Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. Last week we looked at lessons
from a leper. in verses 1 through 4. And this
is a whole day of miracles which Christ performed. And we know
what the miracles are. They're not only the ratification
of God confirming His Son and the ministry of His Son and the
glory of His Son, but they're also figures and pictures of
how God saves sinners. And we're not to look at one
individual and say, well, this is the only way God saves sinners. But we look at all of the miracles
of healing, the blind and the deaf and those with the palsy
and those who were dead and raised from the dead and blind. And
all of these together picture the sinner. And all of it together
pictures how men come to Christ or how Christ comes to men. things
are true. This week, I want us to look
at the high privilege of faith, which I believe is what's being
taught here in verses 5 through 13. So let's read through these
verses. Matthew 8, verse 5. And when
Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion. beseeching 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'm 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. 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 the west and shall
sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
Now, he said that because this was a Roman centurion. This was a Gentile. This was
not a Jew. This was a Gentile. But the children
of the kingdom, verse 12, that is, natural Israel, 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 selfsame hour." Now here's the scene. Christ had just cured
a leper. He cleansed a leper. A leper
forbidden to come in to worship. A leper who was made to live
outside the camp. He wasn't to come around. He
wasn't to have anything to do with anyone except others who
were lepers. That's where he was bound. That's
where he had to be. But he came to Christ in desperation. And he came to Christ in faith
believing that only Christ could meet his need. And Christ did. Christ did. And healed that leper. And the multitude watched from
afar off. And I want you to just keep that
theme in mind because all the way through here, the multitude
stands afar off and watches. But some come to Christ. They
actually come to Christ. The same as it is today. And
He healed this leper. And a great multitude followed
Him. But He is pleased to show mercy and grace to a filthy,
desperate, leper. And then he continues on into
the city by the sea called Capernaum. And as the crowd follows him
into the city, a Roman centurion comes, the most unlikely of men. The Romans held the Jews in captivity. The Romans were Gentiles and
the Gentiles had never had any part in the kingdom of God. But here comes this Roman centurion. Now you remember back in the
in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount that the last thing He told them
was this is a narrow way. A very narrow way. And few there
be that walk on this way. And that's what He's demonstrating
now in these miracles. So the crowd follows Him into
the city and a Roman centurion comes and he bows before the
Lord and he begins to intercede for his servant who was unable
to come and represent himself being stricken with the palsy.
Now the palsy, I tried to look that up and see exactly what
it is, and it's kind of a general term here. There's a lot of palsies. Cerebral palsy. There's all kinds
of palsies. But palsy was a type of paralysis
that left its victims with just muscle spasms, uncontrollable
muscle spasms. And sometimes it left them in
a fit of mental rage. We had a young girl that I went
to school with, and she would have epileptic seizures and things,
and she'd go into these violent fits, and not necessarily a rage,
but her body would just jerk, and you couldn't hardly hold
her down, and yet we were all trying to try to hold her down,
keep her from hurting herself or hurting somebody. But it left
them unable to control their own actions and their own emotions.
That's what I want you to understand about the palsy. That's how it
pictures the sinner. He's unable to control what he
does. What he has is like a disease. Sin is like a disease, and it
grips him. And it often evidences itself
in fits of rage and uncontrollable actions. Having a great affection
for a servant, this unlikely man comes to Christ. and beseeches
him for his help. And to help not him, but to help
this one he loved who could not help himself. And the servant, I thought about
that for a little bit. And I'm going to, if you'll just
permit me to read between the lines just a little bit. The
servant was probably Jewish. Now why would I say that? Why would I assume that the servant
was Jewish? Well, number one, because the
Jews were under Roman rule. They were under the captivity
of the Romans, so most likely he was Jewish. But then why would
a Roman soldier, a man of means and a man of authority, and in
particular a Gentile, come to Christ on behalf of a Jew? Why
would he do that, Russell? Don't that seem odd to you? A
Roman centurion, here's this multitude out here of Jews, following
Christ at a distance. Way off. Watching. Examining.
Looking to Him. Looking to see if He might be
the Christ. Watching every move He said. Listening to every word
He spoke. And they're watching from the
distance. And here comes the most unlikely of anybody in that
city to Christ, a Roman centurion. And if you'll permit me just
for a minute, I believe it's very likely that this servant
was responsible for the faith of this soldier. How else would
this soldier know the things that he knew about Christ? How
else would this soldier know to come to Christ or that there
was such a thing as the Christ? How would he know these things
apart from somebody who knew them to tell him? I believe this
slave, why else would a Roman centurion, a centurion, you know
what a century is, that's a hundred. A centurion was an officer over
a hundred men. He was a man of authority and
power. Why else would he come beseeching this man that everybody
pretty much held in suspicion, why would he come to him on behalf
of a Jewish slave? I think it's very likely that
that slave told him about the Lord and who he was and why he
came. Otherwise, he would not have
said some of the things that he said, especially speaking
of his authority and power, and believing him to have an interest.
Believing him to have an interest. And there's a lot we can say
about what takes place here, more than I think I could cram
into 30 minutes. a 30-minute lesson, so let me
just give you three things I saw as I read this precious story.
The first thing I see here in this is the great privilege and
high honor that God sets before believers. You think of what
a privilege, John, that the Son of God appeared in this world
as a man. appeared in this world as one
appointed to save. One whom God had committed the
salvation of his elect and the glory of his name. One man among
the billions. One man. And that this one man
just happened to be in Capernaum. And that this one man just happened
to be one that God had taught this centurion who he might be. What a privilege. What a privilege
for faith to come and call on the Savior. You think about that.
What a privilege it was. Nobody else knew who He was.
They were all off at a distance trying to determine who He was.
The multitude was over here just looking on, wondering about the
things that were being said. Here's the old established Jewish
religion, and they're turning thumbs down on him, and they're
upset with him, and they're drawing suspicions on him. And then over
here, are sinners, and they're coming to Him with all kinds
of diseases, and they're possessed of devils, and they're blind,
and they're halt, and they're lame, and all of these things,
and they're coming to Christ, and Christ's healing them. He's
healing them. And in spite of these great things
that He's doing, these Jews are still turning thumbs down on
Him, still going out into the multitudes and saying, watch
out now, this is an imposter. You don't want to believe on
Him. You don't want to follow Him. And yet, here they come, and
they follow Him, but they're following Him from a distance.
And then in God's providence, He calls one here, and one there,
and one over here. What a privilege! What a privilege! That's the first thing I see
in this, is the high privilege, the high honor that God sets
before believers. This man was a Gentile dog. This was a heathen who was raised
in Roman idolatry. And he'd come to see Mary's poor
son. That's how the Jews described
him. We know who you are. We know
your mother. We know your brothers. We know
your sisters. We know who thou art. But he
saw in Mary's poor son the right arm of God. That's what he saw. Now I want you to think with
me for just a little bit this morning about the privilege of
knowing Christ. The Apostle Paul, having reminded
the Ephesian church of their Gentile heritage, he said, now
you remember who you are. You remember where God found
you. You were Gentiles. You were without God, without
Christ in the world. In a fallen world. In a satanic
world. And he reminds them, he reminds
that whole church of their Gentile heritage and their calling out
of ignorance and darkness. And now He points out to them
the high privilege of faith and He prays for them that they might
be strengthened with might. You remember I study in Ephesians
when He gets into chapter 2 and He begins to remind them of that
high privilege of faith and He prays for them that their faith
might be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. That they might be rooted and
grounded in love. Ephesians 3.18 that they may
be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God." Now listen, listen to what he says here,
verse 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think. Can you imagine? Huh? We bring our pitiful little wants
and desires to him. Paul said, oh, he said, I wish
God opened your head, opened your eyes, opened your heart.
That you can see him for who he is. One who's able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the
power that worketh in us. Unto Him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. And this is what brings helpless
sinners to the throne of grace. It's seeing in Him what they
don't have. It's seeing in Him the glory
of God. That's what Paul said. Your eyes
are blind. And he said, if you can't hear
my gospel, if you can't rejoice in my gospel, it's because the
God of this world has blinded your minds. Lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto you. And that's
what God does. He shines this light. He puts
this treasure in earthen vessels. And that's what he was doing.
And this knowledge, this seeing, this revelation is what brings
helpless sinners to the throne of grace. Why else would they
come? They already know they can't do anything for themselves.
They already know this world can't do anything for them. Like
that woman with the issue of blood, she'd spend her whole
living on doctors who couldn't do her bit of good. And then she found Christ. This is what brings helpless
sinners to the throne of grace. It's an experiential knowledge
of Him who sits on the throne. He's the embodiment of grace. This world knows nothing of grace.
Sometimes I wonder if I know anything about it. Grace. Grace. The free and sovereign
gift of God. Unmerited favor. Grace. And Christ is the embodiment
of it. Grace manifested. Grace made visible. Grace come
down to a cursed world. We can sit and talk in the abstract
about grace and mercy and these things all day long. But you
can see it in Him. You can see it, John. I can see
that grace. Peter said, if so, be you tasted
of the Lord. Tasted of it. Our hands have
handled, our eyes have seen, John said. He is the embodiment
of grace. It wasn't just a man that came
to Capernaum. It was the grace of God. Scripture said the law came by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He is the embodiment
of grace, and He's the embodiment of mercy and kindness. Picture
in your mind, A throne of absolute power. We don't know anything
about that, do we? We go and we vote, and we sign
our little tickets, and we want this guy, and we want that guy,
and we want this guy. We put our votes, and then in
time, somebody's elected president. And if we don't like him, we
talk about him and so on. We try to get him out and get
somebody else in. We don't know anything at all
about absolute sovereign rule. But just try for a minute to
imagine in your mind a throne of absolute power, irresistible
power, power to create, power to command all things, sovereign
authority, authority over time, authority over providence, over
kings and dominions, over principalities and powers, nothing beyond his
power, nothing. He rules in absolute, unchallenged
sovereignty. None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? He rules in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can challenge
him. Who art thou, old man, that replies
against God? Don't you know he's the potter
and you're the clay? Picture this throne of absolute,
irresistible power, a potentate above all authority, above he
has all dominion. Authority over principalities
and powers over devils and diseases. All he needs to do is say the
word. That's all. Just say the word. Oh, he's the blessed and only
potentate King of kings and Lord of lords. Now imagine one sitting
on this throne who is the embodiment of mercy and grace. This King is mercy. This One
who rules all things, above whom is none. His Word is final on
Him. But He's a God, He's a merciful
God. He's a merciful Lord. He's full
of grace. He's one kind and caring and
sympathetic to your needs. One who can be touched with the
feelings of our infirmities. One who ever liveth to make intercession
for us. One whose power, his very power
and dominion was given to him to save sinners and give life. Oh, what a privilege to see him
and to know him and to perceive him for who he is. All of a sudden, seeing these
things, rank and title and race and nationality, just go out
the window. All of a sudden, tradition, all
this religious tradition, all my forethoughts, all of the things,
all my concepts, all of these things go out the window when
I see Him, if I can see Him. Rank and title and race and nationality,
they all go to the side. What men think about what we're
doing really don't matter anymore once you see Him. Because we've
discovered the King of Mercy, the Potentate of Grace, and the
Lord of Life. Hundreds stood off at a distance
and scratched their heads trying to make some sense out of what
they were seeing and what they were hearing, but this man found
what he was looking for. He found the King. He found the
one with the power. He found the one who was gracious.
He found the one who was willing. Not only able, but willing. And
he stood off all he was going to stand. He came to him. He
came to him. And he didn't fly up into his
faith as one worthy of having a hearing. He didn't march up
to him on his high horse. Demanding this and demanding
that. He didn't even barter with him as an equal. It says he came
and beseeched him. Here's this man of authority.
And he sees this poor man. He's dressed to the hilt. He's
a Roman centurion. He's got the sword on his side
and the helmet on his head. But he's somebody. And he comes
up. And here's this poor man with
one robe. That's all he had. He didn't
have two coats. He just had one. And here's this
man and everybody standing at a distance and all of accepted
religion had turned thumbs down on him. He was suspicious. A
big question mark drawn over his head. And this man comes
up to him supposing him to have all power. He saw him for who
he was. And he came and beseeched him.
He came in reverence and humility. And he told the Lord, the Lord
said, oh, well, I'll come and heal your servant. He said, you
don't need to do that. Just say the word. I'm not worthy
you come in my house. I'm not worthy. Just say the word. I wonder sometimes if I really
believe that. Do I believe there's one who
sits on the throne Who thinks on me? Who knows my travail and sorrow
and pain? One with all power, all authority,
all ability, who's interested, who wants to hear. I wonder if
I believe that. Do you know that the Lord Jesus
Christ can and will answer all your
prayers with a word? I can't think of a single example,
not a single example, and the scripture's full of them, where
any man sought him for the right reasons and sought him in respect
of his person, who came and bowed before him pleading for mercy,
who didn't get it, got everything he asked for, and then something. I wonder if we realize like this
centurion, that He who saved our soul could save a thousand. Huh? He could save a thousand. He could save a million. All
He has to do is speak the Word. Oh, but you don't know who I'm
praying for. They're stubborn and they're... You reckon that's
too difficult for Him? All He needs to do is say the
Word. Just say the Word. He that called you from afar
off can call another as easily as he called you. And what this
centurion learned, he learned first for himself. And the experience
of that grace led him to plead for another. If God saved me, He might save
you too. Huh? Ain't that what leads us
to the throne of grace? Isn't that what leads us to pray
for our children, pray for our neighbors, and pray for those
that we speak to? If God saved me, He just might
save another. He learned it from Himself. So,
there's a great privilege exampled and manifested to the multitude
and preserved in the Scriptures for us to see. And then secondly,
a great gift was bestowed. What a great evidence of the
grace and mercy of God to men. That God would manifest His Son
and put Him in such a place to be acceptable. Huh? To be acceptable. He makes us
accepted in the blood. He didn't turn to that centurion
and say, well, you're a Roman. You're a Gentile. What are you
doing here? He spoke to him. as if he was Abraham. He spoke
to him with the same grace he spoke to Moses with. Oh, listen to me. That God would
manifest His Son and put Him in such a place to be acceptable
to me. The leper came to it. The centurion
come to it. The woman with the issue of blood
came to him. The Gadarene demoniac came to
him. And he said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me. Ain't that what he said? And every man that cometh unto
me, he said, I will by no means cast out. I won't cast him out. And I tell you, the only ones
who came to him who were turned away is those who came in their
own righteousness. and upon their own worthiness.
All those who came to Him as they were, or better yet, as
He said they were, found Him willing, found Him able to do
exceeding abundantly more than they could ask or think. And then watch this, Matthew
8, 13, 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 the selfsame hour. Of all those who seemed more worthy, more
worthy. I'm just looking at this from
a natural point of view. Looking around and here's the
multitude and they're all Jews and they've all been raised with
the Word of God and they've all been taught the ways of God and
all these things. All of these ones out here seemingly
more worthy. God dispenses His mercy on a
dying slave. Think about that. And I tell you this, God often
goes to the extreme to give hope to the rest. Huh? He'll go to
the extreme. Paul said to Timothy, he said,
howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus
Christ might show forth all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Paul said, God went
to the extreme with me so that everybody else would find a place.
Huh? Sure he does. God saved the chief
of sinners to give hope to all the rest. So there's a high honor
set before us here, a great privilege. God manifested his son as our
advocate and high priest and the king of mercy and grace.
And then through him, great gifts were bestowed, gifts of salvation
and healing and hope. And then thirdly, I see here
a great lesson taught. God answers prayer. He answers
prayer. So brethren, why don't we come
to Him? Huh? Why don't we give Him the glory?
Why don't we bless Him? You know, you go through the
Psalms, and we're going to be looking at one here in just a
few minutes. And the psalmist, and the old prophets, and even
the apostles, they blessed God. Do you know what that means when
you bless God? How are you going to bless God? God has everything.
God is perfection. How do we bless God? We talk
good about Him. Huh? That's how you bless God.
You talk good about Him. You praise Him for His works
and His mercy, and you praise Him for who He is. And we join in His calls. Huh? We join with Him. We side. We
take sides with God, even against ourselves. We take sides with
Him. Father, bless the lesson this morning. I have no desire to stand up
here and say idle words. I desire that others might see
you, might hear your voice, and might have that revelation of
grace that we've seen. That they might find the gift
of God in your son. I ask you for Christ's sake,
amen.