The Word To Live By: 7-29-26
Phil Waggoner
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17
The Word To Live By: We are talking about the centurion in Matthew 8 who came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant. Jesus identified him as having “great faith.” We said there were a number of things that the centurion knew that gave him a title that Jesus only gave to one other person while He was on earth as a human (Matthew 15:28). He understood the power in the spoken word of God (Mark 11:23, Hebrews 4:12). He was humble and called Him “Lord,” even though he had legal and political power over Him. (One other thing I will talk about tomorrow.) Probably the most important was he recognized the authority that Jesus had and who was backing that authority. So how did the centurion develop or get this great faith? First of all, realize that faith doesn’t just appear out of the blue. You can’t have faith in what you don’t have knowledge of. Let’s back up in Chapter 8 and see what the centurion heard and saw. (He was in charge of the area of Capernaum so chances are because someone with a reputation was in his area of authority, he was there.) In Matthew 8:1-4, we have the account of a man with leprosy coming to Jesus, “And a man with leprosy came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him… and immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” What did the centurion see and hear and understand? First of all, it was the will of Jesus to heal. Second, he saw and heard the humility of the man. Third, he saw and heard the authority of Jesus over the sickness. Because of what I know about the laws of meditation (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-3) and not being conformed to the world’s way of thinking (Romans 12:2) but renewing your mind to the Word of God (“I am willing!”), he went home thinking about it. And these things combined gave him great faith. By blocking out what is said contrary to the will of God, meditating on the Word of God, and humbling yourself before God, you will also develop great faith.
Read through the Bible in a year: 1 Corinthians 14:26-40; 2 Kings 9; Jonah 4;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 29, Matthew 15:1-20, Romans 1
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160