'A Great Faith



"A Great Faith!"

Matthew 8:5-13

INTRO. How can we forge a great and glorious faith? Jesus told His disciples, “…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.” (Matthew 17:20b). To have a great faith, we must rely totally on God and His guidance, not our own!

I want to title the message, "A Great Faith!" The pioneer missionary Hudson Taylor, when home on furlough, would often say, "Friends, I’d like to give you the motto of my life. It is found in Mark 11:22 where we read, 'Have Faith in God.'" He then commented that even when we have our weak moments, the LORD in grace under girds us. He concluded, “Reckon not only on your own faith, but on God's faithfulness to you. All my life I've been fickle: sometimes I could trust and sometimes I couldn't. But when unable to have faith, it was great encouragement to realize that God would still be faithful to me.”

Hudson Taylor had the key to "great faith": total reliance on the faithfulness of God! God will always be found faithful! In Matthew 8:5-13, we see our LORD Jesus and His disciples entering into Capernaum. There comes to Him a centurion, a Roman commander of 100 men, beseeching Him, "…Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented." (v6). This is odd because the centurion is a Gentile, a soldier, one of Israel’s oppressors, yet he steps forward to the LORD in child-like faith believing God through His Son Jesus can heal his servant.

Jesus says, “I will come and heal him." (v7). But the centurion answered, "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. 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." (vv. 8-10). What are the essentials of great faith? Jesus Himself gives us the answer in v13. Lets look at these together.

THE ESSENTIALS OF A GREAT FAITH:

(1) The Responsibilities Of A Great Faith

Text: Matthew 8:13a—“Go thy way..."

A. THE WILLINGNESS TO BELIEVE. Faith is displayed by willingness to

go back to normal duties, believing God is working. Psalm 31:24

encourages us to, “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your

heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” A great faith encourages us to

believe even when the circumstances seem hopeless!

ILLUS: Michael Faraday, the great scientist, was taken ill. When it

became evident that the sickness that had fastened itself upon

him would soon result in his death, a group of fellow scientists

came to see him--not so much to talk about science as to talk

about death. One of them said to him: "Mr. Faraday, what are

your speculations about your future?" With evident surprise

to them he replied: "Speculations! I have none. I am resting

on certainties." Then he quoted II Tim. 1:12: "For I know

whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to

keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

("Choice Illus." W.W. Clay pg. 63)

Our Lord said in Matthew 21:21-22—“Verily I say unto you, If ye have

faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig

tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be

thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye

shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” One of the greatest

obstacles that God’s people face is our willingness to believe! We say

we believe but when a severe trial comes our way, many times we begin

to doubt God’s presence and power. A great faith believes in spite of

unpleasant or uncertain circumstances.

B. THE WISDOM TO OBEY. The centurion's faith was strong enough for

him to return alone to his own home, knowing Christ had worked a

miracle! Notice what the Lord told the centurion in v13—“Go thy way;

and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” The centurion

believed that Jesus could heal his servant by simply speaking the

word. Because of his confidence in Jesus he wisely obeyed and went

his way. Friends, our salvation, our assurance, our hope, and all

our futures as believers are based upon the word of the Lord.

Philippians 1:6 encourages us, “Being confident of this very thing, that

he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of

Jesus Christ.” Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what we do not see,

and the reward of this Faith is to see what we believe." Friend, does

your confidence in the Lord and His word cause you to exercise your

faith and step out on the promises of God?

ILLUS: An old, low-caste woman in India was once asked the cost of a

temple being built. She turned to the missionary in surprise

and said, "Why, we do not know! It is for our god. We do not

count the cost!" She could certainly have put many followers

of Christ to shame. Before we take the step of faith we want to

know the cost.

(2) The Resting In Faith

Text: Matthew 8:13b—“As thou hast believed...”

A. AN EXAMPLE OF FAITH. Sometimes the blessing we receive is in direct proportion to our faith! We have a great example of resting in faith found in Matthew 15:28. B. W. Johnson in The People’s New Testament gives the characteristics of a great faith concerning the Syrophenician Woman's Daughter: “We can see how greatness of faith is manifested: (1) She came to Christ under difficulties. (2) She persevered when her prayer seemed to be denied. (3) She still pleaded when obstacles were presented. (4) She waited at the feet of the Lord until he had mercy. Such faith always prevails.”

B. THE END RESULT OF FAITH. WHEN WE REST IN OUR FAITH:

a) We Will Have Peace (Philippians 4:6-7; Isaiah 26:3).

b) We Will Receive God's Promise (Mark 11:24; Ephesians 3:20-21).

A.B. Simpson said, "True faith drops a letter in the post office box and

lets go. Distrust holds onto a corner of it and wonders why the answer

never comes." Notice what happened to the centurion’s servant

because of he rested in faith: “And his servant was healed in the

selfsame hour.” (v13d). The moment the Lord spoke the words the

servant was healed!

(3) The Rewards Of Faith

Text: Matthew 8:13c—“So be it done unto thee."

A. WHAT FAITH BELIEVES. Faith believes that: “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Faith believes that “…that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6b). Faith believes: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:5). And faith believes: “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37).

B. WHAT FAITH RECEIVES. Someone has said, “Faith sees the invisible,

believes the incredible, and receives the impossible!” Having faith in

God doesn't mean that everything is going to go your way. It simply

means that you will have his peace and joy even on those days when

you wonder why you ever got out of bed! --Pat Williams (The Timothy

Report, Swan Lake Communications, April 5,

2004). Faith receives all it needs from God! 2 Corinthians 9:8 tells

us, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye,

always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good

work.” God gives us all things we need for life and service! What a

gracious God we serve as Romans 8:32 tells us, “He that spared not

his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him

also freely give us all things?”

CLOSING: How is your faith? Is it small, is it great, is it believing or is it disbelieving?

Jesus said, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." WHY? Because each time we exercise our Faith, it grows! That's how to have Great Faith! : RELY on God and exercise your faith!

HOW IS YOUR FAITH TONIGHT?

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