Faith That Impresses Series

Introduction

A. One night, Tim was walking home when, all of a sudden, a thief jumped on him. Tim and the thief were began to wrestle. They rolled about on the ground and Tim put up a tremendous fight. However, the thief managed to get the better of him and pinned him to the ground. The thief then went through Tim's pockets and searched him. All the thief could find on Tim was 25 cents. The thief was so surprised at this that he asked Tim why he had bothered to fight so hard for 25 cents. "Was that all you wanted?" Tim replied, "I thought you were after the five hundred dollars I've got in my shoe!"

B. Well, let’s look into the kind of faith that impresses Jesus

1. Turn to Matthew 8:5 - 13

II. Body

A. ”Faith That Impresses Jesus”

1. Faith that impresses Jesus is definitely IMPRESSIVE FAITH!

Matthew 8:5-13 NKJV

Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, {6} saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." {7} And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." {8} The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. {9} "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." {10} When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! {11} "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. {12} "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." {13} Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.

a. Turn to Hebrews 11:1

2. We are told in verse 10 that when Jesus heard the words of the Centurion, “He Marveled”

a. Literally, Jesus “admired” this man’s faith

b. The Bible defines faith for us in - Hebrews 11:1

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

c. There have been people I have met throughout my life that have “impressed” me with their faith

(1) Certain circumstances arise that would devastate most people and these individuals are steady and secure

(2) They put their faith and hope in The Lord

(3) It is one thing to impress me, but this man we have read about today even made Jesus say “WOW”

d. At this point in His ministry Jesus has traveled many miles and encountered countless people

(1) He has preached to many souls, performed many miracles, healed many sick folk but there is something different about this man

(2) I would like to look at his story today and see what faith can do for us

(a) Faith is essential to the Christian life

(b) Our Salvation is by grace through faith

(c) We are to walk in faith daily

(d) We find through the Word of God instances where faith is rewarded:

i) There is the faith of those 4 men who brought the man to Jesus who was paralyzed

ii) There is the faith of Jairus whose daughter Jesus brought back from the dead

iii) There is the faith of blind Bartimaeus

iv) There is the faith of the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment

v) There is the faith of the lepers who were cleansed

vi) There is the faith of the sick that were healed

vii) There is the faith of those disciples who followed Jesus

a) Turn to Matthew 17:20

(e) The Word faith is used 247 times in the King James Bible. (interesting fact: it is only used twice in the O.T)

(f) The bible tells us that the “Just shall live by faith” - Romans 1:17 a quote from the book of Habakkuk

3. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20

Matthew 17:20 NKJV

So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

a. In Romans 3:28 we find that Paul wrote

Romans 3:28 NKJV

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.