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Our Scripture reading is taken
from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 8. Matthew's Gospel in the chapter
8. It is a long chapter. We're commencing
to read at the opening verse and reading the opening verses
of the chapter. Matthew chapter 8, commencing
to read at the first one. The words, of course, concern
the Lord Jesus Himself. When He was come down from the
mountain, great multitudes followed Him. May I say, in the light
of all that follows, of which I shall make mention tonight,
that's a very important thing to note. Great multitudes followed
Him. In all that is recorded in the
chapters that follow, we are immediately reminded of a simple
fact. There was no shortage of witnesses
to all that is recorded for us as we find it in these chapters. And behold, there came a leper
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will, be thou clean. And immediately
his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, see
thou tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them. And when Jesus was entered into
Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home, sicketh with palsy,
grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will
come and heal him. The centurion answered and said,
Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof,
but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For
I am a man under authority, having soldiers unto 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 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. And his servant was healed in
the self's same hour. Amen. May God add his defiant
blessing to this reading from his inspired and precious truth. Now let us bow together in prayer
as we turn afresh to the word of God. Let us seek for heaven's
help. Our God and our Father, we do
approach thee upon the ground of that shed blood. We were once
far off, strangers, aliens, but we've been made now by the blood
of Calvary's cross. Oh God, by that blood we seek
to enter into the holiest and to spread now the burden of the
preaching of the word of God. The letter killeth, the spirit
alone giveth life. Oh, grant the breath of heaven.
Grant that gracious and effectual ministry of thy Spirit. Grant
that fresh oil from the sanctuary above. Cleanse this vessel. For what the blood has cleansed,
the Spirit of God can fill and use. And we desire to be but
a vessel only, blessed Master. And yet with all thy wondrous
power flowing through me, thou canst use me. every day and every
hour. Use me now to thy glory, to the
good of souls. Remember any in the meeting who
are yet out of Christ and without a Savior, any that are unsaved
and unconverted, yet found in nature's night. Oh, that the
glorious light of the gospel would shine in upon them, Oh,
that this would be a night never to be forgotten. The happy day
experience would be theirs, that they would be brought in repentance
and faith to the feet of the crucified one and have a saving
look to the Lamb of Calvary. Crown our service with Thy salvation,
we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I'd like you please
to open your Bible in the Gospel of Matthew and the chapter 8. Chapters 8 and 9 of this gospel
are very noteworthy because they are full of the Savior's miracles. No less than 10 of them are recorded
for us in these two chapters. This sheds light upon the structure
of this gospel. If you turn just for a moment
back to Matthew's gospel, chapter 4, and look at the verse 23. Chapter 4 and the verse 23. Here we have the summary of the
Holy Spirit of God concerning the Galilean ministry of Christ. And you'll notice in verse 23,
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Teaching and preaching,
and immediately. you'll know the passage. Just
glance at the opening words of chapter 5. We have there in those
three chapters what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on
the Mount. We are introduced immediately
by Matthew to this teaching and preaching ministry. Now read
on in verse 23, we read concerning the Savior that he went about
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among
the people. And then as we come to the chapter
8 here and the chapter 9 of this gospel, we have the record of
that healing ministry. of our Lord Jesus Christ. And surely it is so fitting that
the greatest sermon ever preached should be followed by the signs
that He who was the preacher was none other than God incarnate
in the flesh, of whom we can say never man speak like this
man. But you see, this grouping together
of our Savior's sayings and doings is characteristic of Matthew's
gospel. But of course, significantly,
it is in keeping with the skills and methodology of one whose
profession had been that of a publican. It's a very striking thing in
the Gospels that Matthew always refers to himself as Matthew
the Publican. Mark doesn't, Luke doesn't, John
doesn't, but Matthew always, because he cannot forget the
pit from which he was digged and the rock from which he was
shewn. And of course, as a Publican,
It was his business to keep accounts. And of course, that's what we
see in this gospel, his skills being utilized. And that reminds
us of a wonderful but a simple fact. You see, the grace of God
that saved Matthew the publican also sanctified his gifts and
abilities in the service of the master. And that's why we want
you young people to be saved early in life. Because you see, you have gifts. You have abilities. And it's
our desire that you would know the reality of God's grace in
your heart and life, that those gifts and those abilities would
be utilized in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, as you read these chapters
eight and nine, you certainly see how amazing, how abundant
was the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. As you read these chapters,
you see His wondrous compassion, and you certainly see His mercy,
and you see the tenderness of the Savior. Because you see again
and again in these two Gospels, we read of the touch of the Master's
hand. We read of it tonight. Great
multitudes followed him, witnessing those miracles. But oh, there's
a disturbance. And you can see in the multitude,
there are those who are shrinking away. Why? Because a leper is doing the
unthinkable. He is seeking to come to Christ
in a day when lepers would be stoned. And so you can see there's
a parting among the multitudes as this dear man is so determined
to get to Christ. And then we read there in the
opening of this gospel, Words so wonderful, Jesus put forth
His hand and touched him. You can just imagine the shock
of that among the multitudes. The Lord Jesus was touching the
untouchable. But you see, that was the touch
of tender compassion. None of us here could even begin
to understand what that touch meant to that leper. So read the chapters and just
take note of those places where we read of the touch of the Master's
hand. Of course, in these chapters,
we also see how amazing and almighty is the power of our Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, there is no need He
cannot meet. There's no condition that He
cannot cure. And don't we as the saints of
God love, even in the place of prayer, to give utterance to
those words of the hymn, the touch of the Master's hand has
lost none of its ancient power. You see, that's the Savior I
preach tonight. Oh, there is no heart like the
heart of Jesus, filled with a tender love. Oh, that you would taste
and see that the Lord is good tonight. And no matter what your
need is, the Lord Jesus can meet you at the point of that need
this evening. But I draw your attention in
Matthew chapter 8 to another very amazing and wonderful thing. Look at verse 10, Matthew chapter
8 and the first 10 that really is my text. It follows upon the
words of the centurion. And we read, when Jesus heard
it, he marveled. And he said to them that followed,
fairly I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel. What a statement that is. Among
all the multitudes that were thronging him there in Israel,
he had not found one instance of faith like that of this Roman
centurion. And we read the Lord Jesus marveled.
That's one of those very remarkable expressions in the gospel record
that remind us of the reality of our Savior's true humanity. And of course, it ought to be
of deepest interest to us. It certainly is full of precious
meaning. and there's mystery in it. Indeed, we might say, great mystery. Bishop Hall said, what can be
more wonderful than to see Christ wonder? You see, it's the mystery
of the divine incarnation. The union of the divine and the
human natures in that one glorious person of Jesus Christ reminds
us that he was made like unto us in all things and except. What a Savior therefore he is
because he's touched with all of the feelings of our infirmities. There's only two instances in
the Gospel record where we read that the Lord Jesus marveled.
And in a sense, both of them have respect to faith. Just turn
over a page or two to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6. And when we come to Mark's Gospel
chapter 6, we find ourselves in Nazareth. This is the very village where
the Lord Jesus had been brought up. So to what an extent they
had known his presence among them. They had heard his preaching,
and we know that they had witnessed somewhat of his power. And yet you'll notice in Mark
6 and verse 6, the Lord Jesus marveled because of their unbelief. You see, those of Nazareth, blinded
by their prejudice, in unbelief persisted in saying, is not this
the carpenter's son? And the Lord Jesus marveled at
the absence of faith, where everything was conducive to it. where it might very well have
expected to be found, the Lord Jesus marveled at the absence
of faith in Nazareth. And you only have to glance,
of course, at the first five to see how their unbelief robbed
them of further gracious manifestations of His power among them. Unbelief
is a robber. Every child of God knows that. Unbelief can stifle the spirit
of prayer. Unbelief can choke praise in
us. And if you're not saved in this
meeting, unbelief to this moment in time has robbed you of God's
salvation. For you have not come to believe
in Him that you might be saved. But of course, in Matthew chapter
8, It's markedly different, isn't it? Because here the Lord Jesus
is marveling at the greatness of faith. Now I know that in
Matthew chapter 8 it has specific reference to the healing of this
servant. And yet I do believe as we look
at it tonight we will see that it has all of the elements of
a true and a saving faith. And I believe, without a shadow
of a doubt, I believe that this Roman centurion had been the
subject of a saving work of God. Reasons for that can be given.
There is, for example, the delineation of his character in the Gospels.
His humility, we'll come back to that. His tenderness concerning
his servant. in those days when servants were
treated just like a piece of furniture. Again, as we shall
see tonight, he was a lover of Israel, so much so he had built
them a synagogue. Yet we know from history that
the Romans despised the Jews. Indeed, they referred to them
as a filthy race. Well, you see, I believe there's
only one thing can account for all of this recorded concerning
this century, and this dear man had been saved by the grace of
God. And I believe, of course, that that is borne out because
of the words that follow from the lips of the Savior. You'll
notice immediately there in the first 11 that the Savior goes
on, and I say unto you that many shall come. just like this Roman
centurion. Many shall come from 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. This is one place again in the
Gospels where evidently the Lord Jesus is rejoicing to see, as
it were, the earnest of that great harvest yet to come. How
in the centuries to come and to the ends of the earth there
would be that innumerable multitude of souls among the Gentiles who
would be brought into the fold And the Savior's rejoicing to
see in that Roman centurion an earnest of that harvest. So I have no doubts at all about
the fact that this dear man had been the subject of a saving
work of God. So I draw your attention tonight
to marvelous faith. Marvelous faith. And first of
all, and quite simply, the surprising fact of his faith. And that's
why I've had the introduction that I've had. It certainly is
marvelous when you consider the person who exercised it. He was
a Gentile. That means he was by birth a
heathen. And to the Orthodox Jew, he was
a dog. That's the term they used. He
had been a stranger to all of the spiritual advantages of Israel. They had received the word of
God's revelation. They had been instructed in the
way of God's redemption. He had not enjoyed those spiritual
privileges. He was a Roman soldier. Soldiers
of Rome were notorious for their brutality and licentiousness.
Moreover, he was a centurion. That is, he held a position of
honor and authority, as we see in our very reading. And as Spurgeon
said, the honors of this world are seldom helpful to belief. And yet, do you see the point?
with all of those apparent disadvantages, unlike those in Nazareth. What greatness of faith this
dear man displayed in our Lord Jesus Christ, so much so that
the Savior said, He had not found one single example of faith to
be compared to it in all of the multitudes that were thronging
his ministry. Marvelous faith. You know there's such rich encouragement
when we consider this. Rich encouragement for the people
of God in Tremor. My, we should never despair of
the confession of any individual, no matter the circumstances in
regard to their upbringing, or indeed the calling that they
follow, or the coarseness and the corruption of their character. For some of the most unlikely
of people, have been saved by the grace of God and have become
eminent saints and servants of Christ. And I remember the days
in the free church, the early days as we now refer to them,
standing in gospel campaigns, in the tent or in the hut, in
the church, and hearing men say, Well, I never thought that man
would ever darken the door of a gospel meeting. I never would
have believed to see that woman in, and yet such God was saving
in those days. And some of those men, and I
could name names, of whom that was said became elders in our
church, and they're coming now to the end of their ministry
and their life. down through these last 40 years
and more they have faithfully and fervently served the Lord. Who would have thought that the
swearing tinker amusing himself on the Sabbath day in Elstow
Green and the women of the village at times were horrified by his
language? Who would have thought that he
would become such an eminent saint and servant of God and
the penman of that great classic, Pilgrim's Progress, God Saved,
John Bunyan. Or what about the old African
blasphemer? And you love to sing his hymn,
Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me." That's how John Newton often refers to himself,
that old African blasphemer. God saved him. You see, where
sin abounds, my Bible says, grace doth much more abound. So let's find encouragement in
that and keep on sowing the seed. even if it is being sown in unlikely
and unpromising places. For where sin abounds, grace
can much more abound, and we can see those wonders of His
grace. You know, that's what all of
our churches need to see today. When I was a young man, Attending
the Ravenhill Free Presbyterian Church, I remember how Dr. Paisley used to take us out sometimes
on a Friday night. The prayer meeting started at
11 p.m., and we had to get down on our knees at the seats in
the old Ravenhill Church, and the big man said, I want you
to pray that God will bring in the worst of sinners and put
them in that seat on Sunday night and save them. It was his prayer when he went
to the Ravenhill Road. And God saved the worst of sinners
on the Raven Hill Road. There was a man, a drunkard,
whose life had been ruined, lived in a hovel now, lost everything. And God saved him. And I can't
remember his name. I have a real problem with memory.
Just ask my wife. But we'll call him Jimmy. And
you know, everybody was talking. Did you hear it? Jimmy's good
living now. He's got religion. Would you
believe it? He's going out twice on Sunday.
He's carrying a Bible. And then sometime after that,
the people were saying this. Not only did Jimmy get converted,
his houses got converted. Because he cleaned up the house.
Everything got cleaned up. What a testimony. Caused a stir. Caused people to wonder. And
there's no doubt there are those in this town, and if God saved
them and they were brought in here under the gospel and brought
to Christ, there would be a stirring. People would find it a wonder
indeed. Pray for that. must move on,
the significant features of his faith. As I said, I believe all
of the elements of a true and saving faith are here. And the
first essential element, indeed it is primary, it is foundational,
is simply this, he flees directly to Christ. That's the first element. in
a true and saving faith is to flee directly to Christ. It's the response of the soul
to the invitations of the gospel, come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. When the Lord Jesus gave that
beloved promise, and every Christian loves this promise, and He's
speaking in the terms of this promise of those who are his,
those who are true Christians, how does he designate them? Him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Him that cometh
to me. You see, if you are ever to be
saved, you must deal immediately, directly, and personally with
the Lord Jesus Christ. You must come to Him. We're not
in the business of preaching up a church, but we are in the
business of preaching Christ. Used to be a proverb among us.
I don't know if it's often said. I said it so many, many times
in Australia that we wouldn't cross the street to ask someone
to be a free Presbyterian, but we would go halfway around the
world to invite sinners to Christ. Come to Him. Only thus can you
find acceptance with God, come to Christ. The second thing is,
here is a man who forsakes, he repudiates all personal merit. Now turn to the Gospel of Luke
chapter 7. Luke's Gospel chapter 7. It gives
us an insight to this history And it is indeed a wonderful
insight. You see in Luke chapter 7 concerning
the need of this centurion servant. We read in verse 3, And when
he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews. Now they're beseeching the Savior
on this dear man's behalf. Look at verse 4, And they besought
him instantly, saying that he was worthy for whom he should
do this, for he hath loved our nation, and he hath built us
a synagogue. You can see how they're advancing
these reasons why the Lord Jesus should heal the centurion's servant. But you remember that Matthew
tells us that the Roman centurion doesn't say a word about that.
Rather, the very opposite, he says, I'm not worthy that you
should come under my roof. And remember, he's a Roman centurion,
so this is no mean abode. We can well understand it would
have had its marble pillars, it would have had its beautiful
mosaic tiles, and yet this Roman centurion felt, Lord, I'm not
worthy that thou should come under my roof. But there's even more, of course,
here in this chapter. If you come down to the end of
verse 6, you'll notice that he said, For I am not worthy that
thou shouldst enter under my roof, wherefore neither thought
I myself worthy to come unto thee. You know, this is the only
occasion in the Gospels where we find a man who felt such a
deep sense of his own unworthiness that he felt he couldn't even
go initially personally to Christ, and he wasn't worthy that he
should come unto us. It's an amazing thing to see
the citizen, the centurion of all pride, imperial, imperious
Rome, and he's clothed in humility. Of course, that's a principal work
of the Holy Ghost in the heart of man, to convince us of our sinfulness
and our unworthiness before God. To convince us that we have no
claim on God, that salvation cannot be bought with the price
of any religious exercises or supposed good works, that if
we're ever to be saved, we must be saved by the grace of God
alone. We have to come as beggars to
the gate of mercy. We have to, in the words of the
old hymn, say, nothing in my hands, yes, dare I bring, but only cling to the merits
of that cross. It is amazing to see this Roman
centurion and what a sense he has of his unworthiness before
the Lord. And then you'll notice thirdly
how he focuses in upon the person and authority and the power of
Jesus Christ. Look at verses 6 and 8. He twice
addresses him as Lord. But it's the words of verse 9.
that are singularly expressive of his faith in the true deity
and absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ. And it's those words
in verse 9 to which he gave utterance that caused the Lord Jesus so
to marvel. Look at the text, and it is important,
I think, for us to read it in the context there, beginning
in the verse 8, where he said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou
shouldst come under my roof, but speak the word only, and
my servant shall be healed. And then notice this, for I'm
a man under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say
to this man, go, and he goeth. and to this man come, and he
cometh, and to my servant do this, and he doeth it." By the
way, isn't that a wonderful example of the way we ought to obey the
Lord? Unhesitatingly, prompt obedience. But you see what the Roman centurion
is saying? He's saying, Lord, just as my
servants obey me instantly, when I speak that word of command."
Just you speak. Just you speak. And that disease
that so grievously torments My servant, it'll be gone. It'll
be gone. and the Lord Jesus. Marveled! And true faith always focuses
in upon the person and the power and the authority of Jesus Christ,
who He is, the God-Man. God's dearly beloved Son whom
he did not spare, but delivered him upon to the death of the
cross for us, upon all that he has accomplished at the place
called Calvary, of his perfect obedience in life, his righteousness
and his perfect offering in death, his blood. Oh, true faith focuses
in upon Christ who is what he has done. But then there's a
fourth thing here. If you came to the pulpit and
had a look at this Bible open now, and you were to look at
the concluding words of verse 8, you would see that I have
underlined in double red those words, but speak the Word only. You see, his faith was founded
on the Word of Christ. To use Ironside's expression,
he was content with the naked Word of Christ. Do you remember
in that day how the sneering Pharisees in their own belief
that the man they made on Christ shows a sign from heaven? Men
will believe. Here is a man who doesn't need
any help from sight or sense. The word of Christ is enough.
That's why I chose the hymns that we sang tonight. You see, the night I was saved,
I didn't know a verse of the Bible. I couldn't have quoted
any verse. I was having difficulty accepting
that I could ever be a Christian. I don't know how many times I
might have said that in the inquiry But when God in mercy and grace
dealt with me there and brought me to my knees in that inquiry
room at an old wooden bench, I stepped out on the promise.
I got under the blot. And what was the promise I stepped
out on? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. It takes you in, Michael. That's what the big man said,
whosoever. That's a simple enough thing, isn't it? Shall call,
because you know your need. Upon the Lord, look to Christ. And he took me to Calvary in
Isaiah 53. And isn't that sure enough for
you? Isn't that certain enough for you? Shall be saved. That's the only warrant you need
to come. You say, preacher, you don't know who I am. True. You
don't know what I've done. You don't know what torments
my conscience. You don't know how far from God
I've been. All true. But the only warrant
you need to come is the warrant of the Word of God. You're invited.
As old Bunyan said, come and welcome to Jesus. I could not
start. Could I not start now and quote
all the promises of this book? The gospel promises, him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out, believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Come unto me, all ye
that labour under heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Look
unto me, and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, what
are there? Multitudes of them. That's the only warrant you need
to come. is the warrant of the Word of God and the promises
of free grace in the gospel. Lastly, briefly, look at verse
13 of Matthew 8 and the sure fruit of his faith. Because you
notice, 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 south, Here's the sheer fruit of his faith, perfect healing. Luke's gospel puts it in the
words, he was made whole. I tell you this, the salvation
of God is perfect. The Lord Jesus Christ has done
it all. Nothing has been left undone. Nothing needs to be added to
what Christ has done. There is that perfect righteousness
in Him. There is that perfect acceptance
in Him. There is a full and free pardon
of sin in Him. Jesus has paid it all. What a message that is. All things are ready. The gospel
feast is spread. The doors open. Come, all things
are now ready. There was perfect healing. And did you notice it was present
healing? Look at verse 13, in that self-same
hour. For I have always loved the old
hymn that has the line in it, I suppose I have loved it because
I feel so much of an affinity with the words, the filest offender
who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. You can be saved tonight. I don't
remember if I've ever given my testimony here. But I've never had any hesitation
in saying and giving my testimony that I have never heard anyone
giving a word of testimony who were dragged to a gospel meeting
like this young man back then, who went so unwillingly, who
went in such a file temper. who went with such determination,
not only that I would not get saved that night, but my girlfriend,
who is now my wife, would not get saved that night. And if
you'd have met me back then, and I use the word advisedly,
being dragged to the meeting, not wanting to go, I still would
have told you I'm an atheist. I don't believe in God. And yet God and mercy saved me
that night. God and His amazing grace and
mercy saved me that night. And I went into a meeting in
that frame, but I came out saved by grace, a child of God, and
here we are. I'm trying to do the arithmetic
just in a moment. It must be fifty-four years now.
That night I was ushered out of darkness into light. You can
be saved tonight. You can go home. As the preacher
said to me, Michael, you go home. He told me to get to my knees
at my bedside. Apart from calling on the Lord,
this is the first time I prayed on my own. I said, just remember
this, Michael, just get on your knees and say, thank you, Lord,
for saving my soul. I wouldn't have remembered the
rest of it. I may have been told it, but I remembered those words.
My first prayer. You could go home and get on
your knees at your bed tonight and say, thank you, Lord, for
saving my soul in remore tonight. Will you come to Christ? How
precious faith is, not precious in the estimation of the world,
but in this book of God, in the economy of heaven, God says it's
precious because it brings us into union with a precious Savior. So, will you come to Christ? Will you come to the person of
Christ tonight? Will you come confident in the
power of Christ? Will you come content with the
promise of Christ? Will you come? That's the essential
thing. Will you come? Oh, may the Lord
bring you to himself tonight.
Marvellous Faith
| Sermon ID | 61419111257519 |
| Duration | 45:54 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Matthew 8:1-13 |
| Language | English |
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