He knoweth them that trust in him." Turn to Matthew chapter 8. I want to look at this centurion
this morning as an example of faith. If I were to ask you to give
me an example of faith, I believe all of us, if that
question were asked to me, all of us would probably go over
and pick someone out of Hebrews chapter 11. Or we would name someone that's
in that chapter. I doubt that anyone in this room
or anyone that you would ask would pick this centurion. And
yet the Lord says, I have not found so great a faith. No, not even in Israel where
it ought to be found. We wouldn't pick this man, would
we? He wouldn't even come to our mind. And yet the Lord of
Glory says, I've not found so great a faith as this man. What
did he do? Do we ever read of any exploits
that this man did in the name of God as far as really being
commendable and worthy? Here's what he did that caused
the Lord to marvel. Now, there's no fillers in the
Word of God. Where it says he marveled, he
marveled at this man's faith. A Gentile. A Gentile. Believe God. That's all he did. For the Lord to say, I have not
found so great a faith, no, not in Israel. All this man did was
believe God. He just believed God. That's
the greatest faith there is. That's the only real faith there
is. it's great faith. And the reason he calls it great
faith is because it was given to him by a great God. Faith, as we know, as we have
been taught out of the Word of God, is the gift of God. I'm not going to stand here this
morning and try to get to get you to work up some act of faith. I'm not going to do that. It
would be useless. I'm going to preach to you, present
to you, tell you about the One in whom our faith is. And if we have faith, God gave it. It's a gift. We can't brag about it. We cannot
brag and say, well, I believe God, why don't you? Well, there
was one time you didn't believe God. I didn't believe God. There
was a time that I did not believe God. There was a time that I
wanted nothing to do with God. I can remember that time very
well. It just interfered with what I liked to do. My nature
and the nature of God was as different as light and darkness. God is light and I was darkness. It was not until He made me and
some of you children of light that we began to love the light,
that we would come to the light. Faith is a gift of God. It's
the work of the Holy Spirit of God. It's His work. in us that enables
us to believe. It's the creation of a new nature,
of a new man. And he teaches and he instructs.
And we believe. We believe. It's the work of
the Holy Spirit. No one naturally has faith. No one naturally believes
God. That is a supernatural work of
God. Paul said, all men have not faith. The only ones that do are the
ones to whom God has given them. And faith, that's of God, rests
solely upon Christ for all things. Listen, it rests upon Christ
for all things in time and in eternity. We don't just trust
him for The eternal thing, we trust him for our daily bread,
don't we? We trust him for our daily bread.
We trust him to provide for us, to care for us, to guide us,
to lead us, direct us. We look to him. We look to him. And faith is rare. When the Son
of Man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? Do you believe
God? Do you have faith? Do you really
believe God? You have no idea how rare that
is. I have worked at several places
over the years and I've been around a lot of people. Rarely,
rarely have I ever ran into anyone that believed this gospel out
there in the workplace. Rarely. Faith is rare because it's only
found where God gives it. And faith grows where we least
expect it to grow. Who would have thought this centurion,
this Roman soldier who had men under him, who was under authority
and had authority, who would have thought that this man would
be one of the greatest examples of faith. It grows where we least
expect it, and it's absent where we think it ought to be. Christ said, I have not found
so great a faith, no, not in Israel where it ought to be found.
If anyone ought to believe God, it was those Israelites when
the Lord came to them. They had everything that God
had to give. That picture of Christ, the book
of Christ, they had the Word. They had the tithes, the pictures,
and they had everything. The priesthood. But when he came
to his own, his own received him not. They turned thumbs down
on him. Being religious does not mean
a person has faith. It doesn't mean, you know, there's
a faith of devils, as Scripture speaks of. or the faith of devils.
Let's look at this. Here's the first evidence of
true saving faith. What is it? What is that evidence? What is it? Here it is. True faith always, always comes
to Christ. Now you can say you have faith,
or a person can claim to have faith, but that faith never comes
to Christ, leans on Christ like the song we sing. That's not
faith. The very first evidence of true
saving faith is not that you just straightened up and you're
trying to fly right. The very evidence of it is that
you come to Christ. You believe the gospel. You believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. It comes to Christ and not to
anyone else. It comes to Christ and Christ
alone. Faith comes to Christ for all its needs. Not just my, like I said, my
eternal needs, but my needs right now. I come to Him for all my
needs. That centurion came to Christ
out of need, to the person who has saving
faith, Christ is very real. He's not just someone
who lived, he's someone who lives and is seated at God's right
hand. And he's very real to saving faith, very real. And then saving faith calls upon
Christ in prayer, a person claimed to have faith and never called
upon Christ. A man told me one time years
ago that I worked with. He said, I believe everything
that book says. He said, I believe everything
the word of God says. And this man made no claim of being saved. And if you was around him very
long, you knew he was not. I mean, he was a rascal. But
he told me once, he said, I believe everything that book says. Oh,
if you really did, you'd be saved. If you did, you'd love Christ. If you did, you'd follow Christ.
Because everything this book has to say is about Christ. Everything
it has to say is about the Lord Jesus Christ. And one way or
another, it's pointing to Christ. It's running us to Christ. It's
setting forth Christ. And if you believed what this
book said, you'd love Christ. You'd believe on Him. And you'd
call upon him. Like this centurion, he says
over here in verse 5, And when Jesus was entered
into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
begging him, praying him. And this is amazing because you
know those Romans, as arrogant as they were, The Jews, they
looked at them as just trash. They looked at them as beneath
them. But here is a centurion, a man
who's in authority, and he's bowing down to this Jew. But
to him it's not a Jew, just a Jew. I mean, just a Jew. It's the
Lord of glory. And this man knows it. This man knows it, and this
man believes it. And he calls upon Him, he beseeches
Him, true faith, is very active in prayer. It's very active in prayer. Casting
all your care upon Him. True faith does that. Lord be
merciful to me, the sinner. The sinner. And then faith, true faith is
fully persuaded. fully persuaded that Christ can
keep me to the end without me doing anything. Without me doing
anything, adding anything, Christ is able to keep me to the end.
He's able to cleanse me. He's able to pardon me. He's
able to make me righteous. He's able to sanctify me. Christ
is able to present me thoughtless before his throne. Do you believe
that? Do you really? That's saving faith. Not trying
to do something, not trying to act. That saving faith says Christ
paid it all, all to him I owe. Paul was fully persuaded. Look
over 2 Timothy. Let's look at this. Let's read
this. We've read it many times. Let's read it one more time.
In 2 Timothy chapter 1, in verse 12, Paul says in verse
12, 2 Timothy chapter 1, for the witchcalls I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed." I know whom I have believed.
I know Him. I want to know Him better, and
that's why he says over in Philippians, oh, that I might know Him. You
will never exhaust knowing Christ. You can't do it. Christ is the
wisdom of God. Christ is God. You cannot exhaust
that. And Paul says, For I know whom
I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I have committed unto him against that day. Are you persuaded of that? Those
who are not persuaded are going about to try and add to it, just in case. Was it Ephesus
where they built that altar, or Athens built that altar to
the unknown God? Just in case one shows up that
we missed. No, we don't do anything to add
to him, to his work. Faith is fully persuaded that
he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. What have you committed unto him? Absolutely everything. Everything. That centurion believed
that Christ could heal his servant. He believed that with all his
heart. He believed he could do it. There was no doubt. Like the leper said, Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean. You can make me clean. You can
make me whole if you will. Lord, if you will, you can save
me. Remember that. You might need
it one day. If you will, you can save me.
It's not a matter of power, it's a matter of will. His will, not
mine. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of His power. Someone said that God saved me
against my will with my full consent. I don't know who said
that, but that's a pretty good statement. Because that old nature
is never willing. Never, but that new one is. And listen to what he says. And
he really says something here now. He says, speak the word
only. There in verse 8, the centurion
answered and said, Lord, I'm not worthy that thou shouldest
come under my roof, but speak the word only. My servant shall
be healed." Now, for this centurion to believe
that all he needs to do is speak the word, tells me this centurion
believes he is the Son of God. He is God. All you have to do, he's not
asking you to come to his house and do some kind of ceremonial
hocus-pocus thing, to do this, to cure his servant, just speak
the word. Who knows how far away that man
lived, what's the matter? Just speak the word. I know this,
standing here preaching this morning, I know this. Lord, speak
the word only and souls shall live. Life will be given. Sins forgiven. Faith produced. Lord, speak the Word only. I can't do anything this morning. I couldn't save a gnat. Can't save. You and I cannot
save anything. But the Lord, He can speak the
Word only. And souls shall be saved. This man understood the power
that belonged to that man. You see, as a centurion here,
he says here, he said, I'm a man under authority. In other words,
he's under authority. He knows what that means because
he's been told what to do. But he's also a man of authority.
He tells people what to do. Chain of command. He understands. He's telling him, I understand
the chain of command. When I'm told what to do, I do
it. And when I tell them what to
do, they do it. But I can tell my servant to
do this and he does it. But I can't tell my servant to
be healed. I cannot forgive sins. I cannot put them away. I cannot
cast out devils with a word. I can't do any of these things.
I can just tell them to go pick up sticks. That's all I can tell them to
do. Our power is extremely limited. We have very little power. And
what power we do have is given to us. It's given to us. But His power is limitless. And His power is over all things. If he tells a demon to leave,
it's got to leave. If he says, get behind me, Satan,
guess what? Satan has to get in line. He
has to get behind him. With just a word, he goes over
to that gathering there and that man in the tomb and he just,
he tells legions of devils, legions. With just a word, come out. Out. I remember mom sometimes
would tell us to get out of the house. When we were kids, you
know, we'd make us go out to the barn when we were on the
farm, but we had to live in a barn half the time. She wanted us
out of the house. And she'd say, out! Out! You know what out means? It means get out of the house.
And he'd just say, out! They could do whatever they wanted.
One time they took a man they were possessed and they threw
him on the ground and he's wallowing and slobbering and screaming. Guess what? He came out. He came
out. And he did that with just a word. And then faith acknowledges its
unworthiness. He says, I am, in verse 8, the
centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy, like I
said, here's a centurion Roman general saying to a Jew, I'm
not worthy to be in your presence. My house, my house is just too low. It's too, it's
nothing. It's nothing. For you to come
under my roof, for you to come in and enter into my house. This
man, somewhere along the line, God broke this man. This man
was broken. And this man had learned. We're
not given that background. But this man heard. He heard
of Christ. He believed on Christ. And God
broke this man. And He made him a great... Wouldn't
you like to serve under Him? Wouldn't you like to have a general
pray for you, this servant? This man is not asking anything
for himself. And this ought to give us hope
here. He had children and family. He's asking for someone else.
I thought that was such a blessing when I read that again. This
has nothing to do with him. I mean, as far as him physically.
This has to do with the servant, his slave. The servant here is
a slave. It has everything to do with
him. And he says, Lord, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy for you
to come under my roof. Humility. Where there's true
faith, you'll find true humility. You'll find it. He bowed and
notice this. He acknowledges his lordship.
He says, Lord, he says that twice. In verse six and verse eight,
he calls him Lord. You might not want to let Caesar
hear that, son. You're going to be in trouble. You're calling
someone else Lord besides Caesar. He didn't care. You know what was
most dangerous? He put himself in, calling him
Lord. Some of his comrades around there could have said, we better
go tell Caesar on him. He's calling this man Lord. There's
no Lord but Caesar. There's no king but Caesar. Oh,
yes, there is, and this one realizes it, and he recognizes it. Faith acknowledges its unworthiness. Faith acknowledges the lordship
of Christ, vows to Christ. This man never addressed Christ
in a derogatory manner in any way, shape, or form. Lord, Lord. And as I said earlier, real,
genuine, true faith is rare. My soul, if you had it, God gave
it to you, and thank Him for it. Thank Him for it. All men have not faith. All in
here don't have faith. I'm not going to be so presumptuous
to believe and think that everyone, you'd be the first church that
ever did. You'd be the first. all have not faith. Here's an astonishing truth.
He says, look in verse 11, I say unto you that many shall come
from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. First of all, here's what this
scripture here is telling us. Many shall come from the east
and west. Salvation is not inherited. Those Jews believed that because
they were Abraham's natural seed, they were automatically in the
kingdom of God, they had a free ride, pass go, you know when
you play Monopoly, you get out of jail free card. No, no, it's
not. Has nothing to do with blood,
our blood. Has nothing to do with his blood,
but not ours. Has nothing to do with heritage,
I don't care if the last five generations of your grandparents
or fathers or preachers. I don't care. It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter. Here's where it is. It says in
verse 12, the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into
outer darkness. In other words, the natural descendants of Abraham.
who believe not shall perish because it's not based on heritage,
not by the will of man or heritage or ancestry. In verse 13, here's
the key to it, Jesus said unto the Gentile centurion, Go thy
way as thou hast believed. This man has the same right in
the kingdom of God as Abraham who believed God. Because he
believed God. He believed God. As thou hast
believed. That's what he says to him. Go
thy way. Go back to work. Be comforted. Because things are going to be
all right. As thou hast believed, so be
it done unto thee. How hast thou believed? How have
I believed? How have you believed? Huh? You believe that Jesus is the
Christ? He says to his disciples, whom
do men say that I am? What sort of man am I? Some say
you're Jeremiah, some a prophet, but who do you say I am? Now
we're talking serious, aren't we? Who do you say that I am? Thou art to Christ, the Son of
the living God. Thou art to Christ, the Messiah,
the Savior of the world. How hast thou believed? Salvation's of the Lord. Is it? Go ask the Galatians. They'll
tell you straight now on that problem. They started out believing
the gospel. When someone came in, then they
started adding to it. Salvations of the Lord from Alpha
to Omega, it never changes. That will never change. I do
not care. It doesn't matter if the world
stands another 10,000 years. It'll still be Christ and Him
crucified. It'll still be salvations of
the Lord. The message will never change. It will never change. How hast
thou believed that Christ is the Redeemer, that His blood is the blood of
atonement, His righteousness is my righteousness, and that's
it, no other? As thou hast believed, so be
it done unto thee." That's serious, isn't it? Well, we are given the evidence here
in verse 13 that this man did believe. And his servant was healed in
the same hour. I don't know, I don't know that
that servant ever realized what happened. I mean, he was healed
of his I don't know that the Lord saved him, but he was healed
of his sickness. The Lord saved that centurion.
That man believed God. But that servant, that slave, I doubt while he spent out the rest of
his life that he ever realized what happened that day. by his
master, that centurion, and the Lord of Glory. True faith is not only concerned
with itself, it's concerned with others. I'm telling you, if you're
not concerned with others, you don't believe God. And the same
for me. To have faith. It's not only
to seek mercy for yourselves, but it's to seek genuine mercy
for others. Now, let me close quickly. Faith
always comes to Christ. It always comes to the Lord Jesus
Christ. It always glorifies God. Faith always praises God at all
times, in all situations. It gives him the glory, whatever
the circumstance. Faith always follows Christ.
He said to Matthew at the receipt of customs, I read that this
week, and he just walked up to him and looked at him and said,
come follow me. And he got up and left everything. He got up
right there. He probably told him, you guys
take care of it, or whatever. But he got up right there and
followed Christ. And he did it on the command
of Christ. Come, follow me. That one said,
well, let me go bury my dead. Well, there's a problem here. No, you come follow me. You let
the dead bury the dead. You come follow me. And faith
always looks to Christ at all times. At all times. And the faith that's
of God's elect, the faith that he gives to his elect, will persevere
to the end. It will persevere.