All righty folks, we're going
to need our Bibles tonight. You may want to turn to the book
of Matthew, but also mark Acts chapter 13. We're going to read
a considerable amount over in Acts chapter 13. We'll start
in our Bibles reading Matthew chapter 8, and I want to begin
with verse 5, Matthew chapter 8. This will be our text for
this evening. And when Jesus was entered in Capernaum, there
came unto 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. And when
Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to them that followed, verily
I say unto you, I have not found so great a faith, no, not in
Israel. 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. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion,
go thy way. And as thou hast believed, so
be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in
the self same hour. Now I want you to bring your
attention to the handout in the top of page one. In these verses,
we're given a lesson about faith. While the scribes and the Pharisees
of the people of Israel despised the Lord Jesus and his gospel,
this unnamed Roman officer fully believed that the man standing
before him was the only Lord God, sovereign over all things,
with whom nothing is impossible or even difficult. This centurion
clearly expresses his faith that Christ is able in power to perform
that which he seeks. to heal his servant, so much
so that all he needed was to speak, and it shall be done. That's faith. That's the faith
of all God's people. It's not a declaration of strength
and faith, but a declaration of the object of his faith, the
object his faith is in. Folks, we read over in Ephesians
chapter 4, verses 4 through 6, we read these words. There is
one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope
of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God,
and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you
all. This is the faith of God's people.
faith in Him. In Ephesians 4, verse 4, we read,
there is one body, the church. It is called one body with respect
to Jew and Gentile alike. Though there were several congregations
and local churches, there's only one church of which Christ is
the head, and we are the brethren in Him. Listen to Ephesians 5,
verse 23. For the husband is the head of
the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is
the Savior of the body. Page 2. We also read in Colossians
chapter 1 verse 18, and he is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
he might have the preeminence. Again in Ephesians 4 verse 4
we read these words, there is one spirit, the Holy Spirit of
God who enlightens, who quickens, who makes alive and incorporates
us in the body of Christ, members one of another. And there is
also said in that same verse, there is one hope of your calling.
That is the glory hoped for and which is reserved for us in heaven.
There are no degrees in this glory. It will be equal by all. For God's people are all loved
with the same love, chosen in the same head, redeemed by the
same blood, and secured in the same covenant. And then in verse
5 of Ephesians, we see these words, one Lord, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is Lord by right of creation, as we read in Colossians
1, 16 and 17, for by him were all things created that are in
heaven. and that are in the earth, that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions,
or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him
and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things
consist. So we see that he is Lord by
the right of creation. He is also Lord by the Father's
decree. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus,
whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ." That's in Acts 2,
verse 36. And he is Lord by right of his
sacrificial death, where we read, for to this end Christ both died
and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead
and of the living. That's Romans 14, 9. In Philippians
2, verses 9 through 11, we read these words, wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. So we see that there is only
one Lord. see one faith. This is the meaning of our text
in Matthew 8, 5 through 13. There is only one faith. This
centurion had the same faith that all Abraham, Jacob, Isaac,
and you, and all of God's saints, we have the same faith. There
is but one true faith of grace. And it may be little faith. It may be much or great faith. But its author and object are
the same in all. This is the faith of the centurion,
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in his person and work. Page
3. We read in John 3, verse 36,
he that believeth the Son hath everlasting life." Now that's
the same thing. Believing is faith. Having faith
is believing. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. In the last part of verse 5,
of Ephesians 4, we read this, one baptism. There is one baptism
under the gospel, which is water baptism to be administrated in
one and the same way by immersion with one and the same objects,
believers in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Go ye, therefore, it says in Matthew 28, 19, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. In Acts chapter 8, verses 36
through 39, the Lord gives us an example of this immersion.
He says, and as they went on their way, speaking of a eunuch
and Philip, as they went on their way, they came into a certain
water. And the eunuch said, see, here is water. What doth hinder
me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest, If your faith is in Christ, if
your faith is in the Son of God, and he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he commanded the
chariot to stand still, and they went down both into the water,
both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized them. And when they
were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more, and he went
on his way. Then we read in Ephesians chapter
4, verse 6, We see, or this is a summary of verse six, we see
there is one eternal, infinite, omnipotent God in heaven and
earth, who is the father of all believers in Christ, and who
is sovereign over all, taking care of us all, and dwelling
in us all. The Apostle Paul is saying that
as believers, we have all these things in common. We have one
body. We have one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God, who is our Father. There we must and will
be one family, Gentile and Jew alike, joined together in love,
stronger than anything this world can know. Our Lord, praying to
the Father, says these words. He says, neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their
word, that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us." We are one in
faith. Look back again at our text in
Matthew chapter 8. Read it again with me if you
would. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him and
saying, Lord, my servant lieth home sick with a palsy grievously
tormented. So he came seeking the Lord,
knowing that the Lord had He had possibly heard what the Lord
had been doing in healing the sick, as we've been reading about,
in preaching to those on the Sermon on the Mount. And he came
with this request, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick with the palsy,
grievously tormented. And Jesus said to him, I will
come and heal him. I'll come to your home. And here,
this one who knows authority is speaking to the sovereign
God. And he declares that by saying,
I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof. That's the
sinner. That's every sinner. We're not
worthy for God to come under our roof. But he will. He does. He loves to show mercy, folks.
He says, speak the word only. You have the power. Your word
has all the power it needs. 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 another he
cometh. And to my servant, do this and he does. And when Jesus
heard it, did you catch that? He marveled. We're reading from
Matthew chapter 8 again. He marveled and said to them
that followed, verily I say unto you, I have not found so great
a faith, no, not in Israel. He's been going around healing
people left and right. We just did a study last week
on the leper who came to the Lord and said, if thou wilt.
And here he says it. He says this about a Gentile. I don't know about how much that
blesses you folks, but I don't have a drop of Jew blood in me,
and I don't mean that in a derogatory way. I know it kind of came out
that way, and I apologize. I didn't mean it to sound like
that. I don't have any Jewish blood in me at all. I have nothing
to claim any relation to that land of Israel over there on
the other side of the ocean. But I do have a claim to the
people of Israel, spiritual Israel. And my only claim to that is
my Savior, the Lord Jesus. It's nothing in me at all. He's
saying to this Gentile, I have not found so great a faith, no,
not in Israel. And in verse 11 he says, 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. Many of the people who are outside
of Israel will come from all over. In the book of Luke it
says they come from the north and the south as well. And then
verse 12, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out
into other darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. And we'll cover more of those
two verses in a moment, closing with verse 13. And Jesus said
unto the centurion, go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so
be it done unto thee. Now, before we go back to our
handout again on page four, I got myself in a little trouble several
weeks, several months back. I didn't explain it well enough,
I guess, that our faith does not save us, folks. But you can't
be saved without faith. And we don't use faith to beat
over people's heads and scare them into following Christ. We
don't need to do that. God's people don't have to do
that. When I talk to you, those of you who believe, when I talk
to you about my faith, I know you can relate to it because
it's the same faith. There's one faith. And it's not
our faith that is the object here. It's who our faith is in. It's in our Savior. It's in Him. We believe Him. And even that
belief is a gift of the Lord. Now look with me, if you would,
at page four, starting at the top. This centurion shows what
a great and precious gift the gift of faith is. When Jesus
heard it, he marveled, it said. And he said unto them, verily
I say unto you, I have not found so great a faith, no, not in
Israel. To believe Christ is to trust
him. It is a precious gift of God's
saving grace. For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, Not only is it
a gift, not only is it given unto you on behalf of Christ
to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. That's what
it says in Philippians 1 verse 29. And we're also very familiar
with Ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9, for we are saved by what? Not by faith. No, no, no, no.
Not by faith. No, we're saved by grace. We're
saved by grace, but through faith, through believing. That's a work
that God has to do in a dead soul. He has to give us life
that we might believe. Life that we might live unto
Him. Saved by grace through faith,
not of works, or saved by grace through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast. So we see those two things tell
us the preciousness of grace, of faith. Our faith is a gift,
but it's ours. It's ours. How thankful we should
be if we have this gift. Back in our handout, second paragraph
from the top. This gift of grace, how precious,
how thankful we should be to have it. Because few do, folks. This is the magnification of
God's grace. He doesn't have to give us faith,
but he does. He does. Few are willing to come
to Christ as helpless lost sinners and commit their souls to him.
Few will forsake their own righteousness and trust Christ alone as their
Lord, our righteousness. Few will come to Christ trusting
him alone to save them. Faith in Christ appears to be
a small and insignificant thing in the eyes of the world. But
true faith, that faith that worketh by love, is of the highest privilege,
the greatest gift, the rarest jewel in all the world. Many
have religion, but few have faith. This centurion had faith. So great was his faith in Christ
that the Lord Jesus marveled at it. Brother Don Fortner wrote
this. He says, I cannot help asking,
why is that fact recorded by divine inspiration? Why did the
Lord Jesus, who gave this man the faith he exercised, marvel
at the display of it? Why has the Holy Spirit recorded
it here in his word? Was it possible to emphasize
the fact that true faith in Christ is a personal thing? True. God gave these centurion faith.
True. We rejoice in the knowledge of
that fact, yes. Yet the faith given was the centurion's. It was his because God gave it
to him. Faith in Christ is not a notion. Not a doctrine. It's not just
a principle. It is the heart confidence of
every needy sinner who looks to Christ as his only savior
that causes him to confess, my Lord, my God, as we read in John
20, 28. Yes, it is God's gift, writes
Don, and God's operation in us. Faith is the fruit of the Holy
Spirit, as we read in Galatians 5.23. Yet it is our faith. If God gave it to me, that makes
it mine. The very air we breathe is God's
gift. Yet it is my breath and my breathing
that is evidence that God still gives me life. and the breathing
of my body is as necessary to my living as God's gift of life. The two cannot be separated.
Page five. We are the children of God by
faith in Christ Jesus. That's what we read in Galatians
3.26. The Holy Spirit tells us plainly that the faith you have
is by his grace, and it is your faith in Christ. You can read
that in Ephesians 1.15. The Apostle Paul wrote unto the
saints in Corinth in like manner. He says, I thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by
Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1, 4. Also in 1
Corinthians chapter 2, verse 5, that your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. It is God's
gift, and because he gave it to you, it is your faith. And your faith in Christ is just
as necessary, just as vital to your everlasting salvation, and
just as precious, as we read in 2 Peter 1.1, as God's precious
decree of election. It's just as precious as Christ
accomplished redemption. It's just as precious as the
Holy Spirit's effectual call. Listen to Hebrews 11.6, without
faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Do you, like the Philippian jailer
of old, ask, what must I do to be saved? I do not hesitate to
answer with Paul and Silas, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. That's in Acts 16, verses 30
through 31. Do not allow anyone to deceive
you into looking to yourself and your experiences. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ is what it says, and salvation is yours. Do you ask, how can I know that
I am saved? Answer this one question. Dost
thou believe on the Son of God? It doesn't matter whether you
can answer, what did you know when you first professed faith
in Christ? It doesn't matter if someone asked the question,
was the man preaching a sound gospel preacher? Or when did
you start believing? Those questions are totally irrelevant.
The only question to be answered is, doth thou believe on the
Son of God? If you now trust the Lord Jesus
Christ, then salvation is yours. This centurion is held before
us as a picture of all of God's elect among the Gentiles who
must be saved. Matthew 8. Look at verses 11
through 12. 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. But
the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Page six. I put it
in page six top. Brother John Gill wrote this
about those two verses we just read. Actually, about the first
one. On the occasion of the faith of the centurion, who was a Gentile,
our Lord makes a short digression concerning the call of the Gentiles
and suggests that what was seen in that man now would be fulfilled
in great numbers of them in a little time. That's talking about there
will be those who come from the East and from the West and shall
sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. It's talking about
all those Gentiles. It's talking about you and I.
It's talking about all of God's elect throughout all time. I
got ahead of myself a little bit. And that many of them from
several parts of the world, from the rising of the sun to the
setting of it, from the four points of the heaven, east, west,
north, and south, as it says in Luke 13, 29, and from the
four corners of the earth, should come and believe in him. That's what that verse 11 is
talking about. Our Lord is declaring that his people from all nations
all tongues throughout all times, including the Gentiles, shall
be saved by grace through faith." I believe Paul's sermon given
in the book of Acts best explains this statement of our Lord makes
here in verse 12. And I'd like you to turn in your
Bibles now. Set your handouts aside. We'll come back to that
in a moment. But I want to spend a little
time now in the book of Acts. Turn over to Acts chapter 13,
if you would. And let's look at what Paul describes
to us here. in this sermon, 13. Let's begin
at verse 16. Then Paul stood up, and beckoning
with his hand, said, Men of Israel. Now notice what he says next.
Men of Israel. That should have been it, right?
No. God's people are in Gentile nations as well. And it says,
and ye that fear God give audience. Men of Israel, and all of you
who fear God, give audience. 17, the God of this people of
Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they
dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt. And with a high arm
brought he them out of it. And about the time of 40 years
suffered he their manners. This is when they were in the
wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of
Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that,
he gave unto them judges about the space of 450 years, until
Samuel the prophet. And after they desired a king,
and God gave unto them Saul the son of Sis, a man of the tribe
of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had
removed him, he raised up them from David to be their king.
Now Paul is bringing out Paul is bringing out the same God
that he's going to talk about here in a minute. This is the
same God who brought the Israel out of Egypt. This is the same
God who delivered them and gave them all the lands in Canaan. This is the same God, as it says
here, that gave them a king, the man called Saul, son of Seth. And then after that, he was moved
and he raised up unto them David. David to be their king. This
same God who did this, all these things, he gave testimony. He
said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine
own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Then verse 23, of
this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel
a Savior. When John had first preached
before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people
of Israel, and as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think
ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there
cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to
lose. men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and, did you catch this, and whosoever
among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation
sent. This one who he talks about down
here in verse 23. Of this man's seed hath God,
according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus. This is it. This word is sent
to God's people in Israel and the Gentiles. Verse 27. For they that dwell at Jerusalem
and their rulers, because they knew him not, Now this is our
description here. Read this carefully with me and
you'll see how that verse 12 fits where in Matthew the Lord
is talking about there'll be gnashing of teeth. For they that
dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers because they knew him
not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every
Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. They
fulfilled the very scriptures that they were reading every
Sabbath day by condemning the Lord Jesus. And though they found
no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should
be slain. Verse 29, and when they had fulfilled
all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree
and laid him in a sepulcher. But God, there's that phrase
again. One of these days, I think I'm
just going to do a study on that alone. But God raised him from
the dead, verse 31, and he was seen many days of them which
came unto him, came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who
are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you, glad
tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, and that
he hath raised up Jesus again, as it also is written of the
second psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said, on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. Wherefore, he saith also in another
psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw
corruption. But he, he whom God raised again,
saw no corruption. Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are
justified from all things." Now, does that say there's anything
that we're not justified from? It says, justified from all things,
from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore. Beware, lest
that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold,
ye despisers. These are the ones who will be
gnashing of teeth, thinking that they are doing God's work in
their religion. Behold, ye despisers, and wander
and perish. For I work a work in your days,
and a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man
declare it unto you. And when the Jews were gone out
of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought these words might be
preached unto them the next Sabbath. And when the congregation was
broken up, many Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and
Barnabas, who speaking to them persuaded them to continue in
the grace of God. And the next Sabbath day came
almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. Jew and Gentile alike. But when
the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and
spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting
and blaspheming. And then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you. But seeing ye put it from you,
and ye judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have sent thee to be a light unto the Gentiles,
that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred
up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city,
and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled
them out of their coast. But they shook off the dust of
their feet against them, and came until the Iconium, and the
disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost." Let's
go back to our handouts now, and we'll finish up. Bottom paragraph
of page six. As a Gentile, I am so thankful
our Lord is no respecter of persons. By His grace, I can have the
same gift as Abraham, the same gift as Isaac and Jacob, the
gift of faith, the gift to believe God's word is truth. Many, including
the Jew, the children of the kingdom as they were known, who
lean on their own understanding, who trust in their own works,
they will be cast out into outer darkness. And as the picture
of that Jerusalem was cast down just a few years later, there
will be gnashing of teeth. I believe that gnashing of teeth
is a picture. I believe it's a picture that
it would be for their refusal to hear and believe the word
of truth. They're going to be in wherever
this pit of fire, this lake of fire is. And they're going to
be looking. And they're going to know that
they heard the truth. They're going to know that they
refuse to believe God, that they would not believe God. Just as
you and I know that we would not believe God if it were not
for Him. If it wasn't for His grace, we
know that we would not believe. They're going to know that, but
it'll be too late. Grace will already have been
passed, and there'll be gnashing of teeth. Last verse, 13 of Matthew
8, it says these words. This is the top of page 7. And
Jesus said unto the centurion, go thy way. And as thou hast
believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed
in the selfsame hour. I want to quote once again from
John Gill, where he says, as he had faith to believe that
Christ could cure his servant by a word speaking, it was done
accordingly. Christ, by his almighty fiat,
said, let him be healed, and he was healed. Just as God in
the creation said, let there be light, and there was light,
he does not say according to thy prayer, or according to thy
righteousness, or goodness, but according to thy faith. What was his faith? We'll look
at that in just a moment. Think about that question. And
it is further to be observed, writes John Gill, that this cure
was wrought not so much for the sake of the servant, as his master. Our Lord said, and therefore
Christ says, be it done unto thee. Let him be healed for thy
sake and restored unto thee to thy use, profit and advantage. This Gentile centurion, this
Roman soldier whose name was written in the book of life before
a star ever twinkled, he believed. Well, what did he believe? He
believed that Jesus is the Christ, the God-man, all-powerful and
therefore all-able. Just as the leper in our previous
study, able if willing. Able to what? Able to heal. Able
to heal the sick. Heal the sins of those he chose
from the foundations of the world. By his stripes we are healed.
By his blood we are washed white as snow. Hebrews 10.14, for by
one offering he hath perfected. Did you catch that? He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. In Hebrews 10, again, verse 19
through 26, we read these words. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest of the holies, the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated
for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of what? Faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Page
8. Let us hold fast to the profession
of our faith without wavering. For He is faithful that promised. Notice where the faith lies on. It lies on the one who is the
object of our faith. He is faithful that promised,
and let us consider one another. Let us think about each other,
how weak we all are. How weak we all are. I want to stress that. Oh, how quickly we can forget
our own weakness. Let us provoke unto love. And
to what? Good works. Provoke each other. Turn away from that sin. It tempts
your mind all day long. Turn away from it, my brethren.
Lay it at the feet of our Savior, for He's the one who's paid the
price. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is, but exhorting one another, lifting each other
up. And so much the more, as you see the day approaching.
For if we sin willfully now, I want to stop there. I've thought
about this. I've looked at this. if we sin willfully. You know,
if you don't think about that, you might sit, quickly glance
over it and think to myself, well don't I willfully do it
all? Don't I willfully sin every day? Are not my sins willfulness
in my own will, in the own will of my flesh? This is talking
about sins, this is talking about a sin that you know is a sin,
yet you say it's right. I'm going to give you an example
of that. Two homosexuals. They know that their lifestyle
is a sinful lifestyle, yet they declaim it to be right. That
is willful sinning. That is willful sinning. If you
go to a church where they say it's your will, and God loves
everybody, and you say that is right, that is willful sinning.
It's not talking about those things that we commit that we
wished we didn't. That's not what it's talking
about at all. It's talking about saying what is sin is right. Calling sin not sin, if I could
say it that way. For if we sin willfully, after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins." Let me close with these words.
I thought about this one faith, the same faith that this centurion
had, the same faith that Abraham had. You know, we quickly want
to measure what we see in ourselves and what we see in God's word
about Abraham. But we have to remember something. These points that we see in Abraham
were just those points. Don't forget there was a time
where he failed to believe God as well and slept with his wife's
handmaid. Let us not forget that Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob were all sinners just as you and I are. And though
they expressed faith at times, we shouldn't measure our faith
to theirs. Our faith is what God has given
us. And even if it's small, it's God-given faith. And it's faith
that points us to Christ. One faith. What is it? It's a
gift of God. Let's remember that first. That
one faith we all have is that that faith is a gift of God. is a belief that all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily is seen in Christ Jesus the Lord. That
one faith that all of God's children have is that He is the Lord God,
my righteousness, for I have none of my own. That one faith
that all of God's children have is that He is my effectual substitute,
the spotless, sacrificed Lamb of God. That one faith that all
of God's people have is that my high priest is now in the
holiest of holies making intercession for me. That centurion had the
same faith all of God's children have ever had. And it's in the
Lord Jesus Christ and who He is and what He's done for His
people. Amen.