Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Right, let's turn to Luke 7. Well, very quickly. You know, Phil and I love our walks out.
Yesterday was the longest walk we ever did.
All right. Well, not the longest walk we've ever done, but the longest walk we've ever done while living down south, we did a whopping 15 miles, right, from Bobby Tracy to Morton Hampstead.
All right?
And Phil, if you ever walk with Phil, he's like a sergeant major.
Like, he walks so fast, he says, well, if we're going to do this, we're going to do this. Yeah. So he started walking really fast. Well, getting to Morton Hampstead was no problem. I was like, I can keep up.
Then we stopped in a little coffee shop, had whatever, and then we started to go home and my legs just started going. And I'm thinking, I've got.
I've got seven miles back and my legs, I am in agony. And then we get up towards Bovi. We've got about a mile to go.
And I mean, honestly, I'm like this. I'm hobbling. I'm like, Phil, I think 15 miles is probably a bit too much for me.
Yeah, I was hopeless. Okay.
And then had a bath and then I just threw up.
Right. Simply because I'd completely overdone it.
But 15 miles, yeah, it was too much, but there we go. So if you come on a walk with us, we promise you it won't be 15 miles.
Maybe we'll stick to two miles or that kind of thing. Yeah. Okay. So Luke 7.
Here we go. Are we ready? I'm reading in the new King James Version, and this is Jesus heals a centurion servant. Now, when he concluded all his sayings and in the hearing of the people, remember last week, Lawson spoke about all the teachings that Jesus said about do not judge and building your life on Jesus.
When he concluded all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum, and a certain centurion servant who was dear to him was sick and ready to die.
So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, pleading with him to come and he his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly saying that the one for whom you should do this was deserving, for he loves our nation and he built us a synagogue.
Then Jesus went with them. And when he was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should enter under. Everyone say under.
Under my roof.
Therefore, I did not even think Myself worthy to come to you. But say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, go. And he goes, and. And I say to another, come. And he comes, and to my servant, do this. And he does it. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him and turned around and said to the crowd that followed him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. And those who were sent returning to the house found the servant, well, who. Who had been sick.
What a brilliant passage this morning.
So we've got. Let me just describe the scene for us. Before I get into the kind of meaty part of the teaching this morning. We have a centurion. And a centurion, if, you know, was a Roman officer high up in the ranks, and he would be over about 100 men. All right, so he was over 100 men. And. And we're in Capernaum, which is a city near the Sea of Galilee. And this Roman officer, we know that he was a really good man. Let's see what scripture says about him. It says that he loved the nation of Israel. That's the first thing. He helped build a synagogue.
That means in this Roman officer, he's not against the Jews. He's actually a good soldier.
And I want to say to you, if those of you who are soldiers or part of the army, you know, in scripture, it doesn't say that you can be a believer but don't go into the army. There's nowhere in Scripture it says that you can be in the army. You can be a soldier, you can be an officer and be a really great person. In fact, we've got links here. We've got about three men in this congregation who are linked to the military and armed forces.
Going to be hearing a bit about that over the next couple of weeks, about partnering into all that. But he helped build the Jewish synagogue. So there was a love for the Scriptures, there was a love for God in his way, as a Roman officer. And not only that, but we know he was a good man because he deeply loved his servant.
Now, in the ancient world in those times, you don't deeply love your servant.
When your servant is sick, you grab your servant and you leave them in the courtyard to finish off their days.
You don't spend money on doctors, you don't look after them, you don't feed them. You just go, well, you've done your service, you're worn out, so off you go. But this Roman officer deeply loved his servant who was near the point of death.
And this is a really interesting dialogue going on.
This is not just a centurion who had a bit of faith. And we're going to unpack that in a moment because I think it's significant for us.
This centurion heard about Jesus.
And we can assume that this centurion had never actually seen Jesus.
You imagine it. You've never seen Jesus, but you've heard what Jesus is doing, all right? And bear in mind, this is 2000 years ago when Jesus was alive.
Fast forward 2000 years to us. Can you see how we can relate?
We can't see Jesus, but we know he's the healer.
We know he's the healer. And so this centurion had heard about Jesus and what he did. He sent the Jewish elders, those of high spirituality, if you like.
I imagine somewhere in his thinking he's going, well, if we're going to send anyone to Jesus, let them be kind of spiritual, kind of holy, kind of, you know, godly in some way. And so the centurion sent the elders to Jesus, the Jewish elders to Jesus.
And he said this. He said, come and heal my servant.
Here's the turn.
As Jesus is going towards the house of the centurion, they are greeted on the road by now the centurion's friends.
And this is what the centurion's friends say. They say, jesus, don't trouble yourself. Come into the house.
And this is where I want you to listen because I want us to get a revelation this morning. This is what he says in verse 6.
Grab it. Verse 6 said, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.
Therefore, I did not even think myself worthy to come to you. Are you starting to paint a picture about how the centurion is thinking about Jesus?
Okay, I didn't even think myself worthy to come to you, but say the word, in other words, where you are, you don't need to come under my roof.
You say the word exactly where you are.
Get this confidence in Jesus. And I know.
[00:08:30] Speaker B: Come on.
[00:08:31] Speaker A: And I know that my servant will be healed.
So we can assume. I think we're right to assume that the centurion had never seen Jesus, but he had heard about Jesus.
And he said, you don't have to come under my roof. I'm not worthy to have somebody like you come under my roof. And you say the word and I know that he will be healed. I was struck reading this, thinking, such confidence in who Jesus was at that point in time. He had the Old Testament scripture, sure, the Torah, but there was no New Testament yet written down.
I know he will be healed. Jesus, in other words, you don't have to be here in person.
I just know that. I know that I know who you are.
How does he know? Verse 8 is significant, if you follow me here.
He says, for I am also a man.
What's the next word?
Under authority, I say to this one, go. And he goes. And I say to this one, come. And he comes. And I say to my servant, do this and. And do that. The centurion recognized, and here's the key thing.
He didn't just have faith in Jesus.
There was something under that. I'm going to peel some layers this morning, okay? The centurion recognized something very crucial about Jesus that I think the church needs to get hold of today, all right?
He recognized that Jesus, when he came on the earth, was under authority himself, that Jesus was under the authority of God himself.
So the centurion, in recognizing that Jesus himself was under authority now, not just of anybody, but under the authority of God himself. So if he was under the authority of God, that means that Jesus on earth had authority to speak the Word, to see and make things happen, because he was under authority. I'm going to pick that out in a minute.
In the army, since we're talking about officers in the army, people are commissioned to a position, all right? And some of you guys will know what I'm going on about. Let me just read this to you. It is a formal appointment of an officer, typically granted by the monarchy of that nation, by the monarchy, by the king, by the queen, through a formal document. It signifies the authority and responsibilities of an officer within the army hierarchy. In other words, when you are commissioned as a soldier into a rank or a position, an appointment of as an officer, all right, you have been given authority to lead and command, all right? You've been given that authority by the monarchy, by the king.
All right? There is a chain of authority.
The sad thing is today that we are not seeing that chain of authority in society.
Look at the family unit.
Look how children disrespect their parents. Look how young people in the classroom disrespect their teachers.
Look at the treatment. Police officers, MPs, those in authority are treated.
So soldiers, in this case, with the centurion, soldiers would have been under the authority of the centurion, but the centurion also would have been under the authority of Caesar, who was the type of monarch at that point in time, I had a bit of an interesting conversation with Matt, and he said, when people salute in the army, they are not saluting each other.
They are saluting the king.
It is that salute to the authority of the highest authority over them. And it's the king, the monarch. So there is this chain of authority. Are you with me at the moment? Yeah.
After receiving the appointment, the centurion here, in this case, would be released to lead. He would have authority to lead. We're going to watch a quick video now, all right? And this demonstrates that chain of authority happening in this situation.
Thanks, guys.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Not only in the army, now in the pioneer corps. And that doesn't mean just begin. O got to learn to march, drill, fight, close combat, bayonets, the lot.
Great.
[00:13:55] Speaker C: March.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: I take your arms Now.
[00:14:08] Speaker C: Hunt.
Quick. Back up arms and quit the heart.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Break into slow time.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: Slow punch, quick back.
Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow, slow, slow, quick, quick, quick, quick.
Punch above Hunter. All right.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: What'S going on here? He's interfering with the training of his Majesty's troops. What's he supposed to be doing? Excavating the road.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Yes, yes, I know that.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: Oh, bring him in for questioning.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Okay, a bit of a funny clip. All those in the army now would be horrified at that, but I am going to explain a little bit about why I've chosen that clip in a. In a moment.
So, yeah, a bit of a funny one there. Let me just read verse 9 from Luke 7, verse 9.
When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him and turned around and said to the crowd that followed him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. And those who were sent returning to the house found the servant well, who had been sick.
The centurion's faith came because he recognized the authority in Jesus.
He recognized the power, the dominion, the authority. Authority in Jesus.
Here's the chain of command. So he recognized Jesus as having come from God.
He's not just a rabbi. He's not just a great teacher. He's not just someone who can do a few miracles now and again.
He is on direct orders from God, from God himself, the final authority. And Jesus turns around and says, this is great faith.
He doesn't see me as just a healer, a rabbi, some good person who's come at such a time. He sees me as an authority. He sees me as the final authority.
Here's the chain of command, Right? So here's what Jesus said about coming under submission to his Father. Are you ready?
Matthew 28. Jesus says all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
God gave Jesus all authority.
John 6 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me. And I want us to pay attention because it affects us as the church.
John 5 the Son can do nothing in himself but what he sees the Father do. For whatever he does, the Son does also.
John 14 the words, I speak to you. I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the work.
The centurion needed voice of authority to heal his servant.
But he asked for a man under authority.
He asked for Jesus who was under authority. You know, we can only trust people in life who know what it is to be under authority.
You can trust a person who has been under authority, who has been under submission, because that is the basis of the gospel, that we are people who submit to the authority of Jesus.
And I'm going to keep coming back to the question over the next 10 minutes. Are we submitting to, to the authority of Jesus Christ in our lives? Because that's faith, that's great faith. When we submit to his authority, or are we submitting, like we saw in the movie, to another voice, to another authority altogether?
We can only trust a person who has learned to come under authority, who has learned to follow and be in submission if we want to lead others.
If you sense God is calling you to lead others, it may be a life group of 10 people, it may be in your business sector, it may be in some full time ministry in a church setting. Whatever it is, we first must know what it means to, to walk in submission and to come under authority.
You know, before I was given any sense of leadership in my own calling with God, I spent 20 years being under the leadership of other people.
I had to learn, and I'm so thankful. Learning what it means to submit to people above me being under authority and the two actually go hand in hand. If we can learn to be under the authority of others, it's a direct impact of how we view God and being under his authority.
The centurion had to learn.
I think he was a really good man because he had learned to submit.
He was under submission. I don't think he necessarily agreed with Caesar.
He probably disagreed with him quite a lot.
Being under submission doesn't mean that you agree with absolutely everything. I was under the submission of my parents and I still am because they are both still alive.
I didn't always agree with everything they said. In fact, Phil and I In our lives and bringing up our own children, we've done things different, but still honouring what they did with us.
But I didn't necessarily agree with everything, but I'm honouring them because ultimately I am under the authority of Christ.
We had that lovely passage this morning.
He is Lord. He is Lord.
Do you know what? I believe it is more important to be under authority than it is to have authority.
We will have the authority of Christ in our lives when we are under the authority of Christ. Let me say that again. I believe it's more important that we know how to be under authority of the King than to have authority.
I love Philippians 2. I'm not going to read it, so I might get slightly wrong as I remember the Scripture.
But it says, have the same mindset of Christ Jesus that he made himself nothing. All right, so he was sharing all the glory of the Father. And when he came 2,000 years ago, it said that he came under the authority of God. He submitted. Submitted to the will of the Father. He made himself nothing.
It said that he didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped. So he made himself like a servant and became obedient to the point of death.
That is someone who didn't need to come under the authority of because Jesus Christ is God and he is the final authority.
But when he came as a man to the earth, fully God, yet fully man, he came under.
He submitted to the Father's will.
What would it look like for the Church to come under full submission to one another, but ultimately to Christ.
Whether we obey the commands of the chief commander himself, Jesus, or not, will determine whether he's the final authority in our lives.
Let me go through some things, all right, that Jesus commands us to. Do you know there's commands in Scripture?
There are commands.
All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go.
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I've taught you to obey. Go.
Are we going?
That's not a suggestion.
That is a command that we are to go into Newton Abbot. This is our place. This is our territory. The Lord has given us Newton Abbot.
He says, go into Newton Abbot and make disciples teaching them to obey. He says, take up your cross on a Monday only.
No, he doesn't. He says, take up your cross and follow me.
Don't just hear the word, but do it.
It's not a nice saying that, you know. Well, maybe you don't feel like it today, so don't bother. He said no.
Hear the word, but don't just hear it. I want you to go out and do it.
Be reconciled with one another. If you have a grievance with somebody, we've said this over weeks and weeks and weeks. Go and put it right. Don't let it fester.
It's a command. Go and reconcile yourself to your brother and sister. Love one another deeply. It's a command.
Say to the person next to you, I might not like you very much, but I'm to love you deeply now. No, I'm only joking. Just tell him, I'm going to love you deeply.
Let there not be a hint of sexual immorality amongst you.
Coarse joking. Do we laugh at those smutty jokes in the workplace or do we turn the other way?
Don't let there be a hint of it among you. Love your enemies. Be generous.
Do you know the most generous church in group of people in the New Testament were the Macedonians and they were the poorest.
They gave the shirts off their back, the shoes on their feet, and they were the poorest church. So don't tell me you've got to have resources and finances to be generous in the kingdom you could be poor and be generous. You can have little and you say, lord, take my little and multiply it and be a total. I can be generous because you've called me to be generous. Pray at all times, giving thanks.
It's a command. Pray at all times.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't be afraid when you fast, when you pray. They're not suggestions, they are commands.
Seek first the kingdom.
Seek first his righteousness.
Honour your parents.
Can I say to young people in this room today, honour your parents.
Because as you honour your parents, what you are doing in your actions to honour your parents, you are actually saying, I recognize Christ as the ultimate authority because I've read the Word of God and it says that I'm to honor my parents. I'm not honouring my parents because I particularly like them. I'm not honouring my parents because I completely agree with everything they say. I'm honouring them because the Lord Jesus Christ commanded me to honour my mother and my father.
That is the word of God.
And I could go on and on and on about lay hands on the sick. When was the last time we laid hands on the sick? Be filled with the Holy Spirit. It's a command. It's not. Why don't you try and be filled with The Holy Spirit. Just try. Maybe some days no be filled church with the Holy Spirit. We could go on and on and on and on. Interested in the video. And I'm going to wrap up in the next couple of minutes.
The soldiers followed the orders of the officer, the army officer, all right?
Until another voice came in.
Did you notice that I love Norman Wisdom? I grew up on Norman Wisdom.
And on Saturday nights we put the tapes in, you know, the videotapes, and my mum would do us jacket potato and salad and we'd be able to have our tea on our laps, not at the table. It was like we were breaking every rule. And Saturday night, and my parents had put on a good old Norman Wisdom film and that was one of them.
But he may not be your cup of tea. But there we go. I used to howl my head off.
But you noticed a workman there, which was Norman Wisdom, the actor, and he was calling out directions, quick, quick, yeah, slow, slow. I mean, that is my sense of humour.
I would have been him.
I would have loved to have done that.
But he had no authority to do that.
Zero authority, right? But here's the point.
The minute the actor started calling out other instructions, directions, commands, all right?
There was chaos, absolute chaos, all right? The soldiers failed to recognize the voice of their army officer.
They were just being submissive to whatever voice was shouting at them, all right? But there was chaos in the kingdom of God. If we do not follow, come under the submission of the voice and authority of Jesus Christ and the spirit of God in our lives.
Lives will be chaos if we do not know the authority and the voice of the good shepherd Jesus in our lives.
We will have so many voices speaking into us.
How do we recognize the authority? How do we hear and know the voice of the ultimate authority of. Of Jesus Christ? You cannot do it without meditating and diligently seeking the word of God every single day that we live. Somebody give me an amen.
I'm a Pentecostal preacher.
It's true.
It's true.
And in a society day where we are not recognizing the chain of command and authority, I pray over us as a church, Newton Abbott, that we will live out our lives and obey scripture because we are under the reign and rule of the King of King Jesus.
Will you stand with me this morning?
Grabbing your bibles.
In fact, we're going to read it together. Grabbing your bibles. That Lovely passage, Philippians 2.
If you've got your iPhone, grab it. If you've got iPhone, actually read it in the new King James version so, Philippians 2, and we're going to read this together.
It says the humbled and exalted Christ in my kind of mini title here.
Because this is what happens with authority and submission.
If we learn to submit to those in authority, do you know what happens? Christ will exalt you.
He will exalt you.
He will not exalt us, use us to our full potential unless we first know how to submit to Christ.
Okay, here we go. Can we say this together from verse 5?
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to. To the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Just close your eyes.
Just close your eyes.
Is Jesus Lord of your life?
Are we following the authority of the Scriptures?
Which is Jesus the living word?
Is he the final authority in our lives church? And in this church?
