May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the Gospel of
Matthew, chapter 8, and we'll read verse 10. The Gospel of
Matthew, chapter 8, and reading verse 10. When Jesus heard it,
he marveled. and said to them that follow,
verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel. This is a very simple account
that we've read a verse from. It's about a centurion. The Jesus had come to Capernaum
and Centurion came unto him and said, Lord, my servant lieth
at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto
him, I will come and heal him. Well, that was a wonderful, glorious
statement. And the Centurion answered and
said, Lord, I am not worthy. thou shouldest come under my
roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I'm 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 followed, verily, I say unto you, I have
not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. We must, of course,
understand that when we read that Jesus marveled, it was as
a man and not as God, because as God, obviously, he knew everything
from the beginning and he would know exactly what was going to
occur. But here we see him as a man
and we see the faith given to this centurion. And it's wonderful
to read the simplicity of this centurion and the faith that
he had and was able to say, speak the word only and my servant
shall be healed. The Lord had said he would come
and heal him. But the centurion said, just speak the word and
my servant shall be healed. He was given faith to believe
that the word of the Lord Jesus had that power. And although
he wasn't there in a physical position, yet that word would
indeed heal this servant. Well, it's a great and wonderful
blessing to have faith like this centurion did. We read a lot
about faith in the New Testament, not so much in the Old Testament,
but very much in the New Testament, although we have evidences of
many in the Old Testament who did possess glorious faith. But we should realise that faith
is something which emanates from God. It's not something that
you and I can produce by learning. We can't pick it up and we can't
take it with us. It's that which God gives. And
we have a definition of it in the Hebrews where the Apostle
tells us What is faith? Faith is the substance of things... Sorry. What is faith? The substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Well, no
doubt we can understand, therefore, that definition. And truly desire
to be blessed with faith, to believe. You see, many things
we perhaps want to handle physically, but we are not allowed to. We're
told we walk by faith and not by sight. The reason is that
as God gives us faith to believe, then God receives the honour
and glory. If everything was easy for us,
we could observe things and lay hold of them physically, there
wouldn't be the honour and glory to God. But it's a wonderful
thing that God does give faith, and He always has done, and He
always will do. And to be thankful therefore
that it is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God. And so we have this centurion,
blessed with that living faith, was able to say, speak the word
only, but my servant shall be healed. And we have these examples
in the word of God to encourage us today. carried us today. God does give faith. Sometimes
we expect to have some kind of miracle occur, that something
suddenly arises. Well, as I said, we walk by faith
and not by sight. And we should always remember
this and recognize the goodness and mercy of Almighty God in
granting us living faith. You think of the Old Testament
saints which were blessed with living faith. You think of Abraham.
Think of Abraham, there he was in Ur of the Chaldees and he
was told to go out. And we're told he went out. Nay,
not whither he went. He didn't know where he was going.
but he was given faith to believe that God would be with him and
God would direct him. And as we know, if we follow
through the life of Abraham, he traveled from place to place,
but we have continual evidence that God was indeed with him. Well, we're thankful if God gives
us faith to trust him. We may not know the future. We don't know the future. We
don't know what it holds for us. But what a blessing it is
to come casting all our care upon him, believing that he gives
that faith to believe the way we take cannot be wrong. if Jesus be but there. And again, how essential it is
that we are able to follow in that narrow way, which does lead
to eternal life. It's not an easy path. No, we're
not promised an easy path, but we are promised a good end. And that is what we need to be
looking forward to and trusting Our God, faith to believe that
he who has begun a good work in our hearts will indeed complete
it in the day of Jesus Christ. There are no failures with God. Our God doesn't make any mistakes
in our life. We make many mistakes. Often
we make mistakes because we rush on. We want this to occur and
that to occur. God has a perfect time scale. And what a mercy it is that he
does so. And as we read, his way is perfect. Our way is unperfect. And one
of the great reasons it is, is that if it was worked out in
accordance with our plan, we would claim some of the honor
and some of the glory. Whereas our God is a jealous
God, and rightly so. and He does deserve the honour,
and He does deserve the glory. So when He does appear, when
He does answer our prayers, and when we see He has led us in
the right way, that the crooked things have flowed down, and
the crooked things be made straight, and the mountains flow down at
His presence, we can truly rejoice and thank God that we have such
a kind and gracious God. Here we have then this simple
statement, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be
healed. Well, I wonder if sometimes we
may have a request. We may have a request. We have
something we really need. It may be very true. may we come
like this very simply to our God but speak the word only and
then to be blessed with faith to believe the truth of that
word and to follow that word It's a great blessing to be given
faith to believe. Faith to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's an earlier account, the
Lord speaks about, and he says this, he said, be not afraid,
only believe. Only believe. You see, we may
say, well, that's what I want to do. but I don't seem to be
able to do it. Well, we should take encouragement
from this to be not afraid. Be not afraid, but believe all
the Lord has said in his word. with regards to our spiritual
understanding and our spiritual life. Well, remember then that
this centurion came in this simple way and said, speak the word
only. He didn't ask for some great
demonstration, some wonderful sign that he would know it was
to be true. Sometimes we lay down the rules,
don't we? We want this to happen. We pray
that this might occur. And if this occurs, then we will
do so and so. Well, here was a man of faith,
just simply said, speak the word only. What a blessing it is then,
if God does grant us that word, and then we walk in that word. We don't doubt that word. The
devil constantly encourages us to doubt the work and doubt the
word of God. That's his great ploy. It always
has been. As we know back in Eden's garden,
he came and said, hath God said. Hath God said. God had said. God had spoken very clearly to
Adam and Eve what they could eat and what they could not eat.
And yet he comes, you see, and sows a seed of doubt. That's why the word of God directs
us with regard to our heart the evil heart of unbelief yes and
sometimes we operate that because we don't want to walk we don't
want to do that which God speaks to us and therefore we we make
an excuse And we say, well, I don't think I can do that really. I
want some greater testimony. And yet if the word comes from
the Lord, remember here what this man said, speak the word
only. And if that word was spoken, he had faith to believe his servant
would be healed. my servant shall be healed. You
see, that which God speaks, my friends, is sure and certain. God never makes a mistake in
his words to us. He never tells lies to us. He
never misdirects us. We can remember, as he spoke
to the psalmist, he led them forth by the right way that they
might go to a city of habitation. It wasn't an easy way. We perhaps
look for an easy way. We expect God to direct us in
an easy path. But he's never promised that.
But we can believe, as he led Israel of old, he led them forth
by the right way. And the result was that they
might go to a city of habitation. And we should always recognize
that's the whole object of our little life on this earth. to
be brought safely to our eternal home. And if you and I were to
formulate our own route to glory, we would make a mess of it. We
would make a mess of it and we would try and do everything to
please ourselves. But what a blessing it is when
we're given faith to trust the word of the Lord. Just like this
centurion. Don't forget the simplicity.
Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. Yes, there was
the desire what would happen and then the confidence that
that which God had spoken would occur. We walk by faith and not
by sight. How often you see we want things
that are very tangible to us, don't we? We want to have something
that we can almost physically grasp with our own hands. And if not grasp, at least have
a very clear view of it naturally. And yet you see God's people
walk by faith, trusting in the Lord. What a mercy it is for
you and me today if we trust in the Lord. You know, in the
Romans, the apostle wrote to the Romans, and he speaks about
faith, and he said, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God. What a mercy then if we hear
the Word of God, hear the Word of God read, hear the Word of
God preached, and that Word comes to us. And we're not to dismiss
it because we think it doesn't agree with our plans. We are
to follow the Word of the Lord. It's good, you know, to be an
obedient servant, not a disobedient servant. Choose the other way
and still lead on. Submissive to God's will, that's
a wonderful blessing the Lord grants to us. And so therefore,
the Lord is able to make this statement He marveled and said
to them that follow, verily I say unto you, I have not found so
great faith, not in Israel. But it was a simple faith. I think we can say that true
faith is simple because it's God given. God gives us faith. Again, going back to the Old
Testament, you think of Moses. choosing rather to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the treasures of sin for
a season. God gave him, by faith, that
view of the blessing that attended the people of God. He was made
willing to forsake all those natural comforts in Egypt, Pharaoh's
palace that he'd been brought up in, willing to forsake them
and to suffer affliction with the people of God. Well, What
a blessing if you and I have faith to walk a path like that. Yes. To choose. Don't forget the wording there. He chose. God helped him. God strengthened him. He chose
that path. That path which was God's path. and that path which would at
last, as we know, bring Israel safely into Canaan. Moses wasn't
allowed to go there, get there in the end, because he disobeyed
the Word of God. And again, we should be very
careful in our lives. We may think Almost we can get
too big for our boots and think, well, God's blessed us in this
and blessed me in that, and therefore I think this must be in accordance
with His will. Well, we need to be very careful.
Has God spoken to us? The word only. and directed us. If he has, then we can be certain
it's the right way. But we don't want to make an
assumption, just like Moses did when instead of speaking to the
rock to bring out water, he hit it with his rod like he'd done
before. He made an assessment, he made
an assumption, but it was wrong. God is a holy God, and God is
a God who is to be obeyed. And it's so easy for us to walk
in a contrary way. There is a way that seemeth right
to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. It may
look good, may seem prosperous, is it God's way? That's what
we have to ask, isn't it? Is it God's way, or is it our
way? seems good we look at it we weigh
it up we think it must be right and yet you see it's not a good
way and necessary therefore to have faith to walk in the way
that God would have us to walk in and have therefore a humble
confidence in God. A humble confidence that our
God never makes a mistake. And there again, we only have
to go back to those many examples in the Old Testament, how the
children of Israel were led and directed. David was led and directed. And you may, if you read the
life of David, you will find that on many occasions, He sought
direction from his God. Sometimes God told him to pursue,
and other times he didn't. And God gave David grace to obey
the word and the commands of Almighty God. We mustn't therefore
make an assumption that because God had blessed us in a certain
direction with regard to something that everything else is going
to follow that pattern. We need to wait on the Lord.
We need to commit our way unto Him. We need to pray unto Him
that He would indeed speak the Word only. Yes, that's all that
was necessary for this centurion. And he believed it. And of course,
we know that the result was good. We know that the centurion servant
was healed. And Jesus said unto the centurion,
go thy way. And as thou hast believed, so
be it done unto thee. Again, we need faith to believe. This centurion had faith to believe
and his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. What a wonderful
evidence that was to this centurion to realise, yes, God was with
him and God had directed him. Well, we need God to speak the
word only, not only in natural things, we need the Lord to speak
the word only in spiritual things. And sometimes we may expect God
again to work in the way that we anticipate. We may come and
perhaps speak like Jabez did all those years ago, oh that
thou wouldst bless me indeed and enlarge my coast. And that's
a good prayer. But you see, sometimes God directs
us in a different way. Because first of all, he shows
us what we are. We didn't expect that. We expected
some wonderful revelation, wonderful favour of the mercy of God. But
sometimes he comes and shows us where we are, how we view
ourselves, and how we should view ourselves. and then perhaps
reveals to us things that we never knew existed in our lives
and in our heart. Yes, God is gracious. God is
merciful in these things. He doesn't leave us just to wander
on and to please ourselves. If we are his children, he leads
us in that way which brings honour and glory to him. Now, if you
and I are never shown our sinful condition. If the Lord never
comes and speaks to us about our sins, we will never rejoice
in the great salvation of our God. It won't mean anything to
us. It'll just be pure words. But
if you and I come under the condemnation of Almighty God, when He speaks
to us, and shows us where we've got to, and what we're doing,
and what we're thinking. And that word, it comes home
to us. If you walk contrary to me, I
will walk contrary to you. Sometimes we don't realize we
were walking contrary to God. We weren't walking in a way which
was pleasing to God. We wonder sometimes why things
become difficult. It's because the Lord, in love,
is dealing with our soul. You see, the Lord deals with
His people in the right way. And He shows us our need of Him. He shows us how poor we are. We may have had confidence in
ourselves. It's very easy to have confidence
in ourselves, and that false confidence is based on what we
want. and yet a mercy it is to bow
down and worship the ever-living and true God and seek that His
will may be done and that we may be directed by His Spirit
and come to that understanding that we are not what we thought
we were, but in fact we're poor and needy. Poor and needy. You see, then you see the Lord
looks upon such, and then we can truly believe the Lord will
come and speak His Word, His Word of encouragement. Perhaps,
look unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved. For
I am God, and there is none else. We may be looking around. We
may be looking to man. No, says God, look unto me. I'll deal with you. I'll answer
your cries. And I'll lead you in the right
way, which comes to glory at last. how easily we are misled
in our thoughts and in our ways. But what a blessing it is to
be led in that way which leads us to Christ. That's the whole
purpose of salvation, to lead us to Christ. And in order to
come there, the Holy Spirit leads us and shows us ourself. So we have to come and plead
and say, Lord, speak the word only. Speak the word to my soul. Tell me I am thy salvation. I need a word from the Lord. My friends, God hears and answers
prayer. Let us come believing that he
does hear answer prayer he knows our condition he knows where
we've got to perhaps we've got to a far-off place perhaps we
wandered away what a mercy it is when the Lord then brings
us back and speaks to us we may have to come and say Lord speak
the word only if I've been wrong do correct me leave me in the
the right way. Don't leave me to myself, but
be gracious to me and bless me. Well, the Lord is faithful. And so as we think of this faith,
we all need faith to believe. We are to be saved from our sins. We all need to be saved from
our sins. We are all sinners. We're all
great sinners. What a mercy it is to realize
we have a great Savior, a glorious Savior, who gave himself upon
that cross at Calvary in order to redeem our souls. See, this is the great blessing. Speak the word only. Remember,
when the Lord was on the cross, There was that two thieves on
the cross, one on the right and one on the left, and one spoke
and said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He wanted God to remember him. He wanted God to speak to him.
He wanted the Lord to say, this day shalt thou be with me in
paradise. The word was spoken. with power
to that man. And indeed we can believe it
occurred just like that. The Lord Jesus gave up his spirit. It is finished. And that thief
also died. and was taken into glory. Speak the word only. Well, it
wasn't a long speech. It was a simple word, a word
to the point. My friends, we should remember
God doesn't waste words. God speaks directly. and God speaks clearly. Sometimes
we may not think he speaks clearly because we misinterpret what
he says. We know what we want him to say
and he may not answer in that way and therefore we don't listen
clearly and we don't hear what he says. but speak the word only. Well, what a blessing it is,
therefore, to have faith in. This man was honored to be told
that he had great faith. Well, he may have had great faith,
but my friends, nonetheless, it was God-given faith. God gives
you and me faith to trust in him. All of us need faith. We must have faith. What a mercy
then if the Lord Jesus comes and gives us faith to believe
on his name. Believe on his name. You may
say, well, that's very easy. Well, it's not as easy as it
sounds. God gives you and me faith to
believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe just
like that dying thief believed. He believed that Jesus was the
Son of God. He believed he was going to glory. He believed and desired that
he would remember him. And so he came to him. Yes, in the last hours of his
life. what a mercy God gave him faith to believe in a crucified
man. You see there was a Saviour in
the last hours of his life on this earth but that thief was
given faith to see in the Saviour a wonderful glory and a wonderful
truth and a wonderful faith to believe he was the true God,
the one who could save his soul, the one who could receive him
into glory. Well, naturally speaking, naturally
speaking, the Saviour is not glorious, but he is to our soul. If we see in him all that is
beautiful, become like Solomon, able to say by faith, this is
my beloved, this is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. Oh my friends, rejoice in the
Saviour, rejoice in what He's done and praise Him from your
heart. What a mercy it is then to know
that we are indeed amongst those who have heard the word of God. Remember, faith cometh by hearing. God has spoken. Have we heard
his voice? Have we heard his voice? I can't
tell whether you have heard his voice, but you know whether you've
heard his voice. Perhaps it was a still, small
voice. We have a case of Elijah, don't
we? There he was in the mouth of
the cave. Great storm, great earthquake. Didn't affect him. But then there
came that still, small voice that spoke to him, what doest
thou hear, Elijah? It may be like that in our lives. Yeah, we may have expected some
great and wonderful revelation, some earthquake, as it were,
in our spiritual life, and it hasn't occurred. But perhaps
we need the Lord to speak to us in that way. His Word. What doest thou hear? What are
you doing in this path? Why are you walking contrary
to me? Why are you walking in a way
which is not my will? Well, what a blessing then for
that to occur. Because we know that had a great
and glorious effect upon Elijah. But it wasn't what he expected.
And it may not be what you and I expect, but what a blessing
if it emanates from God. He knew it was God speaking to
him. And my friends, we know that
God speaks to us. He speaks to our heart. And it's
very humbling to think that Almighty God condescends to come down
to us where we are. Whatever condition we're in,
sometimes it may be we're far off. The Lord knows where we
are. The Lord comes to us. He speaks
to us. what a mercy sometimes I think
of that account of the Good Samaritan there was that man traveling
down from Jerusalem to Jericho would seem he was going the wrong
way we don't know the details but it would seem he was going
the wrong way and of course he fell among thieves who robbed
him and left him half dead and the people who he expected to
come to his aid passed by on the other side You and I may
sometimes expect someone to come to our aid and we're disappointed. Doesn't occur. Well the Good
Samaritan came where he was. Where he was and bound up his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, put him on his own beast, took
him to an inn, paid the bill, and spoke and said, if there's
any more to pay when I come again, I'll pay it. Yes, the word was
spoken to that man in a very different way, and yet a very
wonderful way. Let us remember then that Lord
knows what he will do, what he will do. You and I don't know. God knows what he will do. This centurion didn't know, did
he? He just come to the Lord and
he said, told the Lord, my servant life at home, sick of the palsy,
grievously tormented. He just told the Lord the situation. It's good sometimes when you
and I can come and pour out our heart to our God. for our heart
in simplicity to our God." The sentient didn't say, you've got
to come right now because he's really ill. He just made this
statement. And what did the Lord say? I
will come and heal him. And yet, you see, he didn't come
in that way that perhaps he might have thought Because he comes
and tells the Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come
under my roof. It's good when you and I realise
we are unworthy of any notice from Almighty God and come and
confess it. I am not worthy, said this centurion,
that thou shouldest come under my roof, but He didn't want to
be forgotten, but speak the word only. And then that faith to
believe his servant would be healed. It's good, isn't it? We have the word of God to direct
us in our little lives. How often we make big mistakes,
don't we? You know, we work things out
in accordance with our logic. and how faulty our logic often
is. What a mercy it is to bow down,
indeed under, and I love that expression, the mighty hand of
God. It's not a little hand, it's
a mighty hand. And that hand leads us, and that
hand can direct us, and that hand can bless us, and that hand
can heal us. The centurion needed his servant
to be healed. speak the word only and my servant
shall be healed you know there was the confidence in the Lord
he had confidence that Jesus would heal his servant he spoke
the word it's good isn't it have confidence in our God and then
he explains what he is, what he does, and how he operated. And Jesus said, he marveled and
said to them that followed, verily I say unto you, I have not found
so great faith, no, not in Israel. Well what a mercy it is then
if we see by faith this glorious picture and remember the solemn
words really which follow on from this statement 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 That means those who live perhaps
in Jerusalem, Israelites, he says, shall be cast out into
outer darkness and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those who did not believe, those
who did not hear the word of the Lord, they were cast out. And it's the most terrible description,
isn't it? Outer darkness, what that means
is pitch blackness, no light at all. Can you imagine? Cast into that position, no light,
and in that condition, weeping and gnashing of teeth. because
no way back, no hope, no deliverance. It's a very tremendous picture
that we have before us here. What a mercy that Jesus then
went on to say to the centurion, go thy way, go thy way. And as thou hast believed, So
be it done unto thee. What a mercy when God gives us
faith to believe. Faith to believe. And it means,
of course, leaving the issue with God. Believing that what
He does will be best. What He says is right. And to not argue and not try
and change the wording, but to submit ourselves, as I've said,
under the mighty hand of God. So be it done unto thee, and
his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. Well, my friends,
may God graciously give us grace to heed this little picture that
we have of this centurion and the faith given to him to be
able to come and say with all humility and humbleness and yet
with this great faith, but speak the word only and my servant
shall be healed, confidence in his God. And the Lord said unto
them that followed, verily I say unto you, I have not found so
great faith, no, not in Israel. Well, remember, without faith,
it is impossible to please God. May we all be blessed with living
God-given faith. which is pleasing to God, like
it was in the case of the centurion. Amen.