By Faith, Enoch (Hebrews 11:5-6; Genesis 5:21-24)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on August 30, 2026

One thing I enjoy doing is going for walks with my kids. Sometimes Meagan comes along, but it depends on how her legs are feeling. Oftentimes, in late summer or early fall, we have great seasons for walks. We take the dog with us and walk to the Poland library and back, or we choose another route. When we are out walking, we have opportunities for conversation and fellowship. We are in a sermon series on faith, focusing on the people of faith in Hebrews 11. We come to Enoch.

Who can tell me something about Enoch?

Anyone, tell me something about Enoch?

J. D. Greear shares:

I once heard a preacher say that it was almost like Enoch and God were out for a walk one night. And as they walked along, God said, “You know, Enoch, my place is closer to here than yours, so why don’t you come on up and stay with me?” And God walked him right on up into heaven. That’s amazing.^[1]

Theme:

Enoch walked with God.

Application: Walk with God.

That is my simple challenge for the day. I challenge you to learn from Enoch and walk with God.

Let’s start by reading the texts:

Hebrews 11:5–6 (ESV)

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Genesis 5:21–24 (ESV)

²¹ When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. ²² Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

1. First, let’s talk about who Enoch was? Or, I guess I could say “is” because he never really died.
   1. Timothy Keller shares:
   2. If you’re a careful student of this passage, you will notice for the very first time, by faith … Because all the case studies start that way. By faith Abel. By faith Enoch. By faith Noah. By faith Abraham. By faith Moses. Every one of the case studies starts by faith, and in every case, by faith is connected to an active verb.
   3. By faith Abel offered. By faith Noah built. By faith Abraham obeyed. But in Enoch’s situation, it’s a passive verb. By faith Enoch was taken by God. In other words, this verse does not tell us what Enoch did by faith that caused God to take him. He did something by faith, but we’re not told what it was by faith. It was because of this thing he did by faith that God took him.^[2]
   4. This is an account I could easily skip over, and maybe you have as well. Think about it. God just took him! That is cool, isn’t it? Don’t ever miss these amazing events in the Bible.
   5. Remember, this is the fifth chapter of Genesis; we are still early on.
   6. Enoch was a descendant of the godly line of Seth.
   7. There was also an ungodly line of Cain.
   8. He was the seventh generation from Adam (Jude 14 says).
   9. By the way, these genealogies are important because they form the genealogy of Christ Jesus.
   10. This was also a time when people were living very long lives. By the way, other ancient Near Eastern texts attribute even longer lives to earlier generations; for example, the Sumerian King List mentions kings who reign—interestingly, before a flood—for periods of 28,800, 36,000, and 43,200 years.
   11. I think the other dates are inflated to make the kings seem greater. I do believe the Biblical numbers are accurate. I don’t think they dated differently, or not by that much. I think the world was different before the flood.
   12. We also learn from this genealogy that people lived nearly a thousand years. And so there wasn’t much death, which meant the population increased at an amazingly rapid rate. This genealogy is also here, not only to show us the time involved and the expansion of the population, but it is here to show us the reign of death. Eight times in this chapter, you will read, “and he died; and he died; and he died.” This is the reign of death. This is the judgment of sin.
   13. If you do the math, Adam was still alive when God took Enoch.
   14. Enoch’s son Methuselah was the oldest man who ever lived.
   15. Jude 14 lists Enoch as one who prophesied. This comes from an apocryphal book that says that he called out wickedness. He said, “The Lord is coming, and He’s coming with many thousands of His holy ones, and He’s going to execute judgment, and it’s going to fall on all the ungodly with all their ungodly deeds done in an ungodly way and all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” He was a judgmental preacher.
2. Second, let’s talk about “walking” with God.
   1. The Moody Commentary shared some technical details about the grammar of Gen. 5:22-24 and then concludes: the point clearly emerges that, although sin prevented Adam and Eve from experiencing the prefall ideal of “strolling” (mithallekh) in most intimate physical proximity to God, the possibility still remains open for human beings to experience that more fundamental spiritual proximity to God.^[3]
   2. To walk with God meant to have a relationship with God. This meant fellowship and communion, which led to Divine Favor.
   3. Timothy Keller shares:
   4. Some years ago, I was reading a book about the history of labor and management fights and strikes and all the stresses of that in the Pittsburgh area, in the steel mills and in the coal mines. One interesting thing I remember reading was the workers would talk about a bad mill and a good mill like this. They would say in the bad mill the managers do not walk with the workers, but in the good mills, they would say, “They walk with us.” See, that’s exactly how the Bible uses the word. The word walk means no longer adversaries, no longer hostile, reconciled.
   5. When Genesis 5 tells us Enoch walked with God, it tells us something amazing. We’re reconciled with God. Now why do we need peace with God, and how does it come by faith? First of all, why do we need it? Because we’re at war. Just the fact that Enoch walked with God means he is one of the great heroes of the faith now. Walking with God is such an incredibly important thing because we’re at war with him.^[4]
   6. Sin brought estrangement with God.
   7. Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:2; Hab. 1:13; Numbers 32:23; Romans 3:23
   8. We need Jesus. We need to be reconciled to God.
   9. We can walk with God today because of Jesus.
   10. Turn to 2 Cor. 5:17 and 21:
   11. Verse 17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
   12. Verse 21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
3. Let’s apply:
   1. The Bible often describes the Christian life as a walk. Walking is natural.
   2. What will it take for us to walk, or continue walking, with God?
   3. Enoch walked with God. We must try our best to walk with God.
   4. It seems that “walk” refers to a relationship with God or to pleasing God. We must aim to please God. We must aim to be in communion with God.
   5. The Bible Knowledge Commentary calls “walk” the Biblical expression for fellowship and obedience that result in Divine Favor. We have fellowship with God because of the Holy Spirit. We must praise Him for that sweet fellowship.
   6. We are reconciled to God through the cross. We must walk with Him.
   7. The response is Romans 12:1-2.
   8. Enoch did not have to run with God. The life he lived is considered a walk. This is natural. This is not something out of the ordinary. We must understand that the Christian life is walking with God, as God created us to walk. He created us to walk with Him.
   9. Enoch walked with God for 365 years, as the Scriptures say; he stuck with it. We must live our lives walking with God, all our lives. We must finish strong.
   10. Enoch prophesied according to Jude 14: he called out the Truth. We must also speak the truth.
   11. Hebrews 11:6: We cannot please God without faith. We must have faith as Enoch had faith.
       • 1. We must hold true to the promises in the Bible.
         2. We must hold the Bible in reverence.
         3. We must trust the Gospel.
         4. We must seek God’s conviction and follow Him.

Close:

Keller shares:

This is God, the Lord God, the Lord of the universe. If the 93 million miles from the earth to the sun were contracted into the thickness of a single piece of paper, then the diameter of just the Milky Way would be a stack of paper 310 miles high. The Milky Way is just one little speck, one little dust speck in the vast universe.

This God created all that and holds it together with the word of his power, and this One every evening would come to us and say, “Let’s take a walk. Let’s go for a walk. I want to hear what’s on your heart, and I want to tell you what’s on my heart.” Walking with God, and yet we’re shown the minute human beings disobeyed God, they couldn’t stand intimacy with infinity anymore.^[5]

Yet, because of Jesus, we can walk with God again. We are yearning for more. We are yearning for Jesus.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

1. How to Be an “Enoch” in Your Generation. November 25, 2024. By J.D. Greear.

   https://jdgreear.com/how-to-be-an-enoch-in-your-generation/ ↑

2. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

3. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham, eds., “Genesis,” in The Moody Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 55. ↑

4. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

5. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

We are going to look at Hebrews 11, often called the “Hall of Faith,” the “Triumphs of Faith,” or “Faith in Action.” We are going to look at a verse and then talk about the person. We are going to get into the Old Testament. We will look at Abel, then Enoch, Noah, and many more people in the Old Testament. Sometimes we will have to wonder, “How in the world did this guy or gal get into this list in the New Testament?’ To that, we must remember that God uses imperfect people to accomplish His will.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a film version of C. S. Lewis’s book by the same name. In this scene, the children who have once again been summoned to Narnia—Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan —team up with King Caspian aboard the royal ship, The Dawn Treader.

During their journey, Lucy, the youngest of the children, encounters a book titled The Book of Incantations. This mysterious book boldly promises to provide “an infallible spell to make you the beauty you’ve always wanted to be.” Despite her vibrant faith in Aslan (who represents Christ), Lucy has always struggled with a deep wound: she feels inferior to and jealous of her beautiful older sister Susan. Tempted by her desire to become more beautiful, Lucy speaks the spell. Suddenly, a mirror appears on the page directly across from the spell. As Lucy looks into the mirror, she realizes her face has been transformed into her sister’s. She decides to tear out the page and hide it.

Later, in a dream, Lucy pulls out the page of the mirror and recites the words at the top, “Make me she, whom I’d agree, holds more beauty over me.” Suddenly, in the dream, the spell works to transform Lucy into her sister Susan. However, by being transformed into her sister, Lucy discovers that she never existed.

As Lucy stands before the mirror, horrified, Aslan appears, and the film has the following conversation:

“Lucy,” says Aslan.

“Aslan,” she replies.

“What have you done, child?” 

“I don’t know. That was awful.”

“But you chose it, Lucy,” he tells her.

“I didn’t mean to choose all that,” Lucy answers. “I just wanted to be beautiful like Susan. That’s all.”

Aslan tells her, “You wished yourself away, and with it much more. Your brothers and sister wouldn’t know about Narnia without you, Lucy. You discovered it first—remember?”

“I’m so sorry,” Lucy says sadly.

“You doubt your value,” says Aslan. “Don’t run from who you are.”^[1]

The Theme:

By Faith Able presented a more acceptable sacrifice.

Application:

Are we religious or righteous? Do we serve God out of duty or because we are pursuing righteousness?

Read with me:

Hebrews 11:1–3 (ESV)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ² For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

1. Let’s look at the context.
   1. Hebrews is written to Jewish believers who have faced persecution. They are now considering turning their back on Jesus.
   2. Hebrews is a sermon-type letter.
   3. The writer gives expository sermons on various Old Testament passages.
   4. Now, we come to this magnum opus passage on faith.
2. Let’s talk about Cain and Abel.
   1. Genesis 4:1–7 (ESV)
   2. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴ and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. ⁶ The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.”
   3. Adam and Eve have a son and name him Cain.
   4. Adam and Eve have another son and name him Abel. There is no mention of a time lapse, so it is possible that these two boys are twins. I imagine, though I cannot prove it, that they grow up together. I imagine that they work together. I imagine that they played games together, wrestled, and shared a tent or bedroom. We do not know what it was like back then, but I imagine that, as brothers, they were together a lot. Later, we read that Adam and Eve had many other children (Genesis 5:3), so they had other people to hang out with. We also know that when Cain is banished in Genesis 4:13-14, he is concerned about others killing him, so there were many others. Still, I imagine these two boys are brothers, and there might have been a bond when they were young. It seems they were also the first two boys of Adam and Eve. It seems they were the first two children of creation.
   5. Abel was a shepherd.
   6. Cain was a farmer.
   7. These were common professions. I read, “Both professions were known in early society; sheepherding and agriculture provided an occasion for a natural rivalry. The Sumerian tale of Dumuzi and Enkimdu depicts a rivalry between the shepherd god and the farmer god over marriage to a woman, but it ends in a peaceful resolution.”
   8. In Genesis 46:32 and 47:3, the Israelites were shepherds.
   9. In Genesis 4:3-5, we see their sacrifice and how it worked out and did not work out.
   10. Cain brought a sacrifice of the ground. Abel brought a blood sacrifice.
   11. Later, there were grain sacrifices under Israelite law, so that was not something Cain did wrong.
   12. We read here that Abel brought the first fruits of his flock. I think this is key. Abel did not pick the lame or smaller animal; no, the sacrifice was one of the firstborns. It was as if Abel were saying, “God, I love you so much, I am making this sacrifice.” 
   13. Cain and Abel knew God’s pleasure and displeasure with the sacrifice immediately. That is interesting. How did they know? I read that maybe a fire came down from Heaven and consumed Abel’s sacrifice. That did happen in the Old Testament.
   14. They made the sacrifice, and Cain was mad that God did not show pleasure in his sacrifice. Cain’s face changed. He was angry. I see this in verse 5.
   15. In the next few verses, God speaks to Cain.
   16. That is where we have the illustration of sin crouching at the door, and the desire of sin is to overtake you.
   17. Cain ignores this and kills his brother.
   18. Genesis 4:8–10 (ESV)
   19. ⁸ Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.
   20. Cain was jealous.
   21. Jean-Paul Sartre, in his book Being and Nothingness, has a chapter called “The Look.” In it, he says there’s nothing worse than a stare, because if someone sees you who you cannot see, if you cannot control people’s knowledge of you, it destroys you. It utterly destroys you. It’s easy for people to say, “Oh, that’s just not true of me. No, no, no. I happen to know who I am, and I don’t care what people think about me.” Sartre says that’s silly.
   22. He says if there’s anybody who sees you who you can’t see, if there’s anybody who absolutely has access to knowledge, and you can’t be selective about what people see of you, and you can’t provide certain things and keep certain things back, you’re destroyed. Why? Because fundamentally, we know we’re not acceptable. We never just go in. We always bring offerings. We always have to hide and cover up who we are.^[2]
3. What is an acceptable sacrifice today?
   1. Abel gave an acceptable sacrifice and that begs the question, what is acceptable today?
   2. Don’t go slaughtering your pet. Jesus is the only sacrifice.
   3. Jesus came and died for us.
   4. However, we must respond, and we must not respond to Jesus out of duty but love and devotion to Him.
4. Now, let’s talk about religion vs. righteousness. These are applications which I made personal.
   1. These must all fall under one major application of religious versus righteous.
   2. The religious person goes to God and serves God out of pure duty.
   3. The righteous person goes to God and serves Him out of love.
   4. The religious person thinks that he/she can earn Heaven by duty.
   5. The righteous person accepts Christ’s righteousness, surrendering to Him.
   6. It seems that Abel’s sacrifice was not pure duty, but pure love.
   7. This means that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul (Matt. 22:37-40).
   8. We must love the Lord with all our being.
   9. We must give God our love in devotion and sacrifice.
   10. 1 Cor. 10:31 is fitting: eating and drinking, in everything, we must do them to the glory of the Lord. We must do them to love the Lord.
   11. Abel gave the first fruits. We must not give God our last, but our first.
   12. This applies to money. This means that we must give God our first in money.
   13. This applies to our energy as well. We must not wait until we are tired to read devotions and pray. We must give Him our best time.
   14. We must not stay out late on Saturday night or up late and fall asleep in worship.
   15. We must give God our best.
   16. We must prepare for our time with God and prepare for worship.
   17. Abel seemed to have an attitude that was not only duty but faith in loving God. We must have an attitude of faith in loving and committing to God. We must ask God to take away our constant drive to make our relationship with Him a mere duty rather than a relationship.
   18. Hebrews 12:24: The blood of Abel was a temporary sacrifice. Jesus’s sacrifice is forever. We must trust Jesus.
   19. Jesus accepts us by His grace.
   20. We don’t need to be thin-skinned.
   21. We don’t need to be jealous.
   22. We can have our worth in Jesus. We serve for the applause of One.

Close:

Hebrews 11:4 (ESV)

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Thousands of years later, Abel was remembered.

Trust Christ’s righteousness, and we will live for eternity with Him in paradise.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

1. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Fox 2000 Pictures, 2010), directed by Michael Apted, chapter 13; 0:50:19—0:51:12; submitted by Van Morris, Mt. Washington, Kentucky ↑

2. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

We are going to look at Hebrews 11, often called the “Hall of Faith,” the “Triumphs of Faith,” or “Faith in Action.” We are going to look at a verse and then talk about the person. We are going to get into the Old Testament. We will look at Abel, then Enoch, Noah, and many more people in the Old Testament. Sometimes we will have to wonder, “How in the world did this guy or gal get into this list in the New Testament?’ To that, we must remember that God uses imperfect people to accomplish His will.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a film version of C. S. Lewis’s book by the same name. In this scene, the children who have once again been summoned to Narnia—Lucy, Edmund, and Edmund—team up with King Caspian aboard the royal ship, The Dawn Treader.

During their journey, Lucy, the youngest of the children, encounters a book titled The Book of Incantations. This mysterious book boldly promises to provide “an infallible spell to make you the beauty you’ve always wanted to be.” Despite her vibrant faith in Aslan (who represents Christ), Lucy has always struggled with a deep wound: she feels inferior to and jealous of her beautiful older sister Susan. Tempted by her desire to become more beautiful, Lucy speaks the spell. Suddenly, a mirror appears on the page directly across from the spell. As Lucy looks into the mirror, she realizes her face has been transformed into her sister’s. She decides to tear out the page and hide it.

Later, in a dream, Lucy pulls out the page of the mirror and recites the words at the top, “Make me she, whom I’d agree, holds more beauty over me.” Suddenly, in the dream, the spell works to transform Lucy into her sister Susan. However, by being transformed into her sister, Lucy discovers that she never existed.

As Lucy stands before the mirror, horrified, Aslan appears, and the film has the following conversation:

“Lucy,” says Aslan.

“Aslan,” she replies.

“What have you done, child?” 

“I don’t know. That was awful.”

“But you chose it, Lucy,” he tells her.

“I didn’t mean to choose all that,” Lucy answers. “I just wanted to be beautiful like Susan. That’s all.”

Aslan tells her, “You wished yourself away, and with it much more. Your brothers and sister wouldn’t know about Narnia without you, Lucy. You discovered it first—remember?”

“I’m so sorry,” Lucy says sadly.

“You doubt your value,” says Aslan. “Don’t run from who you are.”^[1]

The Theme:

By Faith Able presented a more acceptable sacrifice.

Application:

Are we religious or righteous? Do we serve God out of duty or because we are pursuing righteousness?

Read with me:

Hebrews 11:1–3 (ESV)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. ² For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

1. Let’s look at the context.
   1. Hebrews is written to Jewish believers who have faced persecution. They are now considering turning their back on Jesus.
   2. Hebrews is a sermon-type letter.
   3. The writer gives expository sermons on various Old Testament passages.
   4. Now, we come to this magnum opus passage on faith.
2. Let’s talk about Cain and Abel.
   1. Genesis 4:1–7 (ESV)
   2. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴ and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. ⁶ The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.”
   3. Adam and Eve have a son and name him Cain.
   4. Adam and Eve have another son and name him Abel. There is no mention of a time lapse, so it is possible that these two boys are twins. I imagine, though I cannot prove it, that they grow up together. I imagine that they work together. I imagine that they played games together, wrestled, and shared a tent or bedroom. We do not know what it was like back then, but I imagine that, as brothers, they were together a lot. Later, we read that Adam and Eve had many other children (Genesis 5:3), so they had other people to hang out with. We also know that when Cain is banished in Genesis 4:13-14, he is concerned about others killing him, so there were many others. Still, I imagine these two boys are brothers, and there might have been a bond when they were young. It seems they were also the first two boys of Adam and Eve. It seems they were the first two children of creation.
   5. Abel was a shepherd.
   6. Cain was a farmer.
   7. These were common professions. I read, “Both professions were known in early society; sheepherding and agriculture provided an occasion for a natural rivalry. The Sumerian tale of Dumuzi and Enkimdu depicts a rivalry between the shepherd god and the farmer god over marriage to a woman, but it ends in a peaceful resolution.”
   8. In Genesis 46:32 and 47:3, the Israelites were shepherds.
   9. In Genesis 4:3-5, we see their sacrifice and how it worked out and did not work out.
   10. Cain brought a sacrifice of the ground. Abel brought a blood sacrifice.
   11. Later, there were grain sacrifices under Israelite law, so that was not something Cain did wrong.
   12. We read here that Abel brought the first fruits of his flock. I think this is key. Abel did not pick the lame or smaller animal; no, the sacrifice was one of the firstborns. It was as if Abel were saying, “God, I love you so much, I am making this sacrifice.” 
   13. Cain and Abel knew God’s pleasure and displeasure with the sacrifice immediately. That is interesting. How did they know? I read that maybe a fire came down from Heaven and consumed Abel’s sacrifice. That did happen in the Old Testament.
   14. They made the sacrifice, and Cain was mad that God did not show pleasure in his sacrifice. Cain’s face changed. He was angry. I see this in verse 5.
   15. In the next few verses, God speaks to Cain.
   16. That is where we have the illustration of sin crouching at the door, and the desire of sin is to overtake you.
   17. Cain ignores this and kills his brother.
   18. Genesis 4:8–10 (ESV)
   19. ⁸ Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.
   20. Cain was jealous.
   21. Jean-Paul Sartre, in his book Being and Nothingness, has a chapter called “The Look.” In it, he says there’s nothing worse than a stare, because if someone sees you who you cannot see, if you cannot control people’s knowledge of you, it destroys you. It utterly destroys you. It’s easy for people to say, “Oh, that’s just not true of me. No, no, no. I happen to know who I am, and I don’t care what people think about me.” Sartre says that’s silly.
   22. He says if there’s anybody who sees you who you can’t see, if there’s anybody who absolutely has access to knowledge, and you can’t be selective about what people see of you, and you can’t provide certain things and keep certain things back, you’re destroyed. Why? Because fundamentally, we know we’re not acceptable. We never just go in. We always bring offerings. We always have to hide and cover up who we are.^[2]
3. What is an acceptable sacrifice today?
   1. Abel gave an acceptable sacrifice and that begs the question, what is acceptable today?
   2. Don’t go slaughtering your pet. Jesus is the only sacrifice.
   3. Jesus came and died for us.
   4. However, we must respond, and we must not respond to Jesus out of duty but love and devotion to Him.
4. Now, let’s talk about religion vs. righteousness. These are applications which I made personal.
   1. These must all fall under one major application of religious versus righteous.
   2. The religious person goes to God and serves God out of pure duty.
   3. The righteous person goes to God and serves Him out of love.
   4. The religious person thinks that he/she can earn Heaven by duty.
   5. The righteous person accepts Christ’s righteousness, surrendering to Him.
   6. It seems that Abel’s sacrifice was not pure duty, but pure love.
   7. This means that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul (Matt. 22:37-40).
   8. We must love the Lord with all our being.
   9. We must give God our love in devotion and sacrifice.
   10. 1 Cor. 10:31 is fitting: eating and drinking, in everything, we must do them to the glory of the Lord. We must do them to love the Lord.
   11. Abel gave the first fruits. We must not give God our last, but our first.
   12. This applies to money. This means that we must give God our first in money.
   13. This applies to our energy as well. We must not wait until we are tired to read devotions and pray. We must give Him our best time.
   14. We must not stay out late on Saturday night or up late and fall asleep in worship.
   15. We must give God our best.
   16. We must prepare for our time with God and prepare for worship.
   17. Abel seemed to have an attitude that was not only duty but faith in loving God. We must have an attitude of faith in loving and committing to God. We must ask God to take away our constant drive to make our relationship with Him a mere duty rather than a relationship.
   18. Hebrews 12:24: The blood of Abel was a temporary sacrifice. Jesus’s sacrifice is forever. We must trust Jesus.
   19. Jesus accepts us by His grace.
   20. We don’t need to be thin-skinned.
   21. We don’t need to be jealous.
   22. We can have our worth in Jesus. We serve for the applause of One.

Close:

Hebrews 11:4 (ESV)

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Thousands of years later, Abel was remembered.

Trust Christ’s righteousness, and we will live for eternity with Him in paradise.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

1. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Fox 2000 Pictures, 2010), directed by Michael Apted, chapter 13; 0:50:19—0:51:12; submitted by Van Morris, Mt. Washington, Kentucky ↑

2. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

The Cost of Discipleship: Jesus Must Be Our Complete Treasure (Matt. 19:16-30)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes on Sunday, August 16, 2026

Joke-

A husband sitting alone in the kitchen on their anniversary tells his touched wife how he remembers the day her father caught them in a car and gave him a choice: marry her or spend 20 years in prison. Wiping a tear, he sighs, “I would have gotten out today!”

What do we desire?

What do we crave?

This message is not so much about money as where our treasure is.

What is most important?

Jesus changes us- He is our treasure.

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy Lord of the Rings… something very odd happens at the end. The heroes are very carefully marked out as very, very pedestrian, ordinary, normal kinds of persons, but the essence of the story of the book is these two heroes go off with and ally themselves with a high, noble, angelic-like race of beings. With the help of those beings, they fight and get glory and honor in many battles and ordeals and adventures.

In triumph, they return back to their homeland, which they love and for whose freedom they fought, for whose protection they fought, but they discover they have been changed. Something has changed. They find they still love their land, and they fought to win their land, they fought to protect their land, but they realize now they don’t belong. You see these high angelic beings they made alliances with had come from a high, immortal paradise kind of land far beyond the Western Seas.

Now our heroes return to their homeland, which they love so much, and they find the life force of that high, immortal land beyond the Western Seas has entered into them. Here’s the paradox of it. When they come back, they realize the new greatness of heart they have that enables them now to be leaders amongst their countrymen has also changed them so they don’t feel like they belong there.

They realize now their hearts are over the sea. They realize they’re restless now in their homeland. The paradox is there’s a new greatness that has come into their lives from that land. [this is the case for us as Christians, the more we grow in Christ, the more we don’t fit in society.] They laugh louder than other people; they laugh louder than their peers. They cry more deeply. They see further into the future, and they remember the wisdom of the past better because in a sense they have been taken out of their land. They have a perspective that is greater than the time and place of the people who have lived all their lives in that country.

They’re recognized by their peers as having a certain greatness of spirit, and they’re made into their leaders. Yet at the same time their peers and their friends can no longer understand them because now they’re very strange. They’re always walking off to the ocean, standing on the ocean, and the sound of the waves sinks deep into their hearts. They sit there for hours, and everybody says, “What’s wrong with them? Why do they get comfort? Why do they get strength from doing something like that?”

In other words, they love their homeland, but now their relationship to their homeland has become complex. The citizenship of their hearts, the rootedness of their soul, no longer is there; it’s over the sea. They live great lives in their homeland, and they become great leaders. In a sense their relationship with the other people they love who have not had the same experiences has been turned into something very complex.^[1]

A few months ago, I read this from John Piper:

Fifty-five years ago this month, I was sitting in a seminary commencement service like this one, ready to receive my degree. One of my professors was giving the address. The title of his message was this: “Remember the Rich Young Man.” And to help us remember, he gave each of us a one-dollar bill. I don’t recall whether it was his suggestion or not, but I took that one-dollar bill home and said to Noël, “I want to keep this in front of me for the rest of my life.” So, she decoupaged [the art or craft of decorating objects with paper cut outs] it for me and it has been visible in my study for 55 years, wherever we have lived.

That message and that dollar bill and its presence with me for five-and-a-half decades have been a great service to me. How many thousands of times have I looked up and seen this dollar bill and heard the voice of Jesus:

John, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Don’t want to be rich! Don’t want to be rich! A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. Make your life count. But not this way. Not money. Give every ounce of energy you have to spreading a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples in my name. I’ll meet every need you have. I’ll be with you. But not if you want to be rich. Remember the rich young man.^[2]

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?

It means He must be our complete treasure.

Again, Jesus uses money as an example; we are using money as an example, but the bottom line is- what is our treasure? What do we crave?

My theme today is:

Jesus must be our complete treasure.

Outline adapted from the Outline Bible^[3]:

1. Context
   1. What is going on in this chapter?
   2. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem.
   3. He explains the sanctity of marriage (Matthew 19:3-12). Then, He blesses the children (Matthew 19:13-15).
   4. Then, we have the Rich Young Ruler.
   5. Starting in the next chapter, Jesus will describe the Kingdom of Heaven.
   6. Let’s talk about discipleship.
2. Jesus speaks concerning riches (Matthew 19:16–26): Jesus meets with a rich young ruler and is asked a question by his disciples.
   1. Jesus and the ruler (Matthew 19:16–22)
   2. Matthew 19:16 (ESV)
   3. ¹⁶ And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
   4. Notice, the ruler is confused. He thinks all he has to do is perform good deeds.
   5. Greek traditions also reported aristocratic young men who wanted to study under a famous teacher but were too spoiled to carry out what the teacher demanded.^[4]
   6. As Christians, is eternal life about being good?
   7. Is eternal life about earning our way to heaven?
   8. No, but the cost of our eternal life is much more than being good (John 3:16-18).
   9. Now, Jesus responds:
   10. Matthew 19:17 (ESV)
   11. ¹⁷ And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
   12. Notice how Jesus responds with a principle. The principle is that there is only One Who Is Good. God is the only One Who Is good.
   13. Tony Evans: In other words, to be good Jesus would have to be God. And since he is God incarnate, he has the authority to answer the man’s question.^[5]
   14. Jesus instructs him to keep God’s commandments.
   15. Now, the ruler responds inquiring of which commandments he is to keep.
   16. Matthew 19:18–19 (ESV)
   17. ¹⁸ He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
   18. Honoring your father and mother is out of order from the others. Did Jesus know the young man had not kept that one?
   19. The ruler says that he has obeyed these commandments.
   20. Matthew 19:20 (ESV)
   21. ²⁰ The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”
   22. He seems very confident, doesn’t he?
   23. Jesus will now go deeper.
   24. NET: While the rich man was probably being sincere when he insisted I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws, he had confined his righteousness to external obedience. The rich man’s response to Jesus’ command—to give away all he had—revealed that internally he loved money more than God.^[6]
   25. The Savior’s conclusion (Matthew 19:21): “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor.… Then come, follow me.”
   26. Perfect has the idea of completely whole, or mature (Matthew 5:48).
   27. Matthew 19:21 (ESV)
   28. ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
   29. Jesus tells how he can be perfect.
   30. Go and sell all he possesses…
3. The sorrowing ruler (Matthew 19:22): He turns away with sadness, not willing to give up his wealth.
   1. Matthew 19:22 (ESV)
   2. ²² When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
   3. The young man had great possessions. He leaves sorrowfully.
   4. Yet, Jesus doesn’t chase him down.
   5. Jesus doesn’t change the standard.
   6. Jesus doesn’t lighten the load.
4. Jesus and the disciples (Matthew 19:23–26)
   1. Matthew 19:23 (ESV)
   2. ²³ And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.
   3. Now, Jesus talks to the disciples.
   4. The rich young ruler has left, and Jesus addresses the disciples.
   5. Jesus teaches them that it is difficult to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
   6. Matthew 19:24 (ESV)
   7. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
   8. So, we see this allegory.
   9. A camel represented the largest animal they had at that time. The eye of a needle represented the smallest opening found in a home.
   10. What a picture. Can you imagine a camel going through the eye of a needle?
   11. If so, then that is how a rich man enters the Kingdom of Heaven.
   12. As Jesus said, we should collect “treasures in heaven,” for they cannot be destroyed, stolen, or lost (Matthew 6:20).^[7]
   13. I believe Jesus used images like this to help convey the lesson.
   14. Matthew 19:25 (ESV)
   15. ²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
   16. Given the description Jesus gave, this makes sense.
   17. Who can be saved?
   18. Matthew 19:26 (ESV)
   19. ²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
   20. Notice the description: Jesus looked at them.
   21. I think this is emphasizing that Jesus wants to make a point.
   22. Jesus is making eye contact.
   23. This is not possible without Divine intervention.
   24. For the wealthy to shift their primary allegiance to God is humanly impossible, but with God all things are possible, as evidenced by the conversions of rich men like Joseph of Arimathea (27:57) and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:9–10).^[8]
   25. We need outside help to be saved.
   26. Romans 6:23 (ESV)
   27. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
5. Jesus speaks concerning rewards (Matthew 19:27–30)
   1. Peter speaks up: Matthew 19:27 (ESV)
   2. ²⁷ Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”
   3. Peter seems concerned. Jesus had told the rich young ruler to sell everything he owned and follow Him.
   4. Peter says that they have left everything.
   5. Peter was a fisherman (Matthew 4:18-20). They left everything.
   6. Peter asks what they will have.
   7. The Kingdom of God reverses the kingdom of man:
   8. Matthew 19:28–30 (ESV)
   9. ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
   10. There is a lot in verse 28. What does it mean? The disciples will judge the twelve tribes of Israel.
   11. Jesus teaches a principle.
   12. This is a significant promise because it shows that the disciples were not only the foundation of the Church (Eph 2:20–22) but also the leaders of the remnant of Israel (Rm 11:1–6). Jewish believers have this unique status as members both of the Church and Israel. This promise was probably made only to the twelve as a unique group, but the N^[9]T indicates that all believers will participate with Christ in His judgment of the earth (Mt 25:21; Rm 16:20; 1Co 6:2; Rv 2:26–27; 3:21).^[10]
   13. In verse 29, Jesus says that Christians will inherit. It is an inheritance, not a reward.
   14. Those who have left things behind for Him will have a great reward.
   15. In verse 30, we have the line: “The first in this world will be last in eternal life.” Those last in this world will be first in eternal life.
   16. The statement in context states that God’s grace extends to those who approach God in childlike trust (vv^[11]. 13–15).^[12]

Tim Keller helps us:

He comes to Jesus and says, “I’ve been a good person. Is there anything I’ve left out?” Jesus says, “Yeah, one thing.” Then he says, “Sell everything you have, give it away, and then you’ll have treasures in heaven.” What he said there will make no sense to you unless you understand the principle of this text, the principle we’re getting across now. You might say, “Oh my gosh! He’s trying to say you have to sell all of your goods in order to be saved?” No, he’s not. Instead, he’s saying, “My dear young man,” whom he loved. Remember what the text says? He looked at the man and confronted him because he loved him.

He says, “My dear, you have a lot of money, and yet you have nothing. It’s all going to burn up. If you could only see that if you have me you have everything. You could have my record. You could have my forgiveness. Unless you see that my dying love is your real treasure, unless you see that, frankly, salvation and eternal life is not a matter of doing or adding one more thing to your good life but rather it’s a matter of throwing it all over and trusting wholly in me, until you see that if you have me you have everything, you cannot inherit eternal life.” Jesus is saying, “If you understood that I am eternal life, your attitude toward your money would be very different.”^[13]

Piper concluded his message with this:

In that same commencement service 55 years ago, there was another professor. He had a degree from a prestigious European university. We met at his house several times. I took a couple of courses from him. When I left school, I heard later that he was beginning to invest in the stock market. He was eventually consumed with a passion for wealth. And he walked away. Today he’s not a believer. He doesn’t even believe in God, with his doctorate in theology.

What’s going to keep you on the Calvary road with Jesus — who loved you and gave himself for you — living a life of joyful simplicity, lavish generosity, heavenly-mindedness? The answer is this: God will keep you. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). And one of the means he might use to keep you is a plaque hanging on your wall: “Remember the Rich Young Man.”^[14]

1. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

2. June 3, 2026

   Graduates, Remember the Rich Young Man

   To the Class of 2026

   Commencement Address | Bethlehem College and Seminary | Minneapolis; Jude 3, 2026

   https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/graduates-remember-the-rich-young-man ↑

3. H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Mt 19:16–30. ↑

4. Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Mt 19:16. ↑

5. Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019), 901. ↑

6. Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Mt 19:20. ↑

7. Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019), 901. ↑

8. Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1862. ↑

9. NT New Testament ↑

10. Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Matthew,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1489. ↑

11. vv. verses ↑

12. Michael G. Vanlaningham, “Matthew,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1489. ↑

13. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013). ↑

14. Graduates, Remember the Rich Young Man

    To the Class of 2026

    Commencement Address | Bethlehem College and Seminary | Minneapolis; Jude 3, 2026

    https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/graduates-remember-the-rich-young-man ↑

Praying in Humility (Luke 18:9ff)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, August 09, 2026

Do we recognize our need for Jesus?

Tim Keller shares:

In every culture … the Norse legends, the Finnish legends, The Kalevala, and Anglo-Saxon stuff like Beowulf. These are ancient pagan, northern European legends and cultures. At the very end of Beowulf, when the great king has died, here’s what they put on his tomb.

They say something like, “Of all men, he was the most hungry for glory.” See, in that culture, that was a compliment. I mean, the commentators on this say, we say … It’s almost untranslatable. In Anglo-Saxon, the word is lof-geornost, and it means to be hungry for glory, to be hungry for renown, to be hungry for acclaim.

Of course, in that culture, that meant glory and battle, but it was considered … In that culture, everybody was hungry for glory on the battlefield. Of course, in this ancient Jewish culture, the idea of getting glory on the battlefield was kind of repugnant, and to us it’s repugnant, but wait a minute. Are we not, though we cannot relate to the cultural form of this, talking about the same thing? What are they hungry for? What are we hungry for?[1]

We all feel like we need acceptance. Do we come to God as needy people?

My theme is:

Come humbly before God; He accepts us based on Jesus’s death and resurrection.

We see the characters in Luke 18:9-10.

1. In verse 9, we see the audience.
2. Let’s read Luke 18:9-10: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
   “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
3. Notice how this begins. He, Jesus, told a parable.
4. Who does He address the parable to? He addresses the parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.
5. At this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus is heading to Jerusalem. He is on His way towards Jerusalem to be crucified.
6. From Luke 9:51-19:27, Jesus is on His road to Jerusalem. On this journey towards Jerusalem, Jesus goes right through Samaria. Most Jerusalem Jews avoided Samaria, but Jesus did not. Jesus came for everyone. While in Samaria, Jesus told 10 parables that are not found in the other gospels.
7. Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.
8. Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.
9. Jesus shares other parables during this time of traveling.
10. One of those is the parable that we are getting into.
11. This parable is addressed to people who trusted in themselves. They thought they were doing just fine and did not need a Savior.
12. In verse 10, we see the two people praying. One is a Pharisee. They are the religious elite of the day. They do not need any help, nor do they need Jesus, or so they thought.
13. Then a tax collector- they are not even supposed to be in the temple. They were looked down upon. It looked like they had sold out to Rome. The taxes were not regulated and held accountable, so the tax collectors would charge extra, taking advantage of people.
14. Sproul shares: The other man in the temple was a tax collector. When the Romans imposed taxes on people they conquered, they hired people from the conquered nation, from the Jews in this case, to go to their countrymen and collect the oppressive taxes. Tax collectors got rich on the commissions they made from serving Rome against their own people. They were the quislings of the day. When the people saw the tax collector, their hearts would swell with fury and hatred against him.[1]
15. II. In verses 11-12, we see the first prayer.
16. Look at the Pharisee’s prayer in Luke 18:11-12: The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
17. He thinks he is okay, doesn’t he?
    He talks about all that he has done for God. But it is all about him.
    Keller: There’s a preposition here that in every single translation you pick up it’s going to translate it differently because it’s deliberately ambiguous. It’s a Greek preposition and it’s in verse 11. It says, “The Pharisee stood up and prayed …” In this translation it says, “… about himself.” In other translations, it’ll say, “by himself.” It’s a deliberately ambiguous preposition because it means both things…^[1]
    I think the audience was laughing at this.
18. They were probably thinking, “I cannot believe Jesus said that. He is going to get Himself stoned or crucified.”
19. In verse 13, we see the second prayer.
20. Look at Luke 18:13: But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
21. The tax collector, who was looked upon as a sinner, was very humble.
22. The tax collector pleaded to God in humility.
23. He asked for mercy.
24. Sproul: In contrast to the Pharisee, who said he’d never stolen, yet who stole the glory of God and who was not an atheist but was an idolater, stood the tax collector. He was probably by the door of the temple. He, in fear and trembling, wouldn’t even lift his face up to heaven. His gaze was on the floor. He brought absolutely nothing to God but his sin. He had nothing to offer to God except his guilt. “Be merciful. Have mercy. It’s only by Your grace alone, not Your grace and my contribution.” This man understood the doctrines of sola fide and sola gratia: justification by faith alone and justification by grace alone. There are tens of thousands of Christians in America today who will affirm justification by faith alone but not justification by grace alone. You really don’t believe in justification by faith alone if you think you’re adding something beyond your faith, beyond the righteousness of Christ, for you to be justified.[1]
25. In verse 14, we see Jesus’s principle.
26. Look at Luke 18:14: I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
    Jesus says the tax collector was justified. Jesus says the tax collector was declared righteous.
27. Why?
28. He recognized his brokenness before God. The humble will be exalted by God.
    This is the sum of the gospel: how do we get justified?
    It is all about Jesus.
    We are all broken, and we need Jesus.
    This parable is mainly about needing a Savior for eternal life.
    I think most of us recognize this.
    However, do we realize that we need a Savior for this life now?
    We are all broken.
    We are all in need.
29. Keller:
    He says, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.” When he uses that word merciful, in the Greek, it signals something very intriguing which doesn’t come across in English because the word mercy … Usually, when you see it in the New Testament, there’s a perfectly good Greek word that’s used, eleos. In fact, later on in this chapter, there’s a place where, for example, a blind man cries out and says, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” That’s the normal word for mercy, but not here.
    The tax collector is using the word that literally means atone for my sin. It’s the word hilastērion. In the temple, there was a Holy of Holies, and there was a place where God spoke, his shekinah glory dwelled, but it was over the ark of the covenant, in which was the Law, the Ten Commandments.
    In other words, you could not come near God without being scrutinized by the Law. So who in the world could pass the scrutiny of the Law in order to see God? But over the top of the ark of the covenant was a gold slab called the mercy seat. It was called the hilastērion. The very same word the tax collector is using here, and almost certainly, he had it in mind.
    On the mercy seat, once a year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest could come back in and talk to God only because he put the blood of a substitute, who died to pay the penalty for the sins of the people, on the mercy seat so that the Law’s scrutiny was satisfied, that the Law’s penalty had been fulfilled.
    This word hilastērion is used, in Hebrews 2:17, of Jesus because in Hebrews 2:17 we’re told that for this reason Jesus became a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, that he might make hilastērion, propitiation, atonement, for the sins of the people. This man is not saying, “God, let me off. God, lower your standards. God, just overlook my sins.” That doesn’t help with the problem of righteousness.
    What he’s saying is, “Lord, I need atonement for my sin.” Well, where does it come from? Here’s how it comes. Jesus Christ became the sinner. He became the ultimate sinner. He died on the cross for us. He was looking at you and me, I believe, when he looked at his disciples falling asleep on him at his moment of greatest need. Do you remember, in the garden, he says, “All I want for you to do is just stay awake,” and they keep falling asleep, and yet he died for them anyway?
    Here is how Christians deal with the problem of approval. You have to know, first of all, Jesus loved you so much that he made atonement for you. Secondly, he made such atonement for you that now he can love you. What does that mean? He can come in. Once he died for you and paid the penalty for your sin, in spite of all the things you’ve done wrong, now you’re accepted in him. You’re utterly approved in him.[1]
    We are approved by Jesus, not by our merit, but by His.
30. Let’s pray like the tax collector.
31. Come to God in humility.
    
    [1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).
    
    [1] Sproul, R.C.. Luke: An Expositional Commentary (p. 459). Ligonier Ministries. Kindle Edition.
    
    
    ^[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[1] Sproul, R.C.. Luke: An Expositional Commentary (p. 459). Ligonier Ministries. Kindle Edition.

[1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

The Disciples Ask to Have Their Faith Increased (Luke 17:5ff)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, August 2, 2026

Lee Strobel shares about talking with Dr. Craig Keener about miracles. He shares:

With that, Keener began recounting some of the stories he had investigated. He started with the case of a nine-year-old British girl who was diagnosed with deafness in September 1982, apparently the result of a virus that severely damaged nerves in both of her ears.

“Her case is reported by Dr. R. F. R. Gardner, a well-credentialed physician,” Keener said. “What makes this case especially interesting is that there is medical confirmation before the healing and immediately afterward, which is unusual to have.”

The child’s medical record says she was diagnosed with “untreatable bilateral sensorineural deafness.” Her attending physician told her parents there was no cure and nothing he could do to repair her damaged nerves. She was outfitted with hearing aids that did help her hear to some degree.

The girl didn’t want to wear hearing aids the rest of her life, so she started to pray that God would heal her. Her family and friends joined her. In fact, her mother said she felt a definite prompting to call out for God’s help.

“I kept feeling God was telling me to pray specifically for healing,” she said. “Passages kept coming out at me as I read: If you have faith like children . . . If one among you is ill, lay hands . . . Ask and you shall receive . . . Your faith has made you whole.”

On March 8, 1983, the girl went to the audiologist because one of her hearing aids had been damaged at school. After being examined and refitted, she was sent home.

The next evening, the child suddenly jumped out of her bed without her hearing aids and came bounding down the stairs. “Mummy, I can hear!” she exclaimed.

Her mother, astonished, tested to see if she could detect noises and words—and she could, even whispers. Her mother called the audiologist, who said, “I don’t believe you. It is not possible. All right, if some miracle has happened, I am delighted. Have audiograms done.”

The following day, she was tested again, and her audiogram and tympanogram came back fully normal. “I can give no explanation for this,” said the audiologist. “I have never seen anything like it in my life.”

The girl’s doctor ruled out possible medical explanations. After repeated successful audiograms, the dumbfounded consultant’s advice to her parents: “Forget she was ever deaf.”[1]

When we pray, how is our faith?

My theme today is:

The disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith.

1. Context:
   • This section follows the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus in Luke 17:19-31.
   • Jesus is giving mini messages.
   • He warned them about causing others to stumble (Luke 17:1-2), then about forgiving others.
   • Then, the disciples ask for an increase in faith.
2. On Faith (Luke 17:5-6)
   • Luke 17:5–6 (ESV)
     ⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶ And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
   • Why are they asking this?
   • To me, they seem overwhelmed by what Jesus shared.
   • In Luke 17:1-5, Jesus warned against causing someone else to sin (Luke 17:1-2) and told them never to stop forgiving.  
   • Further, I agree with John MacArthur[1] that this is about humility. Jesus had spoken about forgiveness. After this, Jesus will be talking about humility. It is humbling to admit we need help.
   • Do we admit that we need help?
   • 1 Corinthians 2:1–2 (ESV)
     And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
   • The request by the disciples (Luke 17:5): “We need more faith; tell us how to get it.”
   • NET: The request of the apostles, “Increase our faith,” is not a request for a gift of faith, but a request to increase the depth of their faith.^[2]
   • What is faith? This means our trust in the Lord. Faith has the idea of trust.
   • When we pray, do we recognize that we are needy people?
   • Are we trusting the Lord?
   • The Lord then gave the example.
   • The reply by the Savior (Luke 17:6): Even a little faith can do great things!^[3]
   • A black mulberry tree is a deciduous fruit tree that grows about 20 ft (6 m) tall and has black juicy berries. This tree has an extensive root system, so to pull it up would be a major operation.^[4]
   • To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).^[5]
   • The image of the mustard seed is another hyperbole, but the point is clear. Christians, even apostles, are distinguished not by the quantity of faith, but by the employment of faith; not by greatness or smallness of faith, but by acting on faith, even faith the size of a mustard seed.^21,[6]
   • After these verses, Jesus gives an illustration.
   • Luke 17:7–10 (ESV)
   • ⁷ “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? ⁸ Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? ⁹ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? ¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
   • What is the point?
   • This fits in with humility. This fits in with forgiveness.
   • As Timothy Keller shares:
     Now why would Jesus use this illustration when his disciples say, “We can’t do this”? He says, “You could if you remembered who you were. You have an owner, and what if he made you pay for everything? You are just servants. If you start to hate the people who have wronged you, you’re forgetting you’re servants.”^[7]
3. Applications:
   • Do we ask the Lord to increase our faith?
   • Do we remember who we are?
   • We are servants (Luke 17:10), but we are servants of King Jesus.
   • Our faith is trusting in Jesus.
   • In another passage, Jesus said:
   • John 14:12 (ESV)
     ¹² “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
   • Jesus is talking about the spreading of the Gospel.
   • Jesus is talking about what happened in the book of Acts.
   • If we pray in His Name, this means we are praying in His Will. Back then, “name” had to do with who a person was. When we are praying in His will, we can do great things. Jesus said that when they believe in Him, they will do greater works than He did. Now, that is a little bit of hyperbole because Jesus saved all those who come to him by His death on the cross, but what happened in Acts? The Gospel spread all over the known world, and even further than that. The Holy Spirit came upon them, and over 3000 were saved (Acts 2:41, and that was just the beginning).
     What about faith in our passage of Luke 17:5?
   • One source shares:
     These hyperbolic expressions describe what faith can do, but in practice Jesus was not speaking of a faith that stages wonders²³⁸ but of a faith that facilitates healing,²³⁹ that understands the need of Christ to suffer (24:25–26), that has confidence in God’s providential care (8:25), that will not fall away (8:13; 22:32) but will endure (Acts 14:22), and that will believe God and grow.^{240, [1]}
   • The more I live as a Christian. The more I am convinced that I need to live “in Christ.”
   • That means I need the fuel that only Jesus can give me.
   • I began this sermon about miracles, but the greater miracle is salvation in Jesus.
   • It is a miracle when we experience salvation in Jesus.
   • It is a miracle when we share the gospel with someone.
   • Think about it:
   • When we are saved, we are forgiven. We are redeemed. This carries the idea of being bought out of slavery. We are bought by Jesus’s blood out of slavery to sin.
   • When we are saved, we are sanctified. This means we are set apart for a purpose (1 Cor. 1:2). God sets us apart for His purposes. God makes us holy. This is positional sanctification. We are in a position of holiness because of Jesus.
   • When we are saved, we are being sanctified. That means God is growing us more mature in Him. This is progressive sanctification (Heb. 10:14; Phil. 1:6; 2 Peter 3:18).
   • When we are saved, we are justified. This means that God declares us righteous. How does this happen? Jesus gives us His righteousness, and Jesus takes our sin upon Himself (Rom. 8:1, 30; 2 Cor. 5:21).
   • When we are saved, we are children of God (1 John 3:1).
   • We can cry out to Him as a Father.
   • We are in the family of God.
   • We have the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9).
   • Think about Who we are in Jesus.
   • We live with Jesus.
   • Are we living with Jesus?
   • Do we ask Him to increase our faith?
     
   • We can picture faith as a connection between the work of the Holy Spirit and the power at work in our new nature. Faith is a wire that conducts a current called grace that flows from the Spirit so that the new nature receives power.^270,[1]
      
     Prayer
      
     
     
     ^[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 96.
     
     ²³⁸ Cf. Luke 4:9; 11:16, 29; 16:27–31.
     ²³⁹ Luke 7:9; 8:48; 18:42; Acts 14:9.
     ²⁴⁰ Acts 6:5; cf. Luke 1:45 with 1:20.
     ^[1] Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 431–432.
     
     
     [1] MacArthur, John. Four Hallmarks of Humility, Part 3. September 10, 2006.
     https://www.gty.org/sermons/42-219/four-hallmarks-of-humility-part-3
      
     ^[2] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Lk 17:5.
     ^[3] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Lk 17:5–6.
     ^[4] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Lk 17:6.
     ^[5] Ibid.
     ²¹ Nolland, Luke 9:21–18:34, 838, “What is needed is not the increase of faith, but the exercise of faith.”
     ^[6] James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Luke, ed. D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2015), 479.
     ^[7] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

[1] Strobel, Lee. The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural (pp. 99-100). (Function). Kindle Edition.