(Part 2/3 – A summary of the Sunday morning teaching on 12-Apr-15, in AFT Church, English service. From the series The Law of Faith)
FAITH OF THE CENTURION
Let’s look at an example of such faith.
Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”
And Jesus said to him, “ I will come and heal him.”
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.
– Matthew 8:5-8
Jesus offers to go to the centurion’s house. How would you feel if Jesus offered to come to your house? Isn’t it fantastic to have Him over at your house! And how much more wonderful if He performs a miracle at your house! And yet the centurion answers saying that Jesus need not come to his house, but that He should just speak a word, and his servant would be healed. What a contrast between the disciples in John 20 and this centurion. The disciples believed only what they saw. But the centurion believed something he did not see.
What’s so special about his faith?Let’s look at verse 8 to understand it – “Only speak a word”.
Let’s look at verse 8 to understand it – “Only speak a word”.
Let’s take this phrase word by word.
ONLY speak the word – you don’t have to come to my house, you don’t have to wave at the person, blow air, throw your coat on the person. No, there is no need to do anything else. ONLY speak the Word. No need to come home and do any theatrics. There was no need to pull out some object of witchcraft from the wall. No need to sprinkle water all around the house. No need to pray over oil. I’ve already spoken about the verse where James speaks about elders laying hands and praying, and the use of oil. Nowadays, people skip the sermon or sleep through it, but they’re enthusiastically standing in queue to get a bottle of oil prayed for by the preacher. The centurion understood what healing, miracle-working faith meant. He asked Jesus to only speak the word.
Only SPEAK the word – The word has to be spoken. People know that the word of God is important. But they don’t know in what way it is important. So they carry around the Bible everywhere they go. They wave the Bible around in prayer. They hit people with the Bible. They rub the over the body of a sick person. Some people sleep with it under their pillow. But that’s not how the word should be used. It should be spoken in faith. The word should be declared in your life, over your situations and problems.
After I had spoken in a meeting, a young man came to me holding his Bible under his armpit. He asked me, ‘What is the word you have from the Lord for me?’ I pointed to the Bible under his armpit and said, ‘It’s right there!’ Don’t go around asking others if they a word from God for you. ‘You’ speak the word of God in your life; ‘you’ will become the prophet of your life.
Only speak the WORD – Speak what the word says. That is faith confession. Don’t speak what others think about a situation; don’t speak what the circumstances look like; don’t repeatedly speak the symptoms of your sickness; speak the Word. Speak the promises of God. Speak the blessing of God upon your life.
…to be continued…
