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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.

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Now when he had concluded speaking of Jesus, all his sayings in the hearing of the people, Jesus just finished what academics called the Sermon on the Plain. The Sermon on the Plain in Luke includes many of the points from the most famous of all of Jesus sermons, the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Now this may surprise you, but when you read your Bible you'll begin to discover that Jesus often preached the same sermons in different places. And that accounts for sometimes a different wording in the different Gospels because they're referring to a different time and space when he preached that. And, and I don't know if he had an 8:30 and 10:30 service, but I could tell you though the notes are the same, it always comes out a little bit different each time. And the reason is because there's different people in the room and there's slightly different needs. And you've heard said it's an ancient saying, but we never step into the same river twice because it's never exactly the same water twice, nor is it exactly the same man. So what happens with time and moments, it changes us, it grows us. And even the water that was there a second ago is now further downstream and it's there no more. So now Jesus entered Capernaum. Remember that name because a little bit later it's going to matter because we're going to look at a very similar narrative in Canaan and a certain centurion's servant. Now we see the introduction of this word centurion. What word do you see in centurion? Century century stands for a hundred years. So this centurion was actually a soldier that was over about 100 soldiers. Later on in history they whittled it down to about 80. But a centurion was a mid level soldier equivalent to perhaps a captain in the army today, above the first lieutenant and slightly below a major. But this individual was the backbone of the Roman legion also. This man was responsible for the discipline and the training of all the men under his command. This was a guy that was typically taken from the common folk. He was full of guts and grit, was. And typically he worked his way up the ranks to take this distinguished role. And he would be the single man that would lead his men into battle. And it says here and there was a certain what centurion? I wanted you to understand the type of individual we're talking about. So you can understand some of the exchanges that happened between him and Jesus in just a couple moments. So this certain centurion servant was dear to him. Now, it's unusual for a man with such a violent background, a man who kills for a living, to have this type of affection for a lowly slave. In fact, it was the centurion that was commanded to flog his soldiers. So if I didn't like what you were doing, you know, I would get the chance to whip you also. He would beat, and this was normal discipline, he would beat his soldiers with sticks. He would literally, if he didn't like what you were doing, he would take a stick, not to your knuckles, he would take it to your whole body. And this was a guy highly respected and highly feared. Also, this man had the authority to literally kill anyone under his command. But then he had oversight of a special category of actions or deeds that are called unmanly acts. So if he saw an unmanly act within his ranks, he was responsible to deal with it. So you have to imagine the type of man this guy had to be to have this type of responsibility. In the army, someone says fear stands for forget everything and run. But not among the Romans. During the Spartacus rebellion, there were two legions that disobeyed the orders of their commander. And the commander's response was this. He assembled the two legions, then he pulled out every 10 men, and then the 10th man was beaten by the nine preceding men. And it had to be done by his comrades. The discipline of the Roman army was absolutely legendary. And this man we're introduced to, the centurion, was the enforcer. So this certain centurion servant, the Bible said, was again dear to him. As tough and rough and tumble as this man was, he still obviously maintained a tenderness. Some of the pictures of Jesus, and I've watched numerous Jesus movies, many of them have completely frustrated me. Jesus was not just a religious man. Yes, he was spiritual, but typically he had fights with religious people. He was always at odds with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They would put religion things that were supposed to be simple and practical. Also, Jesus was an extraordinarily brave man, not only because he took on the powers that be while he was walking the shores of Galilee, not only because he flipped tables in Jerusalem and made a whip and told people what they need to do, where they need to go, and get off my. Get out of my father's house and all the rest. But Jesus faced the most brutal beating in human history, the least deserving man of pain. But he faced it boldly and squarely. In fact, the Bible says from the cross he spoke out loud. Now, all of us in this room would be whimpering if we would have went through what Jesus went through. He started with sweating droplets of blood. How many of you know that'll mess you up? Then he got beat by the priests and all the rest. A whole bunch of men jumped on him and soldiers beat up on him. Then he went to Pilate, they beat up on him and then they beat him with a cat o' nine tails. I mean, he lost so much blood. But the Bible said, he said with a loud voice, there was something to this Jesus. And as powerful as he was, nonetheless, he was tender enough to still weep at Lazarus funeral. He was still tender enough in heart to weep over Jerusalem. So to truly be like Christ, some men in this room may have some weeping to do because real men are strong enough to shed tears. Real men can cry in this certain centurion had a servant who was dear to him. He was sick. In fact, he was ready to die. Some scholars believe, and the reason why I said all that I said up to this point that the Gospel of John is telling the same story that we just started reading, but from a different perspective. And John reads this way. John 4:46. So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned or made water into wine. Now remember I asked you to remember Capernaum, which was about a day's journey from Cana. It's possible that the centurion sent his message from Cana. But John goes on to say, and there was a certain nobleman. The literal Greek means royal official, which means it's possible that this centurion in the Jewish eye, in the Jewish mind, was the same person as this nobleman just described differently. But when you look at the passages, the events are almost identical. Now here's the deal. During this time in history, Roman soldiers were not permitted to marry during their period of military service. Many soldiers were never married before service. And that's the way they preferred it, and certainly not while you were in service. But what would happen over time is, you know, men will do what men do. And it wasn't common for these men to have children from slaves or bewitched girlfriends in their their travels. This is important. Life is unfair, but God is never unfair. Never confuse the two. I don't know how you were conceived. It may not be fair that dad's not home. Life is unfair, but God is fair. Never confuse this to. But here it says there was a certain nobleman. Watch this. Whose son, not servant, but whose son was sick at Capernaum. It's possible that since this soldier could not recognize this child as his son, the way he kept that child close was by making him his personal servant or his personal aid. Now I'll let the scholars debate what's true and what's not true. I said all this to say I'm just making the point that life can sometimes get complicated for men. Today, roughly one third of all men are raising children that are not their biological children. About 40% of all children that are born are born outside of marriage today in the United States. Which means about half of the men listening to me today have probably a complicated relationship with some child somewhere. So when life does what life does, it's not always the circumstances that make you the perfect father and child, but the heart. Back to Luke 7 and 2. And a certain centurion servant. I'm going to call this boy his son today, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. He might not have been able to claim this boy as his son publicly, but he definitely had this child's back. Deep down inside, this child was always in this man's heart. You know, a father's fears and tears often go unseen, and his love often not fully expressed. But deep down inside, there's a care and a concern that never goes away. So we see something of the measure of the man. And now we see his child. Matthew 8, 6 gives us more details. The boy Bible says was lying there paralyzed, dreadfully tormented at the gates of death door. I want to ask this question. If such a hardened man, a man full of worldly travels, a man that has seen it all. He's watched people die, he's put people to death, he's executed people. I mean, he's. He's exacted some of the worst punishments possible in a military environment. If a man like this could have compassion on a child who's paralyzed, a child who got stuck in life. If a man like this could care so deeply for a child tormented by unfortunate events, how much more will our Heavenly Father, A father of pure love, perfect commitment. You hear what I'm saying? A God whose heart is pure and tender. God, the Father not only sees you, he feels you and pities every pain and every groan. So when he heard about Jesus, this is why we're so passionate about evangelism. Just last week, 115 people were prayed for in our parking lot. But here's the deal. People cannot Come to Jesus unless they first hear. When they heard. When he heard about this Jesus, there was something about Jesus that he found compelling. In a couple moments, we're gonna discover there were some things in Jesus that he was able to easily identify with. So when he heard about this Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him. Now, why did he send others? Probably first, because he was a Gentile. And Gentile and Jews didn't quite get along. And if a Gentile came into your home, people would consider everything he touched unclean, and it was just a thing. But the second reason this man probably did not come into the home that Jesus was staying. I'm sorry. Didn't want Jesus to come into the home that he was in, was because he had so much blood on his hand. Anybody in this room feel like you might have a little bit of blood on your hands. You know, if you never feel unworthy, it's probably because you're not paying attention. Have the courage to come to Jesus just as you are and let him make you into whatever you need to be. Don't try to get it right first. The Bible said these elders were pleading with him. They took the tone of the soldier to come and heal his servant. Now, I'm not given to begging, but I'll tell you, as a dad, I climb any mountain, swim any river, get buried in any hole and beg every ounce of God's power to take care of one of my children. Where the national natural or spiritual. The only thing needed more in the life of a child than a father's protection is a mother's love. And when they came to Jesus, now, the Romans were the conquerors of the world, the known world. At that time, they didn't include the Americas, but they made it all the way to England, right up against China, some say even a little bit into India, I'm not quite sure. But the point of it is Egypt was conquered by the Romans on some level. But with that said, they saw themselves as a superior race of people. But when your house is burning down, it doesn't matter the race of the person with the fire hose. And Jesus had answers. Jesus had a track record of dealing with people's problems. So this man was not too proud to come to Jesus. Watch this. And they begged him what? Earnestly. They were not just asking, watch this. They were begging. What lengths are you willing to humble yourself to get answers for the people in your life? Don't tell me what God can't do for a praying parent and their child. I've raised Two sons. I know what it's like. Don't tell me what God won't do. They begged him earnestly saying that the one for whom he should do this was deserving. So this guy had something of a reputation for he loves our nation, which was very unusual. And he has built us a synagogue. So this strong man obviously had a spiritual stripe or a spiritual instinct. And I've made this point many times. Loving God, loving his people and loving his house will not necessarily always exempt you from trouble. Psalms 34:19 says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord shall deliver them out of them all. So we go through trouble, but God knows how to reach us in the trouble that we happen to fall. And somebody else said, he said, avoiding the problems you need to face is avoiding the life you need to live. Then Jesus went with him. And I want to say to you, Jesus will go to anyone who comes to him today, the same yesterday, today and forever. And when Jesus was not already or was not far from the house, the centurion, pay attention to this, sent friends to him, saying, lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy. This is a big deal for this Roman officer to make a statement like this. But obviously he's getting God helped him receive a revelation of Jesus that made Jesus not just an ordinary man to him. For I'm not worthy that you should enter under my roof. He knew that if he. If Jesus entered a gentile home, it would immediately create controversy for Jesus. And what I want you to see here is this centurion was not only concerned about him getting his needs met, he was also concerned about the reputation of God. Jesus teaches us in the Lord's Prayer, and a lot of us miss it when we read it, but I want to share it with you. It begins, our Father. So the first thing we need to recognize is our plural, our meaning we are part of a community. So when you pray, it's not just my, he's the God of the person that you're mad at. He's God of the person that you're trying to get an answer for, Our God. And Jesus wanted his people and disciples to pray out of community with people praying one for another. And may the God of Isaac, Abraham and Jacob be my God. You know, the folks that had gone before me and made God that you answered that woman's prayer as part of our fellowship, Lord, would you answer my prayer the same way? Our God? So don't get so independent. It's just you. Our Father, which art where in heaven. The problem is God is in heaven. And the only way he gets a reputation is through us here on earth. He said, our Father in heaven, invisible, immaterial. The next statement is hallowed. Hallowed. May people honor and respect your name. So if you're praying only concerned about your name, you're not fit to pray yet. Because the beginning of the prayer is, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Lord, help me for your name's sake. I told folk, I'm a Christian. Help me represent you well. Help me live this thing out well, Lord, help me bring honor to your name, Lord. It's not just about me, Lord. It's also about you. You know, I've learned early in my life if I care about God's reputation, in time he'll take care of mine. But watch what the centurion said. He's teaching us about prayer. But notice the type of man that's teaching us about prayer. When he mimicked the prayer of the Pharisees. Oh God, thank you. I'm not a woman. I thank you. I'm not like that gentile. I thank you. I'm not tax collector. He was mocking him. But when it came to the subject of prayer, he had to get this streetwise, this rough and tumble fellow to teach us how to pray. And the man prayed, therefore, I don't even think myself worthy to come to you. This is important, Lord. Give us the confidence to keep our heads up. But Lord, also give us the humility to keep looking to you. But watch what he said. He said, jesus, just say the word and my servant will be healed. This is what I wanted to get to today. The centurion understood that Jesus could heal with his word as easily as with a touch. He recognized that Jesus could heal from a distance or up close. He recognized that the authority that he carried in the natural world, Jesus carried in the spiritual world. Watch verse 8. He says this, pay attention, for I also meaning he saw something in Jesus or he identified with something in Jesus that he also saw in himself. And this identification was the birthplace of this revelation. So Jesus was not a mealy mouth man walking the shores of Galilee. He was a man that operated with such dignity. There was a royal air about him. There was early on when Jesus first started preaching. They said, you know what? People were scratching their head. He said, you know what? He's not like the Pharisees and Sadducees. This man speaks with authority. What distinguished Jesus from the religious people was his authority. And this man caught it because he was A man that operated under authority. For I also am a man placed under authority. God's using this man to explain how prayer works in the Roman system. A soldier who disobeyed a centurion was not just disobeying one man, but the emperor. Rome itself and all its imperial might and majesty, basically would say, if I, being under the prefects who are under the emperor's command in all of Rome, if I require ready and necessary obedience from all that are under me, how much more the God who has none above him and no superior. This man understood that Jesus was operating with authority that he had not seen before. And here's the deal. When you really. How many of y' all have seen the Godfather movies? Yeah, I was just watching it yesterday on Showtime. But notice the way he talks. If you have authority, you don't have to scream. Matter of fact, sometimes the Godfather just motioned. The Bible said it this way. The angels always behold the Father's face. That's what Jesus said. Waiting for there to be any intimation that God wants the angel to move in some particular way. To disobey the message is the same as, or better the messenger is the same as disobeying the message. He said, for I also am a man placed under authority. So there was something about Jesus command that captured this man's imagination. It captured him so deeply that he obviously began to seek God about it. And God answered. And he said, having soldiers under me, and I say to one, go. And what does he do? I don't even have to give a long sentence, long explanation. I just say, go. And what? Yeah, what he was saying is I don't have to be physically present for my authority to take effect. All I have to do is say the word. That settles it, and it's done. He realized that his authority in the natural world, Jesus carried in the spiritual world. That's why Jesus tells us to pray in his name. Don't try to go do stuff in your own name out there. Use the name that's above every name that can be named, because that's where the authority really lies. And this is why I'm so careful to preach the word each week. Because Isaiah 48 says, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. You see, when God speaks, he's not saying, I'll try. He's saying, I can and I will. All authority has been given unto me, Jesus said, and that's why we go. And to another, I don't give long sentence. I don't write paragraphs. I just say, come. And he comes. And what he's saying is, you know, in prayer, it doesn't matter how far your child is away from you. There's no distance in prayer. Isaiah 59:1 says, the Lord arm is not too short to save, nor his ear too deaf to hear. To you who call moms and dad praying for your children, no matter how far they seem to be, you have authority in the spirit. Those of you raising children, you know the reason why the enemy is fighting to keep you and your wife or baby, mama, whoever it is, at odds. Because he knows if two agree is touching anything, he knows if just the two of you agree stand on God's word, you will never stand alone. They recognize that the devil, so he keeps all this strife. He tries to get you mad at me and her mad at him, and him mad at the other one over there. So all this strife, so we can't agree because he recognizes if two of us agree as touching anything, there Christ is in the midst, it shall be done by our Father in heaven. And so he brings all this stride where we're fussing over nonsense, the length of the dress, the color of the carpet, and silliness, silliness, silliness. And if he can keep us on silly, we'll have no power. Then he said, and I say to my servant, do this. And he does it. Isaiah 55 tells us that God's word will not return unto him void, but will accomplish what the Lord pleases. That word void means fruitless. If you, if you get on God's word, you are standing on God's integrity. It's not being religious. I religiously quoted five scriptures. But a recognition that's God's spoken promise. Through God's Word, the universe was spoken into existence. So if I want God to impact my life, if I stand on that same word and begin to trust it, believe it, and give voice to it, I'm going to begin to impact my world. Do you understand what I'm saying? But you have to approach scriptures as a covenant person, not just a religious person. When you were in the Roman army, they had complete control over you. Today, even in the American army, there's some of that, I don't know, probably not exactly the same. But you just can't go anywhere, do anything. You got to be let go to do X, Y and Z. You were in a covenant with your commander to obey his orders. And when you enter the kingdom, it's not like, maybe I'll do your will. If I feel like it, I'll do your will. If you explain it to me long enough, Lord, maybe I'll do. No, It's Lord. You said it. I'm in a he's savior, but he's also Lord. If you lived in the time of the first century, every citizen was required to call Caesar Lord. That's why it was so radical when in the book of Romans it says that the way we're saved is by confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. We're saying though there be a natural president, the emperor is a lot more than the president, a natural king. My ultimate allegiance is to the king of kings. Calling Christ Lord, is you coming under a covenant of free submission, obedience to his person and his will. Did I lose everybody in the room with that? When Jesus heard these things, he marveled. Only twice in scripture does Jesus or did Jesus marvel once here because of the centurion's faith and once in his own town because of his own people's unbelief. It's funny how the people who had the temple, their grandparents had the Shekinah glory and the journey through the wilderness and the oracles of God. It's funny how they rejected the Christ. But the man on the street, the man with the suspect background, the man with blood on his hands, was the man God chose to use to teach us how to get results and how to pray to God. Now in both of the situations I just mentioned, again, the unbelief in his own hometown and the response of this centurion, in both situations, Jesus had to step back and say wow. In one case, when people disbelieved who had every reason to believe, and here with the centurion, when the least expected to believe, believed today God wants to call some of the least likely. You might think your background disqualifies you, but this man's worst of backgrounds actually qualified him for a new revelation. Where you come from and what you came out of. God knows all about and he wants to do something with it, give you an insight that only you will receive just because of your fingerprint, your specific experience and assignments in life. If you are one of the improbables, one of the least likelies, one of the never expected overlooks don't fit the mold. Jesus is calling you to himself today. He's not calling you with a whole bunch of religiosity. He's calling you deep. Is calling the deep Jesus in Matthew 28 and I'll be done in just a second. I alluded to it A couple moments ago, this is the resurrected Christ. He's in his, you know, 40 days. He's spending time with the disciples, appearing to them, talking to them. And right before he ascends, you know, he makes this statement. He says, all authority has been given to me. Now why did he do that? What Jesus is doing is he's pulling rank. It's like you need. I'm about to tell you to do something, but you need to understand the rank of the person telling you to do so. This is not just an idea. This is not just a religious thought. He was crucified with King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Well, King of the Jews, forgive me, at the top of his cross, when he said, all authority was given me, he was saying, listen, I am that I am. There's no higher than me. And you need to recognize who's given you this order because stuff's gonna go a little bit side. But you need to remember who got your back, who's behind you and who's gonna be working through you. So he prefaces the Great Commission with all authority that's been given unto me. And then he says, go, go therefore. Make disciples of all nations, teaching them, you know all that I've commanded you to teach, Baptizing them in the name of Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and by the way, for Father, Son and Holy Spirit to come. In one sentence, Jesus was saying, he's on the level of God. So understand what he was saying. You don't never say Derek, the Holy Spirit and God, you never say, in the name of Derek, no, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He was saying, I am God taking on flesh. I am part of the Godhead. So what he's saying here is, you need to know who's sending you. And just like the centurion had all the power of Rome behind him, Jesus has all of heaven's forces marshaled behind him. And when he speaks, all of the authority of heaven salutes. So when you utter what the King has said in his name, power is released. And eventually the spirit realm has to agree. Well, better. The natural realm has to agree with the spiritual. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith? Will he find people that believe in the authority of the Name? Will he find people that believe in the authority of His Word? The earth was created through the Word, and the earth can be changed through His Word. So if you would take God at His word, don't just pray what you feel, Lord, you said. You said in your. Listen, all of Noah's children got on the ark of safety and they were saved. All my household gonna be saved. A thousand might fall in my left hand 10,000 as for me and my house God, it's going to be as you say it's going to be. I'm going to stand on your word till you come. When the Son of man comes what will he find? Faith. People that persist. God said it. That settles it. I trust him. I might not see it, I might not feel it but I trust it. God's integrity, his holiness is behind every word he speaks. Hope you got something out of today.