The Local Christendom Podcast with Aaron Ventura

When God VisitsSunday, August 9th, 2026Eleventh Sunday After PentecostChrist Covenant Church – Centralia, WALuke 7:11–23
Prayer
O Father, we thank You for the compassion of Christ, who sees us in our suffering, who visits us in our death, and who takes us by the hand to lead us to eternal life. Grant us to know Him more truly, to love Him more fervently, and to not be offended by Him in the midst of our doubts, we ask for Your Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Last Sunday we considered the great faith of the Centurion. We marveled with Jesus at the humility of the Centurion, and also how bold his request was. Recall, the Centurion sent for Jesus to come to his house and heal his dying servant, but then on second thought the Centurion sent friends to Jesus saying, I did not think myself worthy to come to You. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed (Luke 7:7). This act of faith makes Jesus marvel, and he turns and says to those following him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel (Luke 7:9).
So Jesus exalts the Centurion as a model of faith for you to imitate. You should aspire to know more intimately your own unworthiness. You should aspire to believe more firmly and confidently that Christ has power to forgive your sins, to heal you from every uncleanness (1 John 1:9), and to make you walk worthy of the calling by which you were called (Eph. 4:1). Jesus wants your faith to grow, and so he gives us many examples and opportunities to help us grow.
Now if we are honest with ourselves, most of us must admit that we are not people of great faith. If we were living in the 1st century, we would probably not be the Centurion Jesus commended.
Instead, so many of us are more like the disciples in Luke 24. Remember that scene, at the end of the book? Jesus has just risen from the dead, but he has yet to appear to everyone. Two of his disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus, and Jesus starts walking beside them, but they don’t realize it.
And after asking about their conversation, and hearing their doubts, Jesus says to them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken…And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
These two disciples receive the most epic Bible study ever given. Jesus Himself expounds the Scriptures starting in Genesis and going through all the prophets. And yet still, they do not recognize him.
It is not until later, when they eventually sit down to eat together, Luke tells us, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
How often is that our state as believers? Jesus is right beside us. Jesus is walking with us. Jesus is teaching us His Word. And yet we do not recognize Him. We are foolish and slow to believe what God Himself is saying to us, and we forget that God is ever present with us to help. He is the one who said, I will never leave you or forsake you, I will give you of my very Holy Spirit (Heb. 13:5, John 14:18).
Or perhaps you are on the fence, you’re not even sure if you are a believer. You are like the father with the sick child in Mark 9:24 who cries out to Jesus, Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!
You have a measure of faith, but even that is mingled with doubts and fears and unbelief. What does Jesus do for us then?
Outline of the Text
Well here in our text this morning, we see how God visits three kinds of people who do not yet have great faith.
In verses 11-13, Jesus visits a grieving widow.
In verses 14-15, Jesus visits a dead young man, the widow’s son.
And then in verses 16-23, Jesus is visited by two disciples of John the Baptist, and they are in doubt as to whether Jesus is who John says he is.
And so here we have three kinds of people, with whom you may relate to more or less: 1) A Widow in her Grief, 2) A Young Man in his deadness, and 3) Two Doubting Disciples. So let us see how God visits them to strengthen their faith.
Verses 11-13 – Jesus Visits A Grieving Widow
11And it came to pass the day after, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.
12Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
So first notice the meeting of two large crowds. There is Jesus, his disciples, and many others with him. And then there is a crowd of mourners, a funeral procession, carrying a dead man outside the city. And it is there at the gate of the city of Nain, that these two crowds converge.
The crowd with Jesus is probably joyful, expectant, and still talking about how Jesus healed the Centurion’s servant.
Whereas the other crowd is in the depths of sorrow, they are walking through the valley of the shadow of death. They are sowing the ground with their tears.
For what is the saddest kind of funeral to attend, but one where a parent must bury their own child. Where a young man or young woman in the flower of youth, about to enter adulthood, has their life suddenly cut short.
All the labors of this mother to raise her son, and all her hopes that one day he may care for her in old age, all those hopes are suddenly dashed by death.
Luke tells us this woman is a widow. So she has already suffered the loss of her husband. And so now for her only son to die, a young man now, is to compound grief upon grief. At the funeral of her husband the people could say “at least she has her son.” But what is there left to say now that her only son has died?
We are reminded here of the story of Ruth, and how Naomi says, Do not call me Naomi [which means pleasant]; call me Mara [bitterness], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
This widow is in an even worse state that Naomi was. For Naomi at least had Ruth to help her. But this widow has no one. At least, not until Jesus comes to meet her.
We read in verse 13, three actions of Jesus towards this widow.
First, it says the Lord saw her. Here, Luke for the very first time in his gospel, explicitly identifies Jesus as the Lord. So whatever Jesus does it is the Lord’s doing, and what does the Lord do?
In the midst of the crowds, amidst the flood of grief, with all the disorientation that severe loss inflicts upon us, Jesus sees us in our pain.The Lord looks upon this widow, singles her out, and gives her His special and divine attention.
Of this special regard that God has for us in our afflictions it says in Psalm 138:6, Though the Lord is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.
And in Psalm 34:18 it says likewise, The Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
The God who is everywhere at all times, who knows all things and upholds all things in their being, is said to pay special attention to those are humble and hurting. Because they are the ones who most feel and know their need for God. Whereas the proud do not.
This was true of Hagar in the wilderness. Remember how she was proud against Sarai, and treated her with contempt, and then Sarai treated her harshly in return, so Hagar runs away. But God meets Hagar and tells her to return to submit to Sarai, and promises the blessing of a son. And it is after Hagar has humbled herself that it says in Genesis 16:13, Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”
Pride, contempt for others, blinds us from seeing God. But humility opens our eyes and opens our soul to receive His blessing.
So the same God who saw Hagar in the wilderness, now sees this widow in her desolation. And Jesus is that God who sees.
The next thing Luke tells us it that when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her.
When you are in pain, what do you desire but the removal of pain, which the Bible calls mercy, or compassion. And here it says that the Lord co-miserates with this woman. He sees her suffering and makes her suffering his own. This is what Jesus does for us pre-eminently on the cross. This the Divine Compassion.
Yes, it is a comfort to have the sympathies of our friends and community, the flowers and the cards and the kind words, but only God can visit us in the depths of our broken heart. Only God can touch those invisible and spiritual places within us.
This is one of the reasons why the very name for the Holy Spirit is Comforter/Consoler/Advocate, because the Spirit is the healing balm, the oil of mercy, sent from the Father and the Son to comfort us in our affliction. It is the Spirit who lifts us up when we are weak. It is the Spirit who indwells us, and makes us to know that God sees us, God pities us, and God has the power to work great good from these present evils. Isn’t this what He has promised us in His Word?
Well, what does God to say to us when He comes to console us? Well here Jesus says to this woman, weep not.
Do not cry. God is here. Notice how shocking and heartless this might have appeared to those standing around this woman, or even to the woman herself. How can you tell her to stop crying? Don’t you see the body? Don’t you see what has happened? Have you no compassion?
When these words, weep not, come from The Lord, they are an invitation to hope in Him.
It is true that in the moment when Jesus says weep not, nothing has changed. Her son is still dead. Her house is still desolate. Everything feels hopeless. And yet, Jesus comes to her and says weep not as an invitation to hope in Him.
We are never told what this woman thought, or said, or did. She has no words of dialog like the Centurion had, there is no response from this widow recorded by Luke. And I think that is because God wants you to ponder what you would do in this situation.
What do you do, when it feels hopeless, do you believe that God sees you, that God has compassion on you, and that God is inviting you to dry your eyes, to hear his voice, and to put your hope in Him.
We are taught to pray in Psalm 33:18-19, Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, Upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death.
And in Lamentations 3 we are taught to pray likewise, It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
Well in verses 14-15, we see that hoping in Jesus is a blessed hope. For here now he raises the dead son to life.
Verses 14-15 – Jesus Visits A Dead Man
14And he came and touched the bier [that is, the open coffin or stretcher they were carrying]: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
Now what Jesus does physically for this young man, is what he does spiritually for every elect soul. And indeed, if you look at how The Apostle Paul describes salvation in Ephesians 2 (and elsewhere), you will see that it mirrors what Jesus does literally here.
So how does someone go from dead in trespasses and sins to alive in Christ? Well what does Jesus do here?
First, Jesus comes and visits you in your deadness. Before ever you could get up and call out to Him, God comes and says to your soul, Arise.
And by that creative word of omnipotent power, God justifies you, God sanctifies you, God makes your soul upright, so that you like this young man may sit up and begin to speak.
It says in Psalm 116:10, I believed, therefore I spoke. God speaks faith into our hearts, and then from the faith that He has given we make confession to Him. And thus, the words of Romans 10:10 comes to pass, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
And then once God has made you alive in His Beloved Son, and washed you clean in the laver of regeneration (Titus 3:5), He delivers you to your mother The Church, who nourishes you, giving you the pure milk of the Word, so that raised in the Church Militant you may one day join the Church Triumphant.
As it says in Galatians 4:26, But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
And as Paul says in Ephesians 2:5-6, Even when we were dead in sins, God hath made us alive together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
God in salvation raises us from the dead, He makes us to sit up and speak, and gives us to our mother. All this Jesus does here, miraculously, unbidden, from the compassion of His heart.
And so by this one miracle, two are made whole. The widow receives her son back, her desolation is undone. And the son receives his life back, as a testimony to God’s resurrecting grace.
Now remember that every miracle that Jesus works upon the body, is infinitely less valuable than what He works upon your eternal soul. And so as marvelous as the raising of this son is, you should marvel far more that God raised you from your deadness, and all as free gift of His mercy.
So we have seen how God visits us in our grief. We see how God visits us in our spiritual deadness. And now finally we see how God visits us in our doubts.
In verses 16-23, rumor spreads about Jesus, and word reaches John the Baptist, who is currently sitting in prison awaiting execution. And so for John’s disciples, this is a real crisis of faith. Their leader has been imprisoned, and so they are starting to have some doubts. And so what does Jesus do to strengthen their faith?
Verses 16-23 – Jesus Is Visited by John’s Disciples
16And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.
17And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.
18And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things.
19And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
20When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
21And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
22Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
23And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Now some people have thought that John is the one who is having some doubts about Jesus. He is in prison after all,and Jesus has yet to rise from the dead and ascend to heaven. And while that might be possible, I do not hold that view, since it seems to contradict what Jesus says about John in the very next section, that he is not a reed shaken with the wind. He is not a soft man, living delicately in king’s courts. Jesus says, John is a prophet, and much more than a prophet, and, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.
So I don’t think John is doubting here, I think he knows he must decrease so that Jesus must increase, and so he is sending his two disciples to Jesus, not for his sake, but for their sake. John wants his disciples to believe in Jesus and to become followers of Jesus. And of course, Jesus knows this and wants this as well.
So what does Jesus do for them when they arrive?
They ask him, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?
So think about how Jesus could have answered this question. He could have just said, Yes, I am he. I’m God. Believe. But he does not do that.
Instead, Jesus chooses to give them reasons to believe. He gives them motives to find His word credible. And he does this in two ways.
First, he heals a ton of people. It says in verse 21, And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
They want to know if Jesus is the one the prophets spoke of. And Jesus shows them that He is by many miracles of healing and exorcism.
But he does not stop there. The second thing he does is point them back to the Scriptures the he has just fulfilled. He says in verses 22-23, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
These are all quotations and references to the Old Testament Scriptures, especially Isaiah and the Psalms.
To give you just a sample, listen to Isaiah 35:3-6, Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.
This is Jesus, the fountain in the wilderness, the one who make streams of grace to flow in the desert.
Or listen to Isaiah 61:1-3,“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, [as he just did for the widow] To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound [as he just raised the young man from bonds of death]; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Wherever Jesus goes, God is visiting His people. And because the mystery of the incarnation is so marvelous and incomprehensible, for who could ever imagine that the Infinite Creator and Unchangeable God would take to himself our mortal flesh, Jesus condescends to our doubts, and gives us many reasons to believe that He is God. Most of all he will give us his death and resurrection as the ultimate sign of his divinity.
Conclusion
In closing, you see how few have great faith like the Centurion. The Centurion believed without ever seeing Jesus. He believed on account of what he had heard. That is great faith and with it comes great blessing. As Jesus says to Thomas in John 20:29, Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
But behold the compassion of God. God knows you have doubts, and so he constantly points you to the Scriptures. He points you to His many mighty miracles, signs, wonders, and all those prophecies that He fulfilled.
As Jesus says to the Jews in John 10:37-38, If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.
So do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Or are you offended by Him?Stumbled by his humanity that conceals his divinity?
It says in Psalm 118,The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
May God grant you to find this stone precious, that you may be built up upon him and founded upon him, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

What Is Great Faith?Sunday, August 2nd, 2026Tenth Sunday After PentecostChrist Covenant Church – Centralia, WALuke 6:46-7:10
Prayer
O God, we thank You for the healing power of Your Word, the Word who is eternally begotten from the Father, the Word from which proceeds the Love that is the Holy Spirit, and this same Word who was in the beginning with You, who was made flesh and dwelt among us, who lived and died and lives forevermore. Open our eyes we ask, that we may behold the beauty of Your Son, the Word Incarnate, for we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Introduction
Last week we heard from Jesus, The Parable of Two Houses, or The Parable of Two Builders. And as we heard that parable again this morning, we are reminded that everyone is building something, but not everyone builds in faith. Everyone in this room is hearing the Word of God preached, but not everyone of you will obey what is preached. This is the difference, Jesus says, between a wise builder and a foolish builder, between a man whose house can withstand the storm to come, and the man whose life is suddenly destroyed. So how you are building your house?
Well here as begin Luke chapter 7, Jesus encounters a living example of a man who built a house. In this instance, the house is a house of worship, a house for God, called a synagogue. Moreover, this house of worship is built from love, the Jewish elders say of him, he loveth our nation and he hath built us a synagogue. Further, this man is a most humble man (he has dug deep), he considers himself unworthy of having Jesus enter under his own personal roof, and yet because he understands how authority works, he believes that Jesus has the power to heal his servant with just a word, but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed, he says.
Jesus marvels at this man and says, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
So if you want to grow in your faith, if you want to build a life that is honest, and firm, and worthy of God, Jesus wants you to consider now the greatness of faith in this Centurion. So that is what will occupy us this morning, answering the question: What is great faith?
Outline of the Text
We’ll divide our text into three sections according to what they emphasize and reveal about the faith of this Centurion.
In verses 1-5, we have The Works of Faith
In verses 6-8 we have The Humility of Faith
In verses 9-10 we have The Reward of Faith.
The works, the humility, and the reward of great faith.
So starting in verse 1, Luke tells us….
Verses 1-2 – The Works of Faith
1Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
2And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
First recall that Capernaum is a city on the coast of the Sea of Galilee (about 100 miles north of Jerusalem). And ever since Jesus was rejected by his hometown of Nazareth (back in Luke 4, they tried to kill him), Capernaum has become the home base for his ministry.
So already Jesus has performed (and we have read about) his many miracles of healing, of exorcism, and his powerful preaching in Capernaum (rf Luke 4:31-33). And so it should not surprise us when we read in verse 3 that this Centurion has heard of Jesus. And based on what he has heard, whether firsthand or second hand, he believes that Jesus is divine, and therefore has the power to heal his sick servant.
We read in verses 3-5…
Verses 3-5
3And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
4And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
5For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
Now what exactly is a Centurion, and why does he go about summoning Jesus in this way?
This title of Centurion (ἑκατοντάρχης), literally means Captain/Ruler of one hundred.
In the Roman military, there were varying degrees and levels of authority, above the Centurions were Tribunes and Legates, and below Centurions were other officers, soldiers, and servants.
Back in Exodus 18, recall that Moses father-in-law Jethro, advised this kind of hierarchy of authority to assist Moses in governing the people.
It says in Exodus 18:25, And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
And so this is just common sense for good government (it’s part of the natural law), and it is how a large number of people can all be united and governed under one head.
So this Centurion is mid-level officer in the Roman government. He has a Tribune and the Emperor above him, and he has around 100 soldiers and servants below him.
And it is this grasp of authority, of obedience and submission to authority, that will later ground this Centurion’s appeal to Jesus. Already her believes that Jesus has divine power, more power than Ceasar himself.
Now just as this Centurion is both under authority, and in authority over others, so also are you. This is true for some of you externally (as fathers and mothers, or bosses in the workplace). But it is true for every single person individually and internally. Your mind, your spirit is to meant to be both ruled and ruler. Every individual member and faculty and power of your body and soul, is mean to work together in submission to your head (to reason enlightened by faith).
In the garden, God created man in His own image, and thus Adam and Eve were subordinate to God (submitting their mind and wills to Him), and then as God’s representatives, they were to exercise dominion/rule/stewardship over the earth (Psalm 8).
So before the Fall, mankind had a spirit/mind that was subject to God, and beneath that a body that was subject to the spirit, and beneath that a world of animals and plants that was subject to their rule. That was the original creational hierarchy of power: God over man, man’s spirit over his body, man’s body over the animals and the material world.
However, at the Fall, that divine order of authority was turned upside down. What did Adam and Even do in Genesis 3?
Rather than subjecting their spirit to God, Adam and Eve chose to obey the Serpent.
Rather than subjecting their body to their spirit, they took into their body and ate what God had forbidden.
Rather than Adam following God and Eve following Adam, Adam followed his wife into sin, and thus the whole order of creation was inverted, and ever since that time we have been experiencing the consequences of sin and death.
Our fall into sin destroyed the integrity of our nature. We became alienated from God, alienated from one another, alienated from our own selves. Because we rebelled against God, now our own members are in rebellion against us.
So this unnamed Centurion (real soldier as he was), is also an analogy for every person in this room. And just as this Centurion is great in his faith, so also he represents what God wants you to become.
Because God intends for you to be the commander/ruler of your own thoughts, passions, intentions, and actions. Your mind is like a Centurion, who is to be ruled by God, believing whatever God says, and then justly ruling over everything within your sphere. The Bible calls this fruit of the Spirit, self-control. Can you govern yourself? Can you command your interior soldiers, your passions, your bodily appetites, to obey God? This is part of the lesson Jesus is trying to teach us here.
Listen to how Scripture elsewhere describes your soul in these military terms.
James 4:1-4 says, Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
So notice your life is like a battlefield, and unless you rule those 100 soldiers within you (with their conflicting and competing thoughts, desires, and passions) there will be war, and there will not be peace. You will be a divided person if you do not command your passions to obey Christ.
Listen to how Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians 10:4-6, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
He says likewise to young Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-12, But you, O man of God, flee these things [referring to the love of money] and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.
And in 2 Timothy 2:3 he says, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
So Paul wants every Christian to have the mind of Christ, the mind of a soldier in the Lord’s army, fighting in faith, armed with humility, and then as Centurions under Christ, to bring into captivity every thought.
So do you see how Jesus is meant to come and rule your heart by faith, and that that is where the kingdom of God begins?
Jesus says later in Luke 17:21, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
So outside in the world is the Roman Empire, with its legions and tribunes and centurions and armies. But Jesus Christ is king over all, and his kingdom begins by subduing our minds, and our hearts, and our wills to His power.
This is the more perfect, invisible, and spiritual kingdom of God, which this Gentile Centurion recognizes. He knows by his own vocation as an officer how authority works. And therefore, he believes, even before Jesus has died and rose from the dead, that Jesus has power to heal with a word.
O that we might have great faith like this.
Now we know from Ephesians 2:8 and elsewhere, that faith is always a gift of God’s grace. God’s action always precedes man’s action, and so this Centurion has already been touched by the grace of God.
It is not on the basis of the Centurion’s good works that he receives saving faith, rather it is from saving faith that he does good works. And so here in verses 1-5 we see some of those works of faith manifest. What are they?
First, observe from verse 2, that this Centurion has a genuine concern for his servant’s welfare. It says he was dear unto him. The Centurion valued this servant, who was inferior in rank, but he acknowledging and valued him, even as he would want to be valued if the roles were reversed.
This is a living out of the golden rule. Jesus just preached in Luke 6:31, And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. And here the Centurion is doing for his sick servant, what he would want to be done for him. Go and get Jesus!
So that’s the first work of faith we notice, kindness, compassion, concern for the life and health of a lowly servant. Loving those subordinate to you as yourself.
Second, observe that his internal faith in God, has built something external, namely a synagogue, a place for the Jews (and others) to hear God’s Word, and to worship the God of Israel.
Recall that Jesus had been preaching regularly in the synagogue(s) of Capernaum, and so it is extremely likely, that this Centurion had funded and built the very place where Jesus has been ministering.
To build a synagogue would have come at significant financial expense. And possibly also at great social expense, since the Jews were not always the best subjects of Rome.
And so this was costly capital, financial and perhaps relational. But the Centurion subordinated his earthly goods to the greater good of worshipping God.
The Jewish presbyters/elders say of him, he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
Of course the Centurion did not know that one day he would need to call in a favor from the Jews to go to Jesus on his behalf in hopes that he would heal his servant.
Notice also that the Centurion does not appeal to his past good works, as a patron of the Jews, when he sends for Christ.
No, the Centurion feels himself so unworthy of Jesus, that he sends the Jewish elders on his behalf. Here is a man who has military authority over the Jews, and yet humbles himself to ask them a favor for his dear servant.
All this is just the first motions of humility. For we learn in the next section,verses 6-8, that on second thought, the Centurion thinks he has been too bold, he asked too much. He does not want to presume upon Jesus coming all that way, and so he sends another delegation, this time of his friends, so that Jesus does not trouble himself for the Centurion’s sake. Behold the great humility of faith.
Verses 6-8 – The Humility of Faith
6Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
7Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
8For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
This is the appeal of humble faith. And by it we learn that faith is great to the degree that we are humble.
Whereas pride is presumptuous, entitled, expecting favors from God as if we rightly deserve them, the Centurion appeals to nothing in himself, he appeals only to Christ’s power, and on that basis alone, he asks for Jesus to heal his servant.
This is a pure faith. It is pure because it is not mixed with ego, it is not mixed with craving for sensual pleasures. It is asking for God to do for someone else, what only God can do, speak the word and my servant shall be healed.
This is also a pure faith because it comes from love. A love and a value for what God loves and values, in this case, the life of a young servant, dying and at death’s door.
Do you love what God loves, and value what God values, because that is the love that purifies our faith and our prayers to God.
Second, observe that great faith is marked by a recognition of your own unworthiness.
While the Jews say, he is worthy, The Centurion says, I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
But think about this. What has already happened inside the Centurion? Jesus has already entered his heart. Jesus has already given him the grace of faith, and that is why he feels himself so unworthy of Christ coming to him in person.
So dear Christian, you who believe, the Bible says that your body has become a temple for the living God, a dwelling place for the Holy Trinity.
So do you realize how unworthy you are in yourself to have God take up residence within you?
Do you realize that you never could have prepared your soul for grace, unless God’s grace first prepared you?
Do you know, down into your bones, that salvation is of the Lord, from beginning to end, and that unless God makes you worthy, you will never walk worthy of Him?
It says in Ephesians 2:5, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
The Centurion says to Jesus, what every person should say to Jesus, I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
You are not clean until Jesus makes you clean. You are not alive until Jesus makes you alive.You are not a good Centurion of your soul, until Jesus comes and reigns over you. And even after you live a life of faithful service to Jesus, what does Jesus say that you should say to him?
He says to his disciples in Luke 17:10, When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’
Obedience to Jesus is your duty, because we are all debtors to grace. And so the more we think of ourselves as Centurions under Christ’s authority, perhaps the more we shall likewise receive the rewards of faith.
Verses 9-10 – The Rewards of Faith
9When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
10And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.
Observe here the two rewards of faith. Two rewards that you also should seek.
The first is the most important, and that is The Divine Commendation: that is, when God judges you and says well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.
Notice Jesus commends the Centurion openly, publicly, and marvels at the faith that He himself gave according to His divine nature. And by this he is illustrating what shall happen when he returns in glory to judge the living and the dead.
Jesus says in Matthew 10:32-33, Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
And in Revelation 3:3-5, Jesus warns the church to keep the faith saying, Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
So do you have an ear to hear what Jesus says to the churches? And are you obeying what Jesus says? It is by the obedience of faith that you shall receive the reward of Divine commendation. Is this what you are aiming at? The glory of God through faith in Jesus Christ?
That is what Paul says his whole mission of apostleship is. He says in Romans 1:5, By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name.
The second reward of faith is that the Centurion receives what he asked for: His servant is healed. And as Luke records it, Jesus does not even say anything. The friends simply return the house, and find the servant healed.
Jesus says in John 14:13-15, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And so this is why we still ask God to heal us, to heal those we love. To provide for us in times of need. Because Jesus wants us to ask Our Father in heaven for daily bread, for deliverance from temptation, for all that we need to reach heaven safely.
At times, God says no to our requests or not yet, but it is always because He wants to give us something more, something better, something that will actually serve the salvation of our soul.
In Paul’s case, it was better for him to have a thorn in the flesh, and to rely upon God, than to have no thorn, and run the risk of self-reliance (2 Cor. 12).
And so we ought to pray and ask God for many things. But most of all, we should ask God to give us God. We should ask God to change our desires, so that we ask for those things that are most good for us.
As it says in Psalm 37:4-5, Delight yourself in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
Conclusion
Jesus delighted in nothing else, but doing the Father’s will. And far from that obedience being a hindrance to his joy, or an obstacle to glory, nobody has ever been more joyful and blessed and glorified than Jesus.
And so be like the Centurion, trust Jesus, honor God, love your servants, build up God’s house, send for Jesus in time of need, acknowledge to Him how unworthy you are to have him enter beneath your roof, and Jesus shall gladly come to you, and make his home permanently within you. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Parable of Two HousesSunday, July 26th, 2026Ninth Sunday After PentecostChrist Covenant Church – Centralia, WALuke 6:46–49
Prayer
O Father, we thank You for the preaching of Your Son, our Lord Jesus. Please grant that we may become obedient doers of the Word as true disciples, rather than being Christians in name only. Rid us of our self-deception, our hypocrisy, our blindness to our sins. Remove the planks from our eyes, that we may see more clearly whether the house that we are building has a foundation, or not. We ask for Your Holy Spirit now, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Ten years ago, I was living in Jacksonville, Florida. And if you don’t know where Jacksonville is on the map, it is on the northeast coast of Florida right by the Atlantic Ocean. And so you can imagine living near the beach has many perks, that is, if you like the sun, and sand, and salt water, and swimming, and beach volleyball, and good BBQ. You can find all that in Jacksonville.
However, living by the beach also has some downsides, namely hurricanes. In fact, in Jacksonville we have something called “Hurricane Season,” which runs from June-November, with storms usually being the worst from August to October. So for about half of the year, there is always this possibility that a tropical storm will develop in the Ocean, and then depending on its severity, and how close it comes to land, you might be fine, or you may have to board up your house, leave the state, and drive to Georgia (as some of my own friends and family have had to do on occasion).
Now in the 2.5 years that I lived in Jacksonville, I was blessed to never have to evacuate because of a hurricane. However, right after I left Florida, and moved to the rolling hills of Moscow, Idaho, Hurricane Irma hit the Atlantic coast. Hurricane Irma was a Category 5 tropical storm, and 5 is the highest category of tropical storm there is.
134 people died in Hurricane Irma, and there was about $77 billion dollars of damage done. At its peak the winds were blowing at 180 mph. which made Irma the third-strongest hurricane in the Atlantic, ever recorded.
When that storm hit, some people called it “Irmageddon,” because it was  as if the world had ended in those places.
Well in our text this morning, Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Plain with a very serious warning. And that warning is, a storm is coming. It does not matter who you are, or where you live, a category 5 hurricane is coming, and if your house is not ready and in good order, there will be death, there will be damages. You will not have a home to come back to. For as Jesus says in verse 49 the ruin of that house was great.
And so there are really two big questions that Jesus places before us in this passage, and those questions will form the outline of our sermon:
1. Why don’t you do what Jesus tells you to do?
2. What kind of foundation, if any, is your house built upon?
So, 1) Why don’t you obey Jesus? And 2) Does your house have a foundation that can withstand the coming storm?
Starting in verse 46, Jesus poses this first question saying…
Verse 46 – Q1. Why don’t you obey Jesus?
46And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
This is a question that you must ponder for the rest of your life. Why don’t you obey Jesus like he tells you to?
First observe that Jesus is directing this question at professing believers. This is not a question for atheists, or secularists, or worldlings, it is a question for people like you: baptized Christians, sitting in the pews, singing the Psalms, going to church, taking communion, and hearing the Word of God every week. So this question is aimed at all of us who profess Jesus as Lord.
Second, observe that the question is Why. Why do you call Jesus Lord Lord, and then not do what your Lord says? Do you have a good answer to that question?
When Jesus asks Why, He wants you to be a little self-reflective. He is telling you to go look in the mirror, look at your past, look at the story of your life up to this point and think about how you got here. And then after that self-examination, explain to Jesus why you have not obeyed the one you profess as Lord.
So how well do you know yourself? How well do you understand your own heart, your motives, your intentions, your goals, your duties, your temptations, your relationships, your past? Do you understand the story-arc of your life and where you are within it?
Because if you lack this self-knowledge, you will not be able to answer this why question accurately. You will be living in a fantasy world, and not in reality. You will be your blind-self leading your blind-self into a ditch. You will be like a doctor trying to do heart surgery with a chainsaw and a blindfold. It’s not going to go well.
Self-deception is a massive problem for us. As James 1:22 says, But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
So we need God’s help, we need the Word of God, we need pastors and parents and wise and virtuous friends to tell us what we cannot see. Why don’t you obey Jesus, what is wrong with you?
Well let me give you a place to start. You can discover just by asking this Why question, that at least some of the answers might be ignorance, forgetfulness, laziness, a lack of real knowledge in our minds.
Perhaps we’ve heard the golden rule but don’t remember the golden rule, and so we never stop to think in the moment, “How I can love this person in front of me as myself?” “How can I do good to my wife, or husband, or children, like I would want someone to do good to me?”
Or take another example, we don’t remember that we are supposed to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, and so we get angry, we get defensive, we lash out at the people who hurt us, rather than doing what Jesus says, namely, turn the other cheek, when they revile you, bless them. Let all your speech with seasoned with the salt of grace.
Or, we forget the gospel: that God forgave the infinite debt of our sins, and so we withhold forgiveness from others, exacting justice from our debtors, while expecting mercy from God. Jesus has something to say about that! He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy. (James 2:13).
2 Peter 1:9 warns against this gospel forgetfulness saying, For he who lacks virtue and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. And so forgetfulness is an enormous hindrance to obeying the words of your professed Lord.
And then on top of our own ignorance and forgetfulness, then there is the additional problem of our bodily state. Our physical desires, passions, concupiscence, infirmities, pains and pleasures that can obscure our ability to think rationally, logically, clearly in the light of faith.
Paul says in Romans 7:23-24 of this fleshly power, But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Only Jesus. Only Jesus.
An example of giving in to this desire for sensible goods includes all the sexual sins, fornication, lust, adultery. And then sometimes more subtly we simplycling too tightly to money as our security, or our health, or some toy or hobby that we think we cannot do without. We forget that Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:8, And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. Are you content?
Or perhaps you value too highly some earthly relationship, your job, your reputation, the esteem of other people (all good things). But we forget that Jesus said, Blessed are you who are poor, hungry, sad, and hated. Whereas a Woe (a danger) is upon those who are full, laughing, and self-satisfied.
When you breathe the air of Babylon all day long (and by Babylon I mean America), it can choke out Heaven’s breath within you. And that is exactly what the world, the flesh, and the devil are conspiring to do: they want to choke out and quench the fire of the Holy Spirit within you, that supernatural love we call charity, without which you cannot see God.
And so are you guarding this Divine flame? Do you treasure the sanctifying grace that the eternal God has placed within you? The whole Trinity of persons who reside in your soul? Because if you do not keep your heart with all diligence (Prov 4:23), the cares of this world will stomp you out!
Jesus will describe a couple chapters later, in Luke 8:12-14, the different kinds of people who call Jesus Lord Lord and how they die in their sins.
He says in the parable of the soils, Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. And the ones on the stony ground are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
And so you see, there are many reasons why people hear the Word of God, call Jesus Lord Lord, but then do not obey. Do you know what your reasons are?
Whatever you come up with, we can basically reduce all those reasons down to three: 1) ignorance, 2) forgetfulness, and 3) selfishness. That covers just about everything.
1. If you are ignorant, perhaps it is because you never stop to listen and listen closely with all of your attention, you don’t try to understand what Jesus is telling you, because you don’t want to obey, you don’t want anyone telling you what to do. Of such people it says in Psalm 14, The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
2. But most of you are not ignorant at all, and that makes your disobedience even worse, because James 4:17 says, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Ignorance can excuse you a little (1 Tim 1:13), but once you have been told, and told again, once you have recited and understood the Ten Commandments (as we do every single week), you are now responsible to do them.
And so worse than ignorance is forgetting what Jesus told you to do. And this is why David says in Psalm 1, and Psalm 119 (and many other places) that memorization and meditation on God’s Word (day and night) is how you avoid sin.
He says in Psalm 119:11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee.
And what does Jesus say right before posing this why question to us? He says in Luke 6:45, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
So what is in the treasure of your heart’s memory. What do you dwell in, and think about, day and night? For the blessed man of Psalm 1, it is the Word of God. And so also for every true disciple.
It says in Romans 8:5-6, For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
So some of you need to confess to Jesus today, “the reason why I don’t obey you, is because I don’t value your Word enough to think about it and remember it.” Forgetfulness and laziness are your why.
3. Now this third reason, selfishness is really at the root of every other sin (including ignorance and forgetfulness). Selfishness, or more properly speaking, inordinate self-love (also called pride) is where you imagine that everything revolves around you, rather than God. The Bible calls this sin by many names such as being self-willed, prideful, haughty, exalting yourself over others, etc.
And so while Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God, the proud man seeks first his own kingdom, he seeks first his own desires, and thus makes himself his own “Lord.”
This is the chief sin of our day, we imagine that we are self-made, self-determined, self-actualized, and so we worship our own selves. And this selfishness is a kind of coup d’état, a revolt, against reality. Because who has all authority in heaven and on earth? King Jesus.
And so to exalt the Self over Christ is to deny the crown rights of King Jesus. It is functionally to deny that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. And the Bible calls that denial of reality, idolatry, blasphemy, worshipping a false god.
Think about what we you doing when you make Yourself the center of the world. You are imitating the devil, Satan, the father of lies. Listen to how Isaiah 14 describes the fall of Lucifer. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. In the garden, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to do what he had already done, make himself like God apart from God. And this just cannot be done. Because we are creatures, and Jesus is the Creator of all.
When your life becomes all about elevating yourself, moving up in the world, you imitate the devil who fell from an exceeding height. Whereas what did Jesus do? Jesus came down, Jesus descended, Jesus took to himself our mortal flesh, he suffered and died for a world that held him in contempt and despised him. Jesus forgave those who crucified Him, and Jesus subjected his human will to his divine will, and that perfectly.
And so are you obeying Jesus when he says, follow me, imitate me. In Luke 14:11 he will say to his disciples, For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
So do you know why you don’t obey your Lord? Do you think you can go on living in disobedience, and that without eternal consequence?
In case you are unsure, Jesus is now going to give you a window into your future. And he does this by telling the parable of two houses. And in this parable, the houses represent a person’s life and eternal destiny. And behind this parable looms the all-important question which is, Can your life withstand the storm of final judgment?
Jesus says…
Verses 47-49 – Q2. Does your house have a foundation?
47Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
48He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
First observe what is common to both men in this parable. If we look closely, we will see that there are three things they have in common:
1. Both men hear Jesus’ sayings.
2. Both men build a house.
3. Both men have a storm hit their house.
Apart from that, everything else is different.
One of the first differences we should notice is that the man who builds his house upon a rock, is said to do three things in verse 47, Jesus says, Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them,I will shew you to whom he is like.
So the wise man comes to Jesus, hears Jesus, and obeys Jesus. Whereas the other man (the fool) only hears and nothing more.
So what is signified here by coming to Jesus? Well, this is most certainly referring to faith in Christ.
Jesus says to the unbelieving Jews in John 5:38-40, But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. And so notice coming to Jesus is believing in Jesus with a living faith, and in the next chapter, Jesus promises in John 6:37, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
So have you come to Jesus with a living faith (a faith that works by love)? Do you have His word abiding within you? Is that Word bearing good fruit in your life? If not, then perhaps you have not actually believed.
James 2:26 says, faith without works is dead. To profess Jesus as Lord Lord and then to not do what he says, is exactly what James is talking about. That’s a dead faith and it cannot save you, quite the contrary, it will only make your condemnation worse.
Now if we look at the story of what this faith-filled disciple is like, Jesus assigns to him three actions. And if we put them in order of execution they are as follows:
1. He digs deep,
2. He lays a foundation on a rock,
3. And then third, he builds his house on top of it.
So what is signified by these three actions in the parable? Digging, laying a foundation, and building. How does this relate to our real spiritual development?
First, let us think about digging. If I hand you a shovel, and say go and dig the foundation for your new house, how long do you think that will take? Without an excavator, withouta tractor, or a skidsteer or a backhoe, you’re going to be digging for a while. And Jesus says, the true disciple digs deep. Moreover, you know, the bigger the house, the taller and wider the house, the deeper and wider you must go with your foundation.
Now in Luke 16, Jesus will tell the Parable of the Unjust Steward. And in that parable, when the steward is about to be fired it says, Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.
And so here we have verified this idea that digging is both laborious and humbling work.Not all are willing to dig. And so I think rightly the best commentators on this passage identify digging with humility.
To dig into the earth is to humble yourself, it is to get down and spend time with the worms. To dig deep is make yourself base (very low), and despised, even nothing, because you know what 1 Corinthians 1:28-29 says, But God has chosen…the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
God loves the humble, the nothings, because only when your soul is empty of your ego, can God come and fill it completely.
And so while many are too proud to dig (they tell themselves there is no storm to come, I can drop my RV here on the sand), true disciples dig deep, we seek to decrease so that Jesus may increase within us.
It says in Proverbs 3:34, Surely He scorns the proud, But gives grace to the humble.
And in Psalm 149:4 it says, For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
The kingdoms of this world are built on pride, and pride comes before a fall. Whereas the Kingdom of Heaven is built through the humility of Christ, and that is why God’s kingdom shall ever endure.
So if to dig deep is to humble yourself, we can say that laying the foundation is to knowing the love of God in Christ.
Paul says in Ephesians 3:14-19, For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love [that’s the foundation], may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
And so the true disciple has no other foundation but the love of Jesus. Of course, ultimately it is God who lays this foundation within us. It is He who gives grace. It is He who pours out His love into our heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). And this is part of the mystery of salvation. Paul says in Philippians 2:13, it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
So that whenever you humble yourself, it is God who has first granted you humility. Whenever you dig deep and lay a foundation in His love, it is God who is pouring that spiritual concrete. And then when you build your house, as Psalm 127 says, Unless the Lord builds it, you labor in vain.
So you know you are working with God to build your house, when  your life only exists for His glory. Then you say with the Apostle Paul, I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
So are you co-worker with God in the building of your life? Are you rooted and founded in charity (in friendship with God)? Does the edifice of your soul look more and more like Jesus with every year that goes by? Or have you left your first love, and become pre-occupied with other things?
Conclusion
Remember what is common to both men in this parable? A vehement storm is coming. And so who are you more like in this parable? Are you humble, is love your foundation, and are there good works of charity adorning your house?
Jesus says in John 14:21, He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.
So do you want to see the face of God? Are you actually looking forward to that hurricane of final judgment, because like a flood of fire, it will burn away everything ugly, everything corrupt, everything sad, everything evil, and crooked, and perverse shall be destroyed, and then only what is true, and good, and beautiful, built on love, shall remain.
May God grant you to humble yourself, to be rooted in His love, and be a doer of His Word patient until the end. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

How to Judge JustlySunday, July 5th, 2026Sixth Sunday After PentecostChrist Covenant Church – Centralia, WALuke 6:36–45
Prayer
O Father we thank You for Your Son, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We thank You that out of the abundance of His heart, He has spoken to us good things, even the greatest thing, that is, the way to eternal life. Grant us to follow Him, in our words, in our deeds, in our judgments, for we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Last Sunday we answered the question, What kind of judgements does Jesus forbid when he says, Judge not, lest ye be judged? And we said that there are three principal judgments that God forbids in His Word and they are (do you remember them?): 1) The Usurped Judgment, 2) The Rash Judgment, and 3) The Perverse Judgment.
Now this morning we are going to answer the question, What kind of judgments does Jesus command us to make? Or put another way, How can we judge justly? Because right after Jesus forbids all those sinful judgments that are contrary to charity, he spends the rest of his sermon explaining how to judge in a manner that truly pleases God and leads to a life that is founded upon the rock.
So it is not enough merely to avoid sin by withholding judgment, we also have to learn how to render righteous judgments that are in harmony with God’s will, consistent with God’s love, and that is what the rest of The Sermon on the Plain is all about: How to judge in such a way that leads to eternal life.
Now we can start to learn how to do this by way of comparison with those three judgments that God forbids. So before we expound the words of Jesus in our text, let’s briefly review those three sinful judgments we must not make, so we can learn to do the opposite.
1. First there was the Usurped Judgment. And we said that this is any judgment that God has not delegated to you to make (so it’s outside your jurisdiction, “outside your lane”). This includes judgments about all final things, all hidden things, and all future things. Those judgements belong exclusively to the Lord, and we must not pretend to have the power, the knowledge, or the wisdom to judge better than He.
Now beneath God’s Supreme Court, He delegates a measure of His judicial authority to human beings. In Romans 13 and elsewhere we learn that God delegates authority to civil magistrates, to parents, to husbands, masters, elders, and so forth.
And so in order for a judgment to be righteous, you must at the very least, have the God-given authority to either punish or reward the person in question.
And so we said that one of the ways you can know if you are making a usurped judgment, is if you lack the ability to reward or punish the person accordingly.
For example, if you cannot lawfully execute the criminal for murder, then it does not belong to you to determine whether he is guilty or innocent.
So unless God is going to require you to give Him an account for that person or case, then it is not your place, it’s not your duty, nor your responsibility to be a judge. Instead, you should simply withhold judgment.
As Paul says in Romans 14, Who are you to judge another man’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls… But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ… So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
So a minimum requirement for a judgment to be righteous/just, is that God has assigned to you His own judicial authority, otherwise it is a usurped judgment.
2. Second, there is the Rash Judgment. And this is anytime we jump to conclusions about someone or something without having sufficient evidence to prove it.
It is human nature that you easily believe what you want to be true. And therefore, it is the mark of a corrupt mind, to wish that bad things are true about anyone.
And so usually rash judgments arise from an evil root, from evil suspicions, or from a bad conscience.
For example, the thief imagines that everyone else steals too. The liar imagines that everyone else is as dishonest as he is. The guilty often impute their own guilt to others. And the Bible says that all such evil suspicions are contrary to the love of God.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:5-8, charity thinks no evil,does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.
So love never fails to believe the best about someone, because that is how we all want other people to treat us. We would like everyone else to always put the best interpretation on our words and actions, rather than imputing to us some evil motive.
Now this judgment of charity (that believes the best and desires the best for others) is true even after someone has been convicted of a sin or a crime. And that is because Christians believe in the forgiveness of sins, in the correction of sinners through repentance and faith. We believe that God has the ability to convert sinners into saints, to convert compromised Christians into faithful Christians, to convert hypocrites and Pharisees (like Saul of Tarsus) into upright and honest citizens of heaven.
Our earthly perspective is extremely limited, and this is in part why Christian must not make rash judgments, it is folly in the first place, and it is contrary to the mind that is one fire with the love of God.
It says in Proverbs 18:17, The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him.
And so the opposite of a rash judgment then is a deliberate judgment, a judgment that waits until the biblical threshold for evidence is satisfied, and then only after that is someone declared guilty. Until then, you must regard them as innocent.
3. Third, there is the Perverse Judgment. And this refers to any judgment that is contrary or inconsistent with the Word of God. Under this category of perverse judgments are included sins like: partiality, respecting of persons, taking a bribe, using unjust weights and measures, or tipping the scales for one’s own private gain. Against such perversions of justice, God issues the strongest condemnation.
For example, James 2 warns the church saying, My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
And then he says a few verses later, So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
So to summarize, in order for a judgment to be just, First, it must not be usurped but rather declared by the lawful authority. Second, it must not be rash, but rather deliberate and based on sufficient evidence to prove the case. And then third, it must not be perverse, but rather in accord with the Word of God. Those are three essential requirements for a judgment to be righteous/just.
Now Jesus is going to cover those same three themes but from a few different angles in verses 39-45. And so let me give you the outline of our text.
Outline of the Text
Back in verses 36-38, which we considered last week, Jesus teaches us to judge with mercy, even as God has judged us in His mercy. And then he proceeds to give us some guidance in how to do this:
In verses 39-40, Jesus gives a parable about following the right Master, because you will become like him.
In verses 41-42, Jesus requires that we examine and judge ourselves before judging someone else.
And then in verses 43-45, Jesus illustrates how to judge/discern between the good and the evil.
So, 1) Who should you follow? 2) Who should you judge first? And 3) How do you discern between good and evil. These are the questions Jesus will now address.
Verses 39-40 – Who should you follow as Master?
39And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?
40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Now in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus applies this same parable, about the blind leading the blind, to the Pharisees and their followers (Matt. 15:14), and then later he denounces them saying, Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel (Matt. 23:24).
And so the Pharisees become a kind of cartoon embodiment of this parable: they style themselves as leaders and teachers of the people, as those who have the law of Moses and can see why the nation is in such a sorry state. But Jesus says in reality, they are blind leaders leading blind followers into the ditch, and that ditch is eternal damnation.
So here is a warning for all leaders, for all that are in authority (pastors, parents, husbands, masters, magistrates), and it is that we are responsible for where we lead other people. And therefore, we need to know and see if we are following Christ in all of our decisions.
This is one of the reasons why it says in James 3:1, My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
So how do you know where you are going? How do you know (as a disciple) who you should follow? Jesus is pointing out a major problem here that we have as ignorant human beings: how can a blind follower even know that he is being led astray? Since the disciple is not above his master, how can the disciple know whether his master is worth following?
The answer Jesus gives is that you must decide whether or not you want to become like that master.Whoever they are, if you follow them, if you obey them, Jesus says you will eventually become like them.
So Jesus is saying in effect, Do you want to be like me, or do you want to be like the Pharisees? Do you want to be like the world and imitate them, or do you want to like God?
Because Jesus is God, He knows all things, He says that He is the way, the truth, the life, and that He alone is the one who you should call Master.
Jesus to his disciples in Matthew 23:8-12, But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren…Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
The Apostle Paul knew this well and says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
In Ephesians 5:1 he says, Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
So only Christ is worth following and imitating absolutely, because He is perfect God. Call Jesus alone Your Supreme Master. And then every leader beneath Jesus, including the Apostles, are only to be imitated insofar as they imitate Christ.
And so as parents we say to our children, obey me as I obey Christ. As husbands we say to our wives, submit to me as I submit to Christ. As elders and pastors we say to you, imitate us only to the extent that we imitate Jesus. For none of us is worth of imitating in every respect, we all have many faults and weaknesses, so imitate Christ who is perfect God and perfect man, follow Him.
This means you need to know who Jesus is, what he does, how he lives, how he models his own teaching.
How does Jesus judge the world as the one who knows all? It says in Psalm 98:9, He judges the people with equity. We know from the gospel that Jesus gives ample time for people to repent, he calls them to repentance, he pleads them to turn back from their crooked ways, and he goes to the cross to suffer for you, to pay your debts, to forgive your sins, to demonstrate by his actions God’s bleeding love for humanity.
How much does God desire the salvation of His people? Well how much is the life of Jesus worth? That is how much. An infinite price was offered to rescue you from the infinite debt of sin. So how can you look upon Jesus, his life, his perfection, his cross, his resurrection, and not be moved to love Him?
How can you look upon the mercy that was shown to you upon the cross, and then turn around and demand justice from your brother?
Jesus says, The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
So if you were to look at all the judgments that you have made, would they look like the judgments that Jesus makes? If not, then you are not following Jesus closely enough.
How can we learn to judge more like Jesus? Jesus says you need to start by exacting justice of yourself first. Examine yourself and accuse yourself for your sins before God’s mercy seat, and then you will be able to see more clearly. He says in verses 41-42…
Verses 41-42 – Who should you judge first?
41And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
42Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.
These are familiar words to many people, and yet how often we fail to obey them. Do you even know that you have a beam in your eye? Do you know what your besetting sins are? Can you name your sins the way that God in His Word names them? Because the only way a beam can get removed from the eye is by you confessing them to God as the sins that they are and begging His pardon to remove them from you.
Until you have washed your eyes with the tears of contrition, you will not be able to see or judge rightly.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:15 that only the spiritual man can judge spiritual things.
And he says likewise in Galatians 6:1, Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
So why is it, that you are so quick and sure about the sins of others, but so slow and uncertain about your own sins?
Jesus is saying that if you are quicker to judge your brother (or sister) than you are to judge and condemn your own self, then you are a hypocrite, and you are unqualified to judge anyone if you cannot judge your own self rightly. If you do not know the state of your own conscience, how can you pretend to judge another man’s state?
A hypocrite is someone who desires to appear what he or she is not. Whereas a true Christian is someone who desires to appear as he actually is, as someone who desires to be like Jesus, who too often falls short of accomplishing that desire, and yet by God’s grace, keeps getting up so that he can make progress in imitation of Christ.
Remember, a Christian is a disciple, a follower, a student, a learner. None of us are perfect masters or perfect judges. So we should not act as if we are.
Now there will be times when you have confessed your sins, you have removed the plank, and so you can see clearly now to remove your brother’s speck. And the way you’ll know that you are ready to remove that speck, is that you are possessed by the spirit of gentleness.
For here when it comes to removing sin, the gentle hand is the most steady hand. You want the hand of an experienced surgeon who can remove the sin with as minimal damage as possible. That is the spirit in which we should address one another.
Listen to how St. Augustine comments on this passage. He says, When we have to find fault with anyone, [first] we should think whether we were never guilty of his sin; and then we must remember that we are men, and might have been guilty of it; or that we once had it on our conscience, but have it no longer: and then we should bethink ourselves that we are all weak, in order that our reproof may be the outcome, not of hatred, but of pity. But if we find that we are guilty of the same sin, we must not rebuke him, but groan with him, and invite him to repent with us.
That is the spirit of gentleness in which Jesus commands us to judge each other. It’s the judgment of charity, the judgment of mercy, the judgment of compassion that comes from having our own multitude of sins erased by Christ. To lament our brother’s sin as if it is was our own, this is how we love one another as we love our own self.
Third and finally, Jesus teaches us what to do when a person or a case is doubtful. How do you discern between good and evil? To answer this Jesus gives us the analogy of a tree and its fruit. And he says that what fruit are to a tree, words are to a man’s heart. Jesus says in verses 43-45…
Verses 43-45 –How do you discern and judge between good and evil?
43For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
First observe that a person’s heart can only be known to us by their words. This is in keeping with that earlier principle that God alone can judge the hidden things, the hidden motives of the heart, whereas we can only judge those things that are manifest, the spoken and written words of a person.
And so it is not usurping God’s judgment, to conclude that a man is evil because only evil words ever come out of him. There is real causal connection between the heart and the mouth.
And therefore, if a man’s words are mixed, we must conclude that his heart is also mixed, and that is the case for almost all of us as believers.
We love God, but we still love ourselves too much. We go to church and praise God, but then we are also easily angered and sometimes yell and curse other people. We are a conflicted bunch. Our old sinful nature is still there (the old man), and yet we have been given a new nature, a new heart, and are told to put on the new man in Jesus Christ. As Christians we now have a choice, of what kind of treasure we want to gather up and store in our heart.
If you store up Jesus, if you store up gracious thoughts, humility, meekness, the mind of Christ, then good will come out of you. But if you don’t, there is plenty of evil treasure remaining in our flesh that would love to come out. And Proverbs 10:2 warns us, Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: But righteousness delivereth from death.
Now James 3 is basically an inspired commentary on this passage from Jesus. Listen to how he describes the inconsistency of our heart. It says in James 3:2-12,For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.
So what are the implications of this mixed nature of our heart and words when it comes to judging other people?
Well for starters, this is another good reason to judge other people with charity. Because we all have said things we regret. Things we would like to retract, undo, and have everyone forget. And so even when a person is speaking evil words, can we honestly say that we have never done that too?
This is the beam in many of our eyes. We have evil thoughts, we have spoken evil words, and yet are quick to impute evil motives to others. This should not be so brethren.
A second implication is that only time will tell if a tree is ultimately good or bad. So be patient with others but be urgent with yourself. Recall what John the Baptist came preaching at the beginning of Luke, bear fruits worthy of repentance…even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
If you know anything about fruit trees, some of them can look totally dead in the winter, when in reality it’s just not the season for fruit. And sometimes a tree can look green and healthy in the spring, and yet summer comes and it never produces anything that tastes good.
Later in Luke 13:6-9, Jesus will give a parable about this saying, A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
Conclusion
So what kind of tree are you? What do your words say about your heart? And are you producing fruit for God? Because if not, Jesus says that on the day of visitation, you will be cut down and cast into the fire.
And so I charge you, all who hear, repent of your sinful judgments, your hypocritical judgments, your perverse, rash, and usurped judgments. Cleanse your heart with the tears of repentance, and then cling to Christ and his cross by faith. Because that is the only safe place where mercy triumphs over judgment.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.