Bibles, if you would, to Matthew
Chapter 8. Matthew Chapter 8. The name of
the message is, A Mighty Need, A Mighty Savior. A Mighty Need,
A Mighty Savior. We'll be reading verses 5 to
13 tonight. Matthew Chapter 8, verses 5 to 13. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion besieging him, and
saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof,
but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For
I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say
to this man, go, and he goeth. And to another, come, and he
cometh. And to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled
and said to them that fall, Verily I say unto you, I have not found
so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you that many
shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the
children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness,
and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus
said unto the centurion, Go thy way as thou hast believed. so be it done unto thee. And
his servant was healed in the same self hour. What a wonderful portion of scripture
here before us. And this portion is so full of
the grace which we often see in our Lord manifest in being
merciful to his lost sheep. Now before this portion of the
scripture we see a leper coming to Christ. Look at verses 2 to
3. We see a leper coming to Christ.
He has had his desperate need for Christ revealed to him. And
he has revealed to him the fact that only Christ can heal him.
And we see this in the verses that we read here. Look at verses
2 and 3. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put
forth His hand and touched him, saying, I will be Thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Now turn over one chapter to
chapter 9, and there we see someone with a great need as well. And
this lady had exhausted the help of man. She had went to physician
upon physician and spent her money upon them trying to heal
her of a hemorrhaging that she had. But now she comes to the great
physician, the Lord Jesus Christ. And look at Matthew chapter 9,
verses 20 to 22. she's also sees her need and
she comes to Christ it says here and behold a woman which has
which was diseased with an issue of blood 12 years 12 years she
had had this happening to her came behind him and touched the
hem of his garment for she said within herself if I may but touches
garment I shall be whole but Jesus turned him about, and
when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith
hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole
from that hour. Now what did these two individuals
have in common? They had heard of Jesus Christ,
and they had an idea of who he was. They had heard of him as how
Can they call on Him except they hear? And how shall they believe on
Him of whom they have not heard? And also the second point is
they believe that Christ could help them, otherwise they never
would have came to Him. They believe that Christ could
help them, that He alone could make them whole. And they came to Christ because
they had a need, and no one else could help them. No one else
could help them. The leper said, if thou will.
No, it was not if the leper willed, was it? He said, Lord, if thou will.
If thou will. And the woman said, if I but
touch the hem of his garment. I shall be whole. They believed
that Christ could make them whole. They believed that, didn't they?
Otherwise, she never would have attempted to touch the hem of
his garment if she didn't believe that Christ could make her whole. The third thing they had in common
is that they sought Christ out. They sought Christ out. They
did not come to his disciples. They didn't come to his disciples
and say, hey, can you help me? No, they didn't
come to the disciples. They came to Christ. The disciples
couldn't do anything for them. The disciples couldn't heal them.
Just like a preacher can't do anything. But we can point you
to the one who can do it all. We point people to the one who
can make them whole. And we tell you to come to Him,
not to us. We tell you to flee to Christ
and Christ alone. The leper came to Christ. The
woman came to Christ, and tonight we see the centurion came to
Christ. And this is who we must come
to, beloved. This is who the believer looks to. For the forgiveness
of all our sins. For all our salvation. We look
to Christ, don't we? We come to Him, don't we? We
know we're made willing, but we do come to Him, don't we?
We do. We don't go to the disciples,
we don't go to the preacher. We go to Christ. That's why the
scripture says, look to Him in there. Look to Christ in there. Look to Christ in there. So the
believer looks to Christ and Christ alone. The fourth thing
they had in common was that they knew their healing was according
to his power. They knew it was according to
his power. The leper said, Lord, if thou will, if thou will, you
can make me whole. The woman said, if I touch the
hem of his garment, I shall be made whole. And notice that they contributed
nothing to their healing. They didn't contribute anything
to their healing, did they? Nothing at all. Just like we
don't contribute anything to our salvation. It's all Christ. It's all salvations of the Lord. That's who it is. So they cast
themselves upon the mercy of God, didn't they? Because Christ
is God incarnate in the flesh. So they're casting themselves
upon His mercy. And we see that in the leper's
cry, Lord, if thou will. And the woman, she had exhausted,
as I said, she had exhausted all other human help. If I but touch the hem of his garment,
I shall be made whole. Their hope was in Christ and
Christ alone. The leper came worshiping to
our wonderful Savior, didn't he? By faith, he's saying, Lord,
Lord, if thou will, thou can make me clean. The woman came to Christ, and
she had faith. She believed that he could make
her whole. So that's another thing they
had in common. They had faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. Faith that he could heal them.
Do you see the picture here that's being painted, beloved? Do you
see the picture that's being painted right before our eyes?
by the Scriptures? The picture of a needy sinner?
The picture of someone who's exhausted all hope in themselves
or any other human? We come to the One who can make
us whole, don't we? And that's Christ and Christ
alone. We're sin sick, aren't we? We're born into this world
plagued with sin. It runs and courses through our
veins, and through everything we do is tainted with sin. Everything. Everything. We're sinners by birth, nature,
and choice. And oh, what a need we have. We come to Christ, who has all
power to heal us. All power. And we come to Christ
begging Him to save us, knowing that it's according to His will
if He does. It's all according to His will. Begging
Him for mercy. We do not depend on our own strength
or our own merit. We depend upon the strength and
merit of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He done for us when
He lived upon this earth. and when he died upon Calvary's
cross in that place. Here's another question which
I have not hit upon yet. Why did they come to him in the
first place? Why did the leper come to him? I touched on it
a little bit. Why did the woman come to him
and why did the centurion come to him? Because they all had
a need. They all had a need. And that need could only be fulfilled in Christ. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
9. When I was studying for this message, I found these two verses. And again, you know, the verses
that you've read over and over, but you didn't see what they
said. And I was marveling at these two verses over here in
Luke chapter 9. Look at verses 10 and 11. And
there's something wonderful tucked right into these verses. Let's
look at what we've studied so far in our minds and what we
just touched upon. Luke chapter 9, let's look at
verses 10 and 11. And the apostles, when they were
returned, told them all that they had done. And he took them
and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the
city of Bethsaida. Look at this though in verse
11. And the people, when they knew it, followed him. And he
received them and spake unto them the kingdom of God. And
he healed them that had need of healing. Look at that little
nugget at the end of that verse, beloved. And he healed them that
had need of healing. Do you have a need to be healed
by Christ? Oh, we do, don't we? We do. Desperately, beloved. Desperately. And He healed them that had need
of healing. Tie that in with, I've not come
for the whole, but I've come to heal the sick.
And we know He was speaking spiritual things there, wasn't He? Those
who see themselves as what? Having a need. Having a need,
beloved. Oh my, and He healed them that
had need of healing. Praise God that He showed us
that we had need of healing, we who are His blood-bought people.
And He's done that, hasn't He? He's done that, and He continues
to do that. He reveals to His lost sheep their need for Him,
their desperate need for Him. And just like the The leper and the woman with
an issue of blood, the centurion also saw a need, knew that he
had a need, a need that couldn't be taken care of by anyone else. So all three characters here
have a need, and they've been showing again their desperate
need for Christ by the Holy Spirit of God. And they've been showing
that Christ alone could fulfill their need. We'll see that. Let's turn back to Matthew chapter
eight. Now they all came to Christ because
they needed him desperately. The woman had a need, she had
an issue of blood, she came to Christ. The leper had need of
being cleansed, he came to Christ. The centurion had a servant,
a dear, dear servant to him that was grievously tormented and
this need drove him to Christ too. So with that in our minds, let's
look at our text again. Matthew chapter 8, we're starting
verse 5. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion besieging him. Now here, beloved, we have another
of Christ's miracles before us as we will continue to read or
see this. Now Capernaum was a city of Galilee,
not far from Nazareth, and this was where our Lord began His
ministry. Turn if you would to Matthew
chapter 4, just a few chapters over. Capernaum was in Galilee
of the Gentiles, and we see here in Matthew chapter 4 that this
is where the Lord began His ministry. Matthew chapter 4 verses 12 to
17. Now when Jesus had heard that
John was cast into prison, verse 12, He departed into Galilee.
In leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which
is upon the sea coast and the borders of Zebulon and Nephilim,
that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying, the land of Zebulon and the land of Nephilim, by the
way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the
people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them
which sat in the region in shadow of death, light is sprang up. From that time, Jesus began to
preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now a centurion, which we see
came to Jesus here. A centurion was an officer in the
Roman army. In ancient Rome, a century was
approximately equal to a company in the US army. And the centurion
was roughly equivalent to a captain. So this was a man of authority,
and this was a man of power. And we'll see that as we read
the text. This man was a Gentile. He was
a soldier of Rome, which was one of Israel's oppressors. But
it is said of this man over in Luke, in Luke 7, 5, it is said
this, that he'd been kind to the people of Israel, and he
had built a synagogue, for he loveth our nation, and he hath
built us a synagogue. Beloved, this was one of the
Lord's sheep coming to him. This was one of the Lord's lost
sheep coming to him, and we'll soon see that his faith was holy
in Christ and Christ alone. He calls him Lord. We see that. He calls our Lord, Lord. God's elect are one in Christ,
where there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Let's look at the next
two verses. In saying, Lord, my servant lieth
at home, sick of the pulse he grievously tormented. Jesus saith
unto him I will come and heal Now the centurion does not come
again to the disciples he comes right to Christ right to Christ
and Our Lord our Lord and note he besieges the Lord in the Greek
this means to address or speak to to call To call upon to beg
or entreat he's he's appealing to Christ just as the leopard
is He's appealing to Christ just
as the leopard did. And he's asking the Lord to heal
a servant that's very, very dear to him. Over in Luke chapter
7, turn there if you would, quick, because that's the other time
this is spoken of over in Luke chapter 7, but we'll just read
verse 2 and then we'll go right back to Matthew chapter 8. How
do we know that that this servant is very dear to the centurion. Look at Luke seven two. And a
certain centurion servant who was dear unto him was sick and
ready to die. Ready to die. Let's go back to
Matthew chapter eight now. Think of this. What makes you
want a drink of water? Thirst, isn't it? You have a
need. You have a need. What makes you
want to sit down for dinner? You're hungry. You have a need. What makes you want to go to
the doctor if you have to? Because we only really go to
the doctor when we have to, don't we? I don't know anyone who likes
to go to the doctor. But we have to, though, don't
we? We have to. to keep a check on our bodies. Sometimes sickness makes us go
to the doctor. But we always have a need, don't
we? We want to make sure we're well. This centurion had a need. He
desired his servant, a servant that is very dear to him. He desired that the servant would
be healed. Because he was grievously tormented,
his servant was in a miserable condition and ready to die. Note in our text in verse 7,
it says, and Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. Beloved, notice the fullness
in these wonderful words right here. Notice the fullness in
these wonderful words. The Lord didn't say, I'll come
and visit him, I'll come and see him. That would have been kind, right? He did not say what you and I
would say, I'll come and see him and pray. Because that's
all we can do, isn't it? But note these wondrous words
he proclaims, I will come and heal him. I'll come and heal him. And note the centurion doesn't
plead merit for the Lord to heal his servant, because he knows
he has none. He's called our Lord, Lord. And he's going to do it again. And he does not feel worthy for
the Lord to even be in his presence. Look at verse 8. The centurion
answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof, but speak the word only and my servant
shall be healed. He does not say this is rejecting
and despising the presence of the Lord, beloved, no, on the
contrary. This shows his great humility. And the fact that he is conscious
of his own vileness and his own unworthiness to have the Lord,
to have such a great person in his house. Remember, he was a Gentile, beloved. He'd been an idol worshiper,
a profane man. And he sees his unworthiness
of having Christ come into his house. And is this not how poor,
unworthy sinners see themselves when Christ is revealed to us? Do we not see our unworthiness? And even after we're saved, we
still see ourselves as unworthy of the mercy and grace which
Christ has given us, but yet we rejoice, don't we? We rejoice
that God has had mercy upon us. But we see ourselves as utterly
unworthy. Oh, what grace this is, beloved. What mercy this is, to think
that Christ died upon Calvary's cross for my sins. and that his blood, his life
was given for me, and every believer says that, for me. Oh, we see our unworthiness, don't
we? But what mercy God has upon us. He's loved us bright, he
loves us bright. So do you see yourself as this?
I ask everyone hearing this and those who will hear this message,
is this how you see yourself before God? I pray that God would make it
so if you don't see yourself as unworthy in the presence of
the Lord. Because all who are redeemed
see ourselves as unworthy. But again, we rejoice in the
mercy that God has had upon us, redeeming us with his precious
blood. Christ redeeming us with his
precious blood. God incarnated in the flesh and
the Holy Spirit regenerating us. And we marvel. Note the centurion declares,
as we looked at earlier, that Christ is the only one who can
heal his servant. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I'm not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof,
but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. He's declaring that Christ is
the only one who can heal his servant. And he declares that Christ can
do it with a word. Remember the leopard? Lord, if
you will. Centurions declaring the same
thing. Just a word, Lord. Just a word
and my servant will be healed. Now contrast these words with
natural man, a natural man, a woman who says that Christ was a good
teacher or he's one of many ways. This centurion had no such views
of Christ. He had the views of Christ that
a believer has. Lord, only you can make this
happen. Only you can do this. And all you've got to do is speak
a word. Just speak a word. And again, I go back to that
leper. Lord, if thou will, thou can make me whole. And then the
woman with an issue of blood, if I but touch the hand of his
garment, I shall be made whole. My. And no one could have taught
the centurion this, but God, the Holy Spirit, beloved. And
what a wondrous thought this is. Here we see a Gentile, which
is what all of us are. We're all Gentiles here. Here
we see a Gentile who comes to Christ and besieges him to heal
his dear servant, knowing that and believing that Christ has
such power to do so. That he could heal his servant
with just a word. I found an interesting story
that ties into this with the centurion believing that Christ
could heal his servant with just a word. One day Napoleon was
reviewing his troops in Paris. He let fall the reins of his
horse upon the animal's neck. So he just put the reins on the
animal's neck and the proud horse galloped away. Before the rider could recover
the bridle, a common soldier ran out from the ranks and placed, and stopped the horse.
caught the reins and stopped the horse and placed the bridle
again into the hands of the emperor. Much obliged to you, captain.
Did you catch that? He was a common soldier. Much
obliged to you, captain, said Napoleon. The man immediately
believed the chief and said, of what regiment, sir? Napoleon,
delighted with his quick perception and manly trust in his word,
replied, of my guards. And rode away. As soon as the emperor left,
the soldier laid down his gun saying he may take it who will
and started for the company of staff officers And so the soldier
came dully to his post as captain of Napoleon's guard. The soldier believed the word
which Napoleon said based upon who Napoleon was. Now think of that in a greater
place here. The centurion had great faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He had great faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, believing that man standing before him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, was sovereign over all, God incarnate in the
flesh, with whom nothing is impossible or even difficult. And the centurion
believed that just a word from him and his servant would be
made whole. Just a word. Now take a note of verse 9 here. For I am a man under authority,
having soldiers under me. And I say to this man, go, and
he goeth. And to another, come, and he
cometh. And to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. So the
centurion is a man of power and authority. Soldiers are under
his command, and they must come and go at his pleasure. But he
acknowledges here that Christ has all power and authority,
proclaiming that all things are under his control, even this
sickness that has struck his servant. And he declares, believing that,
that if the Lord willed with just a word, He could make His
servant whole. He had been taught by God that
Christ has all authority. And He comes by faith to the
very One who has all power. And let not this escape our study,
that He comes by faith to the very One who is the author and
the giver of that faith. He comes to the very one who
is the object of His faith, just as we as believers do. We come
boldly to the throne of grace, not on any merit of our own,
but in Christ, pleading with our great God, don't we? Look at verse 10. When Jesus
heard it, He marveled and said to them that fall verily, I say
unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
John Trapp brings forth about this verse what can be so great
a marvel as that Christ marveleth. So as he wondered at his own
work in Nathanael, it says over in John 1, verse 47, Jesus saw
Nathanael coming to him and saith of him, behold, in Israel, indeed,
in whom is no guile. This faith which the centurion
has is a work of God's almighty power, beloved. And this faith which the centurion
has been granted by God for his own great purpose. And here we
are reading about it tonight. And the saints which follow us
will read about it as long as the Lord dares. And it's wonderful. God gave the centurion faith
and it was because This great faith that he had
was all from God. All from God. Now faith is not
in a doctrine or principle, although we love doctrine, don't we? But
our faith isn't in a doctrine. No. Every needy sinner who looks
to Christ confesses that Christ is all we need. Just like Thomas. We cry out, Christ, You are our
Lord and our God. Recently I was asked about how
does one know that they are saved, or how is one saved? Very recently. The same kind
of question Paul was asked by the Philippian jailer. And the
answer that I gave to the person who asked me that question is
the same answer which Paul gave. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Don't allow anyone to put anything
in between yourself, whether it be an experience or a decision
that was made. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. I then asked the person this
question, what think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? That
question, beloved, will cut through all other things, which people
put in the way of coming to Christ, and it will expose their hearts.
It will expose their heart, the heart of the unbeliever, for
what it is. A heart filled with enmity against
God, and no desire to come to God, and no knowledge of who
God is, and a heart which sees no need of Him. But it's a question we must ask.
What think ye of Christ? And if anyone's listening, and they have their heart exposed,
I pray that God would grant you faith to believe upon the Lord
Jesus Christ and to trust Him alone. to see your desperate need for
Christ. And he would grant you faith and repentance to trust
Jesus Christ, our Lord, just like he's done for every one
of his Budba people. Dost thou believe on the Son
of God? If you now trust the Lord Jesus
Christ, salvation's yours. Salvation's yours. I was talking to a dear sister
on the phone today, and we were talking about the text for tonight,
and the centurion's great faith. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 16. Our dear sister in Christ bought
this up, this very portion, and I told her, I said, I'm going
to put that in the message, because this is wonderful. This is absolutely wonderful.
Peter gives the confession and cry of every believer in Christ.
Matthew chapter 16 verses 13 to 17. When Jesus came to the
coast of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples saying, Whom
do men say that I the Son of Man am? See this is why we must
ask people, what think you of Christ? And they say, some say that thou
art John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others Jeremiah,
or one of the prophets. When you ask people what think
ye of Christ, a lot of people say this. Well, he was a good
teacher. He's God in the flesh. He is
the teacher. But that's what comes out of
their mouth. And then they proceed to tell
you that there's many ways to God. No, there's not. There's
one way. Only one, the Lord Jesus Christ, who himself proclaims,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father, but by me. And look at this here in Matthew
chapter 16, verse 14. And some say, thou art John the
Baptist, and some, Eliza, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the
prophets. And he saith unto them, but whom say ye I am? Now there's
the question, isn't it? Who do we think Christ is, see?
What think ye of Christ? Not what someone else says. What
do you think of him? What do you think of him? And
Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And look at this. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon of Barjona, for flesh
and blood hath not revealed unto thee but my Father which is in
heaven. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Let's go back to Matthew chapter
8. We'll look at the last three verses here now. Remember this, that the faith
which the centurion had was great. We know that faith is God's gift
and God's operation in us. He had the same faith we have,
didn't he? The same object of our faith, Christ and Christ
alone. Faith is the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God, but it's
our faith, isn't it? He gives it to us, and the individual
believes on Christ. He says, thou art, he or she
says, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Glory be to God that he gave
this faith to us, because the object of this faith is Christ.
The last three verses, we'll look at them verse by verse.
And I say unto you, verse 11, and I say unto you that many
shall come from the east and from the west and shall sit down
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Beloved,
this speaks of the truth that the gospel would be preached
in a short time to all nations. To all nations. And many among
them would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Many among them
would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, just as Abraham and the
patriarchs did. They would partake of the same
blessings of grace with them. Never forget that the Old Testament
saints are saved the same way we are. Look into Christ. Look
into Christ. There's not salvation one way
in the Old Testament and salvation another way in the New Testament.
No. There's salvation in Christ and Christ alone. Remember what
Job said? I know my Redeemer liveth. He
was looking to Christ, beloved. All those sacrifices pointed
right to our Savior, didn't they? All of them. All of them. And
they partook of the same blessings of grace that we have. Such as
adoption, justification, pardon of sin. All which is found in
the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. Now under the Gospel dispensation,
Gentiles and Jews are one in Christ. One in Christ. And this
shows us that the faith of the Old Testament Saints and the
New Testament Saints is the same again. Jews and Gentiles. and
has one object. One object, Christ. Again, all believers, whether
Old Testament believers or New Testament believers, have the
same God, the same Father, the same Mediator, the same Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're all born again by the same Holy
Spirit of God. partaker of the same grace, and
we rejoice in the same Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Now
consider verse 12, which speaks of the Jews who rejected the
Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah. But the children of the kingdom
shall be cast out into outer darkness, there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. This is the children or the people
who expected the kingdom the Jews supposed themselves to be
the special favorites of heaven and they thought that the Messiah
would come and enlarge their nation and Spread the triumphs of their
kingdom They called themselves therefore the children of the
children or members of the kingdom of God To the exclusion of the
Gentiles the Gentiles were looked upon as dogs Our Savior, God incarnate in
the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ, uses the same manner of speech
here to which they were accustomed to hearing. And he said, many
of the pagans, that's what he's saying here, many of the pagans
would be saved and many Jews lost. But the children of the
kingdom shall be cast into utter darkness. They shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. Look at the verse before that. Let's read them together. And
I say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west,
and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out
into outer darkness, and there shall be weeping and ashen teeth. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
and thou shall be saved. Reject Christ, and you'll be
cast into outer darkness, which is a picture and description
of hell. Let's consider the last verse. And Jesus said unto the
centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it
done unto thee. And the servant was healed in
the same hour. My, what a miracle. As he had faith to believe that
Christ could cure his servant by speaking a word, it was done
accordingly, by the will of God. By the will of God. Christ, by his almighty authority,
said, let him be healed. And he was healed. Just as God in creation said
what? Let there be light. What happened? There was light.
When God speaks life to one of us who are dead in trespasses
and sins and regenerates us by the power of the Holy Spirit
of God, we are granted faith and repentance to believe upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do, don't we? We do. My. Note he didn't say according
to thy prayer or according to thy righteousness. He didn't
say that in the text. According to thy goodness, He
didn't say that. No. According to thy faith. Who was
the object of His faith? Christ. Christ. And Christ alone. So we've seen
tonight that the leper saw his need for Christ and came to Him.
The woman with an issue of blood saw her need for Christ and reached
out and touched Christ. And the centurion By faith, just
as the other two saw that only Christ could heal his servant.
And he believed that he could just do this with the Word. So
he comes to Christ and Christ alone. I ask you who are listening to
this message or will listen, do you see your need for Christ?
I pray that God would show you your desperate need for Him if
He hasn't. They that are whole have no need
for a physician, but they that are sick, may God show you your
sin sick state and grant you faith to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, because every believer says, that's what he did for
me. Praise his mighty name. Glory
to God. And the centurion showed that
he had great faith, which we know is a gift from God. by just asking for only a word,
only a word from the Savior's lips to make his servant whole. And he was convinced, beloved,
of Christ's supremacy. Because he was a man of authority,
remember? He was convinced of Christ's supremacy. He was convinced
of Christ's power. He was convinced of Christ's
authority. And he came to Christ by faith.
He came to Christ by faith with a need to make His servant whole. Glory be to God. Our God and
King has made we who are sin sick sinners whole by faith in Him. Praise His mighty name. Heavenly
Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank you for this. Wonderful study, where we see
the centurion came to the Lord and the alone in his hope was
only in you, Lord Jesus, just as just as every believer's hope
is only in you. We have nowhere else to go, Lord,
you've had this up. We see no merit in ourselves,
but oh, oh, the wondrous merit that you worked out for us on
Calvary's tree and in your life. You redeemed us by thy precious
blood. It's all of what you've done
and you've done alone. And we who are your blood-bought
people rejoice that you've had mercy upon us. Let us ponder
these things and think upon them and meditate upon them through
the week, oh Lord. May they bring joy and comfort to our hearts.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us sing.