Say The Word
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· 24 viewsThe Power In Jesus
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Say The Word!
Say The Word!
8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.
Confession of Faith
I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith! In Jesus Name!
Introduction:
This is a great passage showing that Jesus is definitely the Messiah
Jesus will can receive any one who truly trusts Him, no matter how far away the person may be or how many barriers may seem to stand in the way.
Here’s what the bible says:
5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him,
6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”
7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”
Here I see Jesus Deeply moved by this man
1. Jesus will receive any man! It doesn't matter - about your race, It doesn't matter about your sex, It doesn’t matter about your religious beliefs
Any conceivable barrier that you can think of to stop Jesus - he can get past!
If you have an ideological barrier:
This man the bible describes as a centurion
Centurion: an officer in the Roman armed forces.
He commanded about one hundred soldiers. To the Jew, the centurion had some things against him:
He was bitterly hated because he was non-Jewish, a Gentile;
He was of the nation that had conquered the Jews , - he was from Rome;
And He was in the military considered an armed and occupying force to the Jews.
Now he was a man rejected, despised, and hated by the Jews
But Jesus could reach him and meet his need.
He has the power to overcome all ideas and prejudices that divided man against man, neighbor against neighbor, race against race, nation against nation, employee against employer, child against parent, wife against husband
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.
15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups.
If you have an physical barrier:
The centurion's servant was desperately ill and some miles away, yet Jesus could reach the servant.
The power of Jesus spans all physical barriers, no matter how far away or how severe the condition.
No matter what you are going through or where you are at - The healing power and the delivering power of Jesus can get to you!
If you have a spiritual barrier
Listen the centurion was a Gentile, considered by the Jews to be lost spiritually, an alien and an enemy to the people of God.
But Jesus had the power to reach the man, to pierce the spiritual barriers of his soul and save him.
Jesus can reach the soul of any man who will believe in Him, no matter how lost or how alien or how much of an enemy to God he has been.
All it requires is Humility
Jesus' power was aroused by the centurion's humility.
The man's humility is seen in two ways
a. He was a Gentile and a Roman officer, yet he came to a Jew for help.
Did you know Approaching a Jew was socially unacceptable and unheard of for a Gentile, but being an officer of Rome made it worse. Jesus knew that the centurion had great courage and humility to approach Him for help.
The centurion came to Jesus as "Lord," acknowledging Him as Messiah
This man approached Him as the One who could meet his need.
This man knew and confessed that he had a need, a need that other men could not meet.
Hear me now - Knowing and confessing are both essential when you really want your needs to be met.
This man knew where to go and who to go to in order to have his need met.
This man was willing to do all he could to have his need met.
This Man trusted Jesus to satisfy his need.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
Jesus' response to this man’s cry for help was forceful:
"I will."
These words declare that Jesus will overcome all the barriers and divisions of men to meet a man's need
He will meet the need of anyone who truly trusts Him
It doesn’t matter to Jesus - He died for us all
He doesn’t care if you are the CEO or a custodian: , He doesn’t care if you are rich or poor
He doesn’t care if you are the parent or the child
He doesn’t care if you are a man or woman,
He doesn’t care if you are a sinner or a saint
He doesn’t care if you're hepless or capable,
Jesus has no favorites. He does not favor one person over another.
34 Peter began to speak: “I really understand now that to God every person is the same.
35 In every country God accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right.
All of us must come to Jesus totally dependent upon Him.
There is no other way. Position, power, fame, wealth, and social acceptability must be laid aside.
Here is an issue
Your thoughts cannot be focused on yourself , but only on Jesus Christ and His power if we want Him to meet our need.
Your thoughts—what our your minds is on—reveals the sincerity of your heart when approaching Jesus.
1) If your thoughts are focused on self and social acceptability, then your sincerity is weak and lacking.
Jesus knows when we care more for this world than for Him.
If your thoughts are focused on Him and His power, then Jesus knows that we are really depending upon Him to help us, regardless of what others may think or say.
"I will."
Note that the emphasis is on the Jesus Himself,
This is about who He is,
not on His coming to the that man’s home.
It is Jesus Christ Himself who will meet the soldiers need, it is Jesus Christ who will meet your needs and my needs!
Sometimes I Feel Unworthy
Unworthy
Jesus' power was aroused by the man’s sense of unworthiness.
The centurion did not say,
"My servant is not worthy to have you come"; but he said, "I am not worthy."
A sense of personal unworthiness gripped him. Jesus Christ is the One who alone has the power to meet our need.
Therefore, we have to confess our inadequacy and unworthiness to have the Lord help us.
3 Because God has given me a special gift, I have something to say to everyone among you. Do not think you are better than you are. You must decide what you really are by the amount of faith God has given you.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
We need to see God in Jesus
We must see value in every person, the value that God puts upon even the poorest and unacceptable.
Hear me now, We must humble ourselves before all, no matter how it may hurt.
Being humble does not make you weak - t makes you strong!
Jesus' power was aroused by the centurion's love for his servant!
This man was pouring out his heart for another person (intercessory prayer).
In the eyes of society the person should have been meaningless to him, yet the servant meant much to him.
He loved this meaningless person, this servant
12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
9 Your love must be real. Hate what is evil, and hold on to what is good.
As believer’s we are to love. Not only to love those close to us, but we are to love everyone
Here we see a picture of someone in authority loving someone who has no authority - just a servant
Our love can be measured by this mans’ love.
How much do we carry the needs of our loved ones to the Lord?
How much do we carry the needs of people who are wordly to us, and separated from the Lord?
How much do we look after and care for those of our own household, whether aged and disabled parents or children or spouse?
Great Faith!
Faith: this man illustrated perfectly what faith is
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
It is believing that Christ is: that He is sovereign Lord. All power is subject to Him
It is believing that "Christ is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him"
5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.
The centurion had diligently sought Jesus, He was believing Jesus could meet his need.
Many of us seek the Lord, but what made this man’s faith so much greater was his belief that the Word of Christ was all that was needed.
Say The Word!
Jesus did not have to be present for the need to be met.
As a centurion he had authority over men. All he had to do was issue an order and it was carried out, whether he was present or not.
He was a commander.
He was saying, "How much more are you, Lord.
But speak the word only, and my need shall be met."
Say The Word and everything will be taken care
That’s what faith is about
Say The Word Jesus!
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
As you and I believe, so it shall happen to us.
These were the words of Jesus to the centurion.
It is almost like a blank check: the amount we receive depends on our faith in Jesus.
Say The Word
This week - Just say the word.
Speak encouragement.
Speak peace.
Speak hope.
Speak life.
Speak prayers
Next Steps
Old Testament
Jeremiah & Lamentations
New Testament:
Jude & Revelations