In this enlightening episode of Victorious Faith, Cherri Campbell delves into the remarkable story of the Roman centurion from Matthew 8. Discover what set his faith apart, recognized by Jesus as extraordinary, despite not being a follower of Jewish teachings. Explore the depths of what great faith means and how understanding authority is central to living a victorious life.
00:00:06 Introduction to Victorious Faith and Cherry Campbell
00:03:49 Parable of the Sower and the Importance of Fertile Ground
00:06:42 Understanding Authority through the Centurion’s Faith
00:09:50 Jesus’ Authority and its Recognition by the Centurion
00:12:24 Conclusion and Invitation to Victorious Faith Service
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Victorious Faith. We believe you will be blessed, encouraged, and receive fresh faith to begin your day as you listen to today’s message with international missionary and Bible teacher, Cherri Campbell.
SPEAKER 02 :
Good morning. Welcome to Victorious Faith. I’m Cherri Campbell. This morning, I’m going to begin sharing with you another message that I preached in one of our Victorious Faith services called Faith and Authority. What is great faith? So join me now in our live service for the beginning of this message called Faith and Authority. What is great faith? Let’s go to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8. And the message tonight is called Faith and Authority. Faith and Authority. Matthew chapter 8. And this is the story of the Roman centurion who came to Jesus. And starting in verse 5, we’ll read verses 5 through 10. When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help. Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering. Jesus said to him, I will go and heal him. The centurion replied, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. Another translation, say the word only. And my servant will be healed for I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one go when he goes and that one come and he comes. I say that my servant do this and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, I I tell you the truth. I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. Now, do you remember the time when Jesus rebuked the disciples? They were out on the boat and he said, why are you so afraid? Why have you no faith? He rebuked Peter. Now, this man is not an Israelite. He’s not a Jew. He did not go to Bible school. He did not go to synagogue. And yet Jesus said, I have not seen such great faith. So he has the greatest faith that Jesus had seen in his entire ministry. Now, let’s ask the question, why? What made this man’s faith great faith? I mean, we want to follow his example. We don’t want to follow the example of the disciples where they were out on the lake and the storm came up and they were terrified, terrified, stiff and said, we’re going to drown. And Jesus said, why do you have no faith? Now, you’d think that these disciples, these were his own followers. These were the 12. And that is proof that you can be in church and have no faith. These disciples, before going out on the lake, had been sitting under Jesus’ teaching from morning till night. They had gone up on the mountain. And from morning till night, he had taught them. Now, Romans 10, 17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. But Mark chapter four says some seed falls on the path and the birds come and eat it. Some seed falls on rocky ground and it has, it can’t take root and others. Then the other seed falls among thorns and it chokes the plant because it cares of this life and the worries and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the word. And only one out of four of those kinds of ground was good ground for the word. Only one out of four, three out of four did not produce a harvest. Only one out of four in Mark chapter four, the parable of the sower and the ground. Only one produced a harvest, 30, 60 and 100 fold. So that shows that the word can come forth and yet still no harvest. Well, that’s what happened, obviously, then with the disciples. They had heard the word all day. Romans 10, 17 says faith comes by hearing. But apparently that word seed had not fallen on fertile hearts. Either they were like the path. It was hard and the birds came in, ate it up. And really, that’s what happens a lot of time is that it doesn’t even get in. It doesn’t even take root. Right. Because just something immediately, it’s like it goes in one ear out the other. It’s like, yeah, that was a nice word. And then you forget it the next afternoon or that afternoon, you know, just shortly later or, or you leave church and then you get to work Monday and the pressures of life and the cares of this world choke out the word. And so obviously these disciples listening to the word morning till night did not have great faith, right? And Jesus said, why do you have no faith? None. They had been listening all day long. So that’s a sad thing when you think some people can sit in church all day long and still walk out and have no faith. So if that’s the way it is, here are the disciples sitting and listening to his teaching morning till night, like they’re supposedly hanging on every word, but they go out and they get on the sea and have no faith. And then along comes a man who’s not even a Jew, probably didn’t sit there and listen to all the teaching because he’s a working man, comes along and Jesus says, I’ve not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. How is it that this man had great faith? Well, the key is that he understood authority. And he said, well, he’s a military man. You know that in the military, you have commanding officers and you take orders and you do what you’re told and you don’t ask and you don’t challenge. Otherwise, you can be big trouble, right? So understanding that authority, he’s a military man. He’s a commanding officer, right? And he says in verse 9, I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one, go and he goes. And that one, come and he comes. I say to my servant, do this and he does it. So this man walks up and he sees Jesus operating in authority. Jesus says, you recognize my authority. You understand what I’m doing. And he turns to look at everybody else. I have not seen anybody with such great faith. You understand what I’m doing. I’m using authority. And in just the last verse, last two verses of the previous chapter, chapter seven. verses 28 and 29 chapter seven versus 28, 29. When Jesus had finished saying these things, and this is after, I mean, if you have a red letter Bible, all of chapters five, six, and seven are in red, meaning he was teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching. These are parables after parable, after parable, after parable. This is the sermon on the Mount. I mean, he taught, taught, taught, taught, taught. And then at the end of chapter 7, verse 28, when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, verse 29, because he taught as one who had authority. and not as their teachers of the law. So their teachers of the law did not use authority. They probably were like scholars who just kind of dig around and bring up questions, but not having answers, not having solutions. Well, what do you say about this? Well, it could be like this. Well, it could be like this. Well, you know, it could also be like this, you know, and they probably discussed things without really ever having a conclusive answer. And actually, that’s the way a lot of Jewish study is that I’ve heard about is that the Jews will get together and discuss and debate the word. And nobody is wrong. It’s just everybody giving their opinion. And so that’s probably the way these teachers were. And so everybody walks out. Well, it could be this one, but it could be this one. And it also could be this way, you know, and no conclusive answer when they leave. But Jesus taught as one who had authority. He taught. This is the way it is. This is what’s right. This is what’s wrong. This is how you do it. And this will work. He taught with answers. He taught with authority. And so he taught with authority. Now, obviously, the centurion probably wasn’t there because chapter eight, verse one says he came down from the mountainside. So that was up on the mountain. And then verse five says, then he entered Capernaum. So this man was in Capernaum. He was not on the mountainside. So he had not heard all of that, except he was a military man and he understood authority. And he looked at Jesus and he probably watched him for a while, maybe a few hours, maybe a day, maybe having to stand guard and make sure peace was there or something. I don’t know. You notice how long, but probably not very long. And he thought everything that man says, he says with authority. He says with a command and it happens. He says to the paralytic, get up, pick up your mat and go home. The paralytic gets up and he walks. He’s healed immediately. The man with the shriveled arm, Jesus said, stretch forth your arm, stretches it out and he’s healed. The woman bowed over, said, you are free. You are released. She stands up. He spoke everything with a command of authority. He healed the sick. He cast out demons, said, come out of him. And then he called Lazarus out of the tomb with authority. Now, not to say that the centurion saw all of that, but But that was his method. That’s what he did everywhere. That’s the way he healed the sick. Was he said to that one, I see. That one, ears here. That one, paralytic, get up, take up your mat, go home. And he spoke everything with commands of authority. The military man is standing there. Roman, they’re a tough military. A lot of training. And he’s standing watching, probably kind of keep an eye on things. But it says, hey, every command this man makes happens. Every sick person he commands to be healed is healed. I understand that authority. That’s the way I work. And so he said to Jesus, you don’t have to come under my roof. Say the word only. Another translation has the word only in there. Say the word only and my servant will be healed. Why? Because I’ve watched you long enough. I’ve seen everything you say happens. And that’s just authority. That’s what I’m used to. And he said, I have soldiers under me. This one I say go and he goes. That one come and he comes. I say to my servant, do this and he does it. You’re using the same authority I use. You just say the word. I know it’ll be done. And Jesus was amazed, astonished. I mean, do you want to astonish Jesus? I would like to astonish him. I would like Jesus to say, wow, I’ve not seen such great faith, Jerry. I want to astonish him. This man did. And he turned around and looked at everybody. I have not seen anybody with such great faith. Because he believed simply in the authority. He believed in authority. And I believe that is one of the keys. Believe is another word for faith. Faith in authority. Faith and authority. What you just heard was the beginning of a message that I preached in one of our Victorious Faith services called Faith and Authority. What is great faith? And we will continue this message again tomorrow. And I would like to invite you to come and join us for our next Victorious Faith service this Saturday at 6 o’clock p.m. You can go to our website at victoriousfaith.co. Victorious Like a Champion, V-I-C-T-O-R-I-O-U-S, faith, F-A-I-T-H, dot C-O, C-O like Colorado, and go to the tab called Victorious Faith International Ministries. And under that tab, you will see the Victorious Faith service schedule with the time and a map with the location. Come and join us. I do believe you will be blessed by the word of God. Now join me again tomorrow. And remember, God loves you. You are blessed and highly favored by the Lord.
SPEAKER 01 :
We’re glad you joined us today for Victorious Faith with Cherri Campbell. We invite you to visit our website at victoriousfaith.co where you can listen to the Victorious Faith radio broadcast, find biblical study helps, contact Cherri, and make donations. You can also write to us at P.O. Box 509 East Lake, Colorado 80614. Victorious Faith is a God and Partners supported ministry. As you sow seed and partner with this ministry, we believe God with you for the full harvest of victory you need in your life. Please join us again Monday through Friday at the same time to begin your day with fresh faith. And remember, faith is the victory that overcomes the world.
