Matthew chapter 8, I'm taking
the title from verse 7. The Lord Jesus Christ said to
this centurion, when the centurion said, Lord, my servant lieth at home,
he's sick, he's dying. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
to him, I will come. I will come. And it's not just
that I will come and see what I can do, or I will come and
see maybe there's some way I can be of help. The Lord Jesus Christ
speaks with absolute certainty, doesn't he? I will come and I'll
heal him. No problem. No problem. I'll
come and I'll heal him. The Lord is gracious. The Lord
is merciful, isn't he? I will come, I will heal. That's
the title of the message. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of Man, has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He
said, I will come. He has come to seek and to save
the lost. The Lord said, I will come, I
will come and I will heal. We read in John 10, our Lord
said, I'm come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd, the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Aren't you glad he
came in the fullness of time? God sent forth his son, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. I am come that they might have
life, eternal life. in Christ Jesus. Our Almighty
God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, does not merely attempt
to do his will or tries to do his will. He always does as he
pleases, with whom he pleases, when he pleases, all the time. All the time. always has, always
will accomplish the eternal purpose of God. He said in Isaiah, I've
spoken it, I bring it to pass, I purpose it, I will do it. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. There is that eternal purpose
that God purposed in the Lord Jesus Christ in that eternal
covenant of grace whereby he has made the surety of that everlasting
covenant and He will save His people from their sin, because
He did at Calvary. Again, as we read of the many
mighty miracles the Lord performed, and you can read in chapter 8
and in chapter 9, these many miracles the Lord performed on
sinners in need of mercy, in need of healing in their physical
bodies, but are but true pictures of the Lord's dealing and Lord's
healing in the spiritual realm of sinners plagued with sin and
made whole in the Lord Jesus Christ. When you talk about,
turn back to chapter 4, when you talk about a lame man, walking,
or a blind man seeing, or a dead man being raised up. These are
all types and pictures of how God heals us spiritually in Christ. In Matthew chapter 4 verse 23,
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing all manner of sicknesses,
all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout
all Syria. And they brought unto him all
sick people that were taken with diverse diseases, torment, and
those which were possessed with devils, and those which were
lunatic, and those that had the palsy. And what did he do? He
healed them. He healed them. Now, hold your
place there. In Matthew 8, I want you to turn
to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. And all this
that the Lord Jesus did in his earthly ministry was in fulfillment
of what had been spoken by the prophets. In Luke chapter 4,
Verse 16, and he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up, and
his custom was he went into the synagogue on a Sabbath day and
stood up to read, and there was delivered unto him the book of
the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book
and found the place where it was written, Isaiah 61, The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He sent me to heal broken hearts,
to preach deliverance to captives, recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord. And he closed the book. gave
it to the minister there in the synagogue, and he sat down, and
the eyes of all of them were fastened in the synagogue, were
fastened on him, and he began to say unto them this day, This
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bear witness
of his wondrous word. So the Lord Jesus Christ, he
came to save sinners, didn't he? This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. Sinners! Now we read of another
amazing miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ who went about doing good,
healing all that were oppressed of the devil, because God was
with him. God was in him. Now look at verse
5. Matthew 8, verse 5. And when
Jesus entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion,
beseeching him, saying, Lord, my servant, lieth at home sick,
sick of the palsy. Grievously, grievously tormented. In Luke 7 it says that he is
at the point of death. And the Lord said to him, I'm
going to come. I will come. And I will heal. You know that had to be good
news. There's another amazing story. The Lord Jesus Christ
clearly demonstrating that he is God, God our Savior, showing
that he will have mercy on whom he will. This Roman soldier,
this centurion, the commander of men, was among those who,
at one time, persecuted the Jewish nation. He was considered a Gentile
dog, as Peter said, well, it's not lawful for a Jew to enter
into the house of one who is a Gentile. Yet he was loved of
the Lord, received mercy of the Lord, and was given faith by
the Lord, and was made an example of saving faith. Notice what
the Lord says in verse 10. Verily I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith in Israel. This man was granted faith, and
he had great faith. Now, this is an amazing statement,
because you think of the disciples, and in this same chapter, if
you look over in chapter 8, verse 26, he says to his disciples,
when they were on that boat and the storm came up, started taking
on water, started sinking, why are you fearful, O you of little
faith? Isn't that amazing? Here's this
Roman centurion that was granted faith, and God said of him that
he had great, great faith. Like that in Acts chapter 10,
we read about Cornelius, another centurion who was given faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has an elect number
of sinners among all nations, who will be called out by the
grace of God, who will be given faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
as we studied in Revelation chapter 5, out of every kindred, tribe,
nation, tongue under heaven, will be granted faith, given
faith, the faith that God's elect, to believe the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's why faith is called the
precious gift of God. It's a precious gift. I've not
found so great faith in Israel." Saving faith glorifies the Lord
Jesus Christ. Did you know that? Saving faith
glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, Abraham is often held
forth as an example of faith, isn't he? Abraham believed God
and was counted to him for righteousness. But Abraham, it says in Romans
4, staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that all that God had
promised, He's able to do. Saving faith, whether it's little
or great, all magnifies Christ, looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. But isn't this amazing? The Lord
said of this man, I've not seen so great faith among these people
as this man. Now look at verse 6. This man,
like the leper we read about last week, approached the Lord
Jesus Christ in humility. In verse 6, now, I get this picture
in my mind, If you look at verse 1 in chapter 8, when he was come
down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And
here was one leper who cried out for mercy. And here was one
sinner who was in need of mercy, who received mercy. What about
all them other multitudes? There was a multitude. God, by
His sovereign grace, singled out these two men to show mercy
unto. But He addressed him as, Lord,
Lord, Lord. Notice the leper said in verse
2, and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. In verse 6, this centurion had the same humility of mine,
didn't he? He addressed him as Lord. My
servant lieth at home sick, sick of the palsy. and he's grievously,
grievously tormented. We only know the Lord Jesus Christ
as God our Savior by the revelation of God the Holy Spirit. And this
is what happened to this man. It's obvious. Turn to Matthew
16. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. They are foolishest unto him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. He has hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes. You
remember in Matthew 16, our Lord said in verse 13, Whom do men
say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Well, some say
they are John the Baptist. Thou art John the Baptist. Some thought, after John had
been beheaded, that he was raised from the dead, and some thought
that that's who the Christ was. Some say that you're Elias, which
meaning Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets, and he
saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Look at verse 17, Matthew 16.
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. He
had a revelation. given to his heart that the Lord
Jesus Christ is God, the only Savior of sinners. This man come
to the Lord with one great need. His servant was sick and his
servant was ready to die. Now, I love what the Lord does
here in verse 7. At this request, the request
of faith, the Lord said in verse 7, I will come. I have no problem. I'll come. And I'll heal this
man. I will come, I will heal. We see something of the readiness,
don't we? And the willingness of the Lord
to heal this desperate, needy sinner. And the absolute promise
of God, He said, I will come and I will heal him. The promise
of God. I will. It wasn't, I will come
and attempt to heal him, or I'll come and we'll have a healing
service, and maybe, maybe something will happen. No, the Lord said,
I will come and I will show mercy. I will heal him. I love that
prayer of Nehemiah. I found it in Nehemiah 9, verse
17. Thou art a God ready to pardon.
God delights to show mercy. Our Lord said, you have not because
you ask not. You need mercy? Yes. Ask the Lord for mercy. We see that same willingness
in our blessed Redeemer to come and undertake for his covenant
people, don't we? To be the sacrifice for our sin.
He laid down his life for us because he loved his own. He
said, no man takes my life for me. I have power. to lay it down,
I have power to take it in. This commandment have I received
of my Father, the Lord Jesus Christ died just for the unjust
that he might bring us unto God. All the promises of God in him
are yes, and in him amen, and they cannot fail. Failure is
not an option. with Christ. He's a surety of
the everlasting covenant of grace. I will come and I will show mercy. God said I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. Remember when Moses asked the
Lord, Lord show me your glory? After everything Moses had seen
in Egypt and also the deliverance of the Red Sea and Moses said,
Lord show me your glory. Remember what the Lord said?
I will cause all my goodness to pass before you, and I'll
be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I will harden whom
I will have hardened. God's greatest glory is showing
mercy. That's my greatest need. I need
mercy. And God is glorified by doing
that, by showing mercy to His people. Now look at verse 8.
The centurion answered and said, Lord, I'm not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof. He knew something of that Jewish
law where the Jews could not go into the house of a Gentile.
But just speak the word only. You have so much power and so
much authority. Remember back in chapter 7 that
came to pass when Jesus ended the saying, verse 28, the people
were astonished at his doctrine for he taught them as one having
authority, not as a scribe. I like what this centurion said,
well, just speak the word. You have all power and all authority,
just speak the word. And my only, and my servant shall
be healed. And then he gives this example.
He said, for I'm a man with authority. I have soldiers, I have servants.
And I say to this soldier, go, and he goes. I say to another,
come, and he comes. I say to my servant, you go do
this, and he does it. He knew something how authority
works. And he said, Lord, you have all
authority. Just speak the word only, and
my servant shall be healed. The centurion had a very high
opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ and a very low opinion of himself. I'm not worthy. And that's what
saving faith. He's neither of them of a broken
heart, save as such it be of a contrite spirit. This is where
saving faith, the faith of God's elect comes to. Lord, I'm a sinner. Like Jacob said of old, I'm not
worthy the least of thy mercies and of thy truth, which thou
hast showed unto thy servant. We don't merit his mercy, do
we? No, he shows us mercy because it's his delight to do so. True faith toward the Lord Jesus
Christ has a very high exalted thoughts of him and a very low
and base opinion of self. Saving faith has a very high
opinion of Christ. He is God our Savior. Saving
faith also has a very low opinion of what we are. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Isaiah, do you remember Isaiah
when he saw the Lord high and lifted up and exalted? Do you
remember what he said? Woe is me, I'm undone, I'm a
man of unclean lips. When Job said at the end of the
book of Job when everything he'd been through, everything that
he had seen, what God had revealed unto him, he said, I've heard
of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now I see it thee, wherefore
I abhor, I hate myself, I repent in dust and ashes. The Apostle
Paul, old Saul of Tarsus, that proud, proud Pharisee, who bragged
at one time, being so zealous for the glory of God, he thought,
being so self-righteous and self-centered, he said, I've never, I've never
broken the law. When he met the Lord Jesus Christ,
he was humbled, wasn't he? Lord, what will you have me to
do? You remember what he writes in
Romans 7? Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Saving faith has a high opinion,
exalted opinion of God our Savior, and a very low opinion of self.
He said, Lord, just speak the word. Just speak the word only
and my servant will be healed. Now this was not arrogant presumption
in this man, was it? The Lord said, I will come and
I will heal. Just speak the word and my servant
will be healed. This is not arrogant presumption.
This is saving faith. This is confidence, isn't it?
Not in him, but in Christ. Confidence in Christ. You speak
the word only in power. When he speaks, he speaks as
the king with all authority and with all power. Let me give you
another example of that. Right across the page in Matthew
8, look at verse 16. When evening was come, they brought
unto him many that were possessed with devils, and he cast out
the spirits with his word. Just speak the word. healed all that were sick, that
it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. Just speak the Word. You see,
the Word is alive and powerful. The Word is quick and powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword. His gospel truth is oozing with
mighty power. That's why He told us to go preach
the Word. Preach Christ, the Word. The
gospel is the power of God and the salvation. We don't make
the word powerful by how we present it, or how we quote it, or how
we preach it. The word itself is the power
of God. The word of God itself is quick
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. It's a powerful
sword that we have in Christ Jesus. Now look at verse 9, for
I'm a man under authority. I understand authority. He understood
something about the command of order, something of the concept
of dominion and authority. He ordered his soldiers and his
servants, and they obeyed him. The Lord of glory has all authority
and power. That's why he said, just speak
the word. I understand authority. I understand dominion. When I
tell my soldier, you go, he goes. And to another, when I tell him
to come, he comes. And my servant do this, and that's
what he does. You see this man's confidence
in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not presumption, it's confidence.
How much more with the authority and power of Almighty God, the
Lord Jesus Christ has all power in heaven and in earth to save
such as we are. God has given him, he prayed
in John 17, Father, you've given me power over all flesh, that
I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given to
me. All power, he said, no one can
stay his hand or say unto him, Lord God, what doest thou? He
does according to his will in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth, and no one can stop his hand,
no one can stay his hand. Whatever he does, is right, and
whatever he does is what he pleases to do. Well, what's going to
happen? Verse 10, when the Lord heard
it, he marveled. He marveled and said to them
that followed, truly, and that word there, verily, if you look
that word up in the concordance and read it in the Greek, you
know what it is? Amen. It's amen. And when Jesus
heard it, he said to them that followed, Amen. Amen. I say unto you, I have not found,
I have not seen so great faith, no, not in Israel. In the three years the Lord walked
in his public ministry, he hold this man forth as a great example
of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We often think of Abraham as
an example of faith, and he is. He's a good example of faith
in Christ. But the Lord admired this man's confidence that he
had in Christ. Saving faith always glorifies
Christ. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name do we give glory and strength. Saving faith
always looks to the Lord Jesus Christ for all things in salvation. Looking unto Jesus, who is the
author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down on the right hand of the throne of God. We know that faith
is the precious gift of God, not of worthless any man should
boast. We know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
word of God. Where did this man hear about
the true living Christ of God? No doubt this man heard all the
words that fell from the master's lips there on the sermon on the
mount, and he heard the word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of the Lord. We know without faith it is impossible
to please God. Those that come to Him must believe
that He is, and He is a gift. He is a rewarder of those that
diligently seek Him. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. This man heard the word of truth,
and God gave him faith based upon the word. the Word. Now look at verse 11, I say unto
you, and there was a great multitude that followed them, but I say
unto you that many shall come from the east, that's a pagan
country, east of Jordan, and many shall come from the west,
and shall sit down, sit down with Abraham, and shall sit down
with Isaac, and shall sit down with Jacob, and they shall sit
down in the kingdom, in the kingdom of heaven. Many sinners from all four corners
of the earth, the world, shall come to Christ by saving faith
in him, and shall find eternal rest, all mercy, just like Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. All that the Father giveth to
me shall come to me, and those that come to me I will let no
wise cast out. I want to show you a scripture
here that I think will help us. Find Isaiah 43, Isaiah chapter
43. Many shall come because they're
brought to God through Christ. Many shall come. Our Lord said,
all you that are laboring, heavy laden, come to me and I'll give
you rest. Many shall come from the east,
the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
believers. Now Isaiah 43, look at verse
5. Isaiah 43, verse 5. Fear not, for I am with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east. I'll gather thee from the west.
Who's this seed? The elect of God. I'll say to
the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my
sons from far. Bring my daughters from the ends
of the earth. Everyone that is called by my name. I have created
him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea, I have
made him. God has an elect all over this
world, and He will cross their path with the gospel, and He
will call them out of darkness into His marvelous light, all
to His honor and glory. Now look at verse 12, Matthew
8 verse 12. So many will come in that day
of grace, and sit down with the children of God in the kingdom
of heaven, But he talks about another kingdom here, this Jewish
kingdom, this earthly kingdom. But the children of the kingdom,
they shall be cast out into outer darkness, and there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. Among the self-righteous Jews
who were going about to establish a righteousness of their own,
those who trusted themselves for salvation, those who were
going about to establish a righteousness by their morality, by their religious
tradition, shall be cast out into eternal darkness and eternal
misery. This is the Lord separating the
sheep from the goats. The sheep from the goat. He that
believeth on the Son hath eternal life, everlasting life. He that
believeth not, the wrath of God shall abide upon him. Remember
what our Lord said. Turn to Luke chapter 16. Remember
what our Lord said over here to those self-righteous Jews
who were going about to establish a righteousness based upon their
morality. In Luke 16, the Pharisees also
were covetous, verse 14, and heard all these things, and they
derided him. And he said unto them, you are
they which justify yourselves before men. But God knows your
heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is nothing but filthy rags, abomination in the sight
of God. You see, those who go about to
justify themselves will be condemned. Those who condemn themselves
will be justified. Isn't that the story we find
in Luke chapter 18 about the Pharisee who prayed and said,
Thou, I thank God that I'm not like that old publican over there.
I fast twice a week. I pray. I do all these things. And that publican smote upon
his breast, said, God, be merciful to me, thee sinner. And then
the Lord said, that man went home to his house justified rather
than the other. The publican condemned himself
and was justified. The Pharisee justified himself
and was condemned. That's the way of grace. Now,
in closing, look at verse 13. Jesus said to the centurion,
now this is a Roman soldier, and you know, he was a ranking
soldier. He had at least 100, according
to what I've read, the centurion was one who had 100 soldiers
under him. He was a captain or some kind
of commander. He was given faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
said, Go thy way, as thou hast believed. What did he believe? He believed Jesus was Lord. So
be it done unto thee. And the servant was healed the
selfsame hour. Grace, amazing grace. As thou
hast believed, be it unto you. and the centurion's servant was
healed. It was not according to this
man's position as being a Roman soldier. It was not according
to this man's righteousness. He didn't have any. It wasn't
according to this man's prayer. but according to his faith in
and toward the Lord Jesus Christ. The object of faith was the power. Faith in itself has no power.
Saving faith looks to Christ objective. He's the object of
faith. And that's where saving faith
has power as it looks to Christ. Our salvation is not according
to our works. Not at all, but rather according
to His own purpose and grace, given us in the Lord Jesus Christ
before the foundation of the world. Our salvation is received
by believing, not by doing. Not by doing, by believing. Faith does not accomplish salvation. The faith of God's elect receives
Christ, who accomplished all salvation for us. So we can say,
Our salvation is dependent, dependent upon who? Our salvation is dependent
upon Christ and Him crucified, risen and glorified. Our salvation
is determined by the sovereign will of God. It's not of Him
that will it or of Him that run it, but of God that showeth mercy.
Our salvation is dependent upon Christ and Him crucified, determined
by the sovereign will of the Lord Jesus Christ, and accomplished
by Him who accomplished salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
all salvation for us. He said, my will is to do the
work of Him that sent me and to finish, finish the work. He
said on Calvary 3 it is done. So we can say that salvation
is dependent upon Him, determined by Him, accomplished by Him,
and it's applied by Him. He'll have mercy on whom He wills.
Not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God
that shows mercy, as I just said. God who has begun a good work
in you will Perform it, perfect it. Salvation, we say often times,
salvation is of the Lord. We sent that message out yesterday
for the Mayhans TV message. Salvation is of the Lord in it's
origination, it's execution, it's application, it's sustaining
power, and it's ultimate perfection. Salvation is of the Lord. With
man, it's impossible. With God, all things are possible
with Him. We believe only according to
the working of His mighty power. We have every reason to be confident
concerning our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm confident,
I'm persuaded we are the true Israel which worship God in the
Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in
the flesh. We have every reason to be confident of salvation
accomplished by Christ. Salvation by the grace of God,
the purpose of God. Because His purpose cannot be
defeated. His grace cannot be frustrated. His love cannot fail. His promise will be fulfilled.
His blood cannot be shed in vain. No one will perish for whom Christ
died. His power cannot be resisted. His people cannot perish. Oh,
what a gospel we have in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
it's all to His glory. The grand design of everything
God does in saving sinners. The grand design of redemption
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, who gets the glory
in that story? Not the centurion. The Lord who
had mercy. The Lord who healed. Healed that
poor dying servant.