THE FAITH OF THE GREAT IN FAITH

Luke 7:1-10

Morning Meditation 9/26/2012

Verse 1-10 says, “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. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us 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 am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under 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 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 it. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.”

It is interesting to consider who those were whom Jesus commended for their faith. I believe it was only Gentiles. Here we have a centurion pleading with Jesus for the life of his servant. This servant was probably a Jew. What the centurion said to Jesus caused Jesus to respond in the words, “I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

This should be enough to motivate a study of this man. His faith will do to imitate. I want you to think with me about the following:

HE WAS A CENTURION

This means he is not likely to be one of great faith. First, many have the mistaken idea that Christianity is inconsistent with being in the military. This simple observation should remove this faulty thinking. Another thing that would remove the likelihood of this man having faith in Jesus, a Jew, is that he was a centurion in the Roman army that was at the present occupying Israel. The Romans were hated by the Jews in general. It is not an easy obstacle to overcome for one to love those who hate him. We have a good illustration of this in America. There are many in this country prejudiced against a whole race of people because a small minority of that race has done them wrong. If they will only look around they will find those of their own race just as bad if not worse. The Jews were constantly making slurs against the Romans and especially those like the centurion who were occupying their land. It was no easy thing to overcome this barrier to become a believer in Israel’s God.

I believe there is an important lesson for us to learn right here. We changed worlds and goals when we were saved. We are in the world but not of the world. We must not allow personal human feeling to dominate our lives. We are the Jesus (ambassadors 2 Cor. 5:20) that the world encounters. We live by His faith (Gal. 2:20). Our beliefs that result in action is the application of His life in all our actions. We are not doing this for Him. He is using our yielded lives through which to live His life through every step we take. This is what death to self means. Our purpose is lost in His. We no longer exist for ourselves but for Him and to His glory. Amen. The next thing I want to mention is that,

HE LOVED THE NATION

He love the nation. Do you see it? He did not reject the nation because there were those in the nation that hated him. This is one of the ingredients in the man to whom Jesus said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”

Jesus loved the world and still does (John 3:16). Anything less on our part is distorting the image of Christ. There is still a lot of racial prejudice against Jews in the professing Christian community. This is a hindrance to the exercise of faith. If you discover this in your life, you must be willing to put it away, if you want to have the faith of this Gentile centurion. Next we see,

HE HAD A TESTIMONY IN ISRAEL

Here we have Jews pleading with Jesus for a Gentile. Our text says, “And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us (Jews) a synagogue.” (Parenthesis mine for emphasis). They said, “He loves our nation and has proved it in his actions. He has built for us a synagogue.” These were things the Jews were using to appeal to Jesus to get Him to honor this man’s request. This was their reasoning and it represents most of the thinking among professing Christians today. Jesus did not respond to their reasoning. Did you read that correctly? Yes you did. He responded to his FAITH. The belief that we have to be worthy to receive an answer to our prayers is a major hindrance. If you think you can earn a miracle by your devotion to Jesus or the church, you can hang it up so far as your faith is concerned. Another important thing. Jesus did not reject this man’s request because the Jews who were pleading in his behalf were asking Him to respond to his merits. Amen.

A very few who are saved by grace understand grace as a principle to walk by. When we give, we often think that it give us some kind of merit with Him or the church. I used to see people who had attended Sunday School for years without missing a service and they were identified with a pin on their lapel that made them look like a five star general. They were very proud of their accomplishment. Jesus teaches when something like that is accomplished, we should say that we have just done what should have been done. No big deal! When we give, do we expect something in return? When we do something for another, is it buying their loyalty? God gives with no strings attached and loves unconditionally. When we do not image Him in this manner, we are walking after the flesh.

HE BELIEVED IN JESUS

I do not know how or when this man was converted. Everything about his actions including our Lord’s comments indicate that he was a believer in Israel’s God and believed Jesus was who He claimed to be. It is not important to know when or how. Many times the when and how of another’s conversion as given in a testimony confuses others rather than helps. Someone says, “I had this rosy glow and the feeling of ecstatic praise when I was converted.” Someone in the audience who hears this testimony and admires this person says, “I must not be saved. That didn’t happen to me. I have even struggled with doubts. I guess I am not saved.” Most of the time when a testimony is given, it is an interpretation of what happened a long time after the fact and there are added some interesting things that the person did not feel at the time. Your welcome! I am not saying testimony should not be given. I am not taking away from the value of testimony. I enjoy hearing them. But when I am tempted to doubt, I just remember that all that is said in testimonies is not the verbally inspired Word of God. If reading the Word of God or hearing it preached does not make you doubt, but someone’s testimony does, just take your ecclesiastical shovel and dump it over your shoulder. Amen.

What is important is that he believed in Jesus. There is absolutely no doubt expressed in the request of the centurion. He expressed his faith by sending for Jesus. Do we have enough faith to take our request to Jesus? That’s faith. It does not stop there, but it is faith. Then next,

HE MANIFEST HIS FAITH IN HUMILITY

When Jesus was going with those to the centurion’s home, and the centurion saw Jesus drawing near his house, “the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.” That does not sound like a centurion talking does it? This man is not only in the occupying Roman army and an officer; he has built the Jews a synagogue. He understands grace better than the Jews do. Grace pleads no merits of its own but casts itself upon the greatness and mercy of God.

A proud man cannot believe (John 5:44). If you want to be a person of faith, crawl down off your pedestal and get down here where the rest of us are. We are all on the same level ground at the cross. There are no great people. Great faith is always manifest in the kind of humility seen in this centurion. Great faith and humility are inseparable. Then next,

HE BELIEVED JESUS COULD WORK A CREATIVE MIRACLE

He said, “ . . . say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.” This is how God created the world. The centurion knew the Hebrew Bible. He had read Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 33:6,9. He believed Jesus was operating under the Creator-God’s authority (vs 8), and if so, a spoken word would be enough for the healing of his servant. Jesus never entered the house. The centurion had stated his faith and he was right. Jesus only had to speak the word. He did and the man was healed. Amen. Next,

HE HAD A COMMENDED FAITH

Jesus is the One who said, “I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” What does Jesus say about our faith? Is this kind of faith possible today? Absolutely. But most of us have a ways to go. We can start by loving the unlovable. We can start by adopting the view that the feeling of unworthiness is not an attack on our SELF IMAGE but facing reality. We ARE UNWORTHY. What’s the problem with that? Our ground of acceptance before the throne of God is JESUS and He is worthy. Think about that for a while. David would say, “Selah.”

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White