Man of 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 the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me, And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:5-9 NKJV) 

   “When Jesus heard it, He said to those who followed, ‘Assuredly, I say to you I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Matthew 8-10 NKJV)

   I have written about this centurion in a previous post but recently I read a sermon by the late Pastor Ron Dunn and he has some very good points that I didn’t see before. Pastor Dunn says this:

   “Now, I have a great respect for the Word of God. But I must confess to you that for a long time I couldn’t see what was so great about what that man said. I didn’t understand it. What did he say? He said, ‘I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me…..”(verse 9)

    Why was Jesus amazed at this man of faith? I couldn’t see what the man said had to do with faith. But I got to thinking, If it amazed Jesus, it ought to amaze me. I would think it would take a lot to amaze Jesus. He was amazed twice in the Bible. Both times He expressed amazement at the faith of a Gentile. What could you show Jesus, or what could you tell Jesus that would amaze Him? He’s seen it all! He made it all!

     If this encounter amazed Jesus, it ought to do something to me. I thought to myself that I must be missing something. Let’s look at the encounter again. Jesus told the centurion that He would come to his house and heal his servant. But the centurion replied, ‘Oh, no, Lord, don’t do that. I’m not worthy to have You come under my roof. Just speak the word, and my servant will live, for I also am a man under authority.’ Now I would expect his next words to be,  ‘And if I am told to go somewhere, I go somewhere, and when I am told to do something, I do something.’ But that is not what the centurion said.

     He said,  “For I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me. And I say to this one go, and he goes. And to this one, do this and he does it.’ The centurion was saying, ‘ I live under authority; therefore, I have authority.’ And he did. He had authority over one hundred soldiers. That’s why they call him a centurion.

    As long as the centurion was submitted to the authority of the emperor, he had the emperor’s authority over those one hundred soldiers. If he rebelled against the authority of the emperor, he lost his authority over those one hundred soldiers. So that was the principle by which he was living. But that is still not what amazed Jesus. What amazed Jesus was one little word that the man said. Some translators say ‘also.’ Some say ‘too.’ And unfortunately, some leave it out. But it belongs there.

    Now listen to me as I quote it: …..’Just speak the word, and my servant will live, for I also am a man under authority.’ In other words, ‘I don’t have to run my own errands. If I want something done, I tell others to do it, and it’s done for me. And Lord, I understand that You live by the same principle I live by.’ When he said, ‘I, too,’ or ‘I, also, am a man under authority,’ this is what amazed Jesus, that this centurion had such great insight into the truth that Jesus Himself lived by that same principle. He said, ‘I have never seen such great faith.’

    The point I want you to get is that this was the principle by which Jesus Christ lived. He lived under the authority of His Father; therefore He had His Father’s authority. That’s the principle by which the centurion lived. He was under the authority of the Emperor; therefore, he had the emperor’s authority. That’s the principle by which (the Apostle) Paul lived. That’s the principle by which we should live if we want to experience victory in the Christian life. 

   I’m trying to say that the responsibility for the victory is not mine, it is God’s. I realize that many of us use the expression, ‘win the victory.’ I’ve got to go out there and ‘win the victory,’ to overcome the devil, and win over temptation. But I want you to know there are no victories to be won. Christ won every victory two thousand years ago when He died for us on the cross! Every temptation you will face has already been overcome by Jesus. The responsibility is not ours…….The responsibility for victory in the Christian life does not rest with us. It’s not our victory; it is God’s victory through Christ.” (Ron Dunn by Ron Owens, pp 267-269)

PRAY

1. Lord, we praise You because You alone are worthy of our praise. You are our Creator, Savior, Father, and LORD!

2. Help me today to stay completely under Your authority and banner so that You can lead me in the Victory that You have already won.

3. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit today so that I may speak of Your wonders and mercy to all that You send into my path today. I belong to You, and help me to stay under Your authority as You lead me in the victory that You have already won at Calvary!   

Chained to the Chariot

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:12-14, NKJV)

   In Roman times when Paul wrote his epistles, it was a Roman custom to hold a victory parade after every major victory of one of its armies over an enemy such as  Carthage, or Greece, or Gaul. The parade would be led by priests burning incense, followed by the victorious general in a golden chariot pulled by four white horses. Behind him would be some of the enemy commanders in chains. The prisoners would be followed by musicians and then soldiers of the victorious army. The crowds would line the route of march cheering the general and throwing flowers. The victorious general would dismount the chariot where the Ruling Cosul, or Emperor of Rome, was stationed and the ruler would place on the victor’s head a wreath, in honor of the victory. 

   There is a great example of this scene in the 1962 version of the movie Ben Hur, played by Charlton Heston. Ben Hur, who had been a galley slave on the ship of the victorious general, had saved the general’s life when the ship went down. Then as the general was ready to start the parade, he invited Ben Hur to ride with him in the chariot as the celebration began. 

   This is the way I always envisioned what Paul was saying in the verse above. God has invited me up into his chariot to share in the victory that Christ has already won for me. WRONG!  Wow, did I ever get that wrong!

    Ron Dunn, an awesome pastor and evangelist, who went to his reward in 2001, preached a sermon many times entitled “Chained to the Chariot,” that explains in a much better way just what the Apostle Paul was trying to tell us.

    Describing the victory parade Pastor Dunn said: “When the people saw their hero in that chariot, they would cheer and shout. They would throw garlands and confetti into the air. But when they saw the officers of that defeated army chained to that chariot and being dragged along behind, they would really go wild. This was a demonstration of the power of their hero. Paul was referring to that custom when he said, ‘Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession.’ In other words, Paul was Christianizing that custom. He was saying there was a time when he was at war with Jesus Christ. There were hostilities between God and Paul. But the Lord Jesus had conquered him, and he had yielded to Him in unconditional surrender. He had put Paul in the chains of His lordship, and he was chained to His chariot. And everywhere Paul went, Christ led him in His triumphal procession.

    The New English Bible brings it out well by saying, ‘Thanks be to God, who continually leads us about, captives in Christ’s triumphant procession’ (2 Cor. 5:14) Paul is saying, ‘I came to Jesus Christ; He overcame me, and I yielded to Him in unconditional surrender. He placed my hands in the chains of His Lordship and chained me to His chariot. Now thanks be to God, everywhere I go I am being led in His triumphant procession.’

   Paul was wanting everybody to know this before he details his apostleship, because when you get over to chapter 4 of 2 Corithians, he will speak about some bad things happening to him. He is saying in anticipation, ‘Now I’m going to tell you some things that some of you are going to think reveals failure and defeat. But I want you to know at the outset, thanks be to God, He always leads me in His triumph in Christ, and wherever I go, it may look like defeat to you; it may look like failure to you, but I am chained to His chariot, and that means that everywhere I go I am following in his own triumphant victory in Christ!”

   ‘But Paul;--how is it that you can say everywhere you go there's victory?’ Paul:’Because I’ve been conquered by Jesus Christ. I’m chained to His chariot, and I’m simply following along in the wake of His victory.’

The Fourfold Secret to a Victorious Life

1. If you want to be a conqueror, you must first be conquered.

2. If you want to be an overcomer, you must first be overcome.

3. If you want to be a master, you must first be mastered.

4. If you want to exercise authority, you must first submit to it.”

(Ron Dunn, His Life and Mission by Ron Owens, pp. 264-265)

    Obviously, we need more humility and submission than comes naturally if we are to be used by God to advance His Kingdom. We need to be chained to His chariot and led where He leads us and not where we want to go. Everytime I get the idea that I should be riding up in the chariot, next to Jesus, telling Him where I would like to go, I need to remember that that is not the way it works. I can be led to victory only if I remain chained to Jesus's chariot and obedient to go where He leads!

PRAY

1. Lord, thank You so much for accepting my surrender to You and allowing me to be chained to Your victorious chariot!

2. Keep me In your procession, and use me to accomplish whatever You have ordained for me since the day I was born.

3. Oh how I praise You and thank You for giving me another day to serve In Your Army! Fill me with Your Spirit daily so that my natural desire will be to be obedient and sensitive to Your directions.