Today we'll be in the book of
Matthew, and for our encounter with Christ, we will see a Gentile
man who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ and asks him to heal his
servant. Matthew chapter 8. Now this Gentile
man is one of the Lord's sheep. He's one of those who Christ
will die for. shortly on Calvary's cross. And we will see that he's
been granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
been granted faith to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, just as we
who are his people have been granted faith to believe on him,
and granted faith to trust him. And this same faith that the
centurion has is the same faith we have. God's people all receive the
same faith, right? It comes from God, it's a gift
from God. But, then it becomes our faith, doesn't it? It becomes ours. It becomes ours, beloved. We'll
see that later on in the message. And we've been granted faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and again, The faith
that God gave this centurion is the same faith that we have,
beloved. Let's read our text. It's in Matthew 8, verses 5 to
13. Scripture declares, 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. Jesus saith unto him I will come
and heal the centurion answered and said Lord I'm not worthy
that thou shouldest come under my roof but speak the word only
and my servants 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. 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. There shall 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. My. We see in verse five where this
divine encounter took place. It took place in a town called
Capernaum. Now Capernaum was a fishing village,
a small fishing village. that was established during the
time of Hasmoneus, located on the northern shore of the Sea
of Galilee. And the man who came to Jesus,
we see here in our text, was a centurion in the Roman army. He was a man of authority. And
he was a Gentile, beloved. He was a Gentile. In this, he
pictured God's elect. among the Gentiles. God has a
people among the Gentiles. We're living proof of that. Because we're Gentiles, beloved.
Every one of us here. He also had a people among the
Jews, didn't he? He had a people among the Jews
and among the Gentiles, and they're one body. They're one in Christ. Now a centurion was a man of
authority in the Roman army. We clearly see in verse nine
of our text that he says this, for I am a man under authority,
so he's been given some power. 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. Now,
Roman soldiers obeyed their centurions. They didn't say, well, I don't
think I want to do that, sir. Because the Roman centurion would
carry a vine, a wood vine, If they disobeyed him, he'd smack
them with it. They didn't want to get hit with
that, and it wasn't a light hit when soldiers were out of line.
These centurions were hard men. They were usually veteran soldiers.
But here we see something's happened to this centurion. Oh, God in his grace and mercy. has given this man faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Roman infantry, the centurions
commanded a century of men, and these centuries were grouped
in pairs to make up what's called a maniple, and a century typically
composed of around 80 men. So he had about 80 men that he
was in charge of, and there were six centuries forming what was
called a legionary cohort. And the Roman legions were grouped
into cohorts, commanded by one senior most centurion. Now this
man, I don't think he was the senior most centurion, but he
might have been. But the senior most centurion
was third in command in the whole legion. So the senior most centurion
was a powerful position. But even a centurion was a powerful
position. You're responsible for 80 men
under your command. And so we can see that he was
a man of authority. And he tells us that in verse
nine, doesn't he? That he's a man of authority. And this centurion, again, had
soldiers under his charge, and he believed, he believed that
Christ was able, that Christ had the authority to just command
that his servant would be healed and he'd be healed. So the faith
that God had given this man, which I believe is true faith,
believed in the power of God, believed that Christ was God,
that he had the authority to just say, you be healed and you're
healed. Look again at verse nine. 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. His servant
doesn't say, no, I don't think I'm going to do that today, sir.
No, not at all. What he's commanded to do, he
does. Here's an example of one believing in one's authority.
Here's a really neat illustration I found about believing in someone's
authority. One day when Napoleon was reviewing
his troops in Paris, he let the reins of his horse go. And the
reins fell upon the animal's neck and the proud horse just
took off. Just took off. And before the rider could recover
the bridle, a common soldier stepped out of the line and grabbed
the reins of the horse. grabbed the reins of Napoleon's
horse and stopped the horse. And then placed the bridle in
the emperor's hands again. And Napoleon said, much obliged,
Captain. He was a foot soldier one second. And Napoleon said, much obliged,
Captain. The man immediately believed what Napoleon said.
And he says, of what regiment, sir? This is supposed to be a
true story. Of what regiment, sir? And Napoleon,
delighted with his quick perception, in his word, replied, of my guards. And he 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 became the captain of Napoleon's Guard. He believed what Napoleon had
said. This centurion believed so much
in Christ that he could just speak a word, because he was
a man of authority, and he knew that Christ was a man of, he,
God had given him some right, hadn't he? Of who he was. And he knew that Christ could
just say, be gone, and immediately his servant would be healed.
And the centurion was like this common soldier was with Napoleon. The centurion was like that with
the Lord. He believed what the Lord could do. But this man, this centurion
is speaking to none other than the King of kings and the Lord
of lords. He's speaking to God incarnate
in the flesh. And he knows he's his servant.
Because he's bowing to God's authority, isn't he? He's bowing
to Christ's authority and saying, you can just say anything you
want, and my servant will be healed. In verse 5, we're told that the
centurion came to Jesus Christ, our Lord, and besieged him to
heal his servant. His servants at home sick of
the palsy. Now the word besieged there in the Greek means to call
for, invite to come, send for, to call upon, to exhort, to admonish,
to persuade, to beg. Please, Lord, please save my
servant. It also means to implore. Now
the band of soldiers which the centurion had under his command
was stationed in Capernaum, because this is where his home was, this
is where his garrison was. And at that time, many garrisons
were set up along the seacoast by the Roman armies. They would
break the legions up into cohorts and leave them in certain areas.
Because then if there was a disruption, they had a whole, they had 80
men. And I'll tell you what, 80 Roman soldiers is a force. 80 Roman legionaries is a force. They could take down anyone probably
five or ten times their size. They were skilled. Brother Tom
said at one time, they were the first professional army. And they were really good at
what they did. And so they're stationed at Capernaum
under a garrison. pointing for the protection of
the towns, because this is in Roman dominion, right? Rome has
control of this area. Over in Luke, it says that this
man, Luke 7, verse 5, it says, for he loved our nation and he
had built a synagogue. This man, in the narrative in
Luke, had built the synagogue for the Jews. Now that would open him up to
scorn, wouldn't it? He's a Gentile. He built the synagogue for the
Jews. And no doubt, he exposed himself by doing that. He exposed
himself to hatred. He exposed himself to criticism. But the reason he loved that
nation was that he embraced the worship of one God. He'd been
given faith to believe. Before Christ healed the centurion's
servant, God had healed the centurion. He'd healed him, hadn't he? By
his stripes we are healed. He's trusting in God. And isn't
it interesting that the Jews, because he had built the synagogue,
the Jews had good grounds for saying he was devote, because
now he's a worshiper of the one true God. And he believed on
Christ, and believed in the one true God is only in Christ, he
would find favor with God. Only in Christ, who is the object
of true faith, is he accepted by God. And think of this too, in the
narrative in Luke, it says he loved our nation and he built
the synagogue. Isn't it amazing that the enemies of God are talking
about one of God's elect? Because the Jews despise Christ.
And yet they're interceding for this man and saying, heal his
servant because he loves our nation and he built us a synagogue. They're acknowledging that this
Gentile possessed this true faith. Now they thought it was because
he built the synagogue, but he built the synagogue because he
believed in the one true God. My oh my. And we see this man's servant
was grievously tormented by palsy. Palsy is a loss of sensation
or the power of motion in both or any part of the body. It can
affect one whole side or it can affect the whole body. When you
lose motion, you lose motion. And this man was grievously tormented. And the infirmities included
under the name palsy in the New Testament are various. They can
mean a paralytic shock affecting the whole body, or again, affecting
only one side. Also, this palsy could affect
the whole body, and the sufferer of the palsy would be in great
pain and suffering. But note here, in verse seven,
now I'm telling you, I was looking at this narrative, and I saw
something in here that I'd never seen before, and what a gem.
What a gem, beloved. I've read this narrative many
times. I actually really like it, because you all know I love
history and reading about Romans, Roman history and all that, and
so I'm drawn to passages like this, and I've never seen this. I've probably read this passage
100 times, I've never seen this. I'm gonna share it with you.
Look at Matthew 8, verse 7. In Jesus' saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. Take note of the answer. Look
at these little words. In Jesus' saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. The answer is short, but yet
it's so full, beloved. It's so full. It shows the readiness
of Christ to do good. And how soon our great God complied
with the centurion's request. He said, I'll go, I'll go. I
will come and heal them. But take note of the promise
within these words. Take note of this promise here.
It's an absolute promise. It's an absolute promise. The
centurion, right, had besieged Christ to heal his servant. He besieged him to heal his servant. And it's a prayer, a cry of faith,
isn't it? And it's effectual, and it'll
be heard. But this cry of faith doesn't
come from any merit within the centurion. Do you know God answers
our prayer according to his will, right? And according to his purpose.
But take note of this wonderful promise, an absolute promise
in this answer. Our Lord will heal the centurion
servant. He said this, I will come and
heal him. He didn't say, I'll come and
look at him. I'll come and help him as much
as I can. Like any other doctor, another doctor would say, I'll
come and help him if I can. But look at the promise here.
I have never solved this. I will come and heal him. He's
already pronouncing that the healing's going to be done. It's going to be done. He doesn't
say, well, I might heal him. If I feel like it. No, he says,
I will come and heal him. How quickly we can go over these
things that are so precious. What a promise. And is this not
what God promises to his own people? I'm gonna heal you of
all your sins. And he did it, didn't he, at
Calvary's Cross. And he says, I will never leave
you nor forsake you. That's a promise, beloved. Sometimes
we'll feel like we're alone. He says, I'll never leave you.
Other people might leave you, but I'm never gonna leave you.
And I'm never gonna forsake you. I'm with you to the end. And
then he takes us home to glory, doesn't he? Oh my. But what a promise. This is an
absolute promise of God. I will come and heal him. There's
no doubt. This is going to happen according
to the divine purpose and will of God. Wonder of wonders. God can't
lie, can he? God can't lie. And here's God
incarnated in the flesh saying, I will come and heal him. It's done. It's as good as done, isn't it?
God cannot lie. This is an absolute promise from
God incarnated in the flesh. And he says, I will come and
heal him. So marvel. He didn't say, I'll come and
see him. No. Didn't say that. Didn't say, oh, I'll just come
and see him. No. We'd be kind and say, I'll come
pray for him. Right? He didn't say, I'm going to come
pray for him. No. Because that's all we can do,
right? All we can do is go and pray. That's all we can do. We
can't heal anyone. We can't even heal ourselves
from our sins. We can't heal anybody else from
their sins. We can't heal anybody from sickness. Only God can do
that if it be his will. But he says here, what a promise. I will come and heal him. God
himself says, I'll come and heal him. I'll come and heal him. So here before us, we see both
aspects of the God man, right? We see his compassion and his
willingness to heal. He's going right away. And then
we see His authority and His power, and He says, I will come
and heal you. That's our God, beloved. This
is our Savior. This is the one who died for
us. This is the one who cried, it is finished. It's done, beloved. Our salvation is complete. There's nothing for us to add.
Not that we wouldn't want to, would we? Because we'd mess it
up. No, it's complete. Here before us again is the tenderness
of man and the power of God unfold this way. And these words comes
from the lips of he who has all power in heaven and earth. All power. None can stay his
hand, the scripture says. Or saying to him, what doest
thou? Think of that when you read the scriptures and the Pharisees
are throwing darts at him. They're saying that to the one
who has all control, the one who is in charge of all the armies
of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing
to him. And yet he has mercy on us, we who are his people. Oh, what a great God we have,
beloved. And the scribes and the Pharisees
and the people of Israel, they despised their king. They despised
the Lord Jesus and his gospel. And here, this unnamed Roman
officer, this unnamed Roman centurion, his name doesn't really matter,
does it? He's one of the Lord's sheep. Oh, he's one of the Lord's
people. This unnamed Roman officer fully
believed that the man standing before him was the Lord God,
sovereign over all things. he believed nothing was impossible
with him look at verses 8 and 9 again we're really the centurion
answered and said Lord I'm not worthy that thou should have
come under my roof I'm not even were I'm not even worthy to have
you in my house Lord this man knows what he is he knows he's
a sinner but speak the word only just just speak the word Lord
and my servant shall be here well the Lord already said I
will come and heal him He didn't hear that, did he? I'll come and heal him. And then
he goes on, 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 look at the precious view that this Gentile man had of
Christ. These are views of Christ that are God-given. These are
God-given views of Christ. He believed that Christ just
had to speak a word and his servant would be healed. Because he believed
that Christ had all power. God-given faith believes that,
doesn't it? Now sometimes we try to do things on our own,
but we soon rein back in, aren't we? When we fall on our face. My, God's the only one who has
power. In what comfort we see What comfort
for we poor sinful Gentiles here that we can find? In Christ there's
neither Jew nor Gentile. There's neither bond nor free. We're Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise, all of us. This man had God-given faith. And we see his first apprehension
of Christ's power. He tells our Lord that it was
unnecessary for Christ to come and see the patient. So he already
believes Christ has all the power. Just say the word, Lord, and
you'll be healed. What could manifest his belief
of the Godhead more than this? by just saying, Lord, you just
have to say a word. I'm a man under authority. I
believe you have all authority. Just say the word. And we see this man also has
a sense of unworthiness. God-given faith has a sense of
unworthiness, doesn't it? That we're not worthy of the
grace God bestows upon us. He says, don't even come under
my roof, Lord. I'm not worthy to receive you. My, this man's been humble. And I'll tell you what, these
centurions were proud guys. They were proud soldiers, hard
men. Something's happened to this
man. And then we see that this man
had God-given view of the exercise of Christ's power, as the soldiers
under his command must come and go at his pleasure. So the whole
army of diseases are under the control of Christ. And he believes
this. What faith there must have been
in this Gentile. With this in mind, let us look
at verse 11 of this chapter. We will see the same faith that
this Gentile centurion had will be given to many more. That's
you and I. That's all God's sheep. All through
the ages, all around the world. Look what it says. 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. A people of every tribe, kindred,
tongue and nation, all washed in the precious blood of Christ,
all having been granted the same faith to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, all born again by the Holy Spirit of God. In this centurion wholly trusted
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, may God give us grace and
strength to trust him that way too. Like our dear brother. This is
our brother in Christ here. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the great author of his faith. Just as he's the great author
of our faith. And he's the finisher of our faith too, isn't he? He's
the finisher of our salvation. It's finished. There's nothing
to do. We just look to Christ. Now do we serve him? Absolutely.
Do we hate sin? Absolutely. you sin more than
you want to yes but one day praise be to God I won't sin no more and this centurion was a picture
of God's elect among the Gentiles of you and I as believers who
must be saved Look at verses 10 and 11, and we see the centurion
shows what a great and precious gift the gift of faith is. Look
at these verses. When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said unto
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 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,
and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Well, to believe
Christ is to trust him. To believe Christ is to trust
him. And faith is a rare and precious gift. It's a gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And if you have true God-given
faith, praise God for it. Give Him all the glory. Praise
His name that He gave it to you. Very few will forsake their own
righteousness and trust Christ alone as 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. They
look at us and wonder about us. But true faith worketh by love.
It's the highest privilege. It's the greatest gift. Faith
in Christ is the greatest gift, beloved, that God could ever
give us. It's the rarest jewel. Remember,
Christ is called the pearl of great price. My, he's a treasure to his people,
and we're treasures to him. We're jewels in his ground, beloved. So marvel at what's recorded
here. While the scribes and Pharisees and the people of Israel despise
the Lord Jesus Christ, this unnamed Roman officer fully believes
that the man standing before him is God, is the Lord God,
sovereign over all things, with whom nothing is impossible or
difficult. And we see that by his words. and marvel at what is recorded
here. Why do you think this fact is
recorded by divine inspiration? Why did the Lord Jesus, who gave
this man faith that he exercised, marvel at the display of it? Why has the Holy Spirit recorded
this narrative in the Word? Well, it's not to emphasize the
fact that true faith in Christ Is it not to emphasize the fact
that true faith in Christ is a personal thing? It's personal. It's personal. God gave the centurion faith. And as he gives it to us, he
rejoices. He rejoices. And we rejoice. And we exercise that God-given
faith, don't we? We exercise that. God gives us
air to breathe, and we breathe the air. And it's our air when we're breathing
it, right? Well, faith, when God gives you faith, he gives
you faith that's yours. It's not someone else's. It's
a gift to you. Faith in Christ is not a notion
or a doctrine or a principle. It's the heart confidence of
every needy sinner who looks to Christ as his only savior
and then confesses that he alone is my Lord and my God. We did not confess that before
the Lord saved us because we did not believe that. We did
not have faith. Christ but now that we do we
say oh he's my Lord and my God and this faith which we have
in Christ Jesus our Lord is God's gift to us God's operation in
us he he regenerates us and then he gives us faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and he gives us repentance before
God were you sorry for your sin before the Lord saved you Why
are you sorry now for your sin? Because God gave you repentance. Isn't that amazing? He gave you
repentance before him. And this faith is given to we
who are the people of God, and wonder of wonders, we see here
in our text, that faith is personal faith. And this faith has one object
of worship, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. in him alone. The Holy Spirit tells us plainly
that the faith you have is by the grace of God. Turn, if you
would, to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Well, let's
quickly look over at chapter 2 before we go to Ephesians 1. Chapter 2, look at verse 8. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. So this faith is given to us. It's a gift from God. And it's
given to every believer. And look what it says over in
chapter one. Verses five to 19. We're gonna see here that this
faith that God gives us is your faith. It's personal. Look what it says
here. Having predestined us into the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will, wherefore I also after I heard
of your faith, Yours. Each of us who believe have been
given God-given faith. Your faith. God gives it to us. And it's
ours. Your faith. Your faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ and love unto all the saints. Cease not to
give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe. Do you, like the Philippian jailer,
ask, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shall be saved. Do you believe on Christ? Give
God all the glory if you do. Give him all the praise. Someone says, well, how much
did you know when the Lord Converted you how much knowledge did you
have of the doctrines of grace and how much did you know about
this? And how much did you know about that? Do you believe on
Christ Right Now how much do you know
do you believe on Christ? What must I do to be safe believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved It's not
how much you know and you shall be saved right no No, because
if the Lord saves you, you're going to grow in grace. My, oh, my. How can I know that
I'm saved? Answer this one question. Does
thou believe on the Son of God? Do you believe on him? The answer to that question is
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved. Do you believe on him? Hallelujah,
I believe on him. Yep. Does not matter what you can
answer, except believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Say, well, but I don't know much.
I don't know, I'm such a sinner. My sins ever before me, it's
huge, it's so much. Surely God can't forgive me for
all my sin. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Again, the only question that
will be answered is, does thou believe on the Son of God? If you do, then salvation's yours,
beloved. Salvation's yours if you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And this centurion here is held
before us as a picture of God's elect among the Gentiles who must be saved. God has a
people out there. We know God's still saving his
last sheep. You know why? Because he hasn't
wrapped it all up yet. When God saves that last sheep,
it's all over, beloved. It's all done. When that last
sheep of the covenant professes salvation in Christ, it's over. And only the Lord knows when
that's going to happen. You hear people say this and
that and this and that, just don't even pay attention to them. Only God knows when it's all
over. Only God and God alone. Think of this again. And I say
unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west. We
who believe are part of that many. shall come from the east
and the west, 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
gnashing of teeth. All who reject Christ shall be
cast out, and there be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Think
of all those Jews who believed they were going to heaven because
of what they've done, because they were Jews. I'll tell you what, if God doesn't
save you, you'll be lost eternally. And if God saves you, you're
saved eternally. And what do we say to that? Oh,
praise your mighty name, Lord Jesus. Praise your mighty name
for having mercy upon me. Oh my, look what the Lord says
to this centurion in verse 18 to close out this narrative.
And Jesus said unto the centurion, go thy way, and as thou hast
believed, sow. it be done unto thee, and his
servant was healed in that selfsame hour. My, oh, my. I close with
this. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? Scripture declares, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Praise the mighty name of Jesus. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your mercy. Oh, thank you for mercy that you've had on