All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. And let's look at verses 1 through
10. Luke chapter 7. Now, when he
had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, He
entered into Capernaum, and a certain centurion's servant,
who was dear unto him, was sick and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he
sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he
would come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they
besought him instantly, saying that he was worthy, that is,
this centurion was worthy for whom he should do this. For he
loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. You remember,
they're under Roman rule, the Jews, and this Roman centurion
built them a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them, and
when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent
friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself, for
I'm not worthy that thou shouldest enter unto my roof. Wherefore,
neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee. But say in
a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also, that is,
he's recognizing Christ as a man of authority like he is. For
I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and
I say unto one, go, and he goeth. And to another, come, and he
cometh. And to my servant, do this, and
he doeth. When Jesus heard these things,
he marveled at him. and turned him about, that is
the Lord turned around and looked at the people, and he said unto
the people that followed him, I say unto you, I've not found
so great faith, no, not in all Israel. Not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning
to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. There's five things. in these
passages that I want us to think about this morning as we consider
God's testimony of this beloved centurion. I want us to notice
what the Lord says about this centurion himself. There's something
special about this man. What makes him so special? So
I want us to look at that, and then I want us to look at a needy
acquaintance. He had a servant who was dear
to him. And then he had some friends
that he called on for help. And then I want us to see the
heart of intercession, and then lastly, a willing savior. So
first of all, let's consider this centurion himself. Let's
just stop and think about him for a little bit. We're not told
too much about this man, but everything we're told about him
is honorable, everything. Why? Why does this man have honor
and maybe another don't? Maybe other centurions, because
centurions, and this is not common for a centurion. They're most
generally very strict and overbearing. But why is this particular man
set before us and being commended even by our Lord? Well, he begins with this, a
certain centurion. How often does the Lord say that
about those he's about to approach? There was a certain blind man,
a certain woman, a certain centurion. When God chose his people in
Christ and predestinated them to the adoption, he set them
apart from all others. This is way back yonder in eternity.
When he chose them, he set them apart from everybody else. In Jude, verse one, it says we
are sanctified. That word means set apart for
divine use. We are sanctified by God the
Father. Sanctified, set apart by God
himself. God said, I'm gonna bless him.
Ain't that what you read in Ephesians chapter one? About God our Father? He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly places in Christ. And it's all according
to his good pleasure. Every minute. Set apart for divine use, marked
out to be blessed, made provision for. When was provision made
for his people? When they sinned? No. Provision
was made way back yonder. Christ is the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. Provision was made for them when
he chose them. They made provision for their
vessels of mercy, he tells us in the scripture, aforeprepared
unto glory. And believers are not called
by accident. He says in Romans chapter eight,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called. Who'd he call? Those he did predestinate. In
Christ, Paul said, we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. It's not just a centurion, but
a certain centurion, one chosen of God. He was an honorable man. How'd he become honorable? God
arranged it that way. He used his restraining grace
on this man. Well, why? His position didn't
contribute to his character. He was a centurion. I'll tell
you, I've been in the military. And once you make that E5 and
E6 rank, all you do is bark at everybody under you after that.
You just bark at them, tell them, do this, do that, go here, go
there, come over here. And most centurions are very
strict, very overbearing. But not this man. This man was
kind. The Jews said to our Lord, he
loveth our nation. Israel were the enemies. Rome
conquered them, they were captives. But this man loved them. What'd our Lord say about his
redeemed? He said, love your enemies, didn't
he? This man did. This man did. He loved his enemies. He built a synagogue for worship.
He understood how important worship was and he donated a synagogue. He was an honorable man, and
he was a believer. The Lord himself confirmed his
faith. I've not seen so great faith,
no, not in Israel. And he was the first Gentile
in the New Testament saved, the Roman centurion. So we're looking
here at a certain man, a certain centurion, and then secondly,
he had a needy servant. And what a wonderful example
of a believer with men under him, a believer in authority,
a believer who's a policeman, a believer who's a father over
his children, a husband over his wife, a man with authority
over those under him. And it doesn't matter if we're
husbands or fathers or pastors over congregations. or have a business with employees.
Some of you here run businesses, you have employees. We have a
responsibility toward them, and more so, as a believer, we're
to care for them. We're to care for them. And this
man cared for his servant. His servant was paralyzed, that's
what palsy does. It paralyzes a man. You remember
the man who laid there at the Pool of Bethesda all them years,
all them years. Had nobody put him in. He couldn't
get in the water, he couldn't move. He just laid there. This
man's servant was paralyzed. And without divine intervention,
he'd stay paralyzed. He'd stay paralyzed. He'd never
be able to care for himself, let alone care for somebody else.
And this man's need was desperate. In Matthew's account, it says
he was grievously tormented, and in Luke's account, it says
he was sick and ready to die. His only recourse was Christ,
because intervention from God only comes through Christ. That
was his only recourse. And then thirdly, the servant
had a friend, a believing friend, the centurion. What do believing
friends do for dying friends? They make intercession. If you're dying, I can't do a
thing for you. I can't stop it, I can't alter
it, I can't give you extra days, but one thing I can do is I can
pray for you. I can make intercession for you.
I can ask God to show mercy. And he sent those he knew best
to go to the Lord and tell them this man's need. And this is
one of the best examples of intercessory prayer I've ever read in the
New Testament. This man understood that he could
do nothing for his friend. There's nothing I can do for
you. Your need is beyond my ability. If it were a matter of money,
I'd give it to you. If it was a matter of help, I'd
help. But you're beyond my help. You're beyond how many times? And I want you to think about
this. If we sit down with a friend one-on-one, already knowing how
God saves sinners, but we'll sit down there one-on-one, and
we'll try to convince them to have faith. We'll sit there. I just want to reach over sometimes
and twist a man's hair off and stick it in there, because I'm
telling him everything I know. The one thing that I can do for
that man, that man is beyond my ability to do anything for. The one thing that I can do is
I can go to him who has the ability. Can I? I can go to him. Now he can do something about
it. All he has to do is say the word. All he has to do is will
it, and it'll be done. This is one of the best examples
of intercessory prayer I've ever seen. It's a beautiful picture.
And he couldn't do anything for his friend, and those that he
sent couldn't do anything for his friend. But the one that
they were sent to could. And he knew he was a man in authority,
yet he sought help from those who were willing to
go. And the Jews went first of all. The last thing, if you read
the last part of this account, you'll see that he didn't feel
himself worthy to go. He was a Gentile dog, and he
wasn't about to go to the Christ himself, nor did he think him
worthy for this, the Christ of God, the promised Redeemer, to
come under his roof. And so he sent, and the Jews
went first, because he'd built this synagogue and showed them
favor, and they wanted to show him favor back, and they went
to the Lord. But the Jews had no understanding of this, and
they pleaded to man's worthiness. That's what they pleaded to God
for themselves, their own worthiness. But they pleaded, He loves our
nation. He built us a synagogue. This
is a great guy. You need to go heal him. I think most of us here, given
up on friends and relatives and fellow workers, folks we know. We quoted a few scriptures to
them, made a few statements to them, and they barked back at
us, and we said, well, I'll just leave you alone. I'll just leave
you alone. Well, you don't need to go to them. You're going to
the wrong person. The centurion had already been to his friend. His friend couldn't even tell
him what was wrong with him. And even if he could have, the
centurion knew that he was beyond his head. There's no point in
all this interaction. The thing to do is go to him
who has the power. You see that? I'm talking about
my own self. My own self. I know him who has
all power in heaven and earth. And that's why he said go preach.
Isn't it? All power is given unto me in
heaven and earth. Now you go preach. But do I call on him? Not like
I should. Not like I should. This man of faith is already
doing all he can do. And he knew his friend was past
any earthly help that he might do. So he went and sought somebody
who could do something about it. And this man knew a man,
believed in a man, rested in a man who could do what no other
could do. If he could get an audience with
Christ, it might be his friend could find hope. Do we believe
that? How? Not like we should. If we
did, we'd be on our knees every day of this world. Paul, when
he talks about praying for these churches and praying for these
congregations, he said, I pray for you always, always, continually,
since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me
ask you something. You believe God can save your
children? Huh? Then why don't we ask him to?
Why don't we ask him to? You believe he could bring your
fellow workers to their knees? He did this, man. You believe Christ can affectionately
call the worst rebel in your family? Every family's got one.
I'm the one in mine. The worst rebel in your family,
that one who kicks and fights. Who was the worst rebel than
Saul of Tarsus? Ah, there wasn't a worse rebel.
He persecuted the church unto death. God saved him. You believe our Lord can arrange
his providence in such a way as to bring any man to hear his
gospel? Then let's not quit praying for
him. And ever say man is not a preacher, the church's members
are all not called to speak to dead sinners, but we're commanded
to love them and pray for them. Pray for them. So let's pray for these loved
ones and neighbors and intercede on their behalf. Maybe the Lord
will grant them ears to hear. And then fourthly, see the heart
of intercession. This first envoy that went to
assist him, and as our Lord grew near, he sent some other friends,
and this is the message he brought to our Lord. He said, trouble
not thyself, for I'm not worthy that thou shouldst enter under
my roof. Neither thought I myself worthy
to come unto you, but say in a word, and my servant shall
be healed. The heart of intercessory prayer,
now listen to me, is sovereign mercy. He said to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, it's not of him that runneth, It's of God that showeth
mercy. Isn't that what he said? He told
those Pharisees, he said, why is he eating Republicans and
sinners? And the Lord knew their hearts.
And this is what he said. He said, the whole need not a
physician but the sick. Now he said, you go learn what
this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. And we learned that. Sovereign
mercy. He delights, the scripture said
God delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. I
tell you, you find somebody around Christmas time that you know
will appreciate something and you know they need it and you
get it and you give it to them and you see their faces light
up, especially the little ones. Their faces light all up and
they receive. Oh, don't you delight to do that?
Boy, I do too. I love doing that. It's sovereign mercy. The Jews pled his worthiness,
but he didn't. In fact, the very weakness and
inability of the man is why he's seeking the Lord to start with. Romans 9.15 is what I quoted
to you a while ago. Will you plead for lost sinners
and plead His sovereign mercy and compassion, plead His glory
and grace, and plead His name for His sake, Lord for Christ's
sake. Will you save my children? Huh? And then lastly, I want you to
see a willing Savior. Our Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ
and His Lordship, His sovereignty is given to Him as the Christ
to give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him.
That's the purpose behind the sovereignty given to the God-man. It's to give eternal life to
as many as the Father has given Him. He's not some abstract power
without purpose or end. His lordship is described as
the basis of all preaching. He's the sovereign savior. He
saves. Our savior, Paul said, is the
creator of the universe. All things were created by him,
for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things
can sit. He's not God-like. He's God come
into the flesh. And there's nothing that's in
harmony with his nature that's beyond his ability. God cannot
lie. It's contrary to his nature. And he's a sovereign with a purpose.
He came to save sinners. In Romans 3, 19 through 18, it
describes the sinner. servant of the centurion was
paused on purpose just as we are. He was brought to the end
of himself on purpose. He was brought to lie helpless
and hopeless before God. And so was every sinner Christ
came to save. And then when he sought, he's
a willing savior. Remember that leper? Oh, what
an awful sight. That leper must have been stinking.
We had an old bum came down to church years ago down in Louisiana.
I'm telling you, he came to my front door and it was all you
could do to, the smell was horrific. And he had infected sores on
him. He was a mess. And we took and
made him something to eat and gave him some water, a pan of
water and stuff to clean up. We're in bad shape, ain't we?
I can't imagine how obnoxious we are before God. But here comes that leper, stinking,
filthy, got that rag over his face, and he's not even allowed
to be there among the people, and here he is, in desperation,
he falls down before the Lord, and he said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. Lord said, I will. The centurion
said, Lord, just say the word. Just say the word. My servant
will be healed. He said the word. When they went home, they found
his servant whole. Found him whole. Willing Savior. You remember
that old man in the temple, he couldn't even turn his eyes toward
heaven. He said, Lord, have mercy on
me, the sinner. That man left justified, fully
justified before God. We got a willing Savior. He's
more willing to save than we are to be saved. He's a willing
Savior. He said, this is the Father's
will which is sent me that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life and I'll raise him up at the
last day. When the intercessor's prayer
came to the Lord, he said, just speak the word. Why would he
say that? Why would he say that? Because
that one standing before him was the word. This is the eternal
word, the word made flesh. The one revelation of God to
men is this man standing there. God come into the flesh. He spoke creation into being
and he spoke and it was done. He commanded, David said, and
it stood fast. He spoke and Lazarus came out
of the tomb, fully bound, but he came out of that tomb. He spake and the winds and the
waves obeyed his voice. He spoke and legion was seated
with him, clothed and in his right mind. And how many tough cases do we
have? How many helpless sinners do we know? How many children
do you have that are sick and ready to die? Don't know the
Lord. Go to the Lord and beseech him.
Just say the word. Just say the word. That's all
you have to do. Just say the word. I tell you, if we believed
that, that's how we'd be praying every day. Every day. Lord, if you will, if you will,
the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, he turneth,
just like the rivers of water, and he turns it wheresoever he
will. And if he can turn the heart of the king, he can turn
your heart too. He can do what he will. It's
a matter of will. And we're taught to call on him.
Call on him. Ask him what a privilege we have
in prayer and how often we overlook it. And here's this old Gentile
dog. This old Gentile dog. I don't even know how he heard
the gospel, but he heard it and he believed it. And he goes to
the Lord and he said, you're the only one can help my servant.
And you don't need to come to my house. You don't need to perform
any miracles. Just say the word. Just say the
word. All right, thank you.