if Abraham was justified, that means to be declared righteous by works, well, then he had something to boast about,

but not before God.

What does the Scripture say?

Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him or

credited to him as righteousness.

Do you think it's any different for you?

Any different for me?

And if you think about it, we're all kind of working with the same promises.

What are the promises that are promised to you and to me?

Promises of the forgiveness of our sins.

Promises of eternal life.

Promises of an inheritance with God and the saints forever, new heavens, new earth.

When you hear me say, I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, do you

see your sins forgiven?

Or do you hear that your sins are forgiven?

You can't see it, can you?

I promise you, none of you look any cleaner after the absolution.

Now, after baptism, some of you may look cleaner.

Depends on what you were looking like before we brought you to those waters, right?

Today, when you receive the Lord's Supper, and you hear me say, take, eat, this is

the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, broken for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

Do you see Jesus' body?

What do you taste in your mouth?

Bread.

A little chewy.

Thank God.

Have you ever had those communion wafers where it's a little bit easier to believe that that's the body of Christ than it is to believe that it's actually

bread?

Okay.

So you receive this in your mouth, and what are you believing that it is?

It is what Christ says it is, is it not?

Right?

See, faith is the certainty.

It's the assurance of things hoped for.

Certainly conviction of things not seen.

This is what God says it is.

I am who God says I am.

I have received what Christ says He's given me.

Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, O you of little faith.

Trust these words of Jesus and all of this other stuff that you are anxious about.

God knows that you need them, and He will give them to you freely for Christ's

sake.

Hebrews then continues.

All of these, all of these saints, all of these Old Testament patriarchs, they all died in faith.

They all died in Jesus.

See how that works?

Faith and Jesus, totally interchangeable.

They died in faith, not having received the things promised.

Does that mean God's a liar?

No.

But having seen them and greeted them from afar, having acknowledged that they were strangers in exiles on the earth,

and so are you, for people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland, and it's

not in Norway.

Okay?

If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.

But as it is, they desire a better country.

That is, a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a

city.

Indeed, He has.

And listen to the last words of Jesus in our Gospel.

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Sell your possessions.

Sell them.

Give to the needy.

Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure that is in heaven that does not fail, where no

thief approaches and no moth destroys.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where is your treasure?

Is it in your 401K?

Is it in the equity in your house?

Right?

Is it in your car?

I hope not.

I hope not.

Because cars, I've seen them crash.

Where is your treasure?

Is it here?

Or is it in heaven?

Right?

So with all of that, how do you then seek the kingdom of God?

You seek it by faith.

You seek the kingdom of God.

Remember, faith and Jesus are interchangeable.

You seek it by Jesus.

And He is the one who has promised to give it to you.

You don't have to work for it.

There's no punch card that you need to clock in and clock out in order to earn it.

It's not a wage.

It's all purely given as gift.

In much the same way, the food that is given to the ravens and the birds is all gift from your heavenly Father.

And you are far more precious than they because you were bought by the blood

of Christ.

Genesis 15, here again what is said about Abraham.

After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision.

Fear not, Abram.

I am your shield.

Your reward shall be very great.

And Abraham said, O Lord, what will you give me?

For I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus.

You see, what he's hearing is different than what he's seeing.

Have you seen the attorneys?

The probate guys are saying that, hey, it's Eleazar of Damascus.

Abraham said, Behold, you have given me no offspring.

A member of my household will be my heir.

Behold, the word of the Lord came to him and said, This man shall not be your heir.

Your very own son shall be your heir.

And he brought him outside and said, Look toward the heaven.

Number the stars if you are able to number them.

And then he said, So shall your offspring be.

And he believed the Lord.

And God counted it to him as righteousness.

And see, that's how it works for all of us.

We believe the Lord, that we are forgiven, that we have a right standing before God, that we

are blood -bought children of God, and these promises come to us from outside of us,

from God Himself, from the Word of God, and we believe, and God credits that

to us as righteousness, clothing us then in the very righteousness of Christ.

So let me ask you, did God fulfill His promise to Abraham that His descendants would be

as numerous as the stars in the heaven?

Absolutely.

But I want you to consider this.

Galatians 3 verse 7 tells us this, Know then that it is those of faith

who are the sons of Abraham.

Brothers and sisters, you here today, hearing and believing

the Word of God, hearing and believing the forgiveness of sins proclaimed to you through

Christ, you who are of the same faith of Abraham, you

are His sons and His daughters.

You are the ones who are counted as those who are part of the stars of heaven that

cannot be counted, the sands and the seashore that cannot be counted.

You are Abraham's descendant, and you are his descendant by faith.

Do you believe this Word?

If so, the Lord counts it to you as righteousness, the righteousness that comes

from Christ.

Know then that it is those of Jesus who are the sons of Abraham.

In the name of Jesus, amen.

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