It's good to be back. I've missed you folks. It seems like longer than two months, but I think it's only been two months since I've been here. Well, I have a word for you this morning. Literally a word. The word is Thaumazo. Anybody familiar with the word Thaumazo? Pastors might know it. Greek students might recognize it. It's a Greek word that we find used in the New Testament approximately 42 times. It comes from the word Thalma. Thalma is a wonder. Thalmazo means literally to wonder, to marvel, to be amazed. We find it used in Mark 15 5. Let's turn there just so you can see its use. Mark 15 5. In Mark 15 5, Jesus is standing before Pilate, and the pressure is on for Pilate to sentence him to execution. And Jesus makes no defense for himself. Pilate says, you don't answer me? Don't you understand the charges that have been laid against you? And then verse 5 says, but Jesus made no further answer, so Pilate was amazed. There's our word, thaumazo. Pilate was amazed. Pilate was thaumazo. We find it also used in Luke 8.25, where Jesus had just calmed the Galilean wind and waves. And his disciples, it says, upon seeing this, were fearful and amazed. Thaumatzo. So we understand Thaumatzo, right? We know what it's like to be amazed. We know what it's like to marvel at something. I mean, there are things that truly amaze us in this life, right? If you've ever seen the Grand Canyon, the Grand Canyon is amazing. Our solar system is amazing. Some of man's technology, some of man's wonderful technological advances amaze us. They cause us to falmazzo. But to the believer, to the Christian, Nothing amazes us more than God, right? We marvel at creation. We marvel at God's power. We marvel at His wisdom, His compassion. We marvel at His grace, His grace toward us. As we consider God, we are Thaumatzo. Paul said, oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, how unfathomable are his ways. God is amazing to us. But is anything amazing to God? Does anything amaze him? Is it possible to Thaumazo, to amaze God? Well, you know, your knee-jerk reaction to this question is, of course not. We want to say, no, nothing can amaze God, because in God's omniscience, He knows all things, right? How could God possibly ever be amazed or marvel at anything? He causes all things. He knows all things. And yet, Scripture seems to indicate, at least in one sense, the fact that God can and does marvel. Thou mod'st thou. Now, the Bible is pretty clear as to the identity of Jesus Christ, right? We unashamedly confess with the Scriptures that Jesus is the Son of God. We confess that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. We know that Jesus shares equal deity with the Father, right? In Him, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. Jesus is God. And Jesus, the incarnate God, as He took on flesh and sojourned among men, is twice recorded in Scripture to have expressed Thaumatzo, to have expressed amazement. He marveled. He was amazed. Now, what is it that can cause the incarnate Son of God to be amazed? That's what I want us to look at this morning. So let's look first at Luke's Gospel, Chapter 7. Luke's Gospel, Chapter 7. Now, Matthew's Gospel records the same event we're going to read. But we're going to mostly be parked in Luke's account here for obvious reasons. Let's read together starting at verse 1. Luke 7 verse 1. When Jesus had completed all his discourse in the hearing of the people, he went to Capernaum and a centurion's slave who was highly regarded by him was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored him saying, he is worthy for you to grant this to him for he loves our nation. Excuse me. And it was he who built us our synagogue. Now Jesus started on his way with them. And when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself further, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. For this reason, I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to this one, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes. And to my slave, do this, and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following him, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith. Jesus marveled. Jesus was amazed by this centurion. Now who was this man? We don't know much about him. We don't know his name. We don't know where he's from. All we know is what he is. He was a Roman soldier. This was the days of the Roman Empire. Judea to the south was a Roman province. Everywhere you looked, there was a constant presence of Roman occupation. And this man was a leader of Romans. He was a centurion, a military commander. And he had a servant that he highly esteemed. The original language suggests that it was a youth. It was a boy. and this slave was deathly ill. Now, Matthew's account tells us that this boy was lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented. We don't know what the sickness was. It's unclear, but what's clear is that the centurion really cared for and really regarded his servant and that his servant was likely about to die. And so the centurion seeks out Jesus that he might heal his beloved, trusted servant. Now Luke says in verse 3 that he sent some Jewish elders asking Jesus to come and save his servant. As is often the case, Matthew's account doesn't match the finer details that we find in Luke's account. See, Matthew omits telling of the centurion's use of envoys. to carry out his request. Matthew simply says, a centurion came to Jesus imploring him. Matthew, for whatever reason, doesn't include the use of these middlemen, these Jewish elders. But Luke wants his readers to know that this man did not come to Jesus in person to ask him to heal his slave. And he wants us to know why. In verse seven, we read the words of the centurion. I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. You see, this man didn't send a delegate to Jesus because he was too busy or too lazy or because he didn't want to be seen going to Jesus. He sent those Jewish elders because he saw himself as a man unworthy to put himself in the presence of Jesus. Now this is an indication of true humility on this man's part. Whether he believed Jesus to be the Messiah or a great prophet of God, it's very clear that he saw Jesus as one who was far greater than himself. And this in itself is pretty amazing when you consider the stark difference between these two men. Right? I mean, here we have an esteemed officer in Caesar's army. The name centurion means captain of a hundred, which was no small thing. Historically, centurions were considered the backbone of the Roman army. You know, you did not enlist in the army as a centurion. You know, one had to work his way up the ranks. You would need to be noticed by your generals for your commitment to Rome, your dedication, your skill, perhaps your courage in battle before you could even be considered to be an officer, let alone a centurion in the Roman army. Centurions were well paid. They received about 20 times the pay of the average soldier. So you see, this would have been a man of some clout. This man would have had some respect among men. He would have possessed the prestige of a well-paid officer in the world's, at this time, the world's most feared and powerful army. Now, on the other hand, consider Jesus. According to the world's standards, who was Jesus? a rabbi, an itinerant teacher, going around Judea with a ragtag group of 12 disciples, preaching the kingdom of God, looked upon with great suspicion, even by some of his own countrymen, his own fellow Jews, no wealth, no worldly status, not a landowner, and yet this Roman centurion truly believes that he is not worthy to come into Jesus' presence to seek his favor. Now this tells us something about this man. This tells us that he had an assessment of Jesus that already goes far beyond what many of the religious Jewish leaders were thinking about Jesus. He sees Jesus as one sent by God. And he sees himself, no doubt, as a natural born Roman pagan, an uncircumcised Gentile seeking the help from a holy man of God. The only one that he knew could really heal by the power of his word. By this centurion's own testimony, he's unfit. He is unworthy to personally come and entreat the favor of Jesus. And yet this was not the testimony of the Jewish elders, was it? Proverbs 27 says, let another praise you and not your own mouth. In verse 4, these Jewish elders, these Capernaum community leaders, they testify as to their view of this man's worthiness, right? And their testimony makes it pretty clear that this man had a real interest in the things of the true and living God. It would seem the centurion was not merely a Jewish sympathizer. But it would seem that he really loved the nation of Israel. I mean, no doubt at this point in time, a lot of the Romans were probably looking down their noses at the Jews, right? Second class citizens, weak monotheists needing to be ruled by a more superior race with our superior Roman gods, right? But not this man. The Jewish elders bear testimony to the love that this man really had for the people of God. He loves our nation, they say in verse 5. And that love was clearly manifested by his actions. They say it was he, it was this guy who built our synagogue. You see, this man did not love in word only. He loved in deed and in truth. This man funded and built the house of God's worship right there in Capernaum. Now remember, this is a Gentile we're talking about. This is a Roman soldier Gentile. This is not a Hebrew. This is very unusual. This is not a man of godly spiritual heritage. This is not a man of spiritual pedigree, you would say, right? In verse six, we read this. Now Jesus started on his way with them. Matthew's gospel records Jesus saying, I will come and heal him. Notice there's no hesitation on the part of Jesus. Not an ounce of hesitation. He asks them no questions. He doesn't make any comments about whether or not he deems this man worthy. He doesn't question the validity of entering the house of an unclean Gentile. Jesus, his every intention is to do exactly what this man has come and asked him to do. He doesn't say, as he would later say to a Syrophoenician woman, sorry, sorry, I've come only to give to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Not good to throw the children's bread to the dogs. He doesn't say that. Without any hesitation, Jesus just says, all right, let's go. And he begins to make his way to the home of the centurion. You see the heart of Christ here? Do you see the heart of Jesus? There's not an ounce of hesitation in his spirit to go and do for this man what this man has requested. He just naturally applies what we find in Proverbs 3, right? Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it's in your power to do it. So Jesus goes, our Lord goes, and he starts making his way to the centurion's house. And as Jesus gets nearer, he's stopped in his tracks by another group of people sent by the centurion. And these friends have come to convey an updated request. And these words found in verses six through eight are the reason Jesus marvels. What the centurion says here is what causes Jesus to thaumazo. Verse six, Lord, do not trouble yourself further, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. For this reason, I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority with soldiers under me, and I say to this one, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes, and I say to my slave, do this, and he does it. Notice the request for the healing of a young slave coming from a Roman soldier, that doesn't amaze Jesus. And the testimony of the Jewish elders on this man's behalf, that doesn't amaze Jesus. Even the man's humility in sending the Jewish elders to Jesus as a delegate, this doesn't amaze Jesus. But when this centurion confesses his unworthiness for Jesus to enter his home, And when this centurion reveals his faith in what Jesus can do from a distance, simply by the power of his word, and then even illustrates it by comparing it to his own authority over soldiers and slaves, Jesus is amazed. Jesus is Thaumatzo. This is a Roman soldier. This man has not grown up around the things of God. This man hasn't been given what Paul would have called the advantage of the Jew, right? This is a Roman. He hadn't been entrusted with the oracles of God, not having been circumcised according to the law, not having been taught the law or the word of the prophets. In other words, this is a man of very little spiritual light. And in the face of just a little bit of light, this man exhibits a great faith. A faith that, according to Jesus, has not yet even been seen among his own people in Israel. And this great faith, in the face of little spiritual light and privilege, this is what causes Jesus to marvel. Verse 9, now when Jesus heard this, he marveled at him. Jesus' salmazzo. Jesus marveled at true faith coming from one with very little light and very little spiritual privilege. And it amazes us that Jesus would be amazed, doesn't it? But there's a second time that Jesus expresses amazement, astonishment, Thaumatzo. And the only other time we find it is found in Mark's Gospel, chapter six. Please turn there with me, Mark chapter six. Mark chapter six and verse one. Jesus went out from there and came into his hometown, and his disciples followed him. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and the many listeners were astonished, saying, where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to him, and such miracles as these performed by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household. And he could do no miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he wondered at their unbelief. It's the same word, that word wondered is Thaumatzo. This time Jesus expresses Thaumatzo, not at great faith, but at great unbelief. Jesus wondered, Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. Here Jesus had gone to his hometown, the town he grew up in, the town of his father Joseph, the town of Nazareth. And as always, he goes into the local synagogue to begin to teach the people. And the response at first is astonishment. The word translated here in verse two, astonished, is not the word thaumazo. It's a different word. It's a word ekpleso, which means to be struck, to be stricken. You almost get the sense stricken with panic. They are astonished when Jesus speaks. And in their astonishment, they say, where did this man get these things? And what is this wisdom given to him? And such miracles as these performed by his hands. We should note, first of all, that the people of Nazareth, they truly recognized that Jesus' words were wise words. They recognized that Jesus spoke words of wisdom. There's no disputing that. They understood words of wisdom when they heard them. But their question was, where did this man get these things? And there could really only be one of two answers to that question, right? These things either had to be from men or from God. And Jesus was not teaching Greek philosophy in the synagogue. He was teaching them the word of God. Now add to this their acknowledgement of Jesus performing miracles, right? Again, verse two, what is this wisdom given to him and such miracles as these performed by his hands? Now they don't specify as to what miracles they're talking about. He did lay his hands on a few sick people there in Nazareth, but more than likely what the folks are talking about is what they've already heard. The stuff they've already heard about Jesus preceding his arrival in Nazareth, things that they've heard about the signs and wonders that he had been doing throughout Galilee, especially back in Capernaum. See, news like this has a way of traveling even without the Internet, right? Let's look at some of the things that Mark has already recorded up to this point. Just keep your finger in Mark 6. And just turn back briefly to Mark 1. Let's just back up a little bit. In Mark 1, verse 25, Jesus cast an unclean spirit from a man at the synagogue in Capernaum. And in verses 27 and 28, we read the response of the people. They say, what is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him. Verse 28 says, Immediately, the news about him spread everywhere into the surrounding district of Galilee. So in that same chapter, he heals Peter's mother-in-law and then he heals a leper. And in verse 45 of that same chapter, Verse 45 says, he, that is the leper, went out and began to proclaim it freely and spread the news around to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas and they were coming to him from everywhere. In chapter two of Mark's gospel, again, there in Capernaum, Jesus heals a paralytic. And then look with me at chapter three, Mark three. He healed a man with a withered hand. And then in verses seven to eight, we read these words. Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples. And a great multitude from Galilee followed, and also from Judea. and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. A great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him." You see, people from all over were hearing about Jesus and coming because they heard about His miracles. All the locations mentioned here in this verse, they are far beyond the distance between Capernaum and Nazareth. Many of these things had taken place in Capernaum. Nazareth was a mere 20 miles from Capernaum. But the people, they were hearing about Jesus in these cities, Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon was 35 and 50 miles north of Nazareth. They were hearing about Jesus in Jerusalem, 85 miles away. They were hearing about Him in Idumea, 120 miles due south. So, how much more would the news of Jesus come into the city of Nazareth, which was a mere 20 miles away? You see, there can be little doubt that his reputation preceded him. The Nazarenes acknowledged that Jesus not only had words of wisdom, but that he was performing miracles with his hands. And yet, in verse 3, go back to Mark 6, in verse 3 of our text, a bizarre way of reasoning begins to take over. It's just bizarre. Verse three, is not this the carpenter? The son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, are not his sisters here with us? A change takes place among them as they consider their familiarity with Jesus. At first, you know, these people, they're stricken with his teaching. They're literally struck. They say, oh, such wisdom. Oh, such power, they say. And then like a church meeting gone bad, the whole thing takes a turn for the worse. Maybe somebody stood up and said, wait a minute, wait a minute, hold on, fellas. We know this guy. We know his family. I mean, for goodness sakes, this guy built my front door. And suddenly they all become more taken up with their familiarity with Jesus rather than their unfamiliarity with the things of God. They become more concerned with Jesus the woodworker than Jesus the miracle worker. And you see what they did here, they failed to answer their own question. They stopped short of answering their original question, which was, where did this man get these things? They never answered the question. You know, would that someone, just one man, would that just one man would have stood up in that synagogue and said, wait a minute, hold on here, hold on. But what was he like when he was among us? What do we remember about him? Yeah, we know what his brothers were like, and we know what his sisters were like, but what was he like, right? Had they just taken a moment to reflect, had they just taken a moment, they would have realized that this young, quiet, kind, perhaps quiet, you know, Jesus of Nazareth for 30 years never sinned among them, right? They would have remembered, wait a minute, growing up, this young man obeyed and honored his parents in everything. They would have said, this young man never spoke a harsh word. I never heard him speak a harsh word. They would have said, he never told a lie. He never expressed a crummy attitude. They would have said, he never worked in that wood shop with his father without putting his absolute best effort into every single job he did. Can you imagine having a piece of furniture or a plow or a yoke or a door made by Jesus? Can you imagine that? The people of Nazareth, these people probably owned things that were crafted by the one who made the heavens and the earth. What privilege. What incredible privilege we're talking about here. Why didn't just one man stand up in that synagogue and say, wait a minute, but didn't we see the hand of God on this man even as a child? Didn't we notice the hand of God upon this young boy? Listen to what J.C. Ryle wrote. Never had any place on earth such privileges as Nazareth. For thirty years the Son of God resided in this town and went to and fro in its streets. For thirty years He walked with God before the eyes of its inhabitants, living a blameless, perfect life. But it was all lost upon them. They were not ready to believe the gospel when the Lord came among them and talk in their synagogue. They would not believe that one whose face they knew so well and who had lived so long eating and drinking and dressing like one of themselves had any right to claim their attention. They were offended at him. You know, just when you would expect a town to want to own someone like this, they took offense at Jesus. You know, if you were to drive over to West Orange, New Jersey, upon entering the town of West Orange, you would see a big sign. Welcome to West Orange, home of Thomas A. Edison. The town of West Orange is proud to lay claim to the famous inventor. I mean, even the little town of Lodi, there's a little town called Lodi, New Jersey, near where my shop is. And if you drive into Lodi, you're going to see a sign that says, Welcome to Lodi, home of Miss New Jersey 2006. You see, it's normal, it's natural for a town or a city to want to boast of one of its great citizens, right? But not Nazareth. Not Nazareth. what Ryle called the most privileged place on earth in the face of such great spiritual light. They took offense. They rejected the source of that light. They stiffened their necks in unbelief right there with Jesus in their presence. And as the Lord Jesus never stays where his presence isn't welcome, Before he leaves the synagogue, he leaves them with a universal word of truth that they might yet be able to reflect upon. Verse four, he says, a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household. In verse five, we read these words, and he could do no miracle there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. Now to be sure, this was not a question of ability. so much as it was the absence of the ethical conditions upon which Jesus usually performed miracles. Faith was almost always the prerequisite of Jesus' signs and wonders. I mean, how many times do you read of Jesus saying, your faith has made you well, your faith has saved you. It shall be done to you according to your faith. Now, faith doesn't do the miracles. We know this, right? Jesus does the miracles, and there's never a limit to His power, ever. But you see, He chooses to work miracles mostly through the conduit of faith. Faith in Him. And just as it must have pleased Jesus to respond as he did to the faith that was expressed by that centurion, how grieved, how restrained he must have felt in his divine spirit to do any good thing at Nazareth. Verse six, he wondered at their unbelief. Thaumazo. Jesus marveled at a people with a great deposit of truth and light and no faith. How could a people with so much light, so much privilege, with so much to lay claim to, how could they possibly reject out of hand the one that they should have been waiting for? And again, I don't know how it is that the incarnate God could thaumazzo. I don't really understand this. How could Jesus be amazed at anything? Was it in his humanity only that Jesus could express amazement? Was it only in his humanity that he could thaumazzo? Is that possible? I believe it is. I mean, Jesus was all God and Jesus was all man, right? Who can plumb these depths? In what capacity could our Lord be amazed? Was it for our benefit that he was amazed? Quite possibly. I mean, we're not even sure how he expressed Thaumatzo, right? Did he express it with his eyes? Did he express it with body language? Did he use the verbal equivalent of the word wow? We don't know. God's word doesn't tell us. All we know is what the inspired writers tell us. And they tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ marvels twice. But only twice. Only twice. Once at a man's great faith in the face of very little spiritual light and privilege. And once at man's unbelief in the face of great spiritual light and privilege. Now, what do we learn from this? That's the question. What are we to take from this? These things are always written for our instruction, right? I believe these two passages of Scripture have application for both believers and unbelievers, right? So, whoever you are here this morning, and whatever condition you're in here this morning, I have three very simple points of application regarding what we've read. And the first one really lies right on the surface of all this. The first application is great faith trusts Jesus from a distance. Great faith trusts Jesus from a distance. What the centurion really did was say, I can rely on the power of Jesus through his word. Right? He said, just say the word and my servant will be healed. The centurion said, I don't necessarily have to see him with my eyes. I don't have to hear him with my ears to know and to trust that he is able to do great things without being physically present. To trust. that he is able to do great things, to know that Jesus is able to do great things without being physically present, is what faith does. Right? This is what faith is. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Now, as Christians, we love to feel the divine presence of Jesus, don't we? We long for that, and there are times, there are times where God's Spirit draws very near to the believer, right? He allows us sometimes to experience that, the felt presence of His Spirit with us. Sometimes it's during worship, sometimes it's when God answers prayer, sometimes it's when we're facing affliction. or persecution or pain or loneliness. There are times God can draw very near to his people in very tangible ways, right? Have you experienced this? Those times where you feel like you can almost reach out and touch him. And it's difficult to put into words this experience, right? We love that experience. We love those times when God draws very near to us. But aren't these experiences more the exception than the rule? Right? You would never want to make that the standard of what it means to be a Christian, right? To feel God's nearness all the time, right? Because most of the time we're walking by faith and not by sight, right? Most of the time we are aware of God's eye upon us and we have a certain fear of God, but it's not always with a deep felt sense of God's presence, is it? In fact, there are even times when God might feel very far off, right? We've all experienced those times where we feel God is far away. Times you don't have a deep sense or maybe even any sense of his presence. And there are, of course, a variety of reasons for this. When we indulge or entertain sin, sometimes God will withdraw a sense of his presence in order to bring us to repentance, right? Sometimes it's just a matter of living in this world and living with these hearts of ours, right? That sometimes these are the reason that we feel distant from God. In Psalm 51, David pleaded, do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Sometimes we feel like the proverbial child who lost sight of their parent in the big department store, right? And we panic and we don't like that feeling. We don't like that. Jesus marveled at the centurion because this man willingly relinquished the opportunity to have Jesus in his home. And he opted instead to trust his power and authority from a distance, from a distance. And when you think about it, how much more do we have than that centurion? Right. How much more? We have so much more than that man had. We've got a lot of light. Are we living up to that light? Are we living up to the light that we have, the light that says I can trust him from a distance? You know, we may not have Jesus physical presence with us. But we do have his word, don't we? We have the promises of God written out for us. We don't have to rely upon words being handed down. We have his word, his promises written out for us. And God's word tells us that we have his spirit. The spirit of God is that engagement ring, that token that he gives to us. And we're told in his word that he'll never leave us or forsake us and that he's with us always, even to the end of the age. And that means even when we don't feel his presence, Do you trust Jesus from a distance? Peter said, though you've not seen him, you love him. And though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Do you love Jesus, even though you haven't seen him? Would Jesus marvel at your faith? Would he marvel at your faith? Blessed are those who didn't see and yet believed, the word says, right? Well, here's another lesson, another takeaway from this passage of scripture. Familiarity with Jesus is not the same as faith in Jesus. Right? Familiarity with Jesus, it's not the same as faith in Jesus. The people of Nazareth remind us that it is very possible to be familiar with Jesus while the whole time living the life of the practical atheist. Right? Listen, you may know a lot of Bible. You may be able to discern words of wisdom the way the people of Nazareth were. You might be able to hear words of wisdom and say, oh, I recognize those words of wisdom. You might be able to argue for the virtues of Christian principles in an ever-growing unchristian society, right? But if you have no desire to love and follow and trust and obey and submit to the authority of Jesus Christ, you might just be familiar with Him. That might be the extent of it. And that's not enough. Don't confuse familiarity with faith. You've got to be trusting Jesus. You've got to be trusting him as a lamb of God who takes away sin and your sin in particular. Faith in Jesus means that you're resting the weight of your soul, resting the weight of your existence, your eternity, upon His works and upon His accomplishments. And certainly not in your raw knowledge of Him or who He is. If you are merely familiar with Jesus, I have to warn you that one day you're going to have to give an account for that familiarity. And that brings us to a final lesson. Final lesson is this, unbelief. in the face of great life, great light rather, will have serious consequences. Unbelief in the face of great light, great gospel light and privilege, will have serious consequences. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 11. You don't need to turn there. Matthew 11, 23 and 24. Remember what we read about in Capernaum? All the miracles taking place in Capernaum, right? Here's what Jesus would later say about this city of Capernaum. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades. For if the miracles had occurred in Sodom, which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless, I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. Do you hear that? In essence, he is saying that if that incredibly wicked city of Sodom had seen the stuff that Capernaum saw, if Sodom had received the same gospel light that Capernaum had received, the people of Sodom would have repented and Sodom would not have been destroyed. Even so, because of the degrees of gospel light given to both cities, Sodom and Capernaum, he says judgment will be more tolerable for Sodom than for Capernaum. You see, unbelief the stiff-necked refusal to look to Christ by faith and repent, especially in the face of receiving great spiritual light, great gospel light, that is to blaspheme the Spirit of God. That's what unbelief does, and unbelief is an unpardonable sin. And it will rob man of the highest possible blessings and bring him to the lowest possible depths, both in this life and in the life to come. Mark 16, 16, he who has not believed shall be condemned. Let me ask you, are you resisting light? Are you resisting gospel light? Are you resisting God's gracious movements towards you in the gospel? Are you stiff-arming the Spirit of God? Are you receiving light all the time, gospel light, and stiff-arming the Spirit of God, right? Have you seen with your own eyes what God can do? Have you seen the miracles that God can accomplish? Have you seen how God can change people? Have you seen how God can heal broken people? Have you seen how he provides for the needs of his dear saints? Have you seen how he answers prayers, the prayers of the righteous? Have you seen how kind God has been toward you? The kindness of God is to lead men to repentance. Have you heard God's word declare you to be a lawbreaker, a rebel against the holy God? And have you experienced being offered a savior? Have you been offered this Savior, a substitute to bear your punishment for you, and yet you still would refuse to believe? You still refuse God and unbelief? My friend, not only will you miss the blessings of reconciliation with God in this life, but you'll be brought low to eternal judgment. Jesus Himself said, He makes it very clear that there is going to be a more severe judgment for those with much gospel light. I don't know if there's anybody in this room that would possess the kind of faith that would cause Jesus to marvel. Maybe there is. But I wonder if there could be unbelief in this room, great unbelief in the face of great gospel light and great gospel privilege that could even cause Jesus to marvel. My friend, listen to me. You don't want Jesus to marvel at you in this way. You don't want Jesus to marvel at your unbelief. So look to Him now. If you have not been trusting Jesus Christ up till now, look to Him. Confess your sin of unbelief to Him. Turn from your sin and ask Him. No, don't ask Him. Beg Him. Beg Him to change your heart of unbelief to a heart of faith. Go to him and simply confess, Lord, I am distant from you, but I don't want to be. You can save me, Lord. You can save me from a distance. Hear me cry from the depths, Lord. Save me. Save me, Lord. Save me. Let's pray. Lord, we don't understand how it is that you can be amazed. You are the sovereign, all-knowing, omniscient God of heaven and earth, and you've created all things and you know all things. And as we consider the two times that you did marvel, Lord, we're really brought to wonder whether you did these things for our benefit. How you marvel at very little spiritual privilege and yet great faith. And how you marvel at great unbelief in the light of great spiritual privilege. Lord, if there are any here who do not yet know you, we pray that you would yet have mercy and that you would take the things of your word and use them, accomplish them to fulfill the means by which men and women are saved. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the blessings of worship. And we pray that you would dismiss us today with your blessing. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.