The Bible tells us that every day Jesus went about doing good. He did that in several ways, for example:
• He healed the sick
• He fed the hungry
But he did something else that we overlook when we consider all the good things He did. HE TALKED WITH PEOPLE. But He not only talked to people, He talked to all kinds of people.
For example, if the Lord was here today physically:
• He would take those loving eyes and look at each of us, not collectively, but as individuals
• He would share a smile with each of us
• He would touch some of us with his hands
The Lord loved people.
Many times in the Scriptures He would talk with someone that others looked down upon.
Illus: For example, remember the Samaritan woman at the well, who was a woman of ill repute? The Lord laid His reputation on the line to talk to her. Why? Because the Bible tells us He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The Lord loved people! And the more we become like Him, the more we will love people. When we become like Christ:
• We will not just love some people, we will love all people
• We will not just love one race of people, we will love all races of people
• We will not just socialize with some people, we will socialize with all kinds of people
• We will not just talk to some people, we will talk to all kinds of people
• We will not just help some people, we will help all people
The more we become like Christ. the more we will love people the same way He did. The reason we see people today who do not do these things is because they are not like Christ.
So that we can become like Him in loving people, lets look at-
I. THE PATTERN OF CHRIST
He was frequently seen talking to Roman soldiers, small children, shady ladies, people of other religions and people of other colors.
This can be clearly seen in our scripture passage for this sermon.
The Centurion did not feel worthy for Christ to come to his house, he simply asked Jesus to speak the words and it would be done.
Notice, Jesus did not categorize people as we often do.
• To Him, there were no social levels
• To Him, there were no religious levels
• To Him there were no age levels
• To Him there were no gender levels
• To Him, there were no colors
We have many in our society who can only see color.
Illus: They remind us of the story about the two apples hanging in a tree, looking down on all the fighting, hating, robbing and rioting in the world.
• The first apple said, “Look at all those people destroying each other…no one seems to be willing to get along with his fellow-man.”
• He then said, “Someday, we apples will be the only ones left…then we’ll rule the world.”
• The second apple said; “Which of us – the red or the yellow apples?”
The Lord loved everyone.
• To Him, everyone had His complete and undivided attention
• To Him, everyone had His love, acceptance and forgiveness
The Centurion that came to Him in our text is no different. When the Bible talks about him being a Centurion, this meant he was a military man, dressed in a uniform, in charge of one hundred men. But when the Lord cast His loving eyes on him, all he saw was a man who needed some help.
HOW QUICK WE ARE TO LOOK AT PEOPLE AND JUDGE THEM. For example:
• If we see a man with long hair, many of us will judge him to be a dope addict. THIS MAY NOT BE THE CASE AT ALL!
• If we see a man wearing an expensive suit, many of us would judge him to be wealthy. THIS MAY NOT BE THE CASE AT ALL!
It is a good thing that most of us are not a judge on the judiciary bench because so many times our judgment is wrong.
Illus: Dody Gadient, a school-teacher for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had been teaching about. Traveling alone in a pick-up with a travel trailer in tow, she launched out on her great adventure.
One afternoon, rounding a curve on I-5 near Sacramento, California, in rush-hour traffic, her water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping.
After waiting a while, a huge Harley drove up, driven by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard and tattoos everywhere.
With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off, and without even glancing at Dody, went to work on the truck.
Within five minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of Dody’s disabled truck and whisked the whole rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump.
The intimidated, middle-aged school teacher was too dumbfounded to talk. Especially when she read the paralyzing words on the back of his leather jacket – “Hell’s Angels – California”.
As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say; “Thanks so much,” and carry on a brief conversation.
Noticing her surprise with the whole ordeal, he looked her straight in the eye and said; “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover…you may not know who you’re talking to.” With that he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, straddled his Harley, and with a wave, he was gone as fast as he had appeared.
When I read that story, I am again reminded that…given half a chance, people often crawl out of the boxes into which we have relegated them because of our prejudices.
But the Lord did not store people away in these boxes that we put people in.
• Jesus gave people a chance
• Jesus gave people the time of day
• Jesus had conversations with all types of people who we probably would not talk to
Illus: Adrian Rogers said, “You may judge your brothers actions, but you must leave it to God to judge his motives.”
This passage of Scripture tells us a great deal about this Centurion.
(1) HE MADE TIME FOR PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE
Notice, he is not there on his behalf, but he is there on behalf of his servant.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was at the doctor’s office with his father-in-law. He was in the waiting room, when a lady walked in and told the receptionist who she was. She then proceeded to tell her that she was not a patient, but she came on behalf of an elderly lady who was too sick to come herself. She then told her that she came to see if she would give her a prescription because her medicine had run out, and she wanted to know if the doctor had some free samples he could give her.
As Dr. Belger heard this conversation take place, he thought, “Here is a lady that is up in age herself also. She does not appear to be in perfect health, but how Christ-like it was that she took time to help this other elderly lady who could not come.”
There are so many things we could do for people who can’t do for themselves, if we would be willing to be Christ-like and make time to help them.
This Centurion did not come for himself, he came to Christ on behalf of his servant. HE MADE TIME FOR PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE.
Also, there is something else about this centurion that we can see in this passage of Scripture -
(2) HE KNEW WHERE TO GO FOR HELP FOR HIS FRIENDS!
IS THIS SIGNIFICANT? Yes, a lot of folks would like to help their friends, but they do not know where to seek help on their behalf. I am going to get in trouble for saying this, but it needs to be said.
• Perhaps a friend will come to them about some domestic problem. Out of concern, they will send them to some marriage counselor that will charge them $150.00 an hour, and does not know a thing about what the Bible teaches on marriage.
Marriage was originated by God, and if you want to know anything about marriage, you need to go to a minister who knows what the Word of God says, or to some marriage counselor who does. As Christians, if we want to see people that we love get help in their marriages, we need to be like a bird-dog and point them to the one who established marriage.
• You find some who want to help their friends who have some emotional problems. They counsel with them and tell them they need to go see a doctor, who does not know a thing about what this Bible teaches.
WHAT DOES HE DO? He takes them off an illegal drug and puts them on a legal drug for the rest of their life, and he gets a kick-back on all the prescriptions he writes each month.
The only difference between such a doctor and a dope pusher on the street is that he has a license to peddle drugs, and the dope peddler on the street does not. But other than that, there is not a bit of difference between the two of them.
Now I am not against people who go to Christian counselors or Christian doctors. I really am not, God knows my heart, I am not! But if you are like me, you are tired of seeing family members and friends who go to these “Quacks” for help, and they leave in worse condition than when they went there.
What many do to their loved ones and friends is cruel, but they do it out of ignorance.
This Centurion knew where to find help for this servant that he loved and cared about. HE CAME TO THE LORD.
We looked at THE PATTERN OF CHRIST, but also look at-
II. THE PERCEPTION OF CHRIST
Christ could perceive that this Centurion had faith. Look at Jesus’ assessment of this man in verse ten: “When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
The Bible does not just say he had faith, the Lord Jesus said this man had GREAT FAITH!
“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.”
We all would love to have what the Bible describes as “GREAT FAITH.”
WHAT IS “GREAT FAITH”? Before we deal with GREAT FAITH we need to deal with two verses that are often taught incorrectly about having GREAT FAITH!
(1) Look at Matthew 17:20, we read, “And Jesus said unto them, … for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
Some have taught that this means, if you want:
• A new car simply believe God for it
• A new home simply believe God for it
• A new boat simply believe God for it
• A new camper simply believe God for it
They say this Bible passage teaches that whatever you want, all you have to do is call out to God in prayer and “Bingo”, it will happen.
Well the fact is, we all have done this and nothing happened! Why? Because God’s method of receiving the things in our life that we need is to work SIX DAYS BY THE SWEAT OF THE BROW. If a man is too trifling to work, he will starve to death.
Illus: Now I know that some Christians feel it is the duty of Christians to reach into their pockets and pull out some of their hard earned money and place it in the hands of everyone that sticks their hand out. BUT THAT IS NOT SCRIPUTRAL! That is not what the Bible teaches.
I am not going to help a trifling person, and guess what - neither will God.
Paul instructed the church in 2 Thess 3:10, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” God’s method of providing for our families is to WORK!
Some say, “Preacher, I know someone that won the lottery and they did not have to get on their knees and ask God for a miracle.” Yes this is true, but that is the reason gambling is sinful. It teaches people to circumvent the plan of God for man to work for what he gets. God’s plan for man is to WORK, not GAMBLE FOR IT.
Illus: Did you hear about the man in Kentucky that won the three million dollar lottery? He was all excited until he found out that they are going to pay it to him at three dollars a year for a million years.
WHAT IS THIS VERSE OF SCRIPTURE TEACHING US? It is teaching us that if we ask anything IN THE WILL OF GOD, it will be done. ANYTHING!
When we walk in the will of God, we do NOT seek those things of the earth, we have set our affection on things above and anything we ask in the will of God will be done. WHATEVER WE ASK, IT WILL BE DONE!
But the reason that many never get their prayers answered is because they pray so much in the flesh, outside the will of God, they will never get their prayers answered! Never! Never! Never!
When we walk in the Spirit, fulfilling the will of God, we can ask for those things in His will and it will be done. Even if it is the will of God for a mountain to be removed from one place to another. IT WILL BE DONE!
This verse of Scripture is not teaching Christians to “NAME IT AND CLAIM IT!” When people use it this way they are teaching it incorrectly.
Another Scripture that is misused when it comes to GREAT FAITH is found in the Book of Hebrews.
(2) Look at Heb. 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
This verse has been incorrectly taught by some also. They teach it means we can strut up to the throne of God as a child of God, and throw our weight around.
The reason that verse has been taught incorrectly is because of the word boldly.
God is not talking about being “Cocky”. Approaching the throne of God boldly has to do with FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
WELL, WHAT THEN IS GREAT FAITH?
If Jesus said that Centurion had it, then I suspect the answer to our question is found in what he said to Jesus in verses 8-9. Look at the centurion’s reply, "The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am 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."
What do you see here in the heart of this Roman soldier? Jesus called it “GREAT FAITH.” Let’s look at two things in this Centurions life that constitute GREAT FAITH.
(1) HE EVIDENCED GREAT FAITH BY ACKNOWLEDGING HE DESERVED NOTHING
He was so humble, he said, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof:”
I don’t think the prayer of faith is about reminding God of how much faith we have and what we have a right to as His children.
But there is more…
(2) HE EVIDENCED GREAT FAITH BY HIS SUBMISSION TO AUTHORITY
We recognize the authority of getting the job done if He so chooses.
Look again what he said, "Lord, I am 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."
• We accept the fact God knows what He is doing, and We accept the fact He possesses the power to do as He wishes.
• We accept the fact He knows what is best and whatever He chooses to do is fine with us.
Faith is trusting the voice of God when He speaks.
Illus: The captain of the ship looked into the dark and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message. Promptly a message was sent: “Alter your course ten degrees north.” A message was received, “Alter your course ten degrees south.” So he sent a second message; “Alter your course ten degrees north – I am the captain!” Soon another message was received; “Alter your course ten degrees south – I am seaman third class, Jones.” Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the intimidation it would evoke from the seaman; “Alter your course ten degrees north – I am a Battleship.” Then the reply came; “Alter your course ten degrees south – I am a lighthouse!”
There are a lot of voices out there in the dark telling us what to do… most of them cannot be trusted.
Conclusion:
WHAT IS GREAT FAITH? GREAT FAITH is the coming together of Trust and Reverence.
I. THE PATTERN OF CHRIST
II. THE PERCEPTION OF CHRIST
