Covenanter Witness Vol. 54 - Rparchives.org

. This
cometh,"
roof."
preparation. But there is a rich bless
ing
for those who receive the Sacra
ment in a worthy manner, in Christ
Jesus.
PRAYER MEETING TOPIC
February 23, 1955
THE RECOGNITION OF GREAT
Psalms :
FAITH
Matthew 8:10.
Rev. John O. Edgar
125:1-5, page 320
118:1-6,
119:1-4, page 293
54:1-5, page 137
References:
page 284
Matt. 17:20; Heb. 11:1-3,5; Luke 18:
41-43; James 2:17-18; Matt. 9:22; 21:21;
Mark 11:22.
Faith is a term which is used rather
loosely by many people. Even those who
have a secular philosophy of life de
clare that a person must have faith.
We
commonly hear it said that one
must have faith in himself, and it is
indeed a necessary virtue. All great and
famous men have had at least a meas
ure of faith in self. With some it may
even have been to the point of bragga
docio. Babe Ruth would step into the
batter's box, point his bat at the stands
behind second base and proceed to
knock the baseball into those stands.
He couldn't have done it if he had not
had faith in his ability as a baseball
player.
Another application of the term faith,
is the faith which we must have in
others. When we board a railway train
we have faith that the engineer is a
competent man,
and is capable of hand
ling the train. When we are sick we
employ a doctor and we need to have
faith that he is a skilled physician, and
we must also have faith in the medi
cine which he prescribes. It is also
necessary to have faith in democracy,
in our country and in our banks.
The faith of which Jesus spoke is an
entirely different kind of faith than
that given in the examples above. He
spoke of
that faith which applies to
the realm of the spirit which bears
upon our relationship to God. Faith is
the conviction that there is a spirit
ual power which operates in our lives;
it is a looking unto God for help; it
is the hand which reaches out and takes
God's gifts and provisions. Faith re
cognizes the providence of God and
trusts that whatever may transpire in
our lives is for our perfecting and for
God's glory. It is the spirit which Job
had in the midst of his suffering and
loss that he could say, "Though he
slay me, yet will I trust Him."
In the passage before us we find
an example of great faith on the part
February 2, 1955
of the centurion who came to Jesus,
seeking help for his afflicted servant.
It was so remarkable a faith that Je
sus in commenting on it, prefaces it
with "verily"
(amen).
AN UNEXPECTED FAITH
centurion was not a Jew, but a
Roman. He was an officer and a man
with authority. Usually
we think of
army men as being rather rough char
acters, and lacking in spiritual discern
ment. (Happily, there are many excep
tions, and this Roman was one of them).
In spite of all the temptations which
were about him, this man had main
tained a fine perception of
spiritual
things. It is all the more noteworthy
that he had probably been an idolater,
but in his dealings with the Jews had
learned that there was a true revelation
from God. He must have been a novice
in spiritual things, but that did not
detract from his measure of faith. Per
haps it was a case of those things which
have been "hidden from the wise and
prudent and revealed unto babes."
There was in this man a human kind
ness and humility which the military
life had not been able to sour or de
stroy. He was tenderly anxions about
his servant, who,
according to Luke,
was dear to him. His humility is seen
in his attitude toward Christ for he
said, "I am not worthy that Thou
shouldest come under my
Thus,
he lays his case before Christ with
faith that the Master will not turn a
deaf ear to,
his humble petition.
A CHRIST CENTERED FAITH
The centurion knew that he him
self could do nothing for the servant.
Although he could say to one " go and
he goeth, and to another come and he
he could not command the
power of healing in his own strength.
But having heard of the miracles which
Jesus had performed, he came to Jesus,
doubting nothing, expecting the com
plete restoration of his beloved serv
ant.
Moreover, he perceived that no mater
ial means was necessary for Christ
to perform the miracle. He said to
Jesus, "Speak the word only, and my
servant shall be healed. Sometimes
Jesus did use material means,
as in
the case of the blind man whose eyes
He anointed with clay.
But the cen
turion had progressed in faith to the
point that he knew that if only a word
was spoken the miracle would
take
place. He was trusting in the unseen
power of the Spirit.
Last summer while on a fishing trip
in Quebec, I saw a huge log boom (about
30,000 logs) which was being
moved down a river to a paper mill. The
boom was being drawn by
a boat which
seemed
but little larger than a goodsized
row boat. How could so tiny a
boat move so many logs The answer
was given us by a native with whom we
talked. About a mile down the river
there was a rock. A long cable was
attached to the rock
and the other
end was fastened to a winch on the
boat. As the winch wound in the cable,
the boat had the power to move the
logs. The cable was under water where
we could not see it, but it was the con
necting link which gave the boat its
power. In like manner faith is the
invisable line which links us with God,
and enables us to perform the apparent
ly impossible. When we are bound to
omnipotence we become co-laborers
with God. Here is the explanation of the
power exercised by the heroes of the
faith. F. B. Meyer said, "We never
test the resources of God until we at
tempt the impossible."
A
FAITH THAT WAS PRAISED
BY CHRIST
What rejoicing came to the heart of
Christ as he saw the centurion's dyna
mic faith. We are told that He marvel
ed at it. This is not the only time
Jesus praised people for their faith,
for we read also of the woman who was
a sinner who came and anointed His
feet. Moved by her act of faith and de
votion, Jesus said, "Thy faith hath sav
ed thee." (Luke 7:50). On another oc
casion He used the same words in ad
dressing one of the blind men whom
He had healed. (Luke 18:42).
Jesus praised the centurion's faith
because he had not had the opportuni
ties that had been given to the Jews.
"I have not seen so great faith in
Israel."
The Jews should have believed,
but because of the hardness of their
hearts they rejected Christ, declaring
that He was an imposter. Perhaps that
same condition may exist in some hearts
today. There are people who have been
born in the church and who have been
faithful attenders, but they have failed
to exercise the measure of faith which
should be theirs in view of their oppor
tunities. So often the demonstrations of
great faith are on the part of those
who have recently been converted and
have taken God at His word. God has
honored their faith and given to them
the victory the victory which every
true believer should be able to claim.
As Jesus rejoiced in the demonstra
tion of faith by the centurion, so He
also rejoices today when people exer
cise their faith. "Fear not little flock,
for it is your Father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom." The kingdom
comes by faith and the Lord is waiting
to give it to His people. We honor Him
when we come to Him in faith.
(Continued on page 80)
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