Oh, how importance for me to realise that I am poor and needy, and must depend on the Lord for everything. Psalm 72.12 says 'He will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.' I am reminded of the famous phrase, 'poor and needy', which we often come across in the Psalms. That phrase and verse is now embedded in my memory. Is that the work of the cross? The grass has to be cut the vine has to be pruned. Psalm 72.6 says, 'He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.' Mown grass. And the words came to me clearly from 72.6, 72.12 and 72.18. Earlier we used to read the Bible in a routine way, but now we reflected. When my wife and I did our morning joint prayer we read Psalm 72. Then the word became our life and experience.'Ī few days later I remember his words. We must reflect on God's word and mull over it in our spare time. 'It is very important to keep meditating throughout the day on what you have read during your morning quiet time. During family prayer he shared his valuable experiences in studying and meditating on the word of God. One of the elders of our church came home for dinner. The Word is a two-edged sword that cuts both ways. The Lord says, 'Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.' Didn't Israel know the Scriptures? Did they not faithfully attend the Temple, and observe the feasts and follow the ordinances and the Law? But, in the end, those very chosen people of God crucified Christ. And the Lord says, 'Go you way let it be done to you as you have believed.' This is real faith, faith that is combined with humility and reverence for the Lord. There is power in the word of God there is great power in the still small voice of the Lord. We mock the Spirit by indulging in insane laughter, by talking gibberish, by having weird dreams and visions, and attributing all this to the Holy, yes the Holy, Spirit. Very rarely do we consider the Holy Spirit as Lord of our lives. They say that only those who come under authority know what authority is but this is learnt by painful experience. He suffers with his suffering servant.įourthly, the authority of the Lord Jesus. He implores the Lord Jesus the prayer comes from deep within. Here is a Roman soldier, accustomed to military brutality, and yet having a heart of concern for his personal slave. Very rarely are we concerned about others. Most often, our prayers are centred around our self. Thirdly, the compassion of the centurion. We need to be humbled in the dust before this great and glorious God. We need those crisis-moments of revelation that Isaiah, Job and Peter had. We have no sense of His awesome holiness. He says, 'Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.' We are too familiar with God. The centurion considers himself unworthy to come to Christ, Luke 7.7. We do not realize that it has come to us, over the centuries, at great cost. How necessary then to read the Word of God upon our knees! This is a divine Word, and many have given their lives for it! But we are so casual about the Bible. The Holy Scriptures are the written Word of God, just as Jesus Christ is the living Word. How much we need to exalt Him! And if we exalt Him, we need to exalt His Word. Once saved we are saved forevermore but there is the salvation of our souls, there is growth unto maturity, there is a reward and a prize in a high calling which many fail to consider. And, yes, He is Saviour, whose 'so great salvation' is a continuing experience. He is right now a King seated upon the throne in heaven, and worshipped by a host of angels. No wonder there is no impact upon the world by evangelical Christians. We utter some Sunday School formula and consider ourselves 'saved forevermore', without having any witness of the indwelling Spirit. So much stress is made on Jesus as Saviour, without emphasizing that Jesus is Lord. Fifthly, the Lord's approbation of the centurion's faith.įirst, how do we regard the Lord Jesus? Modern evangelical preaching is largely to blame for reducing our Lord to the status of a divine 'errand boy'. Fourthly, the authority of the Lord Jesus. First, the very high view or regard that the centurion had of the Lord Jesus. As I was meditating on this passage, several things struck me.
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