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Good evening. It's really good 
and a great joy to be with you, dear folks, again this evening. I want to thank you also on behalf 
of my wife for your warm welcome and your Christian hospitality. Please know that we will cherish 
our thoughts of you and we will keep you not only in our hearts 
but in our prayers as you remember to pray for us. If you're ever 
in Portland, please come and visit us and we'd love to have 
you. Let's open our Bibles again this 
evening to Matthew chapter 8. We want to gather our thoughts 
tonight around verses 5 through 13. And so we come to the second 
miracle that Matthew has collected here for us, the second miracle 
of physical healing. And just by way of quick review 
from this morning, we should remember the purpose of these 
miracles of Jesus. Certainly they were demonstrations 
of his power and the physical healings were real, but they 
also served to authenticate the truth which he proclaimed to 
a world that was fallen in sin under God's judgment. And the 
miracles teach us different aspects of the gospel. Let me share with 
you another thought this evening concerning the purpose of these 
miracles. Some of them emphasize the sovereignty 
of God in our salvation. And so some of them illustrate 
for us and teach us things like regeneration and the effectual 
calling. And so in some of the miracles, 
they are simply performed without even a word from the one in need. As a matter of fact, you'll see 
that in the next miracle where Jesus heals Peter's mother-in-law. She may even have been unconscious. We don't know. We're not told. 
There's no conversation that takes place between Jesus and 
Peter's mother-in-law. He simply heals her. Others of the miracles come after 
Christ has spoken with the person in need, or there's been some 
engagement between the Savior and the one coming to him. Those 
generally serve to demonstrate the compassion of Christ in receiving 
sinners. And so some demonstrate the sovereignty 
of grace, regeneration, effectual calling, which is the only cause 
of faith, while others emphasize the faith displayed and the reception 
of sinners who trust in Christ. That's the case in the second 
miracle recorded for us in verses 5 through 13. Let's read that. 
Now, when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading 
with him, saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home, paralyzed, 
dreadfully tormented. And Jesus said to him, I will 
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I'm 
not worthy that you should come under my roof. but only speak 
a word and my servant will be healed for I also am a man under 
authority having soldiers under me and I say to this one go and 
he goes to another come and he comes and to my servant do this 
and he does it. When Jesus heard it he marveled 
and said to those who followed assuredly I say to you I have 
not found such great faith not even in Israel. And I say to 
you that many will come from east and west, set down with 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons 
of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will 
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, 
go your way and as you have believed, so let it be done for you. And 
his servant was healed that same hour. What an incredible We're 
going to gather our thoughts under three main heads. First, the willingness of Jesus 
to save. Second, the centurion's astonishing 
faith illustrated. Lord willing, and time permitting, 
we'll look at six aspects of the Centurion's faith. And then 
finally, a contrast observed. A contrast observed. So, the 
willingness of Jesus to save, the Centurion's astonishing faith, 
and a contrast observed. So, the first striking thing 
in the account is Christ's willingness to receive centers. We emphasize 
that this morning. And that is illustrated for us 
in his readiness to heal. There's a Roman centurion, we 
read in verse 5, that when Jesus entered Capernaum, he came, that 
is this Roman centurion came forward to him. That's a surprising 
thing. We read later in verse 10 that 
Jesus marveled, and you can use any number of words there, similar 
words. You could say he was astonished, 
he was amazed in his human nature. He was taken back, as it were, 
pleasantly astonished at the faith of this centurion. And 
the New Testament tells us, I think I mentioned that this morning 
in our scripture reading as we read the whole account there 
from verse 1, that Jesus marveled one other time in the New Testament. Two times it's mentioned that 
Jesus marveled. And that other instance relates 
to faith as well. Here in Matthew 8, he marveled 
at the presence of faith. And in Mark chapter 6 and verse 
6, he marveled at the absence of faith. I think that's an important 
thing for you to consider. Don't get too caught up in it 
right now, but keep it back here in your memory bank. We'll come 
back to it. In verses 5 through 13, it's 
just a wonderful text. It's a text that is rich with 
gospel lessons about coming to Christ, about faith. And if Jesus 
marveled at the centurion's faith, we ought to as well. We ought 
to step back and take a look at what his faith is all about. And here is a text, is a passage 
that is full of encouragement. And I think the first word of 
encouragement is that faith may be found in unlikely people. I said this morning, the gospel 
is for sinners. And here's a word of encouragement. Faith may be 
found in unlikely people. Think of it. A centurion. I mean, really. A Roman army 
officer. In our passage, our Lord speaks 
of sons of the kingdom. And these sons of the kingdom, 
not all of them are saved. Jesus is very clear, and one 
thing it implies, who are these sons of the kingdom? Well, one 
thing it implies is that they are those who are born under 
privilege, and they are those who have had a measure of exposure 
to the truth, and to God's word, and to his promises. On the other 
hand, the Romans were, by and large, a pagan people. So here's a man in authority, 
a centurion, a hundred soldiers under his command. And for the 
most part, these Romans were hated by the Jews. They were 
brutal, these Centurions. And the Romans didn't care much 
for the Jews. They considered them to be troubling 
people, always complaining, bothersome, strange religion. Palestine was 
not a favorable assignment. I've never been in the military, 
but I imagine today there are some assignments that are good 
and some that aren't. And these Roman centurions, if 
they were assigned to Palestine, it would be like, ooh, when is 
my tour over here so I can go back to Rome? It is true, though, 
that some of the Romans were brought into contact with the 
truth. while in Palestine, and it appears 
to have had a gracious effect. upon some of them. Do you remember 
the centurion there at the cross? I don't know for sure that this 
necessarily means he was a converted man. I tend to think not. But 
we read that he confessed Christ was truly the Son of God. Maybe later on, but the centurion 
confessed that at the cross. Later in the book of Acts, there's 
another centurion who believed and was brought to faith in Christ. It's very possible, matter of 
fact, I think likely, that the Philippian jailer was a retired 
Roman centurion. It would have been the kind of 
job that would have been rewarded for faithful service, especially 
in a Roman province like Philippi. And here in our passage, this 
centurion exercised a remarkable faith in Christ. So great was 
his faith that our Lord Jesus was astonished at him. And so 
the encouragement is great faith is sometimes found in unlikely 
people. Isn't that true? Any Sunday school 
teachers here? Any of you ever teach little 
children Sunday school? Isn't it remarkable sometimes 
to see the beginnings of faith in a youngster? Isn't that a 
surprising thing? Pleasantly surprising? In this 
wicked society, all the pressures towards secularism and unbelief 
and materialism and to find faith in a young person, say a young 
man that's just going off to college or maybe just graduated 
from college and going off into the world and taking an interest 
in the things of God and reading his Bible and praying, what a 
surprising thing it is. Amazing. You think of Daniel 
there in Babylon. You know, he was 13 or 14 years 
old when he was first carried away and had those convictions 
of faith. Amazing! Or maybe an older person 
who has a real worldly background. You know, I mean really in the 
world. And suddenly faith is present. 
It's a surprising thing. I remember I worked at Boeing 
for 21 years and I was a manager there and I remember there was 
a lady at Boeing that worked in one of the departments and 
she did not have a very good reputation. I dreaded going out 
into the shop and having to stop by and even say hello because 
it was not going to be good. And her mouth, Your expression, 
I hope I don't offend anybody who might be a trucker, speaks 
like a trucker. You're a trucker, aren't you? You don't speak that 
way, I know. But you know what I mean. That's the way she was, 
and she was immoral. And everything was bad and negative. 
And one day I had to go out into the factory, and I had to go 
by and ask her about a job. And I said, I forgot her name 
again. Nancy. I said, Nancy. How's the 
job? And she turned to me, and her 
countenance, she had this smile on her face, and she was pleasant, 
and she told me all about the job, and she was polite, and 
I started to walk away, and she said, Mr. Cabin, you have a wonderful 
day. I stopped dead in my tracks, 
and I started to walk away, and I thought, boy, that was better 
than I thought. And I, wait a minute. And I stopped, 
and I turned around, and I said, Nancy, has something happened 
to you? And she said, yes. She says, 
I've been saved. And she says, I'm a new person. I said, well, I think you are. 
What a wonderful thing. Think of think of the early church 
to hear that song of Tarsus. I think of those people in Damascus, 
what a relief that must have been to them, what a surprise 
and what a relief. to hear that he who persecuted the church 
has come to be saved. It's encouraging and an amazing 
thing to find faith in our own hearts. You know, we can be judgmental 
and pharisaical about this. Oh boy, what an amazing thing 
that God saved Nancy. What an amazing thing that God 
saved a wretch like me. I know the blackness of my own 
heart. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch. 
like me. So, faith may be found in surprising 
places. A word of encouragement, a centurion. 
And note what the centurion says to Jesus in verse 6. Lord, my 
servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly. But the really significant thing 
to note is Jesus' quick and simple response in verse 7. I've come 
in healing. Don't we see something of the 
ready willingness of Christ? A ready, open willingness to 
the centurion's expression of faith. And what makes it so wonderful, 
as I think I mentioned that this morning, is when you realize 
Christ's response is really before any request has been made. He 
has simply stated the man's horrible condition. Brethren, what an important lesson. The Lord Jesus stands ready to 
hear believing prayer. Ready to hear believing prayer. He is attuned to the first risings 
of need expressed in faith, even though that faith is the result 
of his own gracious working. What an encouragement to pray. 
What an encouragement to bring our every burden to the Lord. 
Casper cares upon Him. Why? Because He cares for you. Even when you can't get it all 
out. Have you ever been there? Sometimes we don't know what 
to pray. Sometimes we don't know how to pray. The Lord knows. He knows our need before we ask 
and He takes great delight in mercy. This man says, my servant 
is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented, and it's as if Jesus 
interrupts, I will come and heal. But even more is the encouragement 
to bring our sins to the Lord. He is willing and anxious to 
forgive his people. I think we get something of that 
in the parable of the prodigal. What a rich passage that is. I think over the years I have 
seen myself in that parable in every character. I've seen myself 
as the prodigal out in the hogspen that needed the grace of God. 
I've seen myself as the father waiting for the wayward son to 
return. Sad to say, I confess at times 
I've seen myself as that elder brother. But don't we see something 
of the willingness of Christ to save sinners in the parable 
of the prodigal. As the prodigal comes to his 
senses and he speaks to himself, he says, you know, what a mess. I've sinned against God. I've 
sinned against my father. I'm getting out of this. I'm 
going home to my father. And when I get there, I'm going 
to ask his forgiveness. I'm going to repent of my sins. And he 
heads off. And what do you read? His father 
is yet a great way off. His father sees him. He's been 
looking for him. His father sees him coming, and 
what does the father do? He runs out to greet him. And that prodigal begins to confess. And before he can repent, before 
he can get it all out, that father throws his arms around him, brings 
him back, and gives him the ring of sonship back and the robe, 
and he calls for a party and a celebration. Joy in heaven 
over one sinner who repents. Well, we come with our sins. 
Come immediately. can't improve ourselves. Second, 
we see in the Centurion true faith manifested. Now remember, 
faith is that primary grace, isn't it? Without it, the Bible 
says you cannot please God. And the faith that justifies 
is faith in Christ Jesus. It's the object of faith that's 
vital. And we could say so much about 
faith, but one thing that characterizes true faith is a proper understanding 
of Christ and of self. The centurion says in verse 6, 
Lord my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. In verses 8 and 9, the centurion 
said, Lord, I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof, 
but only speak a word and my servant will be healed. For I 
also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. I say 
to this one, go, and he goes. To another, come, and he comes. 
And to my servant, do this, and he does it. It is this expression 
of faith, these words of the centurion, that causes Jesus 
to stand back and to be astonished. So, we see a number of vital 
truths relating to saving faith. Six of them are listed in your 
outlines if you happen to have one. We'll try to, we'll see 
if we can cover all six of these. First, faith seeks mercy of Christ. Faith seeks mercy of Christ. What is mercy? Well, mercy is 
kindness. to those in need. We talked about 
that again this morning. It's more than pity, it's more 
than feeling sorry, but it's also a desire to relieve. And so in the gospel, the one 
who is savingly coming to Christ, the one who is closing with Christ, 
the one who has faith will seek mercy in the context of need 
expressed. The way of faith. And this centurion 
confesses without reservation, without holding back, in terms 
of his need. Lord, he says, my servant is 
paralyzed at home, suffering terribly. Again, if you read 
the other Gospels, in particular from Dr. Luke, he would be interested 
in these sorts of things. He adds, he's at the point of 
death. The need is great. And so he 
brings the magnitude, the totality of the need to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. He's not too proud, as it were, 
to be completely vulnerable and honest with the Savior in the 
confession of neediness and helplessness. That's how it must be in the 
Gospel. True, saving faith always understands and always expresses 
sincerely its great need. We talked about that this morning. 
The tragedy of the day in which we live is that there is such 
a lack of awareness over need. Lord, I'm a poor and needy sinner. Lord, here's my problem. Do you remember the Pharisee 
in the temple? What need did he express, that 
religious man? He didn't have any needs. He 
was a righteous man in his own eyes. He was a good religious 
man. He tithed. As a matter of fact, 
he not only tithed his income, he tithed all that he owned. 
He went to temple all the time and he prayed. He was in need. 
He was not in any need of mercy. That's not faith. Then the publican. That guy in the back, that needy guy in the back. I 
think, God, I'm not like him. He's a needy fellow. Look at 
him. He can't even lift up his head 
to heaven. The best he can do is smote up on his breasts. Lord, 
be merciful to me, the sinner. And Jesus makes an evaluation. 
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified. Lord, 
be merciful to me, a sinner. Saving faith always expresses 
its need of mercy. Saving faith also seeks grace 
from Christ. If mercy is kindness to those 
in need, grace is kindness to the undeserving. Mercy is kindness 
to those in need, grace is kindness to the undeserving. Well, we 
need both. And this centurion is very conscious of not only 
his need, Lord my servant is at home in a terrible state, 
but also how undeserving he is. Do you see what he says in verse 
8? Lord, I'm not worthy to have 
you come under my roof. The truth is, faith is always 
found in those who are humbled before God. I really would recommend 
to you John Calvin's, I think it's the golden booklet of the 
true Christian life, I think. Have you ever seen it? It's so 
good. And he begins with the premise 
that humility is of the very essence of true faith. And I 
think he's absolutely right. True faith has understanding 
of one's true self before God, and this centurion had astonishing 
faith, and he confessed his unworthiness before the Lord. And again, astonishing 
when you remember he was a leader in an occupying army. Generally, 
you wouldn't expect such humility. In fact, just the opposite. They were the masters, as it 
were. They were the lords, as it were, over the people. Yet 
we find in this man an astonishing spirit of humility born of faith. When Jesus answers and says, 
I will come, I will heal your servant, he quickly responds, 
Lord, I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof. Isn't 
that an amazing statement for a Roman centurion to make to 
a Jewish rabbi? A Jewish rabbi who was described 
by his own people in his own hometown, insultingly as a carpenter's 
son from Nazareth? came unto his own, his own received 
him not. But to as many as received him, to them gave he power to 
become the sons of God, even to those who believed on his 
name." In his own hometown, his own family said, we know who 
you are. You're from Nazareth. Any good thing come out of Nazareth? 
You're the carpenter's son. And yet a Roman centurion says, 
Lord, I'm not worthy. Jesus said, blessed are the poor 
in spirit. That's the first of the Beatitudes. 
Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a 
broken and contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise. Psalm 34, 18, the Lord is near 
to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Pride 
is an ugly thing. Ugly. I have a friend, a number 
of years ago, we were having a conversation about the Bible, 
and I can't even remember actually the subject, but somehow the 
subject of pride came up. And I'll never forget what he 
said. He said, you know, pride's an ugly thing, but then he said, 
I cannot think of one good thing about pride. At the time, to 
be honest with you, I thought, well, that's kind of a radical 
thing to say. Pride swelling up. It's true. It's always contrary 
to faith. I think, you know, if we were 
to say, what's the opposite of faith? Pride. Men and women often do 
not, in fact, men and women often will not come to Christ unreservedly 
seeking mercy and grace because they maintain too high an estimation 
of themselves. And in his estimation, this centurion 
of himself, his condition before Christ, this centurion exercised 
spiritual sanity. He was absolutely correct. He wasn't worthy. No one is worthy. And isn't it interesting to note 
the Lord wasn't concerned with building up his self-esteem, 
a major religion today. The Lord wasn't concerned with 
popping him up with unbiblical ideas of his standing. The centurion 
said, Lord, I'm not worthy to come under your roof. And Jesus 
didn't say, oh, no, I wouldn't go that far. You don't want to 
say that. Come on. You're OK. No, the Lord 
didn't argue with him. The centurion came to Christ 
knowing his unworthiness. What an important lesson. Sinners 
coming to Christ in the gospel must come knowing what they really 
have earned, what they really have deserved before the Holy 
God. And what is that? It's judgment and damnation. 
Isn't that the truth? Why do you suppose so many people 
grumble? Why do you suppose so many people 
complain against God? Why do you suppose that so many 
people talk about things not being fair? Such and such has happened to 
me. It's just not fair. It's just, it's not what I deserve. 
I don't deserve, I deserve better. And why do so many in arrogance 
act as if they know what's best? Well, there's only one answer. 
It's because they've never been broken before, Almighty God. 
They have no sense of unworthiness. And brethren, they're not saved. They have no genuine faith. And 
so when the Lord works in the heart of a sinner, He works in 
such a way that the sinner comes to Christ, the only Savior of 
sinners, with genuine faith and heartfelt repentance. He comes 
knowing and confessing he's a sinner, he deserves damnation, he throws 
himself entirely upon the mercy and the grace of Christ. Do you 
remember, if you go back to chapter 7, the Sermon on the Mount, as 
Jesus was making the concluding remarks, as he was making application 
of his doctrine, and he warned about false prophets. who come 
to you in sheep's clothes, who really are dangerous wolves. 
And then he talked about the fact that there are only two 
gates and there are only two roads and one leads to glory 
and the other to destruction. And as one man commented, all 
who are on the road to heaven know in their hearts they deserve 
hell. Everybody that's going to heaven 
has that in common. They know in their hearts they deserve 
hell. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. What have I gotten 
that I have not received? And all who think they deserve 
to go to heaven are on the broad road that leads to hell. And now here's the question. 
A serious one. Have you ever come, have you 
ever seriously, sincerely come to the Lord Jesus Christ acknowledging 
your unworthiness, seeking only his mercy and grace? If you haven't 
come in that way, you haven't come at all. You're still in 
your sins, guilty before God, under his curse and holy wrath. Come. to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is mighty to save and willing 
to save. He receives unworthy sinners. There are no other kind. Anybody 
know any worthy sinners? There are only unworthy sinners. 
Moreover, faith sees the excellence, the perfection, and preeminence 
of Christ. We could take some time to develop 
all of those. Maybe we'll take them together 
here. He is a great Savior for big sinners. Faith understands 
that. So saving faith has confidence, 
you see, not in faith, but in Christ. Another valuable lesson, 
this man's sense of unworthiness. did not prevent him from coming 
and you shouldn't hesitate either. Don't you believe that Christ 
is a great Savior? Don't you know that you're a 
big sinner? Paul said Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners. Praise God. And he adds by personal 
testimony, I believe something every child of God of faith can 
say. I am the chief, the biggest sinner 
of all. I don't think that Paul is using 
hyperbole there in any stretch. I think that's his heartfelt 
conviction. As he looks back upon his conversion, 
he considers what he was before. He was converted, spiritually 
dead, and a proud, arrogant Pharisee, a persecutor of Christ and the 
church. He says, Christ has come to save 
sinners, and I'm number one. And I think every Christian in 
their heart of hearts, as they read that, is tempted to say, 
wait a minute, Paul. Now, don't get me wrong. That's 
the word of God, isn't it? But I think there's a sense in 
which we're tempted to say, wait, Paul, wait a minute. No, no. 
I don't think you got that exactly right. I'm the worst sinner. I'm the chief of sinners. So 
the good news is, and here's the really good news, here's 
the really good news of the gospel, that God has it in his heart, 
therefore in his sovereign will, in his plan, even before eternity, 
to show mercy and grace to great sinners. It's his plan. Micah chapter 718, I love this 
passage. The hymn, Great God of Wonders 
is written by Samuel Davies is based upon this hymn or this 
verse. It says that God is a God of 
wrath, but he delights, he takes pleasure in mercy. And the Bible is full of examples. It is absolutely chock full of 
illustrations teaching and showing us just how great a Savior he 
really is. One that I think of from time 
to time, again, so many, but turn to 1 Corinthians. Maybe 
you haven't thought of it this way, but 1 Corinthians chapter 
6. Verses 9-11, I don't need to 
rehearse with you the context here, Paul writing to the church, 
he's writing to believers, baptized saints, and they have their problems, 
don't they? They have issues of division, 
there's division amongst them, there's ignoring of sin. They're 
puffed up a bit. You know, they're a very gifted 
church. One of the larger churches. All the gifts of the Spirit, 
all the prophetic gifts of the Spirit are operative there in 
Corinth. And they have lots of teachers. 
Problems in the church. Divided. So Paul, he's going 
to bring them down a peg. And so he says to them in chapter 
6 verse 9, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit 
the kingdom of God? Amen, that's right. Do not be 
deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, 
nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor 
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will 
inherit the kingdom of God. That's right. And then Paul says 
in verse 11, and such were some of you. But you were washed, 
you've been born again, you've been regenerated, you were sanctified, 
you've been cleaned, cleansed, but you were justified in the 
name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. See, Paul 
is driving home the point to them that he'll say later, what 
do you have that you have not received? The psalmist says in 
Psalm 130, if God should mark our iniquities, who could stand? 
He's a great Savior of great sinners. God is determined to 
show His mercy, His loving kindness to the world on through eternity, 
as Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2. Sinners, we who were once 
spiritually dead, have been made alive. To what end? To what purpose? 
That we may be trophies of His grace. He saves lost, helpless, hell-deserving 
sinners. And the centurion's astonishing 
faith found hope in Christ's word alone. That's important. The psalmist says in Psalm 130, 
verse 5, I wait for the Lord. My soul waits and in His word. I hope. In his word, I have confidence. And note what the centurion says 
in verse 8. Only say the word. We could say so much about that, 
but basically what the centurion is saying, my servant is homesick, 
dreadfully, in a dreadful condition. Jesus says, I'll come and heal 
him. Lord, I'm not worthy to come under your roof. You don't 
have to, just say the word. It's not your physical presence. 
He wasn't bound up in some superstitious idea that required the physical 
presence of Christ. His Word. His Word was sufficient. Sola Scriptura. So to Christ, speak the Word. It's enough. Real faith rests, 
you see, upon God's Word. I would encourage you to go home 
this evening and read your confession and the chapter on saving faith. 
And you'll discover that saving faith, the essence of it, is 
belief in the Word of God. Specifically, in that Word of 
God as it promises mercy and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus 
Christ. You see, we live in a day that 
is just mad for signs and wonders and such. The Catholics and Charismatics 
seeking after signs and such things. Listen, don't fall into 
the trap of thinking that that's somehow a measure of faith. That's not faith. That's the 
lack of faith. That's the absence of faith, 
and I say that upon the authority of God's Word. Why? Faith comes 
by hearing, and hearing by the Word. Say the Word. What does 
Jesus say? It's an adulterous and sinful 
generation that seeks a sign. Why? Why do they seek a sign? 
Because the Word written is not believed. Its sufficiency is 
denied. And if you're to be saved, you 
must believe His Word. You must come to him according 
to his word, not according to your own imagination or the invention 
of men, but you must come to him according to his word. And 
what does his word say? Come to me and all who labor 
and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. You see, that's our 
warrant. That's our warrant to come to 
the Savior. Believe and you will be received. It's not confidence in ourselves. 
It's not confidence in our strength. It's not confidence in our resolve. It's not confidence in the church. 
It's not confidence in some priest or in visions or dreams or other 
imaginations of the heart. It's in the word. In that word, 
he says to sinners, come, if any man thirsts, I will give 
you to drink. You remember when Jesus spoke 
to the woman at the well in John chapter 4 and verse 10. What 
a beautiful passage that is. And he says to her, if you knew 
the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, who it 
is that is speaking words to you, give me a drink. You would have asked him and 
he would have given you living water. Well, moreover, this centurion 
had complete confidence in Christ's authority and power. Only speak 
the word. Verse 9, I'm a man under authority. Christ, you're under authority. 
I'm under authority. I have soldiers under me. I say 
to this one, go. When he goes, to another come. 
And he comes to my servant, do this, and he does it. And surely 
when you, Christ, when you speak, it will be done. So much we could 
say about the authority of Christ. There is absolutely no question, 
there can be no doubt, the Bible presents the Lord Jesus Christ 
as God manifested in the flesh, as divine. We sing the hymn by 
Joseph Summers, Thou art the everlasting Word, the Father's 
only Son, God manifestly seen and heard and heavens Beloved 
One. But it is also true, and the 
Bible is very clear, about the authority and the power of Christ 
as King of Kings. He is Lord of Lords, Lord of 
all. And as the New Testament declares, 
He has been exalted far above all principality and power. Paul 
says, to the highest place of heaven. Ephesians 1 says that 
all things have been put under his feet. The New Testament says 
that he is at the right hand of God, symbolic of authority 
and power and honor. Moreover, our Lord himself testified 
in his very familiar words in Matthew 28, just before he ascended 
back to heaven, as he gave marching orders to the church, all authority, 
all power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And you 
see, here's the thing. Saving faith lays hold of that. Saving faith says, Amen. That's right. It looks with complete 
confidence to the authority and power of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and believes it is so. Do you believe that? I have a confession 
to make. Sometimes that's hard to believe. In my sinfulness. And I confess 
to you, it's one thing to preach that. Very easy. That's very 
easy for me to stand up here and preach that. You see, it's 
one thing to quote it as gospel. It's one thing to say it with 
our lips, all that the Bible says about Jesus. But do we believe 
it in our heart? All authority Jesus says, has 
been given to me in heaven. Amen. I believe that. Yes, Lord, in heaven, you have 
all authority. And one day I'll be there when the role is called 
up yonder. I'll be there. But Jesus said in heaven and 
on earth. Doesn't belong to the power brokers. 
It's not in Washington, D.C. or Beijing, China. It's at the 
right hand of God. You remember that wonderful passage 
in John chapter 11, Jesus is standing with Martha at the gravesite 
of Lazarus. Turn over there a moment. Isn't 
that a wonderful passage? Turn over there. Note in verse 23, Jesus said 
to her, that is to Martha, your brother, Martha, he's dead now, 
but he says your brother will rise again. And she responds, 
well, yes, Lord, I know that. He will rise, when? At the last 
day. Of course I know that. She was 
an Orthodox Jewess. She knows that to be true. He'll 
rise at the last day. And then Jesus said to her, one 
of those amazing I am statements of his, there in verses 25 and 
26. I am the resurrection and the 
life. Whoever believes in me, though 
he die like Lazarus, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives 
and believes in me shall never die." What an amazing statement. It doesn't end there though, 
does it? What does he continue to say? Do you believe this? He pushes her feet. I am the 
resurrection. Whoever believes in me shall 
never die. Do you believe this? And the 
point that I want to make is that the Word of God comes to 
us with all these wonderful things. Wouldn't you agree? And the Word 
of God comes to us with all these wonderful and glorious and great 
promises. My God shall meet all of your 
needs according to his riches and glory. And it asks, do you believe them? Do you have confidence in them? Do you really rest content in 
the power and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of 
the things that has concerned me for so long is so troubling 
that there is an incredible degree of discontent and trouble, a 
sense of being overwhelmed amongst people who claim Jesus as Lord 
and Savior. Now, I'm not suggesting the Christian 
life is que sera sera, that there's no problems. As a matter of fact, 
the Christian life is full of, it's too much tribulation, you 
enter the kingdom of heaven. When you become a Christian, 
you're going to get a whole other set of problems that you didn't 
have before. But is there not something of 
faith that ought to produce a measure of contentment in the Christian 
life? I can't think of a more powerful 
testimony to an unbelieving world than to be resting content in 
the promises of God. Can you? Do you rest content 
in the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ? Lord, 
say the word. I'm a man under authority. These 
men will do what I ask them to do. Lord, if that's how it is 
with you, There's one more thing that we 
should take note of in reference to the centurion's astonishing 
faith. Praise God, we got through these 
six and it has to do with faith's outcome. We haven't got through 
six yet, but we're getting there. Faith's outcome. We might even 
speak of faith's reward. Verse 13, Jesus said to the centurion, 
go your way. And as you have believed, so 
let it be done for you. I think, you know, brethren, 
there's a terrible abuse of this idea of faith, you know, this 
faith movement, this name it and claim it. And sometimes I 
think because of that, we back away from things that we shouldn't 
back away from. And one is believing in the reward 
of faith. That God honors faith. Now, we've 
got to be talking about real faith. We're not talking about 
faith as some power like electricity. We're talking about faith as 
the object of faith, right? Embracing the promises of God. Content in God's good providences. But faith is always rewarded. It's always the case. Now, again, 
faith might be tested. Not might be, it will be tested. 
And it'll be tried. Lord, you pray, Lord, increase 
my faith. You know what he's going to do? He's going to make 
life real easy for you. He's going to make everything 
just easy peasy. That's not the way God's going to increase your 
faith. He's going to send you some difficulties. Just like, 
you know, Lord, increase my love. He's not going to surround you 
with all kinds of people that love you. He's going to bring 
some stinkers your way that are hard to love. God honors faith. And I say that 
on the authority of God's Word. He looks for it because it's 
precious to Him. You know what? It's not natural 
to us. It's His work. That's why He honors it. Isn't that a major theme of Hebrews 
11, where faith is brought into focus? Without faith, you cannot 
please God. And him that comes to God must 
believe that he is, that he's all that he says he is, and that 
he's a what? A rewarder of those who diligently 
seek him. Who are those who are diligently 
seeking? Those who are exercising faith. And when there is true faith, 
again, true faith that shapes one's convictions and life, it's 
blessed of God. It pleases Him. And he rewards 
it. Faith is the victory that overcomes 
the world. And all of those people in Hebrews 
11, they believed in God, and they looked to his truth in Jesus 
Christ, and God rewarded them. Now, wait a minute. Many of them 
went through trials and trauma, suffering for their faith. Some 
even to death. From our perspective, from a 
human perspective, things are quite awful and hard. But God 
honored their faith. They did amazing things, and 
they won great victories, and their testimony was blessed of 
God. Even the Lord Jesus Christ was 
a man of faith. It's true he's God in the flesh, 
he's all-powerful, but he's also presented as the man Christ Jesus, 
and he lived out of faith. The writer of Hebrews says he 
is the author and finisher of our faith, and I trust you know 
that word author really means pioneer. He's the forerunner. He went before, setting us an 
example to follow. God honors faith. You ask any 
real Christian, you go back and ask William Carey if God doesn't 
honor faith. William Carey didn't have it 
easy. He had to fight his own denomination to get to the mission. His biographer wrote, he devoted 
his heart to the translation of the Bible into local languages. He knew that for the Indians 
to hear the gospel of Jesus, he had to give them the word 
of God in their own languages. So he diligently studied Bengali 
and other languages from the very beginning and translated 
the scriptures. Now, many of you know the story 
that there was a fire after seven years of translation work and 
it burned up everything and it was gone in seconds. Is that a reward for faith? He 
had to struggle with his work through many sleepless nights. 
Often he had to do this with his wife screaming. She suffered 
from mental illness. In her room and the children 
fighting nearby, only the Word of God sustained him through 
the difficult years. He lived out of faith. Finally, 
after more than seven years of hard work, the first Bengali 
New Testament was published in December 1800. At a special Thanksgiving 
service, Kerry delivered a message based on Colossians 3.16 with 
the title, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. What was 
more remarkable was the presence of the Indian sheep at the service. Just a year earlier, the first 
convert named Krishna Pal had been baptized by Cary. Several 
others followed, and they were there at the service. Cary was 
deeply grateful to the Lord, but it was only the beginning. 
Throughout his mission life in India, he devoted himself to 
the work of translation, and the Bible was published in some 
40 different languages. And when he had the reverent 
fear of the word of God and he lived by faith, the Lord blessed 
his ministry and added many more converts from among the natives. I guarantee you, you send an 
email off to our friends in China that just suffered for the cause 
of Christ. You send an email off and you 
ask them if God rewards faith or not. I know them well enough 
to know the answer. It's worth it. God is a rewarder 
of them that diligently seek it. His reward is Himself. Look at the fruit. Look at these 
little ones around us that have been delivered and coming to 
know Jesus Christ and growing in the faith and knowledge of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. George Mueller, man of faith. He began praying for five of 
his friends. Are you familiar with the story of George Mueller? 
I recommend his biography to you. He lived in Great Britain 
in the 19th century, founder of many orphanages. He lived 
out of faith. Very rarely did he have much 
more than five or six dollars in his pocket. One day he began 
praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them 
came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were 
converted. It took 25 years before the fourth 
man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer 
until his death for the fifth friend. And throughout those 
52 years, he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ. 
His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller's funeral, the 
last one was saved. You come down to Glen Cullen 
and visit us, I'll introduce you to Mal Kassim. He's 94 years 
old these days. He was a deacon when I came there 
in 1999. He's a deacon emeritus. He's 
struggling a bit these days. He's beginning to have some dementia. 
His heart is to be in the house of God whenever the doors are 
open. For his own safety and health, we've had to restrict 
it just a bit. And you ask him about his faith. And you know 
what he'll tell you? He'll say, well, you know, it hasn't always 
been easy. He said, I had a job once. I loved my job. I worked 
there for 25 years and the place closed down. I lost my job. I 
lost two-thirds of my pension. He has outlived two loving wives. And he'll say, I've always believed. And he'll say, faith is the best 
way. and the Lord has blessed. His favorite verse is Philippians 
4.19. My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches 
in Christ Jesus. As we mentioned earlier, Jesus 
marveled. He was astonished at this centurion's 
faith for all of these reasons that we've detailed. It was humanly 
speaking, unexpected. A Roman centurion. It was humble 
and it was confident. It rested in the word of God. 
It realized his authority and it was rewarded. And so Jesus 
said in verses 10 through 12. Verse 10 through 12 says, when 
Jesus heard it, he marveled when he heard the statement of faith, 
expression of faith and said to those who followed, Assuredly, 
I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in 
Israel. And I say to you that many will 
come from east and west like this Roman centurion and sit 
down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 
But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. 
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. As much as I can say about that, 
maybe I'll come back another time and develop that a bit for 
you, but let me just jump to what I think is a fair question. 
What might Jesus say about our faith? So we should contrast this briefly with that place I mentioned 
earlier where Jesus marveled when there was no faith. Same 
word. Same word is used, but a totally 
different setting. Turn to the Gospel of Mark. Mark chapter six. Verses one through six. Then he went out from there and 
came to his own country. And his disciples followed him. 
And when the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue, 
in his own home. And many hearing him were astonished, 
saying, where did this man get these things? The people heard 
him, they marveled at his teaching, just as everybody did. And what 
wisdom is this which is given to him? They didn't deny the 
truth of what he said and the wisdom of it. And that such mighty 
works are performed by his hands. No denying any of that. And then 
note verse three. This is their attitude. Is this 
not the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and 
Joseph and Judas and Simon are not his sisters here with us? So they were what? Offended. They didn't believe they were 
offended. Incredible. Jesus said to them, 
a prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among 
his own relatives, and in his own house. Now he could do no 
mighty works. What an incredible statement. He could do no mighty works there, 
except that he laid hands on a few sick people and healed 
them. Note verse six, and he marveled. Same work. He marveled because 
of their unbelief. Then he went about the villages 
in a circuit teaching. Very same work. But now he's 
astounded at the lack of faith. Here, where you might expect 
to find faith, not only in Israel, but in his own hometown, amongst 
his own people. people that were familiar with 
him and his work. No faith. And he's astounded. Four things, very, very briefly. 
Again, let me just mention, here are people that took their privileges 
for granted. Be very careful. You young people, 
you children, listen up. You be very careful. What a great 
privilege it is to sit under the ministry of God's Word, under 
faithful preaching, to be familiar with the things of God. These people took it for granted. 
They failed to see. What did they fail to see? Their 
great need. What did they not do? They did 
not seek mercy and grace. Second, they were ruled by foolish 
prejudices. Note in the passage, how did 
they live? How did they reason? By what they could figure out. And not the authority of God's 
word, verses two and three. Who is? Well, that's pretty amazing 
teaching. These are some mighty works that 
you're doing. How did this happen? Where did you go to seminary? Where did you go off and become 
so smart? We know who you are. Forget those 
promises. Forget what Messiah will do when 
he comes. Here's what we can see. Here's 
what we can figure. You're Mary's son. You're the 
carpenter's son. You're from Nazareth. Nothing good ever comes 
out of Nazareth. People will die in their sins 
and unbelief because of their worldly foolish prejudices and 
ill-luck. How often have you heard someone 
say, well, you know, I know what, okay, I hear what you're saying 
about the Bible, but I like to think of God this way. I like 
to think of Jesus this way. Closely connected, they were 
blind to the truth right before their eyes. This man's teaching this man 
has wisdom is teaching something else, isn't it? Look at those 
mighty works had no impact. They were blind to it right before 
their eyes. I tell you, I could tell you 
a sad story. I had a man in our life in our church a number of 
years ago. And this was a man who was, I'll 
be honest with you, he was a seminary graduate from a respected Reformed 
seminary on the East Coast. His wife suffered from, came 
under an affliction with a very serious eye ailment. And I could never really get 
him, he claimed Christ as his savior, but it was like he would 
be hit and miss at prayer meeting or Sunday school, you know. And 
his wife became afflicted, and she was going to require a very 
touchy, very delicate surgery. And we went to praying for her 
in our prayer meeting. And we prayed for the surgery 
was delayed because of the touchiness of it and her condition. And 
eventually, the doctors performed the surgery, and praise God, 
it was an incredible success. The doctors were amazed. The 
doctor thought, this is beyond our expectations. And I went 
to the scholar and I asked him one time, I said, you know, why 
is it that you don't come to prayer meeting? Why is it that you don't come 
and pray with God's people? You know, we're not perfect. 
I know. And maybe you could help us in our prayers. He said, well, 
I don't come to prayer meeting because nothing ever happens. 
It's really boring. Can you imagine? Unbelievable. Forfeited blessing. Blind to 
what's right in front of you. These people, when Jesus marveled, 
astonished. Forfeited the blessing, verse 
5. Verse 5, and listen to these words. He could do no mighty 
work there. What do you make of that? Is Mark suggesting that the Lord's 
hands were tied? Do you find it a bit troubling? Before I go on, I confess to 
you, I wish I could tell you that I understand exactly what 
that means, exactly. Maybe one day I will, when I 
get to heaven, and I am a bit troubled. Is Mark suggesting 
that Jesus Christ was in some way limited? I don't think so. Because we have so many other 
scriptures, and we know that scripture doesn't contradict 
scripture, and one rule of hermeneutics, biblical interpretation, your 
pastor taught us at the men's meeting when he came down to 
Glen Cullen is that the clear passage is always interpreted 
in form the less clear. We believe in the perspicuity 
of scripture, that scripture is clear and understandable and 
for us, but not all scripture is equally. And so, you know, 
I may say, well, I don't know for sure what that's saying, 
but one thing I do know, it's not saying that Christ is limited 
in His power, or that He was rendered unable. In fact, you 
see right in the text, in verse 5b, it says that He actually 
laid hands on a few and healed them. But I do think what we 
can say is that when it speaks of the fact that he could do 
no mighty work there, what he's saying is that it would be contrary 
to his way in character. You see, he works by means. And 
in his sovereignty, he uses faith. Without faith, it's impossible 
to please God. God is a rewarder of faith. Some commentators suggest 
it may be as simple as this. Christ could not do, I don't 
want to get it wrong, He could do no mighty works there. It 
might be as simple as this, that the people just simply didn't 
bother. They had no faith and they didn't 
even bother to take the sick to Jesus, to give Him a hearing. And maybe it was something of 
their own reasoning, their familiarity with them, with Christ, robbed 
them of faith. And so Jesus said in verse 4, 
and I think this is, if you think of it, that really makes sense. A prophet is not without honor 
except in his own country, among his own relatives, in his own 
house. Their familiarity robbed them of the blessing. I always 
warn the people at Glen Cullen, especially when we come to a 
familiar passage of scripture, be very careful. Don't let the 
devil rob your familiarity of this passage of its power. And nonetheless, Jesus marveled 
at the lack of faith. Again, much more we could say, 
quick application. Jesus is the same yesterday, 
today, and forever. Do you believe that? Do you have faith? What reaction do you produce 
in the soul of Jesus Christ? I think it's a legitimate question. 
You are in the presence of Christ. Think of the great privilege 
That is yours. What is your tenor of life? Isn't that an important point? 
What is your, we might say, what is your fallback position? You know what I mean. Do you 
live by sight? Generally speaking, by what you can see and sense 
and figure out and rationalize? Or do you live by faith? If you're a Christian, I believe 
the tenor of your life is faith. Paul says we walk not by sight, 
but by faith. Well, we don't do it perfectly, 
do we? No, God forgive us. Have mercy on us. Lord, increase 
our faith. Lord, make us more like Jesus. Let me just close with, I'll 
read to you A verse that many of you, I'm sure, are familiar 
with. Maybe a couple of verses that many of you can quote. It's 
my wife's life verse. Do you have a life verse? Do 
you have a favorite verse? If someone says, what is your 
favorite verse? Or if you were going to give 
your testimony, what verse might be? This is the one Marsha would 
go to. I think many Christians as well. 
Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord. Have faith in the Lord. with all your heart, with a measure 
of sincerity, and lean not on your own understanding. Now, don't misunderstand that 
passage. It doesn't say lack understanding. It doesn't say 
don't have any thinking. No, use your thinking. Use the 
mental capacity that God has given you, but make sure that 
it's in the context of trusting in the Lord. And don't lean on 
your own understanding as the final. Trust in the Lord with 
all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and all your 
ways acknowledge Him. And, here's the reward of faith, 
He will direct your ways. Isn't that wonderful? Do you believe that? Well, may 
God bless these things to our heart as we as we consider them.