If you would turn with me to
the Gospel of Luke chapter 7. While you're turning there, I
want to remind you of a verse that Paul wrote in his first
letter to the church at Corinth. He said, For you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called. There are not many, but Paul
did not say any. He said there are not many, but
he didn't say there aren't any. This morning I want to talk to
you about a certain centurion, a noble man, who proved to be
both wise and called of God. Now, Centurion was a Roman soldier
who had probably as many as a hundred men under his command. And matter of fact, that word
Centurion originates from the word century, which means a hundred
as you well know. This man was Roman soldier. He was a Gentile, but he was
a believing Gentile as we will see. Now in today's reading,
I want to clear this up before we get into the story and what
an amazing story it is. I believe the Lord's given me
an encouraging message for you. But as I read a moment ago in
Matthew's account of this story, we saw that it was written that
the man himself went to the Lord Jesus Christ. But you'll notice
as we go through these verses in Luke chapter 7 that there
seems to be a contradiction, but there's not. There's no contradiction,
no discrepancies in God's Word. I'm sure you noticed in our reading
that Matthew described, as I said this occasion, as a conversation
between the centurion and the Lord Himself one-on-one. Yet,
as you'll see here in Luke's narrative, the Holy Spirit tells
us plainly that the conversation was between the centurion's friends
and the Lord, not between the centurion and the Lord himself.
I don't know, but it could be that Matthew simply makes the
words of the centurion and his representatives to be the centurion's
own words. It's altogether appropriate since
a representative's words are really the words of the one he
represents. If you've ever had to have an
attorney, I hope you haven't, but if you've ever had to hire
an attorney, a legal representative, when he or she represents you,
whether in the courtroom or anywhere else, they, when they speak,
are speaking in your place. The same as if you were yourself
speaking. That's what we call an advocate,
a representative. And it may also be that the centurion
first sent members of his household, messengers, friends, I don't
know, to the Master. And then later he came himself
to the Lord Jesus. I just don't know. We're not
told. But don't let that throw you. Regardless of the exact
situation, both Matthew and Luke both wrote as eyewitnesses. They wrote this inspired account
exactly as the Holy Spirit directed them. And you'll see that where
it really matters, there's no discrepancy. They both saw the
same thing. So with that out of the way,
let's look at this amazing story from the pages of Scripture.
And let's ask the Holy Spirit to show us the beauty of the
Gospel once again from God's Holy Word. Now in verse 2, we're
told, And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him,
was sick and ready to die. Here we're told that this certain
centurion had a servant that he dearly loved. How blessed
is a servant that has such a master. God's servants are dearly loved
by their master, aren't they? our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And as we'll see, this servant represents God's servants, the
believer, in many ways. First, he was sick. All those
in Scripture who were sick that the Lord healed are true pictures
of the sin-sick sinner. This servant was very sick. So sick that we're told that
he was about to die. Ready to die. You and I are spiritually
what this servant was physically. That's what we need to see. I've
said it before and I'll say it again, but I am spiritually what
that leper in Scripture was physically. That's a picture of me. I am
spiritually speaking what that impotent man who lay at the pool
of Bethesda next to the waters was physically. I can't walk
or run. I have no man to put me in the
water. I can do nothing in and of myself
to merit God's favor. No wonder the Apostle Paul said
salvation is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth
but of God that showeth mercy. I am spiritually that man with
that withered hand. I can't work I can't do anything
spiritually for myself. If God does not intervene and
do a work of grace in my heart, I'm doomed to eternal condemnation. I am in my heart before God Almighty
what that madman of Gadara was who was possessed by devils in
the flesh. That's me spiritually, my madman,
doing harm to myself and others. And I am diseased in my soul,
friends, the same as that woman with the issue of blood was in
her body that came that day and said, I could just touch the
hem of his garment. I'll be made whole. That's pictures
of you and I. And when you read in Scripture
about all the blind and all the deaf and all the dumb and the
demon-possessed and the lame and the impotent and the leprous
people, you're seeing what each and every one of us are by nature
in our fallen, depraved condition. That's what we are spiritually.
And didn't Isaiah well describe our spiritual condition when
he said, why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more
and more. The whole head is sick. And the
whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even
into the head, there is no soundness in it. But wounds, bruises, putrefying
sores, and they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither
mollified with ointment. Now the centurion's servant,
as we see here, was near death. But you and I, spiritually speaking,
already dead in trespasses and sin before Christ redeemed us. That was the state that we were
in. And you hath he quickened and made alive. Spiritually dead,
the wages of sin is death. And in our father Adam, and by
birth, and by practice, sin has brought death upon us spiritually.
And friends unless the Lord Jesus comes to you as he did Lazarus
and command you to come forth You will perish under the wrath
of God and be eternally damned And let me tell you from the
bottom of my heart that this is not just fables. This is not
just storytelling That's not what the Bible is I remember
when I was young, my mother brought me a book of Bible stories. You know, all the famous ones. Adam and Eve, and Moses, and
Noah, and the Ark, and Samson. Oh my, they were like fairy tales
to me. But this is no fairy tale. This
is God's Word. And you'll either bow to the
Son of God now, or you'll bow to Him in the Day of Judgment,
whenever that may come for you. When you leave this life, you're
going to stand before God. It's appointed unto man once
to die, and what? Then the judgment. I can talk
till I'm blue in the face. I can beg. I can scream. I can
cry. I can plead. But the truth of
the matter is, if God don't reveal to you the urgency of this message,
you'll never see it. That's why we pray for the lost. That God might give them eyes
to see. That God might trouble them and show them their need
of a Savior. Unless God and the Lord Jesus
Christ command you to come forth. You'll never come. No man can
come and no man will come. Unless the Father which sent
me, what? Draw him. Accept. Unless. But God. Those are the words
of encouragement from Scripture. Now maybe you're asking, what
hope then do I have? How can I see to it that Christ
gives me life? Well, I believe we have the answer
here in verse 3. Look at it. Speaking of the centurion
and when he heard of Jesus. when he heard of Jesus. Has God
given you an interest in the hearing of the Savior? Have you
seen that where you spend eternity depends on what you're hearing
concerning Christ? What think you of Christ? Our
Lord said. This is the most urgent question
that's ever been asked. And I ask you this morning sincerely,
what do you think of Christ? Who's son is he? He's the Son
of God, but let me tell you, he's God the Son. People don't
have a problem with him being the Son of God, but they have
a lot of problem with him being God the Son. There's a difference. Not to the believer, but to the
world. What think ye of Christ? Do you want to know what he came
to do? Do you want to hear of him? He came into the world to
save sinners and only real sinners will want to hear. And only chosen
and elect sinners will hear. Now we're not told how. But this centurion heard of Jesus. Perhaps he had been present to
hear the sermon that our Lord preached in chapter 6 of the
Gospel Narrative of Luke. Maybe he heard the report of
the Gospel somehow, some way. But how he heard is really unimportant. I'll tell you though what is
important, and it's absolutely vital. He heard of Jesus. If all you ever hear is how you
ought to live, if all you ever hear is what you ought to be
doing for God, and you've never heard of Christ, the gospel is
about what God has done for sinners. What can we do for God? Let's
be honest. What can we do for God? Well,
we can do a lot for a God who's no God at all. A God that's wanting
to and trying to and begging and pleading. We can do a lot
for that God, but you can't do anything for the God of this
Bible. The God of heaven and earth. And last week we tried
to show a little bit concerning the God of this Bible. How He
rules and reigns and works all things after the counsel of His
own will. He's in the heavens and He does
as He pleases and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what
are you doing? That's the God I'm talking about.
What can you do for Him? What can you do for him? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I don't know
how, but God sent his word of the glorious gospel to this man.
And he proves it to be so, as we'll see. God, through the Holy
Spirit, gave him a hearing ear, a seeing eye, and a believing
heart. And I don't know how much he knew. I don't know how much
you know. And you may be amazed at how
little I know. But let me tell you something,
that's not the issue. The issue is I knew who this man knew, and
again, he proves it to be so. He knew the Lord Jesus Christ
because God had given him ears to hear. And the only way any
sinner, now listen, can ever have eternal life is by knowing
God. Our Lord Himself said, this is
life eternal. Christ Himself says, this is
life eternal. Are you listening? That they
might know Thee. The only true God in Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. The only way a sinner can ever
have eternal life is knowing God. The only way you can know
God is in Christ. In Matthew 11, 27, the Lord said,
No man knoweth the Son, but the Father, and neither knoweth any
man. The Father saved the Son, except the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him. The only way you're going to
know God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way
you can know Christ and believe on Him until life everlasting
is by the preaching and the hearing of the Gospel. God uses the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. If you're not sitting
under the Gospel, you haven't found God. That's where God's
found in the preaching of His Gospel. Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the Gospel of Christ. It's the power of God. unto salvation. That's where it is to everyone
that believes. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. Paul wrote in Romans 10, how does faith come? Faith comes by hearing. And hearing
garbage? No, hearing the Word of God. Look at verse 3 again. 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. Verse 4, And when
they came to Jesus, they besought Him, instantly saying, notice
the words of the Jews, that He was worthy for whom He should
do this. And they go on to say, For he
loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Now do
you notice who this man sent to our Lord? He sent the elders
of the Jews. And I remind you, this man was
a Roman soldier, a Gentile, whom the Jews absolutely hated. And
even though they were under the rule of the Romans, they didn't
care much for them. But these elders of the Jews
came with some pretty kind and impressive words about this man.
I believe this centurion had proved to be a man of remarkable
character. He was no doubt a gracious, generous,
and kind man. He loved his servant, we're told.
How many masters love their servants? He loved his neighbors. The Jews
said, he loveth our nation. Why, he even built a synagogue,
a place of worship for us at his own expense. And as I said,
the Jews who normally hated the Roman Gentiles thought so much
of this man that they said he was worthy to be helped. He's
worthy. Now, I agree this man had done
some good things. And he proved to be a good man.
But that's not what moved our Lord to help him. I can tell
you that for a fact. These things did not impress
our Lord. They didn't make our Lord to
think that this centurion was worthy of His grace. There are
many moral people in this world, much better than I am to my shame,
but none is worthy of the Lord's attention. There are many men
and women who this world would call good, but God declares there's
none good, no not one. There are many who have given
large amounts of money to do charitable things to help others. Well, he built a synagogue. God
needs nothing from no one. What moved the Lord Jesus Christ
was nothing more than grace and mercy for an elect child of God. A certain centurion, the scripture
says, chosen before the foundation of the world. That's what moved
him. And verse 6 says, "...then Jesus went with them." He went
because he must have mercy on whom he would have mercy. Notice the rest of the verse
6. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion
sends friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, now notice these
words, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldest
enter under my roof. That's how sinners come to Christ.
That's the attitude in which they come. Lord, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to be in your
presence. Don't trouble yourself. I'm too ashamed of myself to
even look in your eyes or upon your face. I'm not worthy that
you should come under my roof. Now remember, the Jews said he
was worthy. Isn't that what they said? He's
worthy. He's worthy to be helped. But
what did he say about himself? I'm not worthy. Friends, let
men brag on men. They're going to. Brag on men
if you want to. Let men brag on men. But believing
sinners have been made to know by God that they're not worthy. John the Baptist, the very one
that the Lord Himself said concerning, He said, Among them that are
born of woman there hath not risen a greater than John the
Baptist. What did John the Baptist say
about the Lord Jesus Christ? He said, There cometh one mightier
than I. The lachet of whose shoes? I'm not worthy to stoop down
and unleash. Well, he's the greatest of all
men. Surely he thinks he's something. I'm not worthy to tie his shoes. I'm not worthy to clean the dust
off his feet. I'm not worthy. Moses, go to
Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go. Moses said, I've got
a stammering tongue. God said, I'll give you the words
to say. David said, who am I? Who am
I? Mephibosheth said before David, and when David said, is there
any yet of the household of Jonathan whom I can be merciful to? They
said, well, he's got a son that's lame on his feet. He can't walk. There's a picture, isn't there?
A picture of me and you. And David said, you go fetch
him. Fetching grace. You go fetch him and you bring
him and he's going to eat at my table continually all the
days of his life. And what did Mephibosheth say?
He said, What is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? That's God's people's opinion
of themselves. Isaiah, when he saw the Lord
high and lifted up, he said, woe is me. He said, I'm undone. I'm a mess. Peter, when the Lord
Jesus had fished all night and called another, professional
fishermen now, these boys knew what they were doing. Fished
all night, didn't catch a thing. And the Lord said, go back out
and cast out your nets. And Peter said, oh, we've fished
all night. What he was really saying is, we're professional
fishermen. We know what we're doing. And they threw their nets
out and they caught so many fish that it almost sunk the boat.
What did Peter say? Peter said, Depart from me, Lord.
I'm not worthy to even be in your presence. Paul wrote two-thirds
of the New Testament. Most of the words that we read
in the epistles, he wrote. God used that man in a special
way. What was his opinion of himself?
He said, I'm less than the least. I'm the chief of sinners. I'm
a wretched man. Okay, verse 7 where wherefore
neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee Now notice
these words But say in a word. Say in a word. Boy, that just
stuck out to me when I read this. And my servant shall be healed.
But say in a word. Oh, what words of faith. But
say in a word and my servant shall be healed. Oh, that God
would be pleased to give me that kind of faith. True faith says
to God the Son, only speak the word and it shall be. That's
what faith is. God said, let there be light
and there was light. God said, let the waters under
the heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry
land appear. And it was so. Only speak a word. Just speak a word. Psalm 33 6
by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the
host of them by the breath of his mouth Psalm 33 9 for he spake
and it was done he commanded and it stood fast Psalm 148 5
let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they
were created Do you know what this centurion was really saying? Lord You are God. Just speak the word, as you spoke
the world into existence, and my servant shall be healed."
He knew Christ was God and that God was sovereign. He knew that
the same God who was in the heavens and did whatsoever He pleased
is now standing on the very earth that He created. This is God. He knew it. Look at what he says
next. It proves it to be so. Verse
8. I am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers. Remember
he was a centurion, had a hundred men or so under his command.
And he said, I say unto one, go, and he goes. And I say unto
another, Come, and he cometh. And to my servant I say, Do this,
and he doeth it." He knew something about authority. But he knew
the Lord of glory was the final authority in all things. Friends, he works all things
together for the good of them that love God, to them who are
called according to his purpose, because he controls all things.
Who but God can do that? Oh, the centurion said, I have
under me soldiers, but all is under your authority, Lord. I
say go, and they go, and to another come, and he comes, and I say
do, and my servant does. But you just say a word, and
my servant shall be healed. You don't need to come. Just
say a word. Just say a word. Our Lord raised
the dead. Three occasions that I can think
of. One, Lazarus. And what did he
say? He said, Lazarus, come forth. And he came forth. Jairus' daughter. She's dead
and all the folks in the house are just crying and throwing
a fit. And Jairus is sitting there and
you know his heart is just broken. You know, they had been held
up by that woman with the issue of blood. The Lord was on His
way to Jairus' house and here comes that woman with the issue
of blood. Jairus just stood there. The whole time he's got his daughter
on his mind. They got into the house and they
said, she's dead. Jesus said, she's not dead. She's
sleeping. And then he said, Damsel, I say
unto thee, arise and she arose. Oh Lord, I'm one of authority.
I say go and they go. I say come and they come. Look
down at verse 12, a whole different story here. Now when he had come
nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man
carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a willow,
and much people of the city was with her. She was loved by folks.
She had a lot of people there with her. And her husband had
died, now her son had died. She was all alone. And when the
Lord saw her, notice those next words, he had compassion on her. Oh, for the Lord to have compassion
on someone. It's going to bring about something
good. And he said unto her, Weep not, don't cry. And he came and
he touched the myrrh. He touched the casket. Just touched
it. But that's not what did it. And
they that bear him stood still and he said, He said, you see
that? And he said, Young man, I say
unto thee, Arise. Well, what happened? And he that
was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to
his mother. And there came a fear on all,
and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet has risen
up among us, and that God has visited his people. They were
right about that. God and the flesh. Just say a
word, and my servant shall be healed. Verse 9, When Jesus heard
these things, he marveled at him. And he turned him about,
and he said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you,
I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. The Jewish people were God's
chosen nation. This man was a Roman Gentile,
and yet the Lord said, I haven't found this kind of faith in all
of Israel. All of you claim to know God,
claim to serve God, claim to keep God's commandments, and
I'm telling you, this man, this Roman Gentile Centurion, never
seen this kind of faith. He understands some things about
God. He knows God's sovereign in control,
and that God can just say a word, and it's accomplished. Now only
twice do we see the Lord marveling at something in Scripture. Only
twice is that language used. In Mark 6, 6 we're told that
our Savior marveled at the unbelief of his kinsmen. He marveled at
their unbelief. And here he marvels at the faith
of a Roman centurion. What can be, honestly, what can
be more marvelous than the fact that the Son of God marveled?
Now in Mark 6 6 the word marveled implies astonishing sorrow, sorrowful,
heartbroken over their unbelief. And here the same word implies
great admiration. Oh may God teach us to place
admiration where our Lord did. Not upon the things of the world
that men seek, but upon the grace of God in All that we have, whether
great or small, it's just God's gift to us for a short while.
When Job said, naked I came to this world, naked I'm going to
leave. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He killeth the maker
of the lie. I ain't taking anything with
me. Are you? The Lord Jesus flat out admired
faith. He wasn't ever impressed by any
of these other things, but he admired faith. He gives faith
and then he admires the man who exercises what he has given him. What was the result of this man's
faith? Well, we see it in verse 10. And they that were sent returning
to the house found the sermon whole that had been sick. What
America our Lord did this day, without even seeing the centurion's
servant, our Lord restores full health to a dying man. Why? The centurion said, just say
a word. My servant shall be healed."
Oh, what faith! He speaks and the disease departs. Only God can do such a thing.
That's what He did for this dead dog sinner. I'm telling you,
it is one day in grace and mercy, He said to my cold, dead heart,
let there be light. And there was light. That's many
of your experiences. He breathed into my nostrils
the breath of life, and I, by the grace and the power of God,
became a living soul. That's how God does it. We're
recipients of His grace. But say in a word, and my servant
shall be healed. May God make it so to you who
are yet without Christ. May God make it so.