"When He 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 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." When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship today in the name of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a privilege to have you here with us today. Each and every one of you are an invaluable part of this ministry's success, I couldn't do what I do without each of you, so thank you. I know I've mentioned this in the past, we are extremely blessed to be able to partner with Vanessa Taylor at Go Ye Kids children's ministry in providing printable biblical resources for children, many of them free. Please be sure to thank her and let her know that you heard about her here.
God has been doing great things in our overseas ministry, I am always amazed to discover that so many people are coming to faith in Christ, even in many of the worlds most persecuted countries. I can assure you, they don't take our prayers and support for granted. If God is using this ministry to impact your life, please write and let us know, we'd love to hear from you. Please continue to pray for our work in these highly volatile regions of the world as we continue collaborate with them and to God be the glory!
What is great faith and how do we know if we have it? I believe more often than not, most of us have experienced times in our lives when we've struggled with whether or not we even have a little faith. On the surface, that seems paradoxical, if not downright contradictory, appearing to conflict with one another, creating a seemingly incompatible situation. Of course, the Christian faith is full of many contrasts, that's why the Gospel appears as foolishness to the natural man, the unregenerate man or woman, those who are outside the kingdom of God.
Even if they study the Bible, they cannot comprehend the Truth of God, because they are ignorant, blinded by their own sinfulness. And, it doesn't really help matters when you look at the lives of many Christians and churches, who practice the religion of self, going around witnessing, acting as if they've been born again, sharing Christ Whom they clearly do not know. As most of you know, this has been a matter of extreme importance to me for sometime, because my Bible assures me that God is going to judge all sinners, and He's going to judge on the basis of the facts, including those who are self-deceived Christians sitting in a church.
On the other hand, true believers have the mind of Christ, we understand the Gospel, the spiritual things of God, not because we're so brilliant, but by virtue of the mighty work of God in our souls, we have been made alive in Christ, now our blind eyes, deaf ears and our closed minds are opened so that we can understand. We have the mind of Jesus Christ, so that even though we are presently living in the physical realm, we can understand spiritual things, the things of God that are incomprehensible to anybody who does not have the mind of Christ. We understand what it means to be born again, we understand that to become rich, we must recognize our poverty, we understand why the eternal God, Who is the giver of all life, gave up His life so that we might live. We understand the Righteous Judge and Great Executioner actually became the substitute for the criminal on the cross.
I don't know if some of you really understand what a tremendous privilege has been granted to all of us who have been given the mind of Christ, to know exactly how He thinks because it's been revealed to us in His Word through the magnificent ministry of the Holy Spirit. It's really incredible if you think about it. These incredible mysteries have not been revealed to the unredeemed, that's why it's utter foolishness to them, they're in their natural condition, they don’t know the Lord. I believe that it's important to remember, we were once one of them, that's why we must have compassion on them, telling them the Truth in love. We mustn't allow ourselves to imagine we're somehow superior because we have a power in us greater than ourselves, we didn't do anything to deserve it! It's a gift. So, don't misunderstand your position in Christ, you're part of a heavenly kingdom, a messenger for the King, you're not the righteous judge.
That's really what the Bible is all about, knowing Christ. I must confess, the more I come to know Him, the more astonishing and wondrous He becomes to me. It is such a terrible tragedy that so many in the church today seem to have lost their enthusiasm for knowing everything that can be known about our Lord Jesus Christ, settling for a superficial understanding. I believe this lack of enthusiasm can easily be seen by the diminishing desire to be changed into His image. I am completely taken aback by the reality that so many "comfortable" Christians have come through the door of faith but haven't gone any further, frankly because they are far more content to be like the world than the Lord they claim to love. It is deeply disheartening to witness the massive discrepancy between the profession of faith and the actions of those who say they've been rescued from sin, while the unredeemed world watches them drown in their lusts and desires. The world desperately needs to see our Christian testimony consistently being lived out, not just our lip service in order to believe Christ did indeed deliver us of our sin. There are a number of other things that could be said, but for the sake of time, I digress.
Let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You as we always do for the Truth of Your precious Word. No matter how we begin, Your message always comes out at the end. Lord, may we seize every possible opportunity to proclaim the Gospel with those who are in dire need of hearing it, trusting fully in Your ability to perform the transformative work that only You can accomplish within each and every heart that receives this message. Lord, thank You for all that You’re doing in and through this ministry. We pray that You’ll continue to cause this ministry to thrive, deepening its love and devotion for You and its love for Your Word, to reach more and more people all for Your glory and for Christ's sake. In His Name we humbly ask and pray these things.
Amen
Today's Message: How Great is Your Faith? Part 2
Open your Bibles with me, if you would and turn them to the Gospel of Luke chapter 7, Luke 7:1-10, I'm not sure we'll be able to fit all of it into one message, because there's just a lot here, in size and significance. So, with that in mind, I invite you to come along with me on this fascinating journey as I read the text to set it in our minds. Let's open up our hearts and listen for what the Spirit of God has to say to each of us today in the powerful message in the Gospel of Luke.
"When He 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 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." When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health."
Let's pick back up where we left off, with verse 4, "When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him." When they, speaking about the Jewish elders came to Jesus "they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him." Folks, this is significant, this is the only time I can find in all of the New Testament where tensions between the Jewish population and the Roman authorities were typically high that any Jews advocate on behalf of a Roman soldier, that represented the oppressive forces of the Roman empire. The Jewish system, was all about merit, all about personal worthiness, by which you earned you a right to divine favor. Keep in mind, they thought they were worthy of heaven because of their self-righteous deeds and ceremonial observances. So, what did he do that made him worthy?
Verse 5, "For he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." He loves our nation, this man had come to understand not only the true and living God, but that the people of Israel were the chosen people of God. This is amazing because there was animosity between Jews and Gentiles, the Jewish people refused to worship pagan idols, they believed in a theocratic system of government, which placed all sovereignty and authority in the hands of God, which led to conflicts with the Romans. In fact, the Romans referred to the Jewish people as a filthy race, that belonged to a dark and repulsive force. Notice Luke uses the Greek verb "agapaó" the highest form of love, which refers to a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, often used in the New Testament to describe the love of God for humanity. This is the kind of love that Jesus said was a definitive mark of a child of God. We don't know how this man heard about Jesus, but he certainly got it right, he even loved his servant that was sick and ready to die mercifully, compassionately, fully aware he could never repay his kindness. This is remarkable, it was unusual for a Roman officer to be concerned for a slave’s well-being, but he loved him more like a son than a servant! Then, they say it was he who built us our synagogue, meaning he used his own money, giving him sole credit. The primary function of the synagogue was teaching the Scripture and worshiping God, indicating this man wanted to know the Word of God.
Verse 7, "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, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed." At first, he did ask Jesus to come through Jewish elders, but apparently, the more he thought about Jesus coming to his house, the more ashamed of his own sinfulness, so he sent friends to meet Jesus asking Him not to come any closer. This my friends is true humility, another mark of a true child of God. Despite his rank and status, this centurion recognizes Jesus as a man of authority, he acknowledges his own unworthiness to be in Jesus' presence, having possessing great spiritual authority and he was convinced that He would be able to implement healing by merely speaking the Word, he certainly didn't get his theology from the Jewish elders! I've heard some suggest that he didn't want Jesus to come to his house because he was a Gentile, I don't believe this was a ceremonial issue with him, this is much more personal, this man recognizes his spiritual poverty and he's mourning over his sinful condition. This is the true penitence that marks a child of God.
Verse 8, "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." Accustomed to commanding the men under him, he acknowledges the power and sovereignty of God, and perceives that Jesus is divine power personified. This man knows Jesus does not need to be physically present to heal his servant, he understands He has supreme authority over life and death. This man's faith teaches us when we truly believe in God’s power, a power that transcends physical barriers and human limitations, all we need is the faith to ask and confidence to believe the miraculous possibilities! Do you understand that Jesus has the power to transform your circumstances, to bring healing to your physical ailments, and to restore what is broken in your relationships? I've personally witnessed the power of God first hand. This centurion also reminds us of the importance of community in times of trouble and a faith that encourages others. I invite you to reflect on the areas in your own life that need healing, whether mental, physical, emotional or spiritual, trusting that He can "just say the word," and change everything.
Verse 9, "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." This is a sad indictment against self-righteous Israel. There are only two instances of faith in the New Testament which were called "great faith" by Jesus, both of whom were demonstrated by Gentiles. One is the Roman Centurion here and the other, the Syrophoenician woman in Matthew 15. But why is it considered "great faith?" It was great when it is considered in whom this faith was found, the Jewish people had witnessed Jesus’ miracles and had wondered, this centurion had only heard of Jesus miracles and still he believed. He didn't just talk of his love for Israel, he builds them a synagogue. When his servant is sick he did not talk about his pity, he sent for the physician. He did not merely talk about his faith, he demonstrated it in such a way that even the Lord marveled at it. Heaven is going to be filled with Gentiles, while many Jews will be cast into Hell.
That brings us to verse 10, "When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health." It's important to note that Jesus did not grant a universal promise of healing to all Christian’s who believe as some Charismatics have suggested, affirming that there is no difference today from the way God’s Spirit operated in apostolic times. While such instantaneous miracle healings are rare today however, they do happen, but they were never an end in themselves, they were always signs to validate Jesus' claims to be from God. When the early church continued these gifts were given to the apostles to confirm the Word of God. The apostolic gifts have absolutely nothing to do with the church today, therefore, they have no continuing role. Scripture is very clear on this, but that's a sermon for another time. God confirmed the Truth by these special gifts granted to apostles to confirm in the hearing of those who heard, and they passed away with the apostles and the founding church. I say this in love and yet I say with a boldness that can only come from careful study of the Word of God, and I trust that you’ll hear it in that way.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2024 All Rights Reserved