Amen. All right, we're there in Luke chapter number seven.
Of course, on Sunday mornings, we are going through a series called Journey with Jesus.
And it is a verse by verse study through the Gospel of Luke.
We're walking with the Lord Jesus Christ through the Gospel of Luke,
and of course, studying the life of Christ together.
And if you remember last week, we ended chapter number six and we ended
portion of scripture where we were studying the sermon that Jesus
preached there in Luke six referred to as the sermon on the plane,
or it was a sermon on the plane. We refer to it as a sermon on the plane.
In verse one, the Bible says this in Luke chapter seven, verse one, it says,
Now, when he had ended all his sayings,
this is referring to the fact that he ended or finished the sermon on the plane
in the audience of all the people, he entered into Capernaum.
And in verse two, the Bible says, and a certain centurion servant
who was dear unto him was sick and ready to die.
And this morning, we're going to look at this passage of scripture,
the first 10 verses here in chapter seven, and we're going to study this centurion,
this man who comes to Jesus
or makes a request to Jesus to have his servant healed.
And by way of introduction,
let me just kind of give you a little a few thoughts on a centurion.
First of all, let me just define what a centurion is.
A centurion is a commanding officer in the Roman Empire
who would be over 80 to 100 soldiers.
That's why they're called centurions, because they would command
about 100 soldiers or somewhere between 80 to 100 soldiers.
They were officers in the Roman Empire.
And centurions come up a lot throughout the Bible.
In fact, it is my observation that it seems to me
that centurions are always mentioned in a positive light throughout the Bible
or at the very least in a neutral light.
You don't really find centurions being made out,
even though they were Roman soldiers, Roman officers.
You don't really see them being made out to be bad people or enemies
whenever they're mentioned, they're mentioned in a good light.
And let me just give you a quick overview of centurions in the Bible
just by way of introduction.
And if you like to take notes and study things out,
maybe you can jot these down real quick.
First of all, of course, we have the story here of this centurion
in chapter number seven.
And by the way, let me just say this.
This centurion in Luke, chapter seven is a great man.
He's an awesome man.
And we're going to look at him.
I'm going to give you four characteristics about this man
and why we should all try to be like him.
But other centurions mentioned in scripture.
Number one, it was a centurion who said, truly, this was the son of God
in Matthew 27 at the at the crucifixion of Christ.
A centurion is the one who made that declaration.
And we're told in other passages that they worshiped and said, truly,
this was the son of God.
If you remember, Cornelius was a centurion.
And the Bible tells us that he was a devout man that feared God.
In Acts chapter 10, it was a centurion who told the chief captain,
take heed what thou doest for this man is a Roman.
When Paul was going to get beat in Acts 22,
it was a centurion that stepped in and kept Paul from being beat.
It was a centurion who commanded, let him have liberty and forbid
none of his acquaintances to minister or come unto him.
When Paul was in prison in Acts 24.
And it was a centurion who, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose
when the soldiers wanted to kill all the prisoners, including Paul,
when they were shipwrecked in Acts 27.
So you'll notice that centurions are are often in the Bible,
put there in a positive light.
And this centurion is is no exception.
In fact, this one may be
other than maybe Cornelius may be the greatest centurion mentioned in scripture.
And like I said, this is a very great man, the centurion.
We're not told his name.
We're just told he was a certain centurion.
But we're told things about him.
And and I'd like you to we're going to study him out, study his life today
here in what we're told in scripture.
I'd like to give you four characteristics about this centurion.
And I would encourage you to write these down on the back of your course.
The week there's a place for you to take some notes.
Because these are some great things that we're told about this man.
And I want you to notice there in Luke, chapter seven, verse two, it says,
And a certain centurion's servant.
And I want you to notice this little phrase
who was dear unto him, was sick and ready to die.
If you're taking notes this morning, maybe you can write this down.
Number one, I'd like you to notice the centurion's love.
I want you to notice that this centurion was a man
who was a man of compassion.
He had love. And here's what you have to remember.
This man, and we're going to see it as we delve into this passage,
is a man of authority.
He's a man of status.
He is a man of success.
And the Bible tells us that though he has all these things going for him,
he has this servant,
which is for the Roman Empire would have been ownership,
would have been property.
But the Bible says that a centurion's servant who was dear unto him,
he had this servant, but he loved this servant.
And I would submit to you this morning that this centurion is a great man.
And I would say this, to be a great person, we must value people.
To be great in life.
I think all of us have a desire to be great.
We hope that one day when we are gone, when we are past,
maybe one day when they hold our funeral, that people will say good things about us.
And the way that we ensure that is that we must learn to value people.
We must learn to love people.
Here we're told this centurion, he did not have this attitude about his servant.
When he heard that his servant was sick, the Bible says, and ready to die,
he didn't have this attitude.
He said, well just hire someone else.
Just find someone else.
Just get me another servant.
No, the Bible tells us that this servant was dear unto him.
He cared about him.
He loved him.
And I would say this, to be great,
we must value people.
And you must remember that in our lives we must not look at people
as though they are disposable.
As though we can just do without them.
As though we can just throw away relationships.
No, we must look at people in a way that we would say,
hey this person is dear to me.
I care about them.
To be great, we must value people.
Now do me a favor, keep your place there in Luke chapter 7.
That's our text for this morning.
But go with me if you would to the book of Psalms in the center of your Bible.
If you open up your Bible just right in the center,
you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms.
Go with me to Psalm 142 if you would.
Psalm 142.
And do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there in Psalms.
Because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it.
And I'd like you to be able to get there quickly.
Psalm 142 in verse 4.
Notice what the Bible says here.
Psalm 142 in verse 4.
I looked on my right hand and beheld, but there was no man that would know me.
Refuge failed me.
Notice these words.
No man cared for my soul.
If you want to be great in the kingdom of God.
If you want to have a life of impact and influence.
If you want to have a life that others will look back on and say,
I am thankful for that individual.
Then we must be the type of person that is not self-absorbed.
That is not just absorbed with self.
That is not just worried about our situation and our issues.
But we should be a person that values others.
That cares for others.
The Bible says that we should have compassion upon others.
The Bible tells about Jesus.
That when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them.
And we should be the type of person, and I will submit to you this morning,
that one thing that makes this centurion so great was his great love.
Was his great compassion.
Though he did not have to care for this servant.
The Bible tells us that he was dear unto him.
That he cared about him.
We must be great.
And to be great, we must value people.
Go to the book of Mark, if you would.
Keep your place there in Psalms, if you would.
And if you have got your place in Luke, just go to Mark.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
Just right before the book of Luke, you have got the book of Mark.
Mark chapter 10.
See, to be great, we must value people.
And let me say this as well.
To be great, we must care for people.
In Mark chapter 10, in verse 42, we have this teaching by Jesus on the subject of greatness.
Mark chapter 10, verse 42, the Bible says this,
But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them,
Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them,
and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
Here Jesus is talking to the disciples, and he's saying,
Look, you know that the leaders, those that are accounted to rule,
he says, over the Gentiles, he's referring to the world.
He says, you know that they exercise lordship over them,
and their great ones exercise authority upon them.
He says, you know that in the world there is this dog-eat-dog philosophy.
It's this idea that I'm in charge, and therefore everyone under me,
I'm supposed to just lord over them, and rule over them, and they're there to serve me.
Verse 43, Jesus says,
But so shall it not be among you.
He says, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister.
And Jesus teaches here what I like to refer to as servant leadership.
He says, look, leadership is not meant to get others to serve you,
but leadership is actually meant that we may serve others.
He says, but so shall it be not among you, but whosoever will be great among you,
let him be your minister.
Notice verse 44,
And whosoever of you will be the cheapest shall be servant of all.
For even the Son of Man, referring to himself, Jesus says,
Even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
You see, the Bible teaches that the way to make an impact,
the way to have influence, the way to be great,
is not to care for self, but to care for others.
Someone said this,
When you live for yourself, in the end all you will have is yourself.
And this man, this centurion, we see his greatness even here as he's introduced to us,
because we're told, and a certain centurion servant,
a man who many other Roman leaders and Roman officers would not care for a servant,
would not worry about his servant.
If they heard that their servant was sick and ready to die,
they would look for a replacement and not give it a second thought.
But this man, the Bible says, that his servant was dear unto him.
So I want you to notice that we see the greatness of this man in his love.
We see the centurion's compassion.
We see his love for his servant.
But I want you to notice, secondly, this morning, not only do we see the centurion's love,
but I want you to notice, secondly, that we see the centurion's leadership.
We've already started talking about it.
We saw it there in Mark chapter 10, this idea of servant leadership.
And servant leadership has to begin with love.
Leadership has to begin with love.
If we're going to lead others, we have to love the people that we lead.
And this man, not only do we see his love, but we see his leadership.
And I want you to understand this,
because oftentimes over the years I've taught on this idea of servant leadership,
I've had people tell me that servant leadership is unbiblical.
And I think to myself, I don't understand how you can say that when you read a passage
like the one we just read in Mark chapter 10.
When he says that those that will be chief among you, let them be your ministers.
When he says that if you're going, that the world and the gentiles, they lead.
And they lead in a way that is just for themselves.
They exercise authority and lordship so that they can be served.
But Jesus said, among you it will not be so.
He said, but you should lead for others for the benefit of others.
And here's how I define servant leadership.
The servant leadership is leading for the benefit of others.
And this is where people sometimes fight me on it.
Or maybe they have a problem with servant leadership.
They hear this term servant leadership and they get the idea that servant leadership
is that the leader is the one that's supposed to run around and do all the things for the servant.
And that's not what servant leadership is.
Servant leadership is not that you, as the mother,
need to go around and do all the chores for the children.
That's not servant leadership.
Servant leadership is not that you, as the husband,
you're supposed to be the leader of the home, the head of the home, the Bible says,
that you are going to do everything that your wife is supposed to be doing.
Servant leadership is not that the boss or the employer is going to go around
and perform all of the tasks for the employees.
That's not what servant leadership is.
Servant leadership is what we find here in Luke chapter 7 and verse 3.
Notice because we read in verse 2 that this certain centurion had a servant that was dear unto him.
And in verse 3 we read this,
And when he had heard of Jesus, the centurion, when he had heard of Jesus,
and I just love that phrase, aren't you thankful that you heard of Jesus?
And when he had heard of Jesus, he, the centurion, sent unto him Jesus,
but notice, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews,
beseeching him, beseeching Jesus, that he, Jesus, would come and heal his servant,
the centurion's servant.
I want you to notice what happens here.
Here we have a centurion, a Roman officer, a Roman commander,
having authority over a hundred soldiers.
And he has a servant that is sick and ready to die.
And he hears of Jesus.
He hears of this man that has the power to heal others.
And what he does, realizing that he is a Roman and Jesus was a Jew,
and having this, we see it later on in the passage,
understanding that he's not worthy to go to Jesus,
he sent unto him the elders of the Jews.
So he has some influence.
He has some connections with the elders, the leaders of the Jewish community.
And this centurion sent the elders of the Jews to Jesus,
beseeching him that he would come and heal his servants.
You say, what is a servant leader?
Here's what servant leadership is.
A servant leader leverages their influence, their resources,
their power to help others.
This man has a servant that is sick.
He does not feel worthy, we're going to see,
to go to Jesus himself, but he's got some connections
because of his authority, because of his power,
because of his influence, because of the position that he holds.
He has some things that he can leverage in order to help his servant.
So he makes the phone calls.
He writes the letters.
He makes the connections, and he connects with the elders
who he already has some influence with,
and he asks them to go on his behalf to ask Jesus to heal his servant.
And here's what I want you to understand.
A servant leader is simply that.
It doesn't mean that you've got to do everybody else's job.
No, a servant leader takes their power, their resources, their ability,
and they leverage it to help those that are following them.
That's what a good leader does.
And I'm not saying that I'm a good leader.
I'm trying to be a good leader every day,
but if you're part of our church, you know that through the years
we've tried to use whatever small amount of influence and impact
and resources and ability that God has given us
and leverage those to try to help our church family,
to try to help you in your life
and help you when you're in a time of need
and to be there for you when you need it.
You say, why?
Because a servant leader leverages their influence and resources to help others.
They do what they can.
See, a servant leader, they not only value people,
but they add value to people.
They don't only care about people,
but they try to help people and try to make people better.
You notice there in verse 4, the Bible says,
and when they came to Jesus, remember,
he's got connections with the elders of the Jews.
He's got connections with the people that can make contact with Jesus.
When they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly,
saying that he was worthy for whom he should do this,
for he loveth our nation.
Notice what the elders of the Jews say to Jesus.
They go to Jesus and they say,
hey Jesus, would you consider healing this centurion servant?
We want you to take this into consideration,
that he, the centurion, was worthy for whom he should do this.
Notice, they said about him in verse 5,
for he loveth our nation.
You say, how do you know he loveth our nation?
Notice what they said,
and has built us a synagogue.
They said, hey, this man has built us a synagogue.
This man has invested himself into our community.
This man not only values us, but he's added value to us.
He's helped us.
A synagogue, and I won't take the time this morning
to run you through all the verses,
but synagogues have this in the Bible.
As you study them out, they have this transition through them.
In the Old Testament, in the book of Psalms,
the synagogue is called the synagogue of God.
It's referenced in a positive way.
The synagogue is not the temple or the tabernacle,
but synagogues were local places of assembly
where the children of Israel could come together,
and assemble together, and fellowship together,
and where they could read the word of God,
and have the word taught to them.
Doesn't that sound a lot like a local church?
In fact, the synagogue was really a precursor
to the local New Testament church,
and it wasn't necessarily something that God established
in the Old Testament,
but it was something that came about as a need,
because we were created for community.
We were created in a way that we need to be able
to come together to fellowship, to sing,
to read scripture, to have the word of God taught to us.
It's something that is needed in those of us
that are believers of the Lord Jesus Christ
and followers of God.
And these local synagogues kind of came about
throughout the Old Testament,
and they're referenced in a positive way
as the synagogue of God.
And then you get into the New Testament,
and you see Jesus going to the synagogues and reading.
In fact, Jesus launched his ministry in a synagogue
when he took the word of God,
and he opened it, and he read it,
and he expounded upon it.
You see the apostle Paul going to synagogue,
and standing up, and reading scripture,
and teaching, and preaching in the synagogues.
But then you get to the book of Revelation,
and in the book of Revelation,
they're called the synagogues of Satan.
So obviously, the religion of the synagogue
has transformed into a religion of Satan,
is what the Bible,
and by the way, if you don't like that,
Jesus is the one who says it in Revelation.
He calls them the synagogue of Satan,
and obviously, Judaism today is a false religion.
They deny Christ.
They deny the God of the Bible.
But what I want you to understand is that
this man showed his love for the community
by building a place, by providing a place
where people could come together,
fellowship, sing, read the word of God,
and have the word of God taught to them.
And they said, he loveth our nation.
And I think that's a great thing.
I think we're getting to the place in America today
where people just don't value the house of God anymore.
They don't value the church house anymore.
They don't value a place where you can come together
and spend time with God's people
and have the word of God preached to you.
Let me tell you something.
You need, and I need, the house of God,
a local New Testament church,
a place where we can come together with God's people
and have the word of God taught to us.
We need it.
And this man was a servant leader
because he not only leveraged his influence
and his resources to help others,
but he valued people and he added value to people
and he invested himself into this community
by building them a local place of assembly for worship.
And look, the greatest way that you can invest yourself
into the lives of others
is through the local New Testament church.
We should be looking for ways to serve others.
You're there in Luke.
Go to me if you want to the book of Acts.
Luke, John, Acts, Acts chapter 13.
You say, I'd like to make an impact on people's lives.
And then get connected and get involved
in a local New Testament church.
Because the greatest impact that you can make
in somebody's life is through the ministering of God's word.
I'm sorry to say it, but it's not by feeding the homeless
and it's not by coaching a little league team
and it's not by going around and cleaning up parks.
Although, you know, all of that may be needed.
But the point is this, that the greatest impact
that you and I can make
is when we take the eternal word of God
and use it to minister in the lives of others.
They said this man loveth our nation
because he built us a synagogue.
They said he built us a place
where you can come and learn about God.
Acts chapter 13 and verse 36.
Notice what the Bible says.
Look, Acts chapter 13.
We're told about David.
Remember King David who lived 700 years before this.
700 years after the death of David.
Remember King David.
The Bible talks a lot about David.
A man after God's own heart.
The man who killed Goliath.
And this is what they said about David.
This will teach you something about greatness.
For David, after he had slain Goliath.
Is that what it says?
For David, after he had ruled the greatest kingdom of Israel.
Is that what it says?
For David, after he had served his own generation.
By the will of God fell asleep
and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption.
David did a lot of amazing things
but you know what David was remembered for by his people?
They remembered him for serving his own generation.
I'm here to tell you something.
Your greatness will be connected to how you serve others.
And look, I've got to ask the question.
We've got to ask the clarifying question.
Where exactly do you serve others in your life?
I mean what exactly?
And I'm not asking you to answer out loud
and I'm not asking you to answer to me
but you should be able to answer yourself.
What exactly do you do on any given week
that is actually impacting or influencing
or helping or doing anything for anyone else other than you?
Because it's easy to say,
well I'm a Christian, of course I'm influencing people.
But what do you actually do that helps people,
that cares for people, that loves people,
that impacts someone outside of you?
This man was a great man because of his love.
We saw that he valued people and that he cared about people.
This man was a great man because of his leadership.
We saw that he was a servant leader.
He leveraged his influence and resources to help others
and he was a servant leader because he not only valued people
but he added value to people.
He served them.
I love what the Bible says about Nehemiah.
I'm not sure where you're at if you're still in Acts.
Go back to Luke chapter 7 if you would.
The Bible says about Nehemiah,
remember Nehemiah was a great leader in the Old Testament.
Nehemiah was again another leader who used his position.
He was the cup bearer for the king,
which meant that he had a position where he was close to the king.
He could communicate the king and he used his position to leverage.
He leveraged his position and his power and his influence
to help the children of Israel build a wall around Jerusalem.
That's a servant leader.
The Bible says about Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 2 10, you don't have to turn there.
I'll just read this for you.
It says,
When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite,
these are the enemies, these are the bad guys,
heard of it.
They heard that Nehemiah was come.
It grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man
to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
You know, it should grieve the drug dealers exceedingly
that Verity Baptist Church is on the streets in this community
and there has come a man and there has come a woman
and there has come a church to seek the welfare of the children of Sacramento.
It should grieve the bad guys.
It should grieve the criminals.
It should grieve the gang banger.
It should grieve the drug dealer.
It should grieve the bad crowd.
It should grieve them that there are people in this community
that are not just absorbed with themselves
but have decided to use their leverage,
use their power and resources,
whatever amount of influence that God has given us
and used it to impact the life of others.
That's why this was a great man.
He had great love.
He had great leadership.
Why don't you notice, thirdly this morning,
not only do we see those centurions' love,
not only do we see those centurions' leadership,
but thirdly this morning I want you to notice
that we see those centurions' lowliness.
You say, what does that mean, lowliness?
It's another word for humility.
I want you to notice that this was a very humble man.
It's interesting to me because in Luke chapter 7 and verse 4,
remember he uses his resources to influence the elders of the community
to go to Jesus on behalf of his servant
to try to see if Jesus would heal his servant.
And in verse 4 we are told,
And when they, the elders of the Jews, came to Jesus,
they besought him, instantly saying,
Notice what they said.
Notice what they said about this centurion.
This is what they said about him.
What the elders of the Jews said about a Roman soldier commanding officer.
They said that he was worthy.
That he was worthy.
That word worthy means that he deserved this.
That it was appropriate for him to have, for Jesus to do this for.
They said, Jesus listen,
we're asking you to heal his servant.
We know he's a Roman soldier, he's an officer,
but we want you to know that we believe that he was,
he's worthy for whom he should do this.
That he's a worthy man, that he deserves this.
If anybody deserves to have their servant healed,
it's this man Jesus,
because he loveth our nation, and he hath built a synagogue.
He's a man of love, and he's a man of compassion,
he's a man of leadership.
And they said, they said, he is worthy.
That's interesting to me.
They said he's worthy.
Here's what's really interesting about it.
In verse 6 we read this,
Then Jesus went with them,
and when he was now far from the house,
the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord.
So Jesus decides, okay, if you say he's worthy,
I'll go to his house and I'll heal his servant.
So Jesus is on his way, and when the centurion is told
and realizes that Jesus is on his way,
the centurion sends friends to him to meet Jesus.
And this is what they said, verse 6,
Saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself.
He said, don't worry, don't come,
don't be inconvenienced in coming to my house.
He says, trouble not thyself.
You say, why?
Here's why.
Here's what he said,
For I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof.
Wherefore, neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee,
but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
You know what's really interesting about this centurion
is that when you ask the people around him,
hey, what do you think about this guy?
When they went to Jesus and said,
Jesus, you should heal his servant.
They said, he is worthy.
But if you ask him, he says, I'm not worthy.
They said, he is worthy.
He says, I'm not worthy, Jesus, for you to come under my roof.
He said, I wasn't even worthy to go up and ask you.
That's why I sent people on my behalf.
They said, he is worthy.
He said, he's not worthy.
You say, what do you call that?
You call that humility.
A bit of Proverbs, if you would, Proverbs 27.
You kept your place in Psalms.
Right after Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 27.
See, humility is not being a loser.
People think like, well, I got nothing going for me,
and I'm just a complete and utter loser,
and it makes me humble.
No, that doesn't make you humble.
That makes you a loser.
And in fact, I've met many losers that are not humble.
See, humility is not thinking less of yourself.
It's thinking less of yourself.
It's not thinking that you are less,
but it's just not thinking of you, of yourself.
It's just not considering yourself.
See, other people would look at this man and say, he's worthy.
This is an impressive man.
This is a great leader.
This is a great man.
But you asking me to say, I'm not worthy.
They said he is worthy.
He says, I'm not worthy.
Proverbs 27 and verse 2, here's what the Bible says.
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth,
a stranger, and not thine lips.
We live today in a world where bragging and boasting
is common and accepted.
It's ridiculous.
And excuse me, but we live in this society today.
We live in this social media society
where the whole purpose is to show off and brag
and show people how great my life is
and look at my great vacation and look at my great house
and look at my great this and look at my great that.
It's interesting.
They never show you the bad days on there.
They never show you the picture
of when they actually rolled out of bed.
They're like, I just woke up.
It's like, you've been up for three hours doing your makeup.
Just rolled out of bed.
And you're like, look all perfect.
The Bible says, let another man praise thee,
and not thine own mouth, a stranger, and not thine lips.
In Proverbs 25, you're there in Proverbs 27.
Flip back to Proverbs 25.
Look, we live in this Donald Trump culture
of just making sure everybody, I'm the greatest,
I'm the best, I'm this, I'm that.
That's what the politicians do.
That's what the movie actors do.
That's what the celebrities do.
That's what everyone does.
It ought not so be among Christians.
The Bible says, let another man praise thee.
And by the way, by the way, when you praise yourself,
you're just obnoxious and nobody likes that anyway.
They may not say it because you're the boss.
They may not say it because you're in charge.
But if you want to truly be loved and respected,
you want to truly be loved and respected,
you say, what do I do?
You value people, you add value to people,
and you don't brag about it.
Proverbs 25, verse six, that's what the Bible says.
This is how Christians should act.
Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king
and stand not in the place of great men.
Where you're like shoving your way through
trying to meet the king,
make sure the king knows who you are,
stand in the place of great men.
Bible says don't do that.
The Bible says do this, verse seven.
For better it is that it be said unto thee
come up hither
then that thou shouldest be put lower
in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.
This principle is kind of reiterated
by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Luke.
Go back to Luke if you would.
Go to Luke chapter 14.
Luke chapter 14.
Well pastor, you don't understand.
If I don't go to work and tell everybody how great I am,
then they're not going to realize that I'm great.
You go to work and you work hard,
you show up on time and you don't steal
and you don't lie and you have character
and you work as unto the Lord
and your boss will know how great you are.
They'll know that you're great
or they'll know that you're not.
Luke chapter 14 and verse seven,
the Bible says this,
and he put forth a parable to those which were bidden.
When he marked how, notice,
they chose out the chief rooms.
So here they're at a wedding
and Jesus notices that these Pharisees
are choosing out the chief rooms, the best spots.
So Jesus teaches a parable saying unto them, verse eight,
when thou art bidden of any man to a wedding,
notice what he says,
sit not down in the highest room,
lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him
and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee,
give this man place
and thou begin with shame to be taken to the lowest room,
but when thou art bidden,
go and sit down in the lowest room,
that when he that bade thee cometh,
he may say unto him,
unto thee, friend, go up hither,
then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them
that sat at meet with thee,
for whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased
and he that humblest himself shall be exalted.
What does that say?
Don't put yourself in a position of priority
or importance because you might put yourself
in that position of priority or importance
and then someone who actually has priority or importance
shows up and then they're like,
hey, you're sitting in this guy's seat.
You sit here under my footstool.
You know, you're supposed to sit on the ground.
You know what's better is that you take the lowest seat.
You know what's better is that you take the lowest seat
and then let someone else come up and say,
you shouldn't be sitting here.
No, no, you should sit over here.
You sit up here.
You're someone we respect and we admire.
He said, what does he teach?
He said, let another man praise thee, not let another.
What is he teaching?
Here's what he's teaching.
He's teaching that we should learn to esteem others
better than ourselves.
See, what made this man, this interior so great
was his love, was his leadership and his lowliness.
He was compassionate and he was humble.
They said he is worthy.
He says, I'm not worthy because Jesus,
you don't even have to come into my house.
He said, trouble not thyself for I'm not worthy
that thou shouldst enter under my roof.
Neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee.
Go back to Luke chapter seven, look at verse seven.
I said number one this morning, we saw the centurion's love.
Number two, we saw the centurion's leadership.
Number three, we saw the centurion's lowliness.
Let's finish up this morning.
Number four with the centurion's legacy
because everything that we've talked about so far,
his love, that he valued people and he cared for people,
his leadership, that he leveraged his influence
and resources to help others,
that he not only valued others but he added value to others.
His lowliness, that they said he was worthy
but he said he is not worthy.
All those things we've talked about so far
is actually not what this interior is known for.
Everything we've talked about up to this point
is not the main application of this passage.
In fact, at the end of the story,
Jesus was really impressed with this guy
but what Jesus is really impressed with
is not any of the things we talked about up to this point.
Now they're all in scripture and they're in there for a reason.
I'm sure they all helped and rolled into what Jesus was impressed for
but what this guy is known for, what his legacy is,
is not his leadership, is not his love, is not his lowliness,
although he has all of that.
His legacy is his great faith.
Notice verse 7.
Wherefore, neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee.
He said, Jesus, you don't trouble yourself.
You don't have to come to my house.
I'm not worthy that you come under my roof.
He said, wherefore, neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee.
Notice what he says.
He says, but say in a word and my servant shall be healed.
He says, Jesus, I don't need you to come into my house.
I'm not worthy for you to come into my house
but even if I was, I don't need you to come and stand physically over the servant.
I don't need you to touch him.
I don't need you to make some big show.
He said, Jesus, here's what I know.
Just say the word and he'll be healed.
But say in a word and my servant shall be healed.
Notice what he says in verse 8.
He says, for I also am a man under authority.
Notice he's a very humble man but he understands his position.
He says, Jesus, look, I, like you, am a man under authority
and the idea there is that he's under authority
is the idea that he has authority.
He's on a chain of command.
He's got at least a hundred men that look up to him
and call him sir and take orders from him
but he's also under the authority of others.
He says, for I also am a man set under authority.
He says, having under me soldiers.
Remember, he's a centurion.
He's got a hundred soldiers.
He says, having under me soldiers and I say unto one,
go and he goeth and to another, come and he cometh
and to my servant do this and he doeth it.
Here's what the centurion says.
The centurion says, Jesus, I understand authority.
I am a man with authority.
I've got soldiers that are under my authority.
I am their commanding officer and if I say go, they go
and if I say come, they come and if I say do this, they do it.
He says, I understand authority.
That's my limited authority and he's looking at Jesus saying,
I understand your authority that you can say to a sickness,
come and it comes, go and it go, do this and it'll do it.
I understand your authority.
So Jesus, you don't even have to come.
Just say the word.
Just say the word and my servant shall be healed.
You know, by the way, let me just say this.
You know what I've learned is that often great followers
are the ones that make great leaders.
Great leaders were once great followers.
Great leaders understand what it means to be a good follower.
So if you're not a good, look, you go to work and just complain about your boss,
you're not going to be a good leader.
This man was a great, we've been learning about his great leadership ability,
but you know, not only was he a great leader, he's also a great follower.
He understood authority.
He understood how authority works and you know what he had?
He had faith in God's word.
He said, Jesus, just say the word.
Just say the word and my servant will be healed.
I'm not sure if you kept your place in the book of Psalms,
but go to Psalm 119 if you would.
Psalm 119.
See, this man had faith in God's word.
I like this verse.
I read it a lot.
You go to Psalm 119.
I'll read to you from 1 Thessalonians 2 13.
Here's what the Bible says about God's word.
It says, for this cause also thank we God without ceasing.
This is Paul speaking to the church at Thessalonica.
He says, because when you receive the word of God, when you heard of us,
you received it not as the word of man, but as it is in truth,
the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that belief.
Do you understand that the Bible that you hold in your hand is the word of God?
You say, what was this man's great faith?
His great faith was in God's word.
Psalm 119 verse 41.
Notice what the Bible says.
By the way, Psalm 119 is the great psalm on the word of God.
It's the longest chapter in the Bible, the longest psalm in the Bible,
and virtually every verse in this psalm references the word of God.
In verse 41 it says,
Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord,
even thy salvation according to thy word.
Notice how verse 41 references the word of God.
Verse 42,
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me.
Notice what he says,
For I trust in thy word.
What to God that can be said of you and I?
I trust in thy word.
So what's so great about this centurion that he said,
Jesus, I trust in thy word.
And by the way, Jesus is the word.
The word of God, Jesus is the word incarnate.
And this centurion said,
Look, just say the word.
Just say the word and you'll be healed.
I don't need a big show.
I don't need to show up.
I don't need to lay your head on it.
Just say the word.
I believe in your word.
If you say you'll be healed.
I'm a man under authority.
I understand how these things work.
Just say the word and you'll be healed.
He had faith in God's word.
And by the way, let me just say this.
All faith, all biblical true faith is connected to God's word.
The Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
So look, I'm all for stepping out in faith and accomplish,
trying to attempt great things for God.
But you better make sure when you're stepping out in faith,
that you're stepping out in faith according to the word of God.
You better have a biblical verse or a biblical principle you're connecting to that.
Because sometimes people, they like to,
I'm going to, you know, sometimes people say things.
I mean, they're going to do some very foolish thing.
Why are you doing that?
I'm just stepping out by faith.
Like, did God tell you to do that?
Look, step out in faith in the things connected to the word of God.
That's what faith is.
This man had great faith.
He didn't have great faith that God was going to heal his servant.
He had great faith that if Jesus spoke the word, his servant would be healed.
He had faith in God's word.
Go back to Luke chapter 7.
I want you to notice he had great faith.
You know what's interesting about this story?
Is that all throughout the Gospels, Jesus is amazing others, right?
I mean, he's doing these miracles.
He's doing all these things.
He's preaching these great sermons.
And over and over and over, we're told in the Gospels that people were astounded.
That they wondered at him.
That they were amazed.
That they were astonished.
That they were in fear.
They look at the things that Jesus does and they're just like, whoa, that's amazing.
And of course, we understand why they would.
He's the Lord Jesus Christ.
But in this story, Jesus is the one that's amazed.
Because this man says, hey, say the word and my servant will be healed.
Verse 9, when Jesus heard these things, he marveled.
The word marvel means to be astonished, to be in wonder, to be amazed.
He marveled at him and turned him about and said unto the people that followed him,
I say unto you, this is what Jesus said.
I remember the elders of the Jews, what they said about the centurion was, he is worthy.
Here's what Jesus says about the centurion.
I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Jesus said, I've never met someone with so much faith.
I've never met someone with such great faith.
He says, there's no one in the nation of Israel that has so great faith.
Notice verse 10, and they that were sent returning to the house
found the servant whole that had been sick.
You want to know how to impress Jesus?
I mean, I don't know about you, but wouldn't you want Jesus to be impressed with your life?
Here's how you do it.
You see what the word of God says, and you believe it, and you believe it, and you act upon it.
See, you know what really impresses Jesus?
When people say, hey, just say the word, and I believe it, I'll do it.
Just say the word, Jesus.
See, Jesus was impressed with a man who says, when the Bible says something, I'm going to act on it.
Because, you know, the Bible says lots of things.
The Bible says that you should be a soul winner,
that you should go out and try to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And you know what people have to say, oh, I can't do that.
Well, then why don't you just step out by faith, believing God's word,
that if God told you to do it, you can do it, and then go do it.
And Jesus will be impressed.
We've been learning about the home and the family.
We've been teaching you all sorts of things about how to have a proper biblical marriage
and how to have, we're going to talk about how to raise children properly.
And let me tell you something, what the Bible tells you
and what the world tells you are two different things.
And you say, well, what do I do?
I don't know what you're going to do, but I'll tell you what I'm going to do.
I'll tell you what my wife and I have been doing.
We're just going to believe God's word.
We're going to have our marriage the way God says to do it.
I don't care what the world says.
We're going to raise our children the way that God says to do it.
I don't care what the world says.
Look, I'm just going to tell you that if God said it, you can rest upon it and do it.
Just do it.
Just do what God says.
And God, you know what?
Jesus will be impressed.
Because it's rare to find the person that God says,
tithe 10%, I don't know.
I'll just do it by faith because God says to.
Have my wife stay home and homeschool the children and be a keeper at home.
I don't know, but I'm just going to do it by faith because that's what God says to do.
You know, live this way and do these things.
Look, just do what the Bible says.
I mean, I don't know.
It's the theme of this church.
Just build your life on the Bible, why don't you?
Stop doubting God's word.
Stop leaning upon your own understanding.
Stop worrying about all these things and just put it in God's hands.
This man said, Jesus, just say the word.
That's good enough for me.
And Jesus marveled.
I say unto you, I have not found so great faith.
Now let me just make this point just real quickly.
Go to Matthew, if you would, Matthew chapter 8.
Jesus takes a jab at the community there because he says,
I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And Jesus has really taken a jab at the Jewish community here.
Because the Bible teaches something called replacement theology.
And I don't want to get too far into this, but let me just say this.
This is a doctoral teaching that teaches that God has replaced.
Today there's many Christians who teach that the Jews are God's chosen people.
Well, you don't get that from the Bible.
You'll be hard-pressed to find a New Testament passage that teaches that.
And in fact, in Matthew chapter 8 and verse 10, Jesus looks at the centurion.
Look at verse 10.
It's the same story.
Matthew chapter 8 verse 10.
And 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.
Referring to the centurion.
And then Jesus says this in Matthew 8 verse 11.
And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west.
What does that mean?
There's going to be people that come from all over the world
and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs, Old Testament saints.
He says there are going to be people that come from all over the world, Jesus says,
and they're going to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, in heaven.
Verse 12.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.
They shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You say, what does that mean?
Here's what he's saying.
Jesus says, Jesus looks at this Roman centurion.
He says, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And then Jesus says, but it really shouldn't surprise me because in heaven,
there's going to be people from the east and the west from all over the world
that are going to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
But the children of the kingdom, they're going to be cast out into outer darkness.
You say, why?
Because you don't get into heaven based off your physical lineage.
If you deny the Lord Jesus Christ, you don't get into heaven.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And sometimes you preach this when people say, are you anti-Semitic?
Look, I'm anti-false religion.
I'm as anti-Judaism as I am Islam and Catholicism and all the other false religions.
Salvationists believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, period.
It has nothing to do with your descendancy.
It has nothing to do with your lineage.
Jesus says, you know what's sad?
Is that many shall come from the east and the west,
and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and 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.
This was an impressive man.
Go back to Luke chapter 7.
We'll finish up.
What was so great about the centurion?
Here's what was great about him.
He cared about others.
He used his power and influence to help others.
He leveraged his power and influence resources to help others.
He didn't boast or brag about himself.
And he acted upon the word of God.
When God said it, he just did it.
What God said to do, he just did it.
He didn't worry about it.
He didn't lean upon his own understanding.
He said, Jesus, just say the word.
Look at Luke chapter 7, verse 7.
We'll finish up.
Wherefore, neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee,
but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
I just wonder what would happen.
I wonder what would happen in this community.
In this city.
I wonder what would happen at your workplace.
I wonder what would happen in your family.
I wonder what would happen in your neighborhood.
I wonder what would happen in this world if believers.
I mean, I'm just talking about this group.
I think there's 210 people here this morning.
I just wonder if 210 people in the city of Sacramento
walked out those doors with this belief
that I'm going to love people.
I'm going to leverage my influence to help people.
I'm going to trust God's word,
and I'm not going to boast and brag about it.
I wonder what would happen.
Because Jesus said, I'm impressed.
I'm impressed.
I have not found faith like this.
No, not in this world.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father.
Lord, we do thank you for this passage of scripture.
These 10 verses that teach us about this centurion.
I look forward one day to meeting this man in heaven.
We're not told a lot of specific details about his life,
but what we're told, it's clear that he's a great man.
And Lord, I pray you'd help us to learn from him.
I pray you'd help us to try to be like him, to love others.
To practice servant leadership.
To have lowliness in our lives.
And let us have a legacy of faith, great faith.
Faith that believes and acts upon the things that you tell us to do.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray.
Amen.