Title: Faith commended by the Lord
Contents
Faith praised by the Lord
(Matthew 8:5 - 13)
In today's Word, we see a man of amazing faith who heard the Lord's praise. He is listed as a centurion as an officer in the Roman army living in Capernaum. There are pitfalls to hearing praise from people, but it is really good to hear praise from the Lord. We secretly be loyal to the Lord and please the Lord in order to receive the Lord's praise.
“It is not he who is credited with praising himself, but the one commending the Lord” (2 Corinthians 10:18). Such praise for Christians will be our great comfort and reward on the day the Lord returns. “At that time, every man will receive praise from God,” he said (1 Corinthians 4:5).
1. A centurion praised for his faith
A centurion is an officer in the Roman army with 100 men under him. His great faith was revealed when this centurion came to the Lord to pray for a paralytic servant in his house.
(1) This centurion believed in the power of the word of the Lord. No one can believe in the power of his words unless they know that Jesus is God and that he is the Creator. But this centurion had faith that whatever the Lord said would come true. He said, "Only speak the word, and my servant will be healed."
(2) This centurion had a firm belief that if the Lord spoke, it would be fulfilled. As for the reason he had this kind of faith, he said, "I am also a man under someone else's control, and there are soldiers under me. If I say to him, "Come," he comes and he says to him, "Go," and he comes.
I have heard of cases where he himself moves according to his orders and his subordinates also move according to his orders. He was able to say this on the basis of the fact that there could be no creature in this world that would disobey the word of the Lord. He believed that all things were created by his words and that all things are preserved by his words.
(3) This centurion knew the blessings that come from obedience. "If you say to this, go, you go; if you say to that, come, you come." These words of the centurion allude to the blessing that comes from obedience to the Word. He believed that what Jesus said would come true.
2. The Centurion's Fruit of Faith
Anyone who would receive such praise from the Lord would surely have had fruit. The amazing fruit of this man can be found in the account of the same incident in Luke 7. The elders in Capernaum said to Jesus, "It is fitting for this man to do this work, because he loves our people and has built a synagogue for us."
(1) This centurion loved God's people. These words, "I love our people," show the centurion's beautiful life of faith. If you love God, you love God's people. "If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar, and he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20).
(2) This centurion built the synagogue. Wherever the Jews live, there are places where they gather to worship God on the Sabbath. Jesus also worshiped in the synagogue and preached the gospel to the people gathered in the synagogue. Building the temple of God is always difficult. Because it costs a lot of money. However, this centurion of Capernaum was said to have built a synagogue by himself, although he was a Gentile and did not have sufficient finances as a soldier.
(3) This centurion loved his servant very much. Although he was a lowly man who lived as a servant, he loved that servant very much. “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, very distressed.” Luke 7 says, “A certain centurion’s beloved servant fell ill and died.” I called it my beloved paper.
(4) The centurion's beautiful faith was recognized by everyone. He said, “It is fitting for this man to do this work” (Luke 7:4). He said that the accepted faith will glorify God through this. "My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and you will be my disciples."
Conclusion: John the Baptist said he was not worthy to take off the sandals of the Lord. This centurion said that he was not worthy of the Lord's coming to my house. This means that you are insignificant, not worthy of serving the Lord. It speaks of his meekness and humility. Our religious life should be modeled after the centurion of Capernaum.