Matthew chapter 8, verse 11 this
morning. Matthew 8, 11. We'll read through verse 22. Let's see if the Lord will show us
some things from this passage. 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. And as thou hast believed, so
be it done unto thee. when his servant was healed in
the selfsame hour. And when Jesus was coming to
Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid in sick of a fever,
and he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose
and ministered unto them. When the even was come, they
brought unto him many that were possessed with devils, And he
cast out the spirits with his word and healed all that were
sick. Let's stop there this morning. He has just met this centurion
on his way. The centurion came and told the
Lord that his servant lie at home sick of the palsy in verse
six, grievously tormented. And the Lord said, I'll come
in healing. What would you have said if the Lord said that? Okay,
let's go. That comes to mind. But this
centurion, the one with the greatest faith, according to the Lord,
in all of the land, God-given faith, of course, the gift of
God, the greatest faith. He said, I'm not worthy that
you should come under my roof. I want you to heal him, but don't,
don't come. I'm not worthy." And then he said to him, be it
so unto thee, according to thy faith, as thou hast believed. He said that same thing this
way in other passages, according to that faith, be it so unto
thee. He said to this man, as thou
hast believed, so be it done unto thee in verse 13. And he
talked about great faith in verse 10. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ,
by his words and by all of his actions, taught us in everything
that he did and said, how a sinner is saved by the grace of God
through the person, work, and word of Christ himself. Not just
his word, he taught with his mouth. He opened his mouth and
taught them, it says in Matthew 5. But he also did things that
taught the same truth that he spoke. He spoke as one having
authority, and then he showed himself to be the one with all
authority. Authority to give cleansing to
a leper. Authority to give life to the
dead. Authority to give life to whomsoever he will, he said.
with his actions. He showed himself to be what
he taught himself to be. And so we learn from both. He spake and he did according
to his word. He exercised the authority with
which he spoke by cleansing the leper and by raising this centurion
servant who was sick in the palsy and plainly shows us in word
and deed that salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. No one else can raise the sick. No one else can cleanse the leper.
No one else can save the soul. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Now here in
verses 11 and 12, the reason I said that now is this. In verses
11 and 12, he's still teaching how he saves a sinner. These
miracles taught how he saves a sinner. And now he shows in
verses 11 and 12 that salvation is not according to nationality.
The Jews were, they were confused about this and they still are,
generally speaking. Earthly heritage does not give
entrance into the kingdom of God. There'll be many that'll
come from the east and the west. He just got through healing this
centurion, a Roman centurion, a Gentile. And he said, he's
got great faith. We know where he got that kind
of faith from, don't we? From the great Savior himself.
From the great God, the giver of faith. He saves a Gentile
and he said, there'll be many that'll come from the East and
the West like this man did. He came to me knowing who I am. Believing on me, believing me
to be the one with all authority. To bless, to give life, to heal,
to cleanse. as I please. And there'll be
many that'll come from the East and the West, and they'll enter
the kingdom. But the children of the kingdom,
the earthly children of the kingdom, the ones to whom pertained the
law and the ceremonies and the sacrifices and all the pictures
that were given to point them to Christ, which instead they
used as a legal, ritualistic, ceremonial righteousness before
God by their own deeds, not submitting themselves to God's righteousness,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who's pointed out in every one of those
statutes and commandments and ceremonies and every aspect of
the tabernacle and the sacrifices, all the blood that was shed,
the temple itself, everything pointed to Christ. But they didn't
submit themselves to God's righteousness but went about to establish their
own. How? By keeping the ceremonies and
the law and observing the ordinances that were given to reveal Christ. But he teaches here the same
thing that Paul said. He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly. The children of the kingdom in
an outward sense. He came unto his own That's the
Jewish nation. But his own received him not.
And in earth, the earthly king, children of the kingdom. He is
a Jew, which is one inwardly, which is what he said to this
centurion in verse 13. Look at the context. Now this
is such, such powerful teaching from our savior. He said, as
thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. Now, he's not
just pausing in the blessing of this centurion by healing
his servant. He's not just throwing this teaching out there about
the Jews and Gentiles and how that many Gentiles who are not
children of the kingdom in an earthly sense will come and come
into the kingdom. And many who are in the kingdom
in an earthly sense will be cast into outer darkness. He's not
just throwing that out there randomly. He's just said what
he did about many from other nations coming and sitting down
with the Jewish fathers. They're going to sit down with
Abraham in the kingdom of God, in the very presence of God,
the spiritual kingdom. And many of the earthly children
of the kingdom will be cast into hell. And then he turns to this
Roman centurion and says, as thou hast believed, be it unto
thee. You see what he's saying? What
a powerful teaching. It's not according to heritage.
It's not of blood. It's not of family. It's not,
Paul said, I was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, but I count that
loss for Christ. And Christ came right up front
teaching this, didn't he? It's not of earth, it's not whether
you're a Jew or Gentile. In Christ there is no Jew, no
Gentile, no male or female, no barbarian, nor bond, nor free,
Scythian. It doesn't matter. Earthly distinctions
melt away. What does matter then? As thou
hast believed, so be it unto thee. It don't matter much what
your last name is. You've got to believe on Christ
to be saved. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. This is
what Paul taught years later, years after the Lord came right
up front teaching this. Galatians 3, 7, Know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. You're not a child of Abraham if your last name is
Goldman or something like that. You're a child of Abraham if
you believe on Christ. That's what Paul said. Romans
4.16, therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, because
it will be by grace. If God has to compromise his
grace to save you, then you're going to hell. Is that clear? And me, I'll see you there. He's not going to compromise
his grace. It's of grace. There won't be any boasting on
the sinner's part. You may boast down here for a
while, but then it won't happen. And it's already excluded in
the salvation of a sinner. Where is boasting then? It's
excluded by the law of faith. Why? Because it's of faith that
it might be by grace. If it's by God-given faith, if
it's by something you weren't born with, if you can't work
it up, if it has nothing to do with you but it's the gift of
God, then it's of grace and only God gives glory where sovereign
grace is bestowed. To the end that the promise might
be sure to all the seed. If faith is something you work
up and some just have good enough sense to do it and some don't,
then it's not sure to anybody. It's a crapshoot. It's the Lord
shooting into a flock of ducks and hoping he hits one. But if
it's by grace, through God-given faith, then it's sure to everyone
he promised it to, seed. Not to that only which is of
the law, not to those only which are Jews who are of the seed,
but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is
the father of us all in that sense. He's the father of the
faithful, the scriptures call him, the father of the faithful.
And this, of course, now this is important because as Joe said,
there may not be any Jews here this morning, but this is important
because this applies also to all earthly associations and
affiliations. It's not about being a Baptist.
You can be born the son of a preacher who was the son of a preacher
who was the son of a preacher. That gives you no advantage.
It's not about any earthly distinction. It's not about association or
affiliation with any denomination. John said it's not of blood,
Jew or Gentile, it's not of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God, of God that shows mercy. And God saves
sinners by grace through faith in his son. That's what he's
saying to this centurion. There'll be many like this man
that'll come from the east and the west. Oh, and I'll receive
them into the kingdom with open arms and with the embrace of
sovereign eternal love. And there'll be many who think
they're in the kingdom that'll be cast into outer darkness.
And then he turned and said, it's your faith. It's that faith
that my father gave you. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you, my father did. And as you have believed, so
be it, so be it. Then, our Lord being about the
same business now that he was about when he was preaching the
Sermon on the Mount, in this same context, when he was healing
the leper, and when he was teaching what he just did in verses 11
through 13, being about the same business, He didn't teach and
preach and speak truth and then take a break
from that and go over to Peter's house and have something to eat.
No, everything he said and everything he did is the gospel. Look at
what he did at Peter's house. He goes to Peter's house to eat
and Peter's mother-in-law was sick of a fever. Not a coincidence. Not. And when Jesus, verse 14,
was coming to Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid
and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand and the
fever left her. And she arose and ministered
unto them. It'd be impossible to say which
is more profound, his words or his actions. How profound, what teaching.
Here she lays, and as far as we know, the Lord never asked
her if she wanted to be healed. Are you tired of being sick,
you know, you want me to heal you? Like he did the lame man
in John 5. He went right up to him and said,
Wilt thou be made whole? He didn't do that here. And it's
not recorded that she stumbled out of bed and crawled over to
him and said, Lord, heal me, like the woman with the issue
of blood. She made her way through a huge
throng of people. I saw a huge throng of people
in Times Square last night. I wouldn't want to have to make
my way through them. You're just pretty much there, aren't you?
Wherever you're at in a crowd like that, you're just there
till it's over, unless you're desperate. But know this assuredly, the
way that our Lord, the way that he did what he did was never
random. All of it teaches in the way
that he saves a sinner. When he saves a sinner, that
sinner will be desperate for his salvation, like that woman
with the issue of blood. Will run out of options and then
will cry, like she did. And he comes, he comes asking,
doesn't he? He says, will thou be made whole?
The gospel absolutely asks that question. Demands an answer. Will you or won't you? Will you
bow or won't you? Will you believe or won't you?
Will you love? Will you surrender? Will you bow? But he walks up
to this woman and just touched her hand. So far in this chapter,
he made a leper clean. That's our sin condition before
God. Our whole body is affected by
leprosy, isn't it? Our feet are swift to shed blood.
With both hands, earnestly we sin. From the crown of our head
to the sole of our feet, our lips are filled with the poison
of asps. Everything about us, the eyes
defile. Great is our darkness by nature.
because our eye is evil. Everything about us, leprosy
affects us. It's a disease of the blood.
And he heals all of our soul's diseases. One who took our very nature
and all of our sins upon himself and bore them away, he heals
us of leprosy. And then he heals this centurion's
servant. And you know, this centurion,
he was an unusual man in many ways. But one of them is he loved
this servant. This wasn't just somebody he
ordered around. When this servant got sick, that
was unacceptable to him. He was apparently dying. He said,
I can't just stand by and watch. I got to find the master. I got
to find the one who can do something about it. And he said, my servant
is lying, sick of the palsy, and he's He's grievously tormented. This is the one with all authority
to whom we must come and entreat for our loved ones. We must lower
them down through the roof, if we have to, so that the master
will see them and bless them, if he will. And now look what
he does. Have you ever been really sick?
Sick of a fever, that meant something to me because there's nothing
that puts me down like a fever. I can take the sniffles and the
cough and all that, but when I get a fever, don't look, don't
expect much out of me. If I'm able to do anything at
all when I have a fever, it won't be done right. And this is also our sin condition. Not only are we hideous and vile
in our nature, in our blood, but what we do is inadequate. We cannot do what we are created
to do. What are we created to do? Exactly
what this woman did once the Lord healed her, minister. That's
what God created, to minister. She ministered to the Lord. She
glorified Him. And she ministered to his people.
She loved indeed. She didn't just say, boy, I want
y'all to have a good visit, you know, and I love you. She showed
that she did. The Lord Jesus Christ came and
he said, I didn't come to be ministered unto. but to minister. You know why? Because I can't
minister. He did what I can't do. He did
it as my representative. He ministered unto God the Father
and all of his people. And then he said to us before
he left, if you love me, you do that. If you love me. And when you do it, you've done
it to me. He came to do what I do not and cannot do and also
Look what else he did. He touched her hand. The hand represents all that
we do. Wise Solomon said in Ecclesiastes
9.10, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. Do it with thy might. That's
what the hand is. It's what you do. That's what
you do. And our problem by nature is
that everything we do is sin. It's affected by our sickness. She couldn't minister before.
Why? She's sick. That's why you can't
do it. You're sick. Can't do it. Weak
through the flesh. When we were yet without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. But he changed what we are. This
is what the leper pictures. That's what we are. We're a leper.
And he changes from a leper to a non-leper, from filthy and
vile to clean. And also, he touches our hand. He changes what we do. What you
are will determine what you do. You always do according to what
you are. And two truths are seen here.
Two truths. Our hands are not the same. Our
hand being all of our action. That's what we work with. That's
what we do. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, do it with all thy might. And our hands are not the same.
I never worshiped the Lord while I lay sick of a fever. Did you?
I never served him. I'm not going to brag on my service
now. Got nothing to brag about now, but I never served him at
all before. Never loved him, which love is
revealed in action. Love's not just an emotion, it's
an action. He loved us and gave himself
for us. That's part of the definition
of love, the giving himself for us. And our love is revealed
in action as hers was. She ministered to him. She got
up and ministered to him. She didn't just say, thank you,
Jesus. She did thank you, Lord Jesus Christ. There's a reason why it says
after, after that, after the Lord touched her, then she got
up and ministered unto them. I never did anything for anybody
but myself before the Lord touched my hand. How about you? And there's
still a lot of self in what we do. But don't be ungrateful for
the Lord's life-changing power. She ministered unto them who
the Lord and his people that were gathered together. So much,
just this simple action of our Lord, just a few words and so
much is taught and so powerful. The Lord said that when you've
ministered unto the least of his people, you've done it unto
him. So it's him and it's them. She ministered unto them. I've
seen God's people ministering unto one another in various ways. I'm thankful for that. I see
the Lord's people minister to one another. It has to do with
service. service to one another. That
never happened before the Lord touched your hand. The woman was lying in bed useless
before, so were you, so was I. But not now, not now. Ephesians 2.10, for we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained. that we should walk in them.
What's a good work? Well, I'll tell you this, when
that woman that was a great sinner, she probably didn't have much
else, but she had an alabaster box of ointment, and she broke
it open, and she anointed the Lord Jesus Christ with it. And
the Lord said, she hath wrought a good work on me. I know that
a good work has something to do with the glory of Christ. That's what it has to do with.
It has to do with denying self and honoring him. But this, my hand is not the
same since he touched it, but that's not my righteousness.
That's not my righteousness. That's not my hope before God.
I won't be rewarded based on that. Aren't you glad? I'm glad. The second thing is this, that
in him touching my hand, my hand is now eternally one with his. They're joined. It's vitally
connected to his in this. In that, what his hand has done
on this earth as a man, as my representative, is attributed
to my hand." Well, that's a bold statement. If it's not that way
with you, you're going to hell. You got no hope. If I ever hear
those blessed words, which perhaps will be the most blessed that
I'll ever hear, well done, thou good and faithful servant. enter
into the joys of thy Lord. If I ever hear that from my Lord,
it won't be because of what my hand has done. It'll be because
of what His hand has done as my representative. And when He
touched my hand, they became one. As He is, so are we. He has washed away with His precious
blood everything sinful about me and my works, what my hand
does. And by divine imputation, I am
given the credit for. That's what imputation means.
It means to give the credit for His works, His holiness, His
righteousness, His perfect faith, His holy love of the Father,
His zealous and flawless service unto God the Father. That's me
in Him. This is what it means to be found
in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law. I wouldn't
have it, and you shouldn't either. But that which is through the
faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith as
thou hast believed. That's how we become righteous. He touches our hand. This is what we mean when we
say he is the Lord, our righteousness. He is my obedience to the law.
He is my good working. He is my faith, my love, my service. Paul wasn't exaggerating when
he said Christ is all. He's sure enough all to the believer.
He touched me. Think about this. We've talked
about him specifically touching the hand. Let's think about him
touching us at all. He touched me. When I was sick,
he touched me. When my wife or one of my children
is sick, I kind of like to stay away from them. I like for them
to stay away from me. The last thing I want to do is
touch them. How about you? What if they had leprosy? Would
you touch them then? What if you knew? that by touching
them, their disease would become yours. I don't even know how to say
that. I know that it resulted in the forsaking of his own father. It resulted in hell like no one
else will ever experience hell. He touched me. The woman lay
sick of a fever. And our Lord touched her, and
it says, the fever left her. Where do you imagine it went?
Have you ever thought about that? When he touched the woman with
the issue of blood, he said, I perceive that virtue has gone
out of me. Something went out of him and
into her. And I'm pretty sure that what was in her went into
him. The sickness, the disease. And
whether that was true in a physical sense or not, spiritually speaking,
I know this. He hath borne our griefs, Isaiah
said. That word griefs means sicknesses.
That's what it is, that's what that word is. He hath borne,
he hath carried, he hath sustained, he has endured our sicknesses. That's what he did on Calvary.
my sickness, my sin, Peter said, who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. In verse 16 of our text, look
at it briefly, when the even was come and they brought unto
him many that were possessed with devils and he cast out the
spirits with his word and healed all that were sick. that it might
be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying
himself took our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. Now
that's a quote from Isaiah 53 where we've quoted already this
morning and those who teach that the healing of physical bodily
diseases is part of the gospel ministry today They use this
verse, of course, to show that when Isaiah wrote what he did,
he was talking about physical disease. When the Lord healed
this woman of her fever, he was fulfilling Isaiah 53. And like
many other passages of scripture, when they're taken alone and
contrary to the light from other scripture, it seems to teach
that, doesn't it? But Isaiah 53, four says this,
surely he hath borne our griefs, sicknesses, and carried our sorrows,
yet we did extreme him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions. Our griefs, our sicknesses are
equated with our sins, our transgressions. When he bore our sicknesses,
we said, he's afflicted of God. And he was, but not for the reason
that they thought that we by nature, we think he's an imposter
and he deserved it. No, he didn't deserve it. We
did. He took our sicknesses, which is our transgressions,
verse five. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his strikes, we are
healed. Now, what kind of healing is
that talking about? We see here that the way he remedied our
sickness was to be wounded and bruised. to die on the cross,
not by just exerting healing power. In 1 Peter 2.21, it says,
for even here unto where you called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps,
who did no sin, neither was gall found in his mouth, who when
he was reviled, reviled not again, When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose
stripes you were healed." He quotes Isaiah 53 in this context. He bore our sins in His own body. He bore our sicknesses. The sickness of our sin in His
own body on the truth. That we being dead to sins should
live under righteousness. By whose stripes you're healed.
So you see how Peter makes clear reference to the same passage
exactly of Isaiah 53 that the writer there in Matthew does
and clear application to the spiritual nature of our disease
is made. So yes, everything Christ did
was in fulfillment of scripture. When he healed that woman, it
was in fulfillment of that same verse. He bore our diseases in
an earthly sense. He did that while he was on this
earth. But the spiritual fulfillment of Isaiah 53, which is merely
pictured by the earthly healing, is crystal clear. Christ died
for our sins, our soul's disease, according to the scriptures.
And we commemorate that death this morning, that atonement,
that healing, that washing away of our sins with these simple
elements. I've thought some about the Lord's table last night and
this morning. What a wonderful way to begin
a new year by taking these two simple elements. And what is
our Lord showing us here in the bread and the wine? He broke
bread and gave it to his disciples and said, take, eat. This is
my body, which is broken for you. You want a good definition
of substitution? Two words for you. That's the
gospel. for you, broken for you. And
this cup is the new covenant, the covenant of grace in my blood,
which is shed for you. Drink all of it, and when you
do, remember me. Remember me. Our Lord teaches
us by these two simple elements in this very simple ordinance
that everything comes down to this. And I mean everything. comes down to this. How that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Everything comes down to Christ
crucified. And by his grace may we say with
Paul and mean it and by his grace be able to make good on it. We
preach Christ crucified. And when we partake of these
elements, when we observe this ordinance, as he has commanded
so graciously, remember, remember Christ crucified.